> One Last Mission
>  by Show Stopper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> An Amazing Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1: An Amazing Discovery


Rubble, structurally unstable, or worth looking into. After seven years of warfare, most of the houses in Canterlot fell into the first two categories. The once pristine city lay in ruins: the marble scorched, the glass shattered, and anything on the streets that could have burned long since vaporized by the blast that had rendered the city inhospitable all those years ago. Scootaloo walked down these streets now, looking for any building that might hold something to make their trip worthwhile. It wasn't that Canterlot was too far from HQ, just two days away on hoof. No, the danger lay in who else might be in these ruins. The unicorns of Utopia hadn't been seen in Canterlot in a few months, but carelessness was how ponies got themselves killed.

Scootaloo stopped to regard another building, what looked like an old bar of some sort. Deciding that the roof would hold, she shrugged and walked inside. Scorched tables lay strewn about the bar and the glass of the bar's display case was shattered. Scootaloo cringed as she recognized where she was: Pony Joe's, that old doughnut shop that Twilight and the others had taken her and the girls to that one Harthswarming. She scanned the shop for anything useful, but it had obviously been scoured many times before.

Just like every other building in this ruin of a city, Scootaloo sneered. I don't even see why we keep coming back... No, that was a lie. She knew exactly why she and the girls returned to these ruins every year. She'd just given up on anything coming of it.

Scootaloo stepped into the restroom, figuring it to be the most likely place to have been left alone. As she tapped around the walls and floor, looking for any sort of hollow where she might find something useful, she caught sight of herself in the mirrors that hung over the sinks. Well, she thought, sneering at her reflection, I certainly don't fit the propaganda figure now, do I? Scootaloo's air force uniform, usually washed and ironed, was dusty and wrinkled from two days of travel. Her usually well styled mane and tail were now purposefully messy, just the way she liked it. The hilt of the sword sheathed at her side shined far less than usual, having not been polished for a few days, and she knew that if she pulled it out that the blade would show the wear and tear of several years.

"You can actually tell that I'm a soldier for once," she muttered as she exited the bathroom and made her way back into the streets of Canterlot. "That stupid mane-style get in the way, the polish for my sword tastes terrible, and it's such a pain to clean my uniform every single morning. But of course," she rolled her eyes, "we have to maintain an image. The Crusaders: A Symbol of Hope. Bah!" She shook her head. "The only hope we have is to finish this war on our terms and kill Discord once and for all. We can't keep waiting for Rain- for the Bearers to come back."

She sighed and her scowl dropped into a sorrowful frown. "No matter how much the girls want to."

She reached an intersection and peaked down the street to either side. Ducking her head back, she took mental stock of what she'd seen. Single unicorn to the left. Wasn't facing my way, so she hasn't seen me yet. She carefully peered around the edge of the building at the corner of the intersection and sighed in relief at the familiar pink and purple curls. She trotted around the corner and called out. "SB. Find anything?"

Sweetie Bell jumped around, magic already gripping the sword at her side, but she relaxed when she saw who it was. "Nothing to report, Scoots," she replied. "The west side of the city is even more barren than last year."

Scootaloo sighed, not that she'd expected to hear anything different. "Yeah, south side's the same," she said. "AB's already checked the east and set up camp in the usual spot. Let's head on over."

Sweetie nodded and the two friends turned north towards the large, dilapidated castle that somehow still hung onto the mountainside. "Yeah, I guess," said Sweetie. "Do you think we'll find anything in the castle or the maze tomorrow?"

No. I think it will be just like the last 6 times we came here to search. No sign of the Princesses or the Bearers. "Who knows?" Scootaloo replied. "Tomorrow makes 10 years exactly since the Bearers vanished. Maybe something will happen." When pigs fly.

"Yeah, maybe," said Sweetie, unconvinced. The two walked in silence after that until they reached Ground Zero, the impact site where the Element of Magic had been used to destroy most of Canterlot. 3 tents had been set up on the north end of the crater, along with a small cooking fire. It was mid July, so they wouldn't need a bigger one for warmth.

Just as they reached the campsite, a yellow Earth Pony wearing a stetson took a pot off of the fire. "Soup's on, girls," said Apple Bloom, her accent coming through as strong as ever. "Find anythin'?"

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie shook their heads. "Nothing worth mentioning," said Scootaloo. "Stumbled into Pony Joe's. Can't believe that old place is still standing."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Well," she said, gazing up towards the castle, "maybe we'll find somethin' tomorrow."

Scootaloo shrugged. "Hey, you never know, right?" she said, sounding far more upbeat than she felt. "10 year anniversary and all that. This might be it, you know?"

A small smile softened Apple Bloom's face. "Could be," she muttered. "Could be."


----------***----------


"Well," gasped Scootaloo, "that was- was a bust."

"Yeah," Sweetie said, panting just as heavily. "Great going, Bloom."

"How was I supposed to know that column was weight bearin'?" demanded Apple Bloom, barely even fazed by their most recent sprint from danger.

Sweetie shook her head. "Twilight's going to kill you for destroying her tower when they return."

The Crusaders made their way out into the gardens of Canterlot Castle, each pointedly avoiding looking back at the ruins of the castle that now sported one fewer towers. They made their way to the hedge maze, finding the path that they'd cut through last year to be completely overgrown, just like the rest of the gardens.

"Good thing we brought these babies with us again," said Scootaloo, drawing out a machete.

Sweetie sighed, breaking out her own machete and giving a few test swings. "An hour or two of hacking away at hedge and vines," she muttered. "Joy."

"What're you complainin' about?" asked Apple Bloom smirking. "Your magic does the work for you."

Sweetie deadpanned at Apple Bloom. "The same way your neck does all the work for you?"

Apple Bloom chuckled and swung said neck, slicing through the first bit of hedge without struggle. "You know it!"

Hacking through to the center of the maze was tiring work, and the Crusaders had to stop several times to rest and sharpen their blades. Finally, at about noon, they hacked through the last of the vegetation and were rewarded with...

The same empty, dilapidated courtyard as last time. Surprise, surprise. The stone of the small courtyard was pitted and cracked, with grass growing up all over. In the center stood an empty pedestal, along with a small plaque dedicated to the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony for their heroic sacrifice in "destroying" Discord. A sacrifice for nothing, in other words.

"Well," Apple Bloom sighed, "I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer."

"I'm not sure how much longer I can wait," said Sweetie, holding back tears. "It's been 10 years now since I've seen her. Even if she were back, would she even recognize me anymore? It's been so long..."

"Of course she would," said Scootaloo, wrapping a wing around her shoulders. "And it's not, 'if'. It's 'when'. They're coming back someday, I just know it."

Apple Bloom gave a determined nod as Sweetie sniffed. "How can you still be so confident, after all of this time?"

Because I'm lying through my teeth. Because just because I've lost hope doesn't mean that you have to. "Because they would never abandon us like that. Hay, one of them is the embodiment of loyalty itself! Nothing would stop her from getting everypony back! Nothing except death.

"Come on," said Apple Bloom, turning away. "We've got ourselves a long walk home, an' not much to show for it. Least we can do is get back in time to head out to help out at Appleoosa."

Scootaloo nodded and turned to follow. Sweetie stared out at the courtyard for a moment more before turning as well.

That's when she felt it.

"Girls! Wait!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom turned to see Sweetie frowning back at the courtyard. "I feel something," she said.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. "Feel somethin'?"

"It's my horn," Sweetie explained. "It feels," she narrowed her eyes in confusion, "tingly? Kind of like I'm just about to start casting a spell."

Scootaloo sighed. "You're just imagining it," she muttered.

Sweetie shook her head, eyes starting to grow wide. "I'm definitely feeling something, Scoots," she said. "It's getting stronger, too!"

Scootaloo turned to tell her to snap out of it, but stopped. Her wing had begun to flex, as if she was about to prepare for takeoff. Apple Bloom felt it too, the tightening in her legs that always came right before a race.

"What is it?" asked Skootaloo, pulling out her sword. "Utopians?"

Sweetie shook her head again. "It doesn't feel like unicorn magic," she muttered. "Less controlled. More..." The little color that was in her face fled as her eyes widened. "chaotic," she whimpered.

Apple Bloom's eyes grew wide and Scootaloo glared around, searching for any sign of movement. "Discord?" squeaked Apple Bloom. "He's here?"

"We need to get out of here," said Scootaloo, still trying to look in every direction at once. "Get out of the maze. I'll cover the rear. We'll-"

She was interrupted as a sphere of light appeared right over the pedestal where Discord's statue once stood. It slowly began to grow until it filled almost the entire courtyard. Sweetie seemed on the verge of fainting while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo readied themselves for a fight. A sinister and maniacal laughter filled the courtyard, accompanied by a bright flash. As soon as she could see again, Scootaloo glared towards the pedestal, ready to attack the being who had made the last seven years a living Tartarus for everypony in Equestria.

What she saw instead stopped her heart. Her jaw dropped, her sword clattering to the ground.

Lying unconscious in the middle of the courtyard were 6 ponies: 2 unicorns, 2 pegasi, 2 earth ponies, and 6 heroes who hadn't been seen in 10 years.

Nopony spoke. Nopony moved. The Crusaders barely dared to breathe. Apple Bloom bit her lip over and over, sure that this must be a dream. Scootaloo ran the same thought through her head over and over: It can't be. She's dead. It can't be. She's dead. It can't be. She's dead. Sweetie was the first to move, slowly walking over to one of the unicorns, the alabaster coat and perfectly styled purple mane just like she remembered them. Gingerly, as if afraid the mare would shatter, Sweetie poked her.

Her restraint giving out, Apple Bloom darted over, jumping atop the orange earth pony and calling out her name over and over. "Applejack! Applejack!"

Sweetie Bell knelt down and drew her own sister into a gentle embrace. "Rarity," she whispered. "You came back. Rarity."

All Scootaloo could do was stare at the pegasus she had hero-worshiped all those years ago. The same blue coat, the same rainbow striped mane, the same lightning cutie mark, the same...

"Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said, a tone of caution in her voice. "Sweetie Bell, you might want to take a good look at them."

Sweetie's head shot up, worry evident on her face. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking over her sister for any injuries. "Is something wrong with her?"

Apple Bloom glared up at Scootaloo. "Don't you listen to her, SB. She's just bein' paranoid!"

Scootaloo shook her head. "It's not paranoia, Bloom. There's something off about them."

Apple Bloom's glare hardened. She took off her stetson, placing it carefully back on it's rightful owner's head. "There ain't nothin' wrong with them!" she seethed. "Just look at them. They're exactly the same as-" She stopped, scowl gradually dropping into a look of confusion as she realized what Scootaloo meant. "Exactly... the same as... we... remember..." She looked back down at her sister again. "But, that's impossible," she whispered. "It can't be."

"What!" shouted Sweetie, her worry increasing by the second. "What is it?"

"Sweetie," said Scootaloo calmly, still not taking her eyes off of the pegasus, "how old was Rarity when she vanished?"

Sweetie's worry was instantly replaced with confusion. "18," she said. "But what does that have to do with-"

"And how long has she been gone?" Scootaloo interrupted.

"10 years," said Sweetie, starting to get annoyed. "Everypony knows-"

"And how old does she look now?"

Sweetie opened her mouth to answer, and her jaw dropped even lower as she realized what Scootaloo meant. Her eyes dropped to her formerly older sister. "But, that's not... it can't... she's... they're..."

"Exactly the same age as when they vanished," they chorused.

Sure enough, none of the unconscious mares looked older than they had 10 years ago.

"But, but how?" asked Sweetie.

Scootaloo scowled and spat into the dirt at her side. "It's Discord's magic," she said bitterly. "Doesn't need to make sense."

"Which means," reasoned Apple Bloom, "that they prob'ly don't know anythin' about, well, anythin'."

Silence reigned again for a while until Scootaloo cleared her throat. "So, who's going to be the lucky mare to tell them everything?" She looked up to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie, each with a hoof touching the tip of their muzzles. "Nose goes?" she deadpanned. "Seriously girls?"

Apple Bloom shrugged, leaving her hoof on her face. "It's how we've solved all of our problems up 'till now."

Scootaloo sighed, which grew into a chuckle. "Fair enough," she admitted. "Let's get them set up in the tents."
> The Beginnings of War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2: The Beginnings of War


The atmosphere was heavy around the cooking fire that afternoon. Each of the Bearers was still unconscious in their own one-pony tent, the Crusaders always carrying extras. Apple Bloom sat by the fire, watching the small cauldron of soup they had put on for when the bearers woke up. Sweetie had left a while ago, wandering around the gardens and lost in her own thoughts. Scootaloo sat staring at the tents, trying to think of how to tell everypony about everything - the prejudice, the war, the deaths - and trying not to think of what she would do if Rainbow Dash woke up first.

Finally, after a few hours of silence, Scootaloo heard sounds coming from Twilight's tent. She glanced over at Apple Bloom, who was staring into the soup as if it contained the schematics of Paradise Castle. Figuring she shouldn't disturb her, Scootaloo stood and walked alone into the tent.

Twilight was facing away from Scootaloo, sitting up and rubbing the side of her head. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Scootaloo spoke. "It's good to see you again, Twilight."

Twilight's head whipped around almost quickly enough to get backlash. She stood quickly, staring down the uniformed and armed mare before her, more than a hint of fear in her eyes. "Do I know you?" she said eventually.

"Yeah," said Scootaloo softly, hoping beyond hope that Sweetie and Apple Bloom would never have to hear their sisters ask that to them. "You know me," she continued. "I knew you too, 10 years ago."

Twilight raised a suspicious eyebrow at this. "You must be mistaken," she said, still on guard and ready to run or teleport at a moment's notice. "The only ponies I really knew when I was 8 were my family and foal-sitter, and you don't fit the bill for any of them."

Scootaloo blinked once, face blank, before she burst out laughing. It certainly fit what she'd heard from Spike about Twilight's old life as an anti-social bookworm. "Fair enough," Scootaloo finally said, "but I'm not talking about when you were 10 years younger, I'm talking about 10 years ago."

Guarded, suspicious, and now confused, Twilight regarded this strange pegasus. "I don't follow."

Scootaloo sighed and sobered up immediately, the abrupt change startling Twilight. "Look, Twilight, there's no easy way to say this, so i'm just going to be blunt. You and your friends have been gone for 10 years."

"Gone?" asked Twilight, her other eyebrow rising to join the first. "What do you mean, gone?"

"I mean that 10 years ago, you and the other 5 Bearers of the Elements of Harmony vanished without a trace when you went to confront Discord. Nopony knows how or why, and most of us assumed that you were all dead. The Elements are scattered, the Princesses are still missing, and Equestria has dissolved into a civil war that has been going on for 7 years."

"..."

A moment later it was Twilight's turn to burst out laughing. Scootaloo groaned, having thought that this might be her reaction. She did the only thing she could think of to convince her quickly; she slipped off her dogtags and threw them at Twilight's hooves. As soon a Twilight saw them, her laughter stopped. She stared down at the tags, unable to accept what she was reading. She slowly looked up at Scootaloo and back down at the tags that bore her name and rank. "S- Scootaloo?" she whispered.

The tent's flap flung up and Apple Bloom looked in. When she saw Twilight sitting up, she grinned hugely. "Twilight! You're up! How're you feelin'?"

Recognition dawned on Twilight quickly. "Apple Bloom?" she whispered.

"I'm goin' to get SB," Apple Bloom said to Scootaloo before running off.

"Don't forget the soup!" shouted Scootaloo after her. "Don't let it... Oh, never mind. I swear, if she somehow manages to burn the soup again..."

"SB?" asked Twilight, voice slowly re-approaching normal volume. "Sweetie Bell is here too?"

"That's right," said Scootaloo, grinning down at her. "7 years of war and hardship, and the Crusaders are still together!"

"And you're all soldiers?"

Scootaloo's grin faded immediately, replaced by a stone-hard look that made Twilight look away. "7 years is a long time, Twilight," she said evenly. "When the war started, it took every mare and stallion just to survive. Very few are blessed with the rank of 'civilian' these days."

"But that's impossible," said Twilight. "How could Equestria have fallen so far in just three years."

"That's a long story, Twilight," said Scootaloo, sitting down and getting comfortable. "You see, when you 6 vanished, the widespread chaos stopped. No more popping corn, chocolate rain, or cotton candy clouds. Discord's statue vanished too, and the Elements of Harmony scattered, finding new bearers both within Equestria and beyond our borders. We thought you had all sacrificed yourselves to finish him off for good. Unfortunately, Discord is still alive. He didn't go away after you all vanished; he just waited in hiding, biding his time and using his magic in a much more subtle way.

"He began corrupting the unicorns. He messed with their thoughts, made them think that they were superior to earth ponies and pegasi. It wasn't obvious at first, but after the first year we noticed how reluctant everypony was to travel to Canterlot. By the end of year two, unicorns had gone from cold shouldering to open hostility. Of course, not all of them gave in like that. SB was one of the first unicorns to realize that something was off, and she and a few others began to fight against Discord's influence. Not only that, but they started to spread the word about him and what he was doing.

"He didn't like that much." Scootaloo hesitated. The hard part was coming up. "Discord decided that there was only one way to cement his hold on the unicorns. He had Sh... the unicorn who had taken charge of Equestria issue a decree banning earth ponies and pegasi from all major cities: Canterlot, Manehattan, Phillydelphia, New Yoke, ect. He enforced this decree with the royal guard, and non-unicorns were forced to flee."

"But that's crazy!" shouted Twilight. "Not that the rest of what you've been saying isn't, but that decree just wouldn't work! How would they control the weather without pegasi? How would they grow crops without earth ponies? Not to mention that less than a third of the guard are unicorns. How would they get the rest to go along with this?"

"You know, that would've been a problem." Scootaloo turned around to see Apple Bloom walking in, Sweetie right behind her. "That is," continued Apple Bloom, "if the guard's ranks had still been even. After two years of bein' looked down on, most of the earth ponies and pegasi had quit, and tons more unicorns suddenly got the idea to join up."

"And there are plenty of spells to handle crops and weather," added Sweetie as she and Apple Bloom sat down. "But you should know that better than any of us."

So caught up was Twilight in the conversation, that she barely even acknowledged that the other two Crusaders had entered. "But those spells are so much less effective!" she exclaimed.

"Do you think Discord cares?" Scootaloo snapped. Twilight flinched and Scootaloo looked down. "All he cared about was getting them out of the major cities. After all," she looked up and locked her eyes with Twilight's, "it's easier to destroy a small village than it is to fight inside of Canterlot."

The Crusaders could see the gears turning quickly in Twilight's head, along with the look of horror as she realized what Scootaloo meant. "No," she whispered. "You don't mean..."

Scootaloo nodded. "On June 21st, year 6 of the Harmonic Era of Equestria, the unicorns gathered under a new flag, and attacked Ponyville."

Silence reigned for several minutes as Twilight processed this information and the Crusaders remembered that eventful day 7 years ago. Scootaloo eventually continued, giving a summery of the war: how the first clash of the Elements had destroyed Canterlot, how Ponyville had become Equestrian Military HQ, how the Southern Gryphon Tribes had allied themselves with Equestria, and finally, the official secession of the unicorns under the name of...

"Utopia!?" Twilight exclaimed when she heard it. "They're under Discord's control and waging a war across Equestria, and they call themselves Utopia!?"

"Of course," said Sweetie, rolling her eyes. "After all, a society ruled by unicorns is a society of perfection."

"Heh, careful there SB," said Apple Bloom. "We wouldn't want you convertin' over to Discord's side, now would we?"

"Don't even joke about that!" shouted Twilight. "I don't think that Rarity could take it if that happened."

"Speakin' of whom," said Apple Bloom, getting up and stretching, "I'm surprised she an' the others ain't up yet. Maybe we should go an' get them up."

"Oh please don't," said Twilight. "I'd rather keep them out of this nightmare for as long as possible. I'm starting to wish that I were still asleep."

"Fair enough," Scootaloo said, "but while we wait, we should get you equipped."

"Equipped?" asked Twilight. "Equipped for what?"

Apple Bloom chuckled. "Think about it, Twilight. What kind of equipment would we soldiers have with us?"

Twilight paled. "You- you don't mean, equipped for, well, fighting, do you?"

"No," said Sweetie, her deadpan out in full force. "We mean equipped for a tea party. Of course we mea-"

"A PARTY?!?!?!?!?!"

The four of them jumped back as a mass of pink appeared out of nowhere in the middle of them, with the exception of Sweetie, who fell onto her back. "Are you crazy?" continued Pinkie Pie. "Nopony would come to a party all the way out here! It's all dark and gloomy and ruiny. It would be way way way way WAY too much of a downer. Oooo, unless it was a Nightmare Night party. Then this place would be perfect! We could have a spider toss and a pumpkin-a-pult and apple bobbing and streamers and baloons and candy and-"

"PINKIE!!!"

It was a good thing that Twilight had been there, because otherwise the Crusaders would have sat there in shock for another 5 minutes at least.

"Twilight!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie happily. "You're up too? Neeto! I went to check on the others, but they're still asleep. So I looked around Canterlot - which could reeeeeeealy use some spring cleaning by the way - but I didn't see anypony there. Well, there were all of those unicorns surrounding the mountain, but they didn't look too friendly, so I just-"

"WHAT!" the Crusaders shouted. Scootaloo zipped out of the door, flying as high as she dared, and moving faster than she had since last Tuesday. She leveled out once she was a short ways above the peak of Canterlot Mountain and looked down. Sure enough, all around the mountain were armed and armored unicorns. They were quickly making their way up the mountain. A few had spotted Scootaloo and were starting to charge spells before she dove back down to the camp that Sweetie and Apple Bloom were quickly breaking down.

"This is bad," she said as she landed, gathering up a few rolled up cots and lashing them together. "Several battalions are making their way up."

"Which side of the mountain?" asked Apple Bloom as she dowsed the fire.

"All of them!" said Scootaloo, loading a heavy pair of saddlebags onto Twilight which she almost buckled under. "They've surrounded us and they're making their way up fast. We have maybe 10 minutes."

Apple Bloom swore loudly. "Ain't no way we can get through that. We've got no choice. SB!" She turned to Sweetie. "You an' Twilight need to start teleportin' us back to HQ. I know it's tierin', but-"

Apple Bloom hadn't even finished her sentence before Sweetie had grabbed Rarity and vanished in a flash of light.

"Wait!" said Twilight, panicked. "What's going on? Where's do I teleport to? I don't even know if I can-"

"Twilight!" shouted Scootaloo, cutting off her panic attack. "Either you help to get all of us out of here, or you'll be staring down a hoard of Utopians at sword-point! Now move! Get them to the library!"

Twilight nodded as Sweetie appeared again. Sweetie grabbed Applejack as Twilight pulled both Rainbow and Fluttershy over to her with her magic. They both vanished at once in a flash.

Apple Bloom sighed and looked over at Scootaloo. "This is goin' to be hard on SB," she said.

Scootaloo nodded as Twilight returned alone, panting slightly. "I know," she said as Twilight vanished with Pinkie. "She can barely handle two trips with passengers. Three will probably knock her out for a few days."

Sweetie and Twilight reappeared, both gasping for breath. "Ready for the last trip?" asked Apple Bloom worriedly.

"Y-yeah," panted Twilight, legs shaking. "Just let me- catch my- my breath."

"No time," wheezed Sweetie, already staggering toward Apple Bloom. "We've got to- get you- out of here- before the- Utopians- see you."

"She's right, Twilight," said Scootaloo walking over. "They probably know that you're here, but we can't let them learn that you all haven't aged. We need them to think that we have the Bearers back at full power and rearing to go to war. We need every advantage that we can get."

Twilight nodded and wrapped her forelegs around Scootaloo just as Sweetie took off with Apple Bloom.

"It really is good to see you again, Twilight," said Scootaloo before they vanished.


----------***----------


It was a beautiful summer day in Ponyville, and Show Stopper had taken advantage of his unbearable time off to catch up on reading the works of Shakespur. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with HQ, but after 6 years disguised behind enemy lines, he felt naked in his own brow coat. Of course, now that Utopia knew how far he'd gotten in their hierarchy, it was doubtful that the discovered spy would be able to sneak back in. So here he was, stuck in HQ and reading the plays that he'd long since memorized as he waited to be reassigned.

Couldn't have gotten back a day sooner, could I? he thought, turning a page of Roameo and Jeweliet. Could have joined the Crusaders on their mission to Canterlot, but no. I get back from my daring escape from Paradise - hm, that could be a good name for a play - the day after they leave. Guess I'll see them in a couple of days, if Scoots doesn't get them into trouble again.

Suddenly there was a flash of light in the middle of the library as Sweetie Bell appeared with an unconscious mare. Speaking of them getting into trouble... "Better not let Inkwell catch you doing that," Show said, barely looking up enough to see Sweetie's mane. The paranoid librarian had a strict "No magic" policy for his library.

"No time to explain!" Sweetie shouted. "Get the medics over here. Now!"

Show sighed as Sweetie vanished. Wonder what's happened to them this time. He carefully bookmarked his place and got up to see what was wrong with Apple Bloom.

Except, it wasn't Apple Bloom lying unconscious on the floor.

Show barely had time to register just who lay before him when Sweetie returned, along with another unicorn. They deposited three more unconscious mares before Sweetie yelled, "MOVE IT!"

Snapped out of his shock, Show ran upstairs and grabbed a quill, some ink, and a bottle of dragon fire. He quickly scratched out a note. "Crusaders in library w/ injured. Send full team. Show Stopper, spy." He rolled up the scroll and quickly penned "To HQ Medical" on the outside before opening the bottle of dragon fire over it, sending it off to Spike. He then rushed back down the stairs to tell Sweetie that the message was sent.

When he got to the bottom, he found 9 mares, 6 of them unconscious, crowded onto the ground floor of the library. Three of them were the familiar crusaders, with Sweetie passed out from several long-range teleports. The other 5 unconscious mares were the largest shock: 5 of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, unchanged from how they appeared in the old photos. As for the last conscious mare...

"Wow! That was fun! I've never been teleported before. That was so superly amazingly funtastically cool! Hey Twilight, can we go again? Oh! You're sleeping. I guess that lots of magic will do that to a unicorn. Not that I would know since I'm an earth pony butOH MY GOSH!!! We're back in Twilight's house! That's so so so so sooooo far away from Canterlot! No wonder she's asleep! Sweetie, too. Huh, now that I think of it, she looks all grown up now. How did that-"

Show's ears were saved as Apple Bloom gave the back of pinkie's head a swift blow with a dictionary. "Sweet Apple Cider!" she exclaimed. "I'd forgotten how much she can talk! Sorry about that, Stops."

"At least you stopped her," said Show, rubbing his now ringing ears. "I think my ears were about to start bleeding." He looked down at the 6 unconscious Bearers, silent for a moment as his brain began to work again. "So..." he said.

"So," Apple Bloom answered.

"They're back."

"Eeyup."

"And they're KO'ed."

"Eeyup."

"And they haven't aged at all, apparently."

"Nope."

"...what?"

Scootaloo laughed at the way that Show's brain had shut down. "Yeah," she said, "that was about my reaction too."
> Waking Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3: Waking Up


The first sign to Twilight that something was wrong was the pain in her horn.

She'd suffered magic overload before, but it had never been enough to knock her out. Now she was dealing with a horn that felt like it was full of angrily pulsing jelly as her mind slowly began to take stock of her situation.

Lethargy. Horn pain. Sore all over. Mind full of cotton. Taste of blue in my mouth. Yep, this is magic overload alright. She lay still on a firm, itchy surface, waiting out the familiar sensations in their unfamiliar doses. She was vaguely aware that there were small sounds of movement nearby, but her mind was too muddled to try to figure them out.

Eventually, her mind stopped spinning and she found herself able to focus. She slowly sat up and opened her eyes, expecting to find herself in her library, or at least Ponyville Hospital. Instead, she was surprised to find herself in a large tent, filled with several long rows of cots like the one that she found herself sitting on. Most of the cots were occupied by unconscious ponies, and Twilight found her five best friends lying in the cots nearest her. She was confused for a moment, unable to figure out where she was.

All at once, it returned to her: waking up in a much smaller tent, the adult Crusaders, her and her friend's disappearances, the war, and the series of teleports that had wiped her out. She looked around the massive tent once again, realizing that she must be in - or more likely near, based on the size - Ponyville. No sooner had she realized this than an earth pony entered the tent. Although she was ten years older than Twilight remembered her, there was no mistaking the white coat and pink mane. "Nurse Red Heart," called Twilight softly, not wanting to wake her friends.

Nurse Red Heart looked over and smiled gently. "Miss Sparkle," she said softly, walking over. "You're up. How are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy," said Twilight, "and my horn hurts like crazy, but I've had worse."

Red Heart chuckled. "I can testify to that," she said. After a quick examination, she pronounced Twilight free from injury. "You'll want to take it easy with your magic for a while," she advised, "but other than that you should be fine. I've been told to take you to the Generals once you were awake, but," she looked around at the young unconscious Bearers, "maybe we'd better wait until the rest of them have woken up. They'll need someone to break it to them," she looked up at Twilight, "and someone to comfort them."

Twilight swallowed nervously and nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best, but I'm not sure how to tell them about everything. Especially Rarity and Applejack." She looked down at her two friends. "They've missed 10 years of their sister's lives."

Twilight felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked up to see Red Heart smiling kindly at her. "You'll do fine," she said. "You're their friend and you're there for them. A good friend is the best medicine that there is." She turned and headed back to the front of the tent. "I'm needed back at the hospital, but I'll check back in as soon as I can." Stopping by the tent flap, she turned and smiled again at Twilight. "It really is good to see you again, Twilight."

As Red Heart left, Twilight tried to decide how best to tell her friends about everything that had happened. Every scenario she went through in her mind had at least one of her friends - most of the time Fluttershy or Rarity - crying, and Twilight finally realized that there would be no easy way to explain things. Best to just rip the band-aid off as soon as she needed to.

"As soon as she needed to" turned out to be only a minute, as Rarity began to stir. At least it's not Pinkie, thought Twilight, not ready to handle that headache alone. "Rarity," Twilight called. "Rarity. Are you awake?"

Slowly, Rarity opened her eyes and turned to look at Twilight. "Twilight, darling, is that you?" she muttered. "Why are there three of you?"

Twilight couldn't help but chuckle. "Just relax, Rarity," she said. "I think you're just experiencing some mild magic overload. The dizziness should clear up soon."

Rarity slowly sat up, rubbing the side of her head. "Magic overload?" she asked. "Well, that would certainly do it. What ever was I doing that was so strenuous?" She looked around at the rest of the girls and raised an eyebrow. "And what happened to everypony else?"

"Probably the same thing," said Twilight, looking at them as well. "It's unheard of in pegasi and earth ponies, but I suppose if a large enough current of magic were being channeled through them, it could happen."

Rarity looked back up at Twilight. "Let me guess, dear. The Elements?" Twilight nodded. "Makes sense," Rarity continued. "The last thing I remember was going to Canterlot to use them on Discord's statue after... GASP! Twilight! Did it work? Are the princesses back?"

Twilight shook her head, both in response to Rarity's question and in disbelief that her friend was dramatic enough to actually shout the word "gasp" like that. "I don't think so, Rarity," she said. "Look, there's a lot to explain, and I really don't want to have to go through it more than once. Let's at least wait for the others to wake up."

Rarity opened her mouth to reply, but was caught off by a slight moan as two more ponies began to stir. "Oh, my head," grumbled Applejack, starting to sit up. "Rainbow ain't gettin' off easy for this one."

"Oh sure," muttered the other pony, still lying on the ground and making no effort to even open her eyes. "We both have hangovers, and it's my fault? Probably some of your hard cider to blame."

Twilight and Rarity rolled their eyes at this exchange. "Really, those two," said Rarity. "Finally awake, and the first thing they think to do is start arguing."

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and glared at Rarity, a feat made difficult as her eyes were still spinning. "Not now, Rares," she growled. "Splitting headache here. Not in the mood to deal."

"You ain't the only one," Applejack muttered, finally opening her eyes as well. She looked around the tent and over to Twilight. "Alright, Sugarcube," she said, "what happened to us, how long were we out, an' where are we?"

Twilight chuckled nervously. "Good questions," she said. "Well, like I told Rarity, it's a long story and I really don't want to have to go through it twice. Let's just wait for Pinkie and Fluttershy to wake up."

"Um, it doesn't look like Pinkie's going to wake up any time soon."

Everypony jumped and turned to see Fluttershy standing next to Pinkie, examining a nasty looking bump on her head. "Fluttershy, darling!" said Rarity. "How long have you been up?"

"Oh, well I woke up at the same time as you, actually," admitted Fluttershy, "but I didn't want to interrupt, and my head really hurt, so I decided to wait out the pain." She looked back down at Pinkie. "But it looks like Pinkie's going to be out for a while. Something must have hit her very hard to make a bump like that."

"So that's it then," said Rainbow. "All of us are up that are going to get up, so what's going on, Twilight?"

Twilight swallowed nervously again. She looked around, desperately searching for some way to delay the inevitable. There was no distraction to be had, however. All she saw was the tent, the cots, the ponies...

In fact, one of those ponies looked very familiar. Twilight recognized the white coat, the pink and purple curls, and, most startlingly, the flank bare of any cutie mark. She realized that she was staring and tried to look away, but it was too late. The others had noticed that she was staring at something and had turned to look. At first they didn't recognize the older mare, but recognition soon dawned on Rarity's face. Her eyes grew wide, her jaw dropping a little as she stared at her sister.

She turned and looked back at Twilight, tears beginning to form. "How?" she asked quietly. "How long were we out?"

Rainbow and Applejack were confused, but Fluttershy gasped as she realized who the unconscious mare was. She stared at her, unable to believe what she was seeing. "But, that's impossible. She's older than we are. How did this..."

"Am I missing something?" asked Rainbow, scratching her head. "Who's the mare?"

Twilight sighed. Time for the band-aid to come off. "It's Sweetie Bell," she said, avoiding looking at Rarity. "Lieutenant Sweetie Bell of the Crusaders, special force of the Equestrian Military."

Applejack and Rainbow's jaws dropped as they stared back and forth between Sweetie Bell and Twilight. "Th- the Crusaders?" Applejack stammered. "But, that would mean..."

Twilight nodded, looking down to avoid any eye contact whatsoever. "Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, too," she said. "They should be alright, though, and Sweetie Bell's just out from magic overload."

"How long were we out?" Rarity asked again, tears running freely.

"Ten years." Everypony jumped again as a brown coated unicorn lying nearby stood up and looked over. "Ten years you've been gone. The better question would be, why haven't the six of you aged during that time?"

"E-excuse me," stammered Twilight, "But who are you?"

"And why were you pretending to be asleep?" demanded Rainbow.

"Good questions," replied the unicorn, pushing his black bangs to the side. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Show Stopper, top spy of Equestria, and thespian extraordinaire." He bowed deeply. "At your service, by orders, if not willingly."

"What do you mean, by orders?" asked Applejack.

"To answer the second question," said Show Stopper, ignoring Applejack, "I feigned unconsciousness so as to better observe all of you. I must say, the six of you are just like everypony described."

"So you were spying on us?" asked Rainbow.

Show shrugged. "I suppose you could look at it like that. I prefer to think of it as research and character study. I'm sure that they'll make a play of these events if we ever win this war, and as the greatest thespian in history, I'd like to be prepared for whatever role I'm assigned."

The five mares stared at him in confusion, not sure what to make of this stallion. "Wait," said Applejack. "What war?"

Show rolled his eyes. "Quote, 'Lieutenant Sweetie Bell of the Crusaders, special force of the Equestrian Military.' End quote. Really, that should have been a big enough clue."

"But, who in the world would Equestria be at war with?' asked Rarity, still shell-shocked.

Show raised a single eyebrow. "You really don't know anything, do you?" He looked over at Twilight. "You want to tell them, or should I just take you all to the Generals where I can hopefully dump you off and be done with it?"

"That's enough out of you!" The voice had been quiet, but it had carried a force that froze Show in his tracks. Everypony looked over to see Nurse Red Heart making her way over, glaring at Show.

"Hey, Hearts," said Show casually, as if he hadn't just been paralyzed with fear. "Thought you went back to the hospital."

Red Heart's glare only deepened at Show's nick-name. "I did," she said icily, "and then I heard just who it was that the Generals had assigned to escort these 6. You have an unfortunate track record of disturbing my patients, and I see that my fears are well founded. You could stand to learn some tact, thespian."

Show's cheerful face fell, just for a moment, into a hardened stare. "War leaves no room for tact." His cheerful demeanor quickly returned. "But I know how scary you can get where your patients are concerned, so I won't try your patience any longer, for my own safety. I'll be outside." Without another word, he trotted out.

Red Heart sighed, her face softening the instant he was outside of the tent. She smiled softly at the girls. "I'm sorry about him," she said. "He's an idiot."

There wasn't really anything to say to that, so Rainbow got right to the point, starting in where Rarity had left off. "So who're the bad guys, huh? Let's get the Elements and blast them out of Equestria!"

Red Heart sighed. "If only it were so simple," she said. She looked at Twilight. "Who would you rather tell them, you or me?"

Twilight looked over her friends and back to Red Heart, resigned to what she knew she had to do. "I'll tell them. You go ahead back to the hospital. If Show tries coming back in, I'll just set up a barrier to keep him out." Nurse Red Heart nodded and, with one final smile at the rest of the girls, made her way out of the tent.

"So," prompted Rainbow impatiently, "what's up? Who are we fighting? Why can't we just blast them with the Elements? And what did Show mean when he said we'd been out ten years? 'Cause I sure as hay don't feel 28."

Twilight sighed and sat down, motioning for the others to do the same. "Like I said," began Twilight, "it's a long story. It started right after we used the Elements on Discord's statue..."


----------***----------


Fluttershy and Rarity were still crying when Show decided to try entering the tent again. Twilight didn't try to stop him; nothing that he said could possibly have made the situation worse. Or so she thought.

"By the waterworks," he said cheerfully, "I'd guess that they now know that they live in a post-apocalyptic world where ponies die at 32 from radiation poisoning and foals eat their deceased parents to survive."

Five glares were leveled his way, and even the tears filling two of them couldn't conceal the loathing that all five of them felt.

Show sighed in defeat. "OK," he admitted," that was bad, even for me. Sorry.

"I'm surprised, though," he continued, looking at Applejack. "I thought you'd be in tears, too."

"I suspect they'll come soon enough," muttered Applejack. "Probably once I'm around my family again."

Show raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't see what comfort a tombstone can offer."

"Why you little-" Rainbow was about to take off, but Applejack stomped on her tail before her wings could even spread.

"Ain't worth it, Dash," she said. "Soon as I heard that ten years had passed, well, we all knew that Granny Smith wasn't likely to make in another five anyhow. I figured she'd gone on. It was her time."

Show's other eyebrow rose to join the first. He hesitated, just for an instant. "Very mature of you," he said. His face lost all semblance of sobriety as he grinned and turned to leave. "Well, follow on!" he said. "Now that you're all caught up, we've got some generals to see."

"Pinkie Pie still isn't up yet," pointed out Twilight, still glaring, "and my magic is still too drained to carry her around all day. And no offence," she added, pouring as much offence as she could into her voice, "but I doubt a show-pony like yourself can carry her for long."

"Show-pony?" asked Rainbow. "I thought he said he was a thes- a thespa- whatever he said before."

Show rolled his eyes. "Thespian," he corrected. "It's another term for an actor or an actress, though if you'd payed any attention to my cutie mark, you might have been able to make that connection." He turned slightly to show us the stage on his flank, with the red curtain raised half-way up.

"Well sorry," said Rainbow sarcastically. "I don't really spend my time staring at a stallion's flanks."

"Save that for the mares, do you?" Ignoring Rainbow's outrage, he looked back at Twilight, smirking. "As for lifting Cotton Candy over there, well," his horn began to glow, "you'd be surprised by what a show-pony can do."

A blinding flash of light caused everypony to shield their eyes. When the light faded, they lowered their hooves to take in the strangest sight of the day. Standing where Show had been, still smirking at Twilight Sparkle, was Twilight Sparkle.
> Memories and Missions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4: Memories and Missions


It was rather a surreal experience for Twilight, seeing herself levitating Pinkie Pie down the streets of Ponyville. Under normal circumstances, she would have been bombarding Show for questions about the spell, trying to learn it herself.

However, these were not normal circumstances.

Ponyville was gone, replaced by Equestrian Military HQ. Gone were the quaint little houses. Gone were the beautiful flower gardens and family owned businesses. Gone was the river that used to wind through the town. Replacing the picturesque village were large tents, huge warehouses, expansive training fields, and row upon row of army barracks. Few buildings remained of the original town, and only the library remained unchanged. Even that was surrounded by bleak stone archives. In fact, bleak stone and drab canvas made up almost every structure in sight, the repetition of gray and brown a stark contrast to the bright colors that the girls remembered.

It wasn't just the town; the ponies were completely different, too. While Ponyville had always been an earth pony town, unicorns and pegasi had hardly been an uncommon sight. Now there were just as many pegasi as there were earth ponies, but unicorns were scarcer than Canterlotian nobles at a Pinkie Pie Party. There was also an unusually large number of gryphons, almost as many as there were earth ponies or pegasi. Everyone wore a military uniform and carried at least one weapon. They didn't speak to each other or even look around. They just marched straight to wherever they were headed, eyes forward and unmoving.

And what eyes they were. Even as their faces remained as stiff and controlled as the old Royal Guards', their eyes betrayed depression and coldness. And those were the lucky few; most of them just looked dead.

As Show led the girls through this sea of walking corpses, his smile remained bright and casual. In contrast, the girls had expressions ranging from Twilight's pained shock, having been mentally bracing herself (though not nearly enough), to Fluttershy's horrified weeping.

"It's a good thing these zombies are so rigid," quipped Show as he paused to let a group of earth ponies pass. "If they were to so much as relax their eyeballs they'd see all of you. Those mobs would be impossible to get through!"

"I- I don't believe this..." whispered Rainbow, wings hanging limp at her sides.

"Believe it, Spectrum," said Show. "This isn't the Ponyville of sunshine and rainbows anymore. This is the Ponyville of bleak stone and uniforms."

"Speaking of which, why aren't you wearing yours?"

They all turned to see Red Heart marching over from the heavily added onto Ponyville Hospital, glaring at Show as if he were a staph infection. "N-Nurse Red Heart?" stammered Fluttershy fearfully.

Red Heart's expression immediately softened as she turned her gaze to the girls. "It's good to see you again, Fluttershy. You too, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack." She rounded on Show, her glare back in place. "And just where do you think you're taking my patients?"

"Hey, calm down, Hearts," said Show, grinning as Red Heart flinched at the nick-name. "In reverse order, I think I'm taking them to the Generals, as are my orders. As for the uniform, as a spy, I'm not in the army, air force, gryphon armada, or even special forces, so what uniform would I wear?"

"Oh I don't know," said Red Heart rolling her eyes. "Maybe the one that the Generals THEMSELVES gave you?"

Show shrugged. "Fair point. I just don't like it. How'd you recognize me, anyway?"

"By not being an idiot, that's how!" Red Heart retorted. "Twilight's to drained to maintain a levitation like that for long, and I'm not even sure that she knows a cloning spell."

"I don't," replied Twilight as Show said, "She doesn't."

Ignoring Twilight's glare, Show continued. "You can't argue against me escorting them to the Generals now that they're awake, and I've seen enough of this one," he gave Pinkie a small shake, "to know that the Generals will be quite content to not see her conscious."

Red Heart gave a defeated sigh. "I suppose you're right," she admitted.

"Of course I'm right! So..." Show raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here again?"

If looks could kill, Show would have been a burning corpse six feet under. "To give you grief and waste your time!" she shouted. "You do that to everyone else so much, I figure that I should repay you as often as possible!" Without another word, she turned and stormed back to the hospital.

"Wow," muttered Rainbow. "She hates you."

"I'm arrogant and insubordinate," Show replied cheerfully. "Everyone hates me!"

"I can see why," chorused Applejack and Rainbow.

Show winced, his face showing deep sorrow. "Ouch. Double-whammy. I'm so sad I might cry." Tears started to form in his eyes, and for a moment he looked absolutely miserable.

In an instant, his smile was back and the illusion was shattered. "Oh well. Shall we?"

He continued to lead them to what had once been the town square. He walked up to a building that seemed totally unfamiliar to the girls. In fact, the only reason they were able to recognize the highly modified Town Hall at all was because of its location. The doors were guarded by two pegasi who hovered on either side, spears in hoof. Show stepped right up to them and sang, "Hello boys. I'm ba~ack!"

Their eyes widened considerably, but the guards showed no other reaction. Show shook his head, admittedly impressed. "Former Royal Guards," he chuckled. "Not the best fighters, but if they aren't the most disciplined soldiers I've ever seen, I'll eat my cutie mark." He looked up and addressed one of them. "Show Stopper reporting with the Bearers. The Generals want to see us."

The guard shared a quick glance with his partner before nodding and motioning them toward the doors. The girls followed Show in to see that the interior had been changed as much as the exterior. They found themselves not in the large atrium where they'd celebrated Twilight's first Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, but rather a small lobby, furnished only with a small desk and occupied only by the secretary who didn't even glance up as they walked in. Show quickly led the girls down several hallways, turning left and right seemingly at random until the girls were hopelessly lost. Finally, he stopped outside of a plain wooden door which bore a small plaque reading, "War Room".

"Ladies," said Show dramatically, hoof on the door, "allow me to introduce the Equestrian Generals!" With that, he swung the door open and ushered them inside.

The first thing the girls noticed about the war room was that it was dark. There were no windows or light fixtures. Instead, the room was lit by several free-floating orbs of light, obviously unicorn crafted. Illuminated by these orbs was a large table, the surface of which showed a large and detailed map of Equestria. Surrounding the table were three figures. The first was a gryphon in full battle armor which was clean and polished. The second was a light gray pegasus with a blonde mane who bore a scar running from her forehead down to her right cheek. It was impossible to see if her eye was damaged as it was covered by an eye-patch. The third figure was a magenta earth pony with a close cut pink and white mane. She too wore armor, though hers was dented and scratched. Although they were all ten years older, there was no mistaking them.

"Cheerilee?" gasped Rarity.

"Ditzy?" asked Applejack incredulously.

"GILDA?" exclaimed Rainbow.

"That's General Gilda to you," said the gryphon, removing her helmet to smile at Rainbow. "I've got to admit, I thought you'd kicked the bucket all those years ago. Glad to see I was wrong." She walked over and pulled Rainbow into a firm one-armed hug. "It's great to see you again, Dash!"

Rainbow squirmed out of Gilda's hold and glared at her. "Are you kidding?" she demanded. "What are you trying to pull? The last time I saw you, you terrified Fluttershy, insulted my friends, and called me a flip-flop before storming out of a party we threw for you!"

Gilda wash shocked and more than a little hurt. "Dash, come on," she said. "That was years ago. I was young and stupid. Besides, I already apologized for that."

"Really?" asked Rainbow raising an eyebrow. "Because I don't remember anything like that."

Now Gilda was starting to get angry. "Don't remember- What then? Did you just throw my letter away without even bothering to read it?"

"What letter?" asked Rainbow.

"The letter I wrote the very next week!" screeched Gilda. "The one where I begged for forgiveness! I always thought that you just didn't have time to respond, but you just threw it away, didn't you? Didn't even bother to read what I had to say! Didn't..." She trailed off as Rainbow's anger turned to shock and confusion. "You... you never got that letter, did you?"

Rainbow slowly shook her head. Gilda's eyes narrowed into a glare and she turned on Ditzy. "YOU NEVER GOT THAT LETTER TO HER!!!" she screeched.

Ditzy Doo calmly closed her good eye and started muttering to herself. "Gilda to Rainbow Dash... Gilda to Rainbow Dash... ten plus years ago... oh!" Her eye opened and she shrugged. "Sorry Gilda," she said impassively, "but it didn't have enough postage or even a return address. Probably ended up in junk-mail."

Gilda ground her beak. "And you didn't think to tell me that because..."

Ditzy shrugged. "Wasn't my job," she said simply.

Gilda face palmed, making everypony but Cheerilee wince as Gilda's gauntlet banged against her forehead. "Great," she muttered, apparently not even registering the pain. "Just great. I spend three hours trying to figure out how to apologize, and it gets lost in the mail." She sighed and turned to look at Rainbow. "Look," she said, "you know I'm not good with words, so I won't bother trying to make it sound all nice and pretty. I was a jerk. I was an idiot. I know exactly what I was thinking, and that pretty much amounted to a pile of manure." She bowed her head, unable to meet Rainbow's eye anymore. "I'm sorry."

Silence reigned for a moment as everypony looked at Rainbow, wondering what she would say. Finally, she sighed and walked over to Gilda. As she stopped in front of her, Gilda looked up-

*WHAM*

-and got a face full of hoof. "OK," muttered Gilda, wiping her cheek. "I deserved that."

"And you also deserve this," said Rainbow. She reached out and drew Gilda into a firm embrace. "I've missed you, G."

Gilda smiled and returned the hug. "It's great to have you back, Dash."

"Oh gag me with a spoon!" Everyone looked over to see Show, now back to looking like himself, pretending to retch. "Can we please save this sentimental junk until after the briefing?"

"Although I would not have phrased it so crudely, the Thespian is right. The longer we talk, the more ponies die. Let us get this under way."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop as the girls stared at Cheerilee. She stood there, stone faced and impassive, as if she'd made an off-hoof comment about the weather.

"Ch-Cheerilee," said Rarity wearily. "Is something the matter, dear? You aren't usually this, well-"

"Mean," offered Applejack.

"Scary," whispered Fluttershy.

"Bad-flank," said Rainbow.

"-bold," finished Rarity, ignoring Rainbow. "What happened?"

"Ten years of watching my students kill each other happened," said Cheerilee, dropping the temperature further with her cold and unfeeling voice. "As I said, let us get this under way. I realize that the Thespian and Miss Sparkle already have an understanding of the situation, but for the sake of the rest I shall explain the whole of it."

The next twenty minutes were the longest of the girls' lives as Cheerilee coldly related a condensed history of the war. Battles, massacres, death tolls, collateral damage. As she built a picture of the horrors of the past seven years, the girls felt as if their souls were shriveling up and dying. Fluttershy was in tears, Applejack was as pale as a ghost, Rarity seemed on the verge of fainting, and Rainbow's jaw and wings hung slack. Even Twilight, who had heard much of this from the Crusaders before, wanted to crawl under a rock and hide from Cheerilee's monotonous and emotionless description. Only Gilda, Ditzy and Show remained unaffected, as they'd heard this many times already, and had lived through it themselves.

"And that brings us to the present situation," finished Cheerilee. She turned to Ditzy. "I've wasted too much time here as it is. Why all three of us had to be here in the first place I do not understand, but I have done my part. Inform them of their mission and send them on their way as soon as possible. I will be overseeing the drills at field three." With that she marched past the girls, not sparing anyone so much as another glance, and walked out.

Ditzy sighed. "Sorry about that," she said casually, "but she insisted that Gilda or I would have been to soft in telling you about the war. Stubborn as a brick wall, that one."

"Wh-what happened to her?" sobbed Fluttershy. "She was a-always so sweet, and ch-cheerful, and k-kind."

"It's like she said," replied Gilda sadly. "She's watched her students kill each other for years. She's even had to kill a few of them herself. I doubt she'll ever recover, even if your mission is a success."

"An' what mission are y'all talkin' about?" asked Applejack, standing strong despite the verbal horrors.

Ditzy cleared her throat. "Twilight Sparkle," she said formally. "Rarity. Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash. Applejack. Pinkamena Diane Pie." Pinkie snorted, but otherwise didn't respond. "As General of the Equestrian Air Force, and co-General of the Equestrian Special Forces, I issue you six an assignment of national importance. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to travel outside of Equestria to find and reclaim the lost Elements of Harmony, - Loyalty, Kindness, and Honesty - and return with them to Equestria. Our sources tell us that they reside one each with the changelings, the deer, and the dragons. Show Stopper, your mission will be to guide and protect them on their mission. Any questions?"

The room was full of silence and dropped jaws until Show burst out laughing. "The Changelings?" he asked. "Are you serious? OK, now this makes a lot more sense. Ladies," he turned to look at the girls, "you all have now undergone a wonderful transformation from a waste of my talents into a golden opportunity." He turned back and saluted Ditzy. "General One-Eye, I cheerfully accept this assignment!"

"OK," said Twilight, "I'm confused. How is going to the changelings a good thing?"

"Are you kidding?" exclaimed Show. "It's the best news I've heard all day!"

"Show's spent some time living with the changelings," explained Ditzy. "Shortly after the wedding of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza-"

"During which the changelings invaded," interrupted Twilight.

Ditzy nodded and continued unfazed. "-a changeling princess named Milkweed organized a coup against Chrysalis. It wasn't hard for her to gain support; most of the changelings had been against the invasion from the beginning. She quickly took over and banished Chrysalis from her nation."

"At about thew same time, in Equestria," added Show, "the greatest actor in the country was bored. He had worked his way up to performing for the princesses, but from there he saw in himself no progress, for how can one grow any greater? And so, he turned his sights westward to a nation inhabited by the greatest actors of all time: the changelings! There he expanded upon his talents until here he stands before you today, the greatest thespian in Equestrian history!"

"The most humble, too," Gilda deadpanned.

"Quite so," continued Show. "And thanks to my improved shape-shifting spell, which gives me the knowledge, training, and even memories of those I imitate, I returned to become the greatest spy in-"

"WHAT!!!" Everyone turned to see Twilight flushed with rage and embarrassment. " That wasn't an illusion? You mean you had MY BODY? And my MEMORIES? Does the word, 'privacy' mean NOTHING to you?"

Show rolled his eyes and sighed. "It always goes this way," he muttered, "doesn't it? Look," he looked up at Twilight, "I only have those memories when I'm 'in character', so to speak. They leave me as soon as I exit that form. And I see your other accusation coming," he preempted as Twilight's mouth opened again, "so let me address it now. I've taken on the form of hundreds of stallions, mares, and even foals over the years. Did I experiment? Yes, I'll admit it, for the first month or so. After that, it just didn't hold any excitement for me, so there's no need for accusations of perversion or lechery."

"Getting back on topic," said Ditzy, trying to keep herself from snickering, "are there any questions about your mission?"

The room was quiet for a while before Fluttershy piped up. "Um, what about the rest of the Elements?"

Ditzy and Gilda turned to look at each other. After a moment of silence, Gilda nodded. Ditzy nodded back and turned to Fluttershy. "Regarding the Elements of Generosity and Laughter, we have no right to retain them from their rightful Bearers any longer. The company that has them will return tomorrow. We will return them to you then."

"Anything else?" asked Gilda. The room was silent again for a while. Gilda opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off when Applejack cleared her throat.

"There's one thing," she said hesitantly. "I was hopin' that it would be covered in y'all's explanation or that somepony else would ask it, but it looks like that ain't happenin'." She breathed deeply and dropped the bombshell.

"What's happened to our families?"
> Family Situations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5: Family Situations


You could have heard a pin drop in Appleoosa. Applejack's question hung in the air, the weight of it making even Show uncomfortable. Gilda and Ditzy hesitated, wondering how to handle this.

There hesitation was answer enough. "It's bad," Applejack concluded, "ain't it?"

Ditzy finally sighed. "For some," she admitted. "Maybe it would be best to talk to you one at a time-"

"Not going to happen." Everyone turned to see Rainbow staring Ditzy down, face set and determined. "We're going to hear it all together, and we're going to help each other through it."

"Some of these are very personal matters," argued Ditzy. "They're the sort of things that some ponies might want to keep close."

"Exactly!" snapped Rainbow. "Some ponies like Fluttershy and AJ. Fluttershy is too nice to 'bother us' with her problems, no matter how much she's hurting, and AJ's too stubborn to admit that anything's wrong. And don't look at me like that," she said, sparing a quick glance at Applejack as she glared at her. "You know it's true. If anything's happened to my friend's families, I want to know so that I can help them."

"And what if it's your family that's the sensitive case?" asked Ditzy. "Would you want me spelling it out in front of your friends?"

"Darn right I would," snapped Rainbow. "I'd probably need help as much as any of them, and i'm almost as stubborn as AJ. Better for them to hear it now."

Ditzy glared, playing her final trump card. "And what if somepony's died?"

"Who do you think helped Scootaloo?"

Silence once again reigned throughout the war room. Rainbow's answer had been swift and hard, breaking Ditzy's glare and dropping her jaw. She wasn't the only one affected; everyone was staring surprised at Rainbow as she continued to stare Ditzy down. Ditzy tried to reconstruct her impassive glare, but found it impossible. She looked down and sighed. "Rainbow." she said, "Fluttershy. Rarity. All of your families are involved in the Equestrian Military. Pinkie's family is still on their rock farm, except for Octavia, who is one of our most elite combatants. She's currently recovering from her latest duel. Applejack..." She looked up at Applejack and then over to Rainbow. Seeing Rainbow's determined expression unchanged, she looked back down. "I'm sorry," she said. "Granny Smith died eight years ago, before the war started."

Applejack nodded. "Figured as much," she said. "We all knew she didn't have many more winters in her. An' Macky?"

Ditzy winced, and Applejack paled. Ditzy looked up and opened her mouth, but on seeing Applejack's pleading expression, lowered it again. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "He was a hero."

Tears began to form in Applejack's eyes as Ditzy's words sank in. "How'd it happen?" she asked calmly.

Ditzy looked up at Gilda, silently pleading with her. Gilda cleared her throat and addressed Applejack. "The first attack of the war was the Battle of Ponyville," she said. "It would have been a massacre if it weren't for him. Big Macintosh, later dubbed 'the Stalwart', rallied the town to the defense and sent a pegasus to Cloudsdale for support. As other ponies fled or fell, he stayed and protected his fallen comrades until they could be carried off. He killed many unicorns with his bare hoof, and wounded many more. By the time reinforcements arrived, he was the only one left standing, but the unicorns were already in full retreat. Big Macintosh refused to move until the last unicorn disappeared from view." Gilda hesitated, but continued. "As soon as they did, he collapsed. He succumbed to his injuries two days later. He truly was a hero."

Tears were streaming down Applejack's face, along with the rest of the girls. But as Rainbow took a step towards her, a small smile formed on Applejack's face. "Ain't that just like you," she whispered. "Defendin' your home an' your family right to the very end. You big idiot."

Rainbow smiled and stepped back, knowing that her friend would be alright. She turned back to Ditzy. "And Twi's family?"

Ditzy wiped away her tears and took a deap breath, immediately regaining her professional demeanor. "They're alive, at least," she said, looking at Twilight. "Your parent's are under Discord's influence, but according to Show, they're civilians."

Twilight sighed in relief. At least they were safe. "And Shining?" she asked.

Ditzy shook her head. "That's where the bad news really starts," she said. "You see, Equestria has three Generals, being me, Gilda and Cheerilee. Utopia has only, two: General Trixie Lulamoon, anf General Shining Armor."

Silence decided to take a backseat as laughter filled the room. Applejack's and Rainbow's were wild and unrestrained, leaving both of them rolling on the ground. Rarity and Twilight leaned against each other for support to avoid the same fate. Fluttershy was the only one who was even trying to restrain herself, and she was failing horribly.

"Th-the G-Great and P-Powerful T-Trixie? A G-General?" she gasped out. "I-I'm sorry, but that's, that's just..."

"The most re-ridiculous th-thing I've h-heard all day!" finished Rarity, she and Twilight gaining barely enough controle to stand by their own power. "And th-that my dear, is tr-truly saying something!"

Barely gaining control of herself, Twilight asked, "How in Equestria did somepony like her become a General?"

"She used the Element of Magic to vaporize ten companies of gryphons with a single spell."

Silence reasserted itself in the room as the girls stared at Gilda, Rainbow and Applejack quickly standing up. Gilda's face was cool and impassive, but her eyes spoke volumes of emotion; she had lost someone from that spell.

"I-I'm sorry," stammered Twilight. "We all are. We... we didn't know."

Gilda shrugged. "It was a long time ago," she said. "Near the beginning of the alliance. Utopia was trying to scare us off."

Rainbow gulped loudly. "They really didn't understand gryphons, then," she muttered.

Gilda nodded. "They do now."

Ditzy cleared her throat. "If that is all, do you five accept this mission as citizens of Equestria?"

"I'll do it!" chorused Rainbow and Applejack immediately.

"There's no way I'll leave Equestria hanging when it needs me!" said Rainbow.

"An' after what y'all said about Big Mac, there ain't no way I couldn't give it my all." Applejack wiped a final tear from her eye and stood tall and proud. "Besides, I ain't never lost to him at anythin'. Figure the only way to beat him this time is to end the war for good."

"You can count me in," said Rarity. "The sooner my family is out of danger, the better."

"I'll do it too," said Fluttershy. "I don't want ponies hurting each other anymore. Besides," her eyes lit up, "I've never met a deer before. Oh, I'm so excited!"

"I'm sure that Pinkie would agree, too," said Twilight. "She'd do anything to help ponies smile again." She smiled and saluted Ditzy. "General Ditzy Doo, on behalf of me and my friends, we accept this mission. We will secure the lost Elements of Harmony and return."

Ditzy smiled. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear," she said. "Preparations for your departure will take most of tomorrow. You will begin your mission the day after that. Show Stopper, you will continue to be their escort in the meantime. Everypony, dismissed."

Everypony saluted and Show led them all to an empty barracks which he told the girls that they could probably use for a couple of nights.

"What do you mean, 'probably'," asked Rarity.

"Well, no one's seen or heard from this group in three months," replied Show casually. "They're assumed dead, but who knows? They might show up tomorrow and kick you out." He grinned at them. "And on that happy note, I bid you ladies, goodnight." He turned and walked out without another word.

"I don't like him," said Rainbow as soon as the door had closed.

"Well, we'd best get used to him quickly," said Rarity. "He is going to be our guide after all."

"I don't think that'll be possible," said Applejack. "Toleratin' is as far as I think we can go with him. Y'all heard what he said, everypony hates him."

"Aw, come on. He's not that bad."

Everypony turned to see an orange pegasus with a messy purple mane standing in the open doorway. Four sets of jaws dropped at seeing-

"Scootaloo," said Twilight, unfazed. "How's Sweetie Bell doing. Nurse Red Heart told me that she'd be unconscious for a while."

Scootaloo shrugged. "Yeah, looks that way," she said. "It's just as well. We've been working too hard. AB and I are going to take this opportunity to relax a bit. Speaking of whom," she smiled over at Applejack. "It's great to see you again, Applejack. She's waiting for you outside."

It took a moment for Applejack to realize who Scootaloo was talking about, but when she did, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and walked out past Scootaloo, not sparing anypony so much as another glance.

Scootaloo sighed. "Hope they'll be alright," she muttered to herself. She looked up at the rest of the girls. "It's great to see all of you too, Fluttershy, Rarity, R-Rainbow Dash."

"S-Scootaloo?" said Rainbow, finally picking her jaw off of the ground. "Squirt, is that you?"

Scootaloo smirked. "You know, technically I'm older than you now," she said. "I don't think that old nick-name is going to work any more."

"We knew that you were all older," said Rarity, slowly shaking her head, "but to actually see it for ourselves..."

"Eeyup," said Scootaloo. "Ten years older, ten years smarter, and ten years more without our cutie marks."

Silence had it's reign once again as four sets of jaws complained from being consistently dropped. "You're joking," Rarity finally said, "right?"

Scootaloo smirked and turned to show off her, still blank, flank.

"But how is that possible?" asked Fluttershy. "You're already twenty!"

"It's not just us," Scootaloo replied, turning back to face them. "Nopony's gotten their cutie marks since Discord escaped. Probably another one of his pranks. Utopia keeps saying that it's because the princesses disappeared."

"Jeez," muttered Rainbow. "I can't imagine the grief you must have gotten for that, especially from those two brats you always talked about."

"Yeah well," Scootaloo shrugged, "almost everypony cut it out after a while. Diamond and Silver were the only ones who even brought it up after the war started. They kept at it for years. Heck, I think "blank flanks" might have even been the last thing they said to us before they were killed."

Fluttershy winced. "Oh, please don't talk about that so casually. It's so sad."

Scootaloo sighed. "Sorry, Fluttershy, but you're going to have to get used to it. Everypony's a little stone-hearted these days. Besides, it happened three years ago. Even if we had been friends, I'd still be long over it by now."

"Three years isn't that long," said Twilight.

Scootaloo gave a hollow laugh. "It is if you're a soldier." She looked down at her watch and swore. "But five minutes isn't. AB and i'd better get back to out barracks before TAPS, or we'll be stuck on KP duty until Sweetie wakes up." She grinned once more at the girls. "It really is great to see all of you again. See you tomorrow!" With that, she dashed out the door.

A minute later, Applejack walked in, fresh tears on her cheeks. "You OK, AJ," asked Rainbow, walking over.

Applejack wiped away her tears and nodded, smiling softly. "She's all grown up," she said, "an' she's seen more than I would've ever wanted her to, but she's still Apple Bloom."

Rainbow quickly closed the distance, pulling Applejack into a tight hug. Everypony was surprised by Rainbow's sudden display of emotion, and Rainbow ended the embrace before anypony could comment. "We've got a long day tomorrow," she said, flying over to one of the beds. "We should get some sleep."

Applejack smiled and wiped away one last tear. "Yeah," she agreed. "You're right. Goodnight, everypony."

But the day still held one more surprise for them. As Twilight approached one of the beds, she found a small book lying on the pillow, the word "journal" stamped across the front in gold letters.

"Oh, heck no!" Twilight looked around to see that each of the beds had a journal on it. Applejack was glaring at hers. "Ain't no way I'm relivin' this day in my head long enough to write it down. I'd rather not have to remember it every time I open this book."

"I agree," said Twilight, shaking her head. "The sooner we can forget all of this, the better." She levitated her journal over to the center of the room. "All in favor of burning these?"

"Aye!" called Applejack tossing her book on top of Twilight's.

"Aye," said Rarity, levitating hers and Pinkie's and adding them to the pile.

"Anypony got some ink?"

Everypony looked up, surprised, to see Rainbow sitting on her bed with her journal open in front of her.

"Um, Rainbow dear," said Rarity, "what are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" asked Rainbow, examining her left wing. She bit down on a feather and pulled, grunting a little as it came out. Spitting it onto the bed she continued. "I'm writing. Now do you have any ink?"

"Of course not," said Rarity, confused. "Why would I? And more to the point, why would you possibly want to record this dreadful day?"

"Because," said Rainbow, getting up and walking over to Pinkie Pie, "if I don't write it all down, I'll probably forget a lot of it. I need to remember today."

"Why in Equestria would you need to remember a day like today?" asked Twilight.

Rainbow started to rummage around in Pinkie's mane. "Because i, for one, want to be able to move on from this once this is over. If I tr-YEOUCH!" She pulled out her hoof to see a mousetrap clamped onto the end. "Seriously? Why does she carry around a live mousetrap?" She pulled it off and resumed rummaging. "Anyway, if I try to just pretend that it didn't happen, it'll haunt me for the rest of my life." She finally pulled out a bottle of ink and flew back to her bed with it. "If I want to be able to move on, the first step is to accept that it happened. Writing it down seems like a good way to do that."

"Rainbow, you're talking like a therapist," Twilight deadpanned. "How would you know things like this?"

"Sunshine."

Rainbow hadn't shouted, hadn't raised her voice. She hadn't even looked up from where she was starting to write. But the effect was immediate. Both Fluttershy and Applejack winced, Applejack walking over to grab her journal out of the pile.

"Sunshine?" asked Twilight, sharing a confused look with Rarity. She turned to Applejack. "What does she mean by 'sunshine'?"

Applejack spit her journal onto her bed and shook her head. "That ain't my place to say, Sugarcube," she said, "but I'd take Rainbow's advice if I were you."
> Rude Awakenings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6: Rude Awakenings


There was nothing that Rainbow loved more than waking up naturally. The feeling of slowly regaining consciousness, lying still and awake for those last few moments before opening her eyes, and the calm nature of the whole ordeal made most mornings/early afternoons Rainbow's favorite time of day.

So naturally, when Rainbow was roused early in the morning by the harsh and annoying blaring of a bugle, she was not pleased. She groaned and reached for her journal on reflex, waking up just long enough to write down the details of her dream., a practice born of years of repetition. It hadn't been a pleasant one, but it was fairly familiar.

"Scootaloo soared through the sky over Equestria, graceful and serene. Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning lashed out and struck her. As she fell, the land beneath her was suddenly aflame. She fell towards Ponyville, which was swallowed up by a giant pit full of large sharpened unicorn horns."

Just like those times I dreamed of Sunshine's death, thought Rainbow groggily as she stuffed her journal back under her pillow. The pit of spikes in new though, and Equestria wasn't on fire before... Her thoughts faded as she began to doze off again.

Her dozing would be in vain, as a bright flash of light filled the room moments later. "Good morning ladies!" sang a voice that Rainbow was quickly growing to despise. "And how are we this beautiful day?"

"A lot worse now that you've shown your face," snapped Applejack. "Now get out before I buck you to Appleoosa,"

"Tut tut," said Show. "Looks like someone's not a morning pony."

"Pht. Yeah right," muttered Rainbow, cracking open an eye. "AJ was probably up and ready before that bugler was even rubbing the sleep out of her eyes."

Show turned towards her and grinned. "Spectrum! You're alive. But in that case, why does Apple Crisp here so touchy this morning? Come to think of it," his smile dropped as his eyebrow raised, "why are you glaring at me?"

"Because we hate you!" chorused Applejack and Rainbow.

"Besides," said Applejack as Rainbow rolled out of bed, "nopony likes it when somepony barges into their room, especially before the sun is up. I've yet to meet the pony who likes bein' blinded first thing in the mornin'."

"Not to mention that you've yet to get our names right," muttered Rairity, still rubbing her eyes.

"Or the fact that you thought we were a 'waste of you talents' until you found out what was in it for you," added Twilight.

Show's jaw dropped and he put a hoof over his heart theatrically. "Why I had no idea you all despised me so. Ladies! I am wounded. Your words have struck me to the very soul. At least there is one among you who has not condemned me." He turned to look at Fluttershy. "Butterscotch, my lovely, surely you see the good in me?"

"Um, not really," admitted Fluttershy. "I mean, I haven't known you for very long, but what you've shown us isn't exactly, well, good."

Applejack chuckled. "Well now, ain't that somethin'? Even Fluttershy don't like you. I've got to tell you, that takes some talent."

"Hmf," huffed Show. "Well, I guess I can try to take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't one," said Applejack. "Now get out of here before I make good on my threat."

"No can do," said Show cheerfully. "The Generals have assigned me to be a foal-sitter, so you're stuck with me. I'm here to escort you to breakfast, so chop-chop, let's get going. I'm hungry."

"Pinkie Pie isn't up yet," pointed out Twilight, "and we're not letting you float her around like you did yesterday."

Show chuckled darkly. "No offence," he sneered, sounding uncannily like Twilight had the other day, "but I doubt that a student know a spell to stop the top spy of Equestria."

Twilight smirked and lit her horn. "You'd be surprised by what a student can do."

Before Show could even brace himself, a tendril of magic shot out from Twilight's horn and wrapped around his. He shouted in surprise and tried to jerk his head away, but the tendril held firm. "Let's see," said Twilight closing her eyes. Show's, in return, glazed over and he stopped moving altogether. "Spells, spells," muttered Twilight to herself. A moment later Twilight nodded, still smirking. "Here they are. Copying now."

A bead of light began to grow at the tip of Show's horn and slowly crawled along the tendril before disappearing into Twilight's. Several more followed before Twilight opened her eyes, cutting off the spell. "Wow," she said as Show shook his head vigorously. "I'm surprised that you know so many spells that I don't. I'm going to have to experiment with some of these."

"Anypony care to explain to us non-unicorns what just happened?" asked Applejack.

"Correction," said Rarity. "Non-participant. I've never seen a spell like that in my life."

"That's because a spell of that nature is highly illegal!" spat Show, barring his teeth at Twilight as he scowled. "She connected our minds and decided to do a little snooping in mine!"

"First of all," said Twilight unfazed, "it's not illegal. You won't find this spell on any illegal spell list in the world. Or any spell list at all, for that matter. Princess Luna taught me that spell herself. Even Princess Celestia doesn't know about it.

"Second of all," she continued as Show opened his mouth to retort, "you have no place to complain. You actually had my mind yesterday, in case you forgot. I'd say this makes us just about square."

"Sound argument," growled Show, "except that I didn't retain any of your mind after the transformation, and-"

"And I only took spells from your mind," interrupted Twilight. "Impressive selection, by the way. I hadn't knows much battle magic before. Anyway, you still had my body yesterday, and if you've ever used this improved memory spell I found, then you remember it down to the last detail." Her eyes finally narrowed into a glare of her own. "Like I said, we're just about square, but I'll let the difference slide this time."

The two unicorns glared at each other, the tension in the room so thick that Pinkie Pie could have used it as cake batter. Finally Show spat to the side and turned, storming back out of the barracks. "Just hurry and get her up," he muttered darkly. "I don't want to be waiting all morning just to get breakfast."

Applejack turned to raise an eyebrow at Twilight as the door closed. "So," she said, disapproval in every syllable, "a mind readin' spell, huh?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and walked over to Pinkie Pie. "Oh, stop it Applejack," she said. "You know I'd never use something like that for anything bad. The only reason I even learned this spell was to study ancient Equestrian history directly from her memories."

"And Princess Luna knows this spell because...?" Rainbow asked.

"She's the goddess of the night, replied Twilight, gently shaking Pinkie. "Also the Sandmare, bringer of dreams. The mind kind of falls under her domain. And she developed this spell specifically to see if any of the colts who tried to court Princess Celestia when she was young were interested in anything other than her flank." She looked up to see her friends staring at her. "Her words, not mine," she said quickly, and went back to trying to shake Pinkie awake. "Turns out that most of them didn't even really care about her looks and were just after the royal standing that marrying one of the princesses would-oh for Faust's sake! WAKE UP!"

Pinkie simply yawned and rolled over, oblivious to Twilight's shout.

Rainbow chuckled. "I'll handle this, Twi," she said, walking over. She leaned down close to Pinkie and whispered in her ear.

"So, you like his flanks, huh?"

Pinkie shot into the air, instantly awake. She looked around in a panic before noticing Rainbow rolling on the ground with laughter. Pinkie glared and (finally) fell back onto her bed. "Not funny, Dashie," she said.

"Sorry Pinks," said Rainbow, regaining enough control to stand, "but we had to get you up, and Twilight shaking you like a new carton of orange juice wasn't working."

Pinkie blinked, surprised. "Really? She was? Well, I guess that's what happens when you get hit by a dictionary. Or maybe it was a thesaurus. An atlas? Some kind of reference book, anyway."

"Wait," said Applejack, "who's been hittin' you with books?"

"Hm," hummed Pinkie, tapping her chin. "Not sure, but they must have been super duper strong to have knocked me for that much of a loop-de-loop." A grin appeared on her face. "So, what'd I miss?"

Silence answered Pinkie as her friends all looked away nervously, one thought on all of their minds: How do we tell her?

Pinkie's grin slowly began to drop as she looked from one friend to another, none of them willing to meet her eyes. "Girls?" she asked, the smallest of nervous smiles clinging desperately to her face. "What's wrong?"

The rest of the girls shared a number of meaningful glances between themselves before all eyes came to rest on Rainbow. She sighed and nodded, walking towards Pinkie and leading her towards the back of the barracks. "Pinkie, we need to talk..."

The rest of the girls filed out, giving Rainbow and Pinkie some privacy. Outside of their barracks, Equestrian Military HQ was the same as it had been the other day. Stone-faced ponies and gryphons marched quickly to wherever they were going, eyes dead and heads locked facing straight ahead. The only exception took the form of two ponies conversing near the barracks. One the girls saw was Show, but the other was a piebald stallion with a brown mane and tail. As the girls approached, they began to hear the conversation.

"...so make sure that they know ASAP," said Show, unusually serious. "They'll no doubt tighten security even further and be on even higher lookout for spies now that I've been found out. Tell them to expect full background checks, cross-examination, tests of loyalty, the works."

The other stallion nodded. "Will do, Show," he said, nodding. "Got to tell you though," he sighed, "it won't be easy with my best spy out of the field. A lot of our projects are going to be put on hold until we can get someone else in as deep as you were."

Show looked down, a look of deep remorse on his face. "I'm sorry," he said, voice dripping with self-loathing. "It was a stupid shot. I knew that. I knew that there would be better chances. But, he was just so close..."

The stallion put a hoof on Show's shoulder. Show looked up to see him smiling kindly at him. "You saw a chance to kill one of their bloody generals," the stallion said kindly. "And you darn well near succeeded, too. Anyone would have taken that shot. You've got nothing to be ashamed of, old boy."

Show sighed, a small smile returning to his face. "You know, you're the only superior that I really respect," he said.

"And it drives General Doo round the bend, too," replied the stallion. They shared a laugh before the stallion noticed the girls approaching. "So it's true!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. "You've returned! Ladies," he swept into a low bow, "'tis an honor to be in your presence once again. Welcome back to Equestria!"

"P-Pipsqueak?" stuttered Fluttershy. "Is that you?"

"My goodness, Pip," said Rarity, obviously impressed. "What a charming young stallion you've grown to be." She looked him up and down and winked. "Handsome, too."

Pipsqueak stood, blushing slightly. "You're too kind, Miss Rarity," he said.

"You really are," said Show, all seriousness gone as he realized that he had an audience again. "After all, we all know who the most charming and handsome stallion around really is."

Twilight groaned. "Please tell me he's not talking about himself," she muttered.

Pipsqueak smirked and raised an eyebrow. "He's the most obnoxious, ostentatious, self-centered git in Equestria. Who else would he be talking about."

"Love you too, Pip," said Show lightly. "Ladies, allow me to introduce to you, Pipsqueak, Spymaster of Equestria, and the only superior officer who I actually respect."

"The rest he openly mocks," said Pipsqueak. "Except the gryphon commanders, whom he fears."

Show shot Pipsqueak a scowl. "You'd be afraid too, if you were a unicorn," he muttered.

"Why would unicorns be afraid of gryphons?" asked Twilight. Seeing the incredulous expressions around her, she rolled her eyes. "Apart from the obvious, I mean. Why unicorns specifically?"

"Gryphons have anti-magic armor." The girls turned to see Rainbow leading Pinkie towards them. Pinkie's mane and tail hung straight down and she gazed around at the ponies around her with tears in her eyes. Immediately, Fluttershy flew over and pulled Pinkie into a tight hug. Pinkie hesitated a minute before wrapping her arms around Fluttershy in return and holding onto her tight.

"How'd she take it?" whispered Rarity to Rainbow.

Rainbow shook her head. "Not too good." She looked back at Twilight and continued. "I don't know how it works, but their armor cancels out magic. It probably wouldn't be enough to stop any of your spells, but an average unicorn would have a hard time getting through." She looked around to see several surprised faces and rolled her eyes. "What? I spent three months rooming with Gilda at Junior Speedster's. You think I didn't learn anything about gryphons?"

"Anti-magic?" asked Twilight, shivering at the thought. "I wonder how it works."

"Well," said Show, "as much as I'd love to take an hour to explain to you the intricacies of gryphonese anti-magic armor, I would hate to waste an hour explaining to you the intricacies of gryphonese anti-magic armor. Now let's go. I'm hungry!" He turned and trotted off.

Pipsqueak chuckled. "I'm probably in a ruddy small camp saying this, but it's good to have him back." He bowed once again to the girls. "Ladies, duty calls. I hope to see you again before you depart." He rose, blushed once more as he made eye contact with Rarity, and cantered off. The girls followed Show, Fluttershy walking close to Pinkie with a wing draped over her shoulders.

"So," Rainbow said, trying to break the tension, "Rarity and Pipsqueak, huh?"

It worked. Applejack and Twilight laughed at Rarity's slight blush and whimsical grin. Fluttershy giggled, and even Pinkie smiled a little. "Oh, I don't know," said Rarity lightly. "He's certainly a handsome young stallion, and his manners are impeccable."

"And you were practically swoonin' at his fancy accent," said Applejack.

Rarity's blush deepened and she coughed lightly. "Yes, well. That too," she admitted.
> Masks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7: Masks


As the girls followed Show through the ghost of Ponyville, they were surprised to find themselves being led towards the twenty foot wall that surrounded the base.

"Um, where are we going?" asked Twilight.

"Breakfast," replied Show. "Where else?"

They soon reached the Northern edge of town where they found a huge set of double doors guarded by about twenty soldiers. Show approached one of them and, after a short conversation, was led to a much smaller door off to the side. The girls followed as Show led them through this door and along the road north of Ponyville.

"Well, that's interesting," commented Rarity, looking back at the two sets of doors. "Why do they have two? Wouldn't that just make it easier to get in?"

"Not by much," said Show. "The main thing is that it makes it easier to get out. It takes a lot of effort to open the main doors, which we need in order to quickly move large forces. So we have smaller doors as well on the North ans East sides for individuals or small groups to use."

Everypony was shocked by Show's response, not because of what he said, but rather because of how he said it. "Well how do you like that?" said Applejack. "He actually answered a question right out for once. Didn't think you had it in you."

Show shrugged. "Don't get used to it, Jack. I'm a lot less sarcastic outside of the wall. Don't like wasting words. Trust me, once we get to the mess hall I'll be right back to my fun loving self."

"Really?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Then what self are you now?"

Show stopped and looked back at the girls, and Applejack was taken aback at what she saw. His eyes were full of fire, but also cold and hard. They were filled with a selfless stubbornness that Applejack knew well. His eyes said that he would do whatever had to be done to ensure his success, even if it cost him dearly. They were the same eyes Applejack saw in the mirror every Applebucking Season times twenty.

"My true self," he replied, turning and continuing on the path.

As the girls followed him, Applejack frowned. Mighty impressive, she thought to herself. I almost didn't catch it. She was distracted from her ponderings as they turned off down a well worn dirt road. But, this road leads to... Applejack broke into a gallop. She ignored her friends' cries asking her what was wrong. She ignored Show shouting for her to stay with the group. She even mostly ignored Rainbow Dash when she caught up to her, flying by her side. She barely glanced over long enough to catch Rainbow's eyes, eyes full of understanding. Finally, they reached the last hill, and Applejack skidded to a stop at the top.

"no"

The girls and Show finally caught up. While the girls merely stared in horror at what was beyond the hill, Show grabbed Applejack by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

"What were you thinking?" he shouted as Applejack turned her head back to look down beyond the hill. "First rule outside of the wall, NEVER GO OFF ALONE! What could possibly have possessed you to-"

Applejack turned to meet his eyes, and Show immediately stopped as he saw the shattered look she gave him. "It's gone," she whispered. "It's all gone."

Show raised an eyebrow and turned to look down the hill himself, seeing nothing unusual. Finally, he made the connection and released Applejack's shoulders. "Oh." It was really all that he could say.

Sweet Apple Acres was gone. The old house and barn had been torn down, replaced by a huge building that looked as if it could squeeze the entire population of Canterlot inside. The acres themselves had been tamed. Gone were the freely growing apple orchards, replaced by row after ridged row of potatoes, carrots, lettuce, celery, oranges, pears, peaches, and a precious few rows of apples.

Show sighed as tears started pouring down Applejack's face. "I'm sorry, Jack," he said, "but Bloom wasn't able to manage it by herself, and we needed the land. It's yours as soon as the war is over, but until then-"

He never saw the blow coming. One moment he was talking to Applejack, and the next he was flying down the hill with two hoofprints in his chest. He bounced and rolled until he finally slid to a stop at the bottom. By the time he got his hooves under him, Applejack was upon him again, pressing a forehoof down on his throat.

"You ain't sorry," she seethed, "an' Apple Bloom could have called in family to help. I get that you needed the land. I get that it was necessary." She leaned down until her muzzle was barely an inch from his, eyes burning with rage. "But don't you dare lie to me about feelin' sorry. Don't you dare try to make excuses. Y'all have no idea what you've really done here, but that don't matter. Weren't your decision to make." She lifted her hoof and stood tall again, still glaring down at him. "But don't you dare try to make it better by lyin'."

She walked off toward the giant mess hall, and Show was left to ponder how close to death he'd just come. The rest of the girls followed, only Rainbow stopping a moment to look down at Show. "They were buried there, you know?" she said. "Her family. The Apples don't use graves. They're buried at the foot of a tree. Some sort of superstition about their souls strengthening the orchard. You all basically tore up her family cemetery. Lying to the Element of Honesty just gave her a target for her anger."

Rainbow caught up just as the girls reached the mess hall. They were surprised as they approached to hear laughter and singing coming from inside. They opened the door and were faced with a sight that they hadn't seen since waking up in this shattered world. The mess hall was packed with ponies and gryphons, all of them laughing, talking, and generally having a good time."

"They seem surprisingly laid back," said Twilight. "Especially since this place doesn't have any guards."

"Doesn't need them," said Show jovially, coming up behind them. "This is the safest place in Equestria. Except for Utopians, of course. You know that dragon that lives over in the Everfree? Well, we struck up a little dealeo with him a while back. In return for us not turning his forest into farmland, he protects our crops. Only took three battalions of roasted Utopians before they got the message to stay away. The ash made for good fertilizer, too."

Everypony stared at the goofy grin on his face. "OK, what the hay is wrong with you?" demanded Applejack. "One minute you're rude, the next you're lyin' and serious, an' now you're tryin' to make a joke out of a bunch of dead ponies?"

"AJ," said Show. "Can I call you AJ?"

Applejack's back legs tensed. "No."

"AJ, I told you out there. I'm a totally different pony outside of the wall. Well, I'm also a different pony in here. Outside I need to be my careful self. Back at base I lighten the mood with my egotistical self. And in here, I'm free to be my true self. Now let's get some grub!"

True self my flank, thought Applejack as they walked to the line on the far side of the hall. All you've shown us are a bunch of masks. I bet you ain't shown your "true self" in years. Not that I'd expect anythin' different from someone who lies for a livin'.

"So let me get this straight," said Twilight. "You have a different personality for every situation?"

"Yuparooni!" said Show. "I'm a different pony here, in HQ, in the barracks, outside, behind enemy lines, at a ball, at a party, et cetera. That's why everyone hates me back at base but loves me here."

"With a few exceptions." Everypony except Show jumped and turned to see Scootaloo standing right behind them. Applejack noticed that Rainbow took a little longer to recover from her shock than the rest. Makes sense. This is probably mighty awkward for Rainbow, seein' how much Scootaloo looks like Sunshine now.

"Oh, please don't sneak up on ponies like that!" said Rarity. "You nearly scared me out of my whits."

Scootaloo smirked. "But that's what makes it fun! Besides, we've got to keep practicing stealth if we want to still be of any use once we get back in the field."

"I thought you and Apple Bloom were going to relax for a bit," said Rainbow.

"Actually," they all jumped again as they turned to see Apple Bloom in line ahead of them, "I find sneakin' around to be very relaxin'. You slow your breathin', measure your heart rate; it's like meditatin' while you walk."

"Ah yes," said Show. "You did mention that you do meditation." He lit his horn and grinned evilly at her. "How do you feel about levitation?"

"Alright! Alright!" said Apple Bloom, going back to stand beside Scootaloo. "Dang. Some ponies just get mean when you cut in line."

"When'd you start meditatin'," asked Applejack. "Ain't that just a bunch of mumbo jumbo?"

"Zecoura's the one who taught me," explained Apple Bloom. "It was about seven years ago, after..." she looked down, "...after the war started." Applejack winced and Apple Bloom shuddered. "The entire point is to calm your mind. A lot of us have taken it up. Helps us get to sleep at night."

"Pft," Rainbow scoffed. "I never liked it. It's just another way to run away from your problems. They always catch up eventually, so it's best to just meet them head on."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Yeah, that's what Scoots says, but not all of us are as strong as you two. I won't be able to move on from... from that until this war is over."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "If you can't even say what happened, then you won't be able to move on at all," she countered. "If you keep pushing it back and back, it'll just keep growing until you finally snap!"

"It's worked for the last seven years," muttered Apple Bloom, avoiding Rainbow's eye.

"Funny," said Rainbow. "It did for me too. Did Scootaloo ever tell you what happened to me at year eight?" Apple Bloom winced. It was obvious that Scootaloo had told her. "Don't ler that happen to you. Stop running and face it head on." She turned to Applejack.

Applejack nodded. "You don't need to tell me, Sugarcube. Sunshine was the one who helped when Ma an' Pa passed. I don't forget her lessons that easily."

There was silence in the group for a while before they realized that the others had undoubtedly heard the whole thing. Applejack scuffed the ground as Rainbow suddenly became very interested in the ceiling. "So," she said in a transparent attempt to change the subject, "what's for breakfast?"

"Gruel, generally," said Show, giving no indication that he'd heard the conversation at all. "Who knows, though. It seems that word of your return has spread, so they may have something special on the menu."

"What makes you say that?" asked Twilight.

Show chuckled and gestured to the room at large. Sure enough, ponies and gryphons alike were staring and whispering. Some tried to hide it, but most pointed and gawked outright.

"Most of them thought you were all dead," said Show. "Thought you'd sacrificed yourselves to destroy Discord. 'Course, they were quite disappointed to learn that Discord was still alive after all. The theories then turned to 'He killed them, and now we're all doomed. Doomed!' Imagine their surprise when you come back the same as they remember. I bet most of them still think that this is some sort of hoax."

"We tried tellin' 'em," said Apple Bloom, "but most of 'em wouldn't believe us. Didn't think you'd ever come back." She smirked. "'Couse of that, Twist owes me five bits."

"Can you blame them?" asked Scootaloo. "Ten years is a long time to wait for a miracle. To be honest, I gave up after the first five."

Apple Bloom's jaw dropped. "Wh-WHAT? But you were the one that kept me an' Sweetie goin'! So encouragin'. So inspirin'!"

"It was a mask," admitted Scootaloo. "Just because i lost my hope didn't mean that you had to loose yours."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "So you lied to 'em for five years instead?"

Scootaloo's glare could have shattered stone. "Would you rather that I'd told them that you were never coming back?" Applejack held her gaze for a moment before looking away. "That's what I thought," said Scootaloo. "You have no idea how terrible it was when I realized that you were all gone forever. Do you have any idea how many of us have volunteered for the most dangerous missions and attacks possible, just so that we could end it all? If I hadn't had to be there for Sweetie and Bloom..." She trailed off. "I wouldn't have waited for a dangerous mission," she admitted. "I probably would have just gotten as high as I could and closed my wings." Everypony gasped, and Rainbow went as white as a sheet. Scootaloo looked up at Apple Bloom. "I couldn't leave you two alone to become like me. That's why I kept encouraging you. Giving you hope."

Everypony was quiet until they reached the front of the line. Show hadn't been joking about the gruel, and Scootaloo hadn't been exaggerating when she'd told Twilight how few civilians there were. All of the cooks and servers were fillies and colts, the oldest looking about 15, and the youngest no older than six! Tears filled Fluttershy's eyes as she watched them, working tirelessly with dead or angry eyes. The youngest of them would have grown up with war being the only thing they knew.

After getting their food, they moved together toward an empty table. As soon as they were situated, Show slipped away into the crowds.

"Well," huffed Rarity, "so much for escorting us."

"Ah, give him a break," said Scootaloo. "This is his fifth day back after six years behind enemy lines. There's no way that he'll let anyone see it, but he's really missed everyone."

"Hey, I ain't complainin'," said Applejack as they began eating. "He wants to take his drama king self and leave us for a while, that's fine by me. Don't see why you keep stickin' up for him, though."

"What can I say?" asked Scootaloo, shrugging. "You can't help who you fall in love with."

Five minutes later, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Fluttershy noticed that nopony else was eating, and were staring at Scootaloo with dropped jaws. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Y-you?" stammered Rainbow. "With him! But... but he's so... so..."

"Old!" cried Rarity as Applejack said, "annoyin'!"

"Yeah, and worse!" said Rainbow. "How could you, how could anypony, be in love with him?"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm just as confused as y'all. I mean, sure, he's a good friend an' all, but I honestly don't see what Scootaloo does in him."

"You haven't seen behind his mask," muttered Scootaloo. "Anyway," she spoke up, turning to Fluttershy, "I'm surprised that your jaw managed to stay up."

"Oh, well I already knew," said Fluttershy casually. Two minutes later she looked up to see that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's jaws had joined all of the others' on the ground. Fluttershy blushed. "I, um, have a really good sense for these things."

Twilight shook her head. "Moving on," she said, "I just don't understand how you could be in love with him, or even good friends with him. He's spent the last six years as a spy, right? How would you even get to know him."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked to each other before looking back at the group and speaking in unison. "We get captured a lot."

"And I've had to bail out their sorry flanks more than once," said Show, walking over. "Sorry I ran off, but I had some important business to conduct elsewhere."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Plotting with the gryphons on how to steel General Doo's eye-patch is important business?"


---------***---------


Breakfast was followed by a grand tour of HQ. Or as Show called it, "the tour of tears". It was an appropriately name, as many were shed by Fluttershy and Rarity. Almost nothing remained of their old home. Carousel Boutique had been turned into a storage unit. Sugarcube Corner had been replaced by a number of small barracks. Even the stream that had once run through the town had been redirected around it, its old course filled in and built over. The familiar curving roads and winding paths had been torn up and replaced with a straight, grid-like pattern. As they looked around what had once been a quaint little town at the foot of the mountains, the girls all had one question on their minds: "What happened to our home?" Twilight finally bucked up the nerve to ask aloud, causing Show Stopper to shrug.

"It died," he said simply. "Just another casualty of war."


---------***---------


It was a very somber group that made their way back to the mess hall for lunch. Just as they were about to enter however, they heard a cry behind them.

"Show Stopper!"

They stopped and turned to see two earth ponies running towards them, one a yellow mare with an orange mane, and the other a deep blue stallion with a mane the color of sand. "Show Stopper!" the mare called again. "Hold up, don't go inside yet! I'd rather talk to you while you're sober!"

Show rolled his eyes and turned to smile at them as they approached. "Captain Top," he greeted. "And Captain Shores. I see you two are back. How fared the campaign against New Yoke?"

"Pretty well," said Carrot Top. "We weren't able to retake it, as expected, but we were able to significantly reduce their forces before Trixie arrived to chase us out. We also managed to intercept a large force that was headed for Appleoosa. Took them out no problem. Even managed to take a few prisoners."

Show nodded. "That's good. That should thin their forces for a while. Guess Colonel Braeburn will be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive after all. So, what did you want to see me for? I assume that this wasn't just a social call."

Sandy Shores nodded. "Right, to business then. It's not actually you that we're here to see, but we heard that you were escorting some VIPs that we would be interested in."

Show nodded. "True enough." He gestured to the girls. "I believe these are the ones that you're looking for."

Sandy raised an eyebrow curiously, but Carrot's jaw dropped to the ground. She hadn't known any of them very well before, but her old business rival was easily recognized. "A-Applejack?" she asked incredulously.

Applejack smirked. "Nice to see you too, Golden Harvest. Ready for your sales to start droppin' again?"

Carrot Top glared at Applejack. "I told you not to call me that!" she said, grinding her teeth. "Besides, how do you plan to compete without you precious orchard?"

The rest of the girls gasped and glared at Carrot Top, but Applejack just chuckled. "Well now, that sounds like a challenge right there. Trust me; give me two years to get this place whuped back into shape, an' you'll be back to eatin' carrots with every meal just to get by."

Carrot Top's glare held for another moment before it softened into a warm smile. "It's like you never left," she said softly, shaking her head.

"Um, care to clue me in?" asked Sandy Shores. "Who are these mares?"

Show rolled his eyes. "I knew you were slow, Shores," he said, "but not this slow. Think about it. Six mares. Gone for a long time. One of them named Applejack and talking about this land like it's hers."

Sandy Shores' brow was furrowed in confusion for a moment before his eyes grew suddenly wide. "Y-you mean," he stammered, "these six are The Six?"

Carrot Top nodded. "That explains the light show a few days ago," she muttered. She turned to look Sandy in the eyes. "Looks like it's time. Our job is over."

"What are you talkin' about?" asked Applejack.

Carrot Top reached into her saddlebags and turned to look at Rarity. "I believe this," she said, pulling something out, "is yours."

Rarity's jaw dropped. Hanging from Carrot Top's hoof was a beautiful golden necklace with intricate designs carved along it's length. At the front of the necklace was placed a glittering amethyst, shaped like a traditional diamond. Sandy Shores reached into his own saddlebags and pulled out a similar necklace, this one featuring a balloon shaped aquamarine. Tears began flowing down Rarity and Pinkie's faces as they stepped forward, Rarity using her magic to take the necklaces and fasten them around their bearers' necks.

Sandy Shores and Carrot Top both sighed in relief. "You have no idea how good that feels," muttered Carrot Top, "to be free of such a burden."

Rarity smiled gently at her. "It cannot be nearly as good as the feeling of having it restored," she whispered.

"Maybe for you," grumbled Sandy Shores. "You're the rightful Bearers. For us it was like carrying around a huge weight all the time. It's like they knew that we weren't you."

"Of course they knew, silly," said Pinkie, beaming from ear to ear, a few tears still leaking out. "After all, we never used them to take cities and battle meanie armies. We just blast bad guys with friendship!"

Everypony shared a warm laugh, causing Pinkie's smile to widen even further. Show and the girls headed in to get lunch, and for the first time since they woke up, everypony was smiling again.
> Preparations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8: Preparations


"This is wrong," whispered Fluttershy, tears in her eyes. "This is very, very wrong."

"Very efficient, though," replied Show cheerfully.

After lunch, Show had led the girls to the warehouses to gather supplies for their trip. A list had appeared in front of Show at lunch in a swirl of dragonfire. Everypony had turned to look at Twilight, but the only reaction that she gave was to ask what Spike had sent.

The warehouses were huge, each one easily large enough to fit the old Apple Family barn inside. There was a single quartermaster in charge of each warehouse, but they were otherwise run by fillies and colts who were too young for combat. As with the servers in the mess hall, they had dead eyes and went about their work without a word. They barely glanced at Show and the girls as they walked in, immediately focusing back on their assigned tasks.

"Fillies and colts working like this," whimpered Fluttershy, "it's just wrong. They should be in school. Or playing outside with friends. Or, or anything but this."

"You're right," said the quartermaster, Ship Shape. He was a large unicorn stallion, his coat rust red and his mane a dark green. "They deserve better 'n this, but we need the laborers. Don' have the ponies to watch 'em while they play, neither. I tell ya, I wouldn' wish this on no foal o' mine, no siree. 'ts why lost o' couples don' have foals anymore; none o' 'em want t' force 'em to start work so young."

They quickly gathered their supplies, none of them really wanting to stay there for too long. The girls made a few requests for additions to their supplies: some extra rope for Applejack, a veterinary kit for Fluttershy, twelve rubber chickens for Pinkie. They could only find eight. Once their supplies were gathered and stored in their barracks, Show led the group back to the mess hall for dinner.

The hall was quite different this time around. For one thing, there was a tall platform standing in the back, easily visible from anywhere in the hall. The hall was packed almost to capacity, and a current of tension ran through the air. "What's going on?" asked Twilight. "Why's it so crowded all of a sudden?"

"Daily report," replied Show. "Every evening, one of the Generals gives a report on the war. You're lucky that it's General Doo tonight."

"Why's that?" asked Pinkie.

"Well," said Show, "nothing against General G, but she tends to get a little long-winded. As for Gen Cheer, she thinks it's necessary to list every casualty and injury from the last three days." All of the girls swallowed nervously, all grateful that they wouldn't have to hear a report from Cheerilee.

Soon after they reached the table which the Crusaders had saved for them, General Doo flew up to the platform. All talk immediately ceased and everyone's attention snapped to her. "Three items for the report today," she announced. "First, Private Lyra Heartstrings was captured today."

A loud groan rose from the crowds permeated by a few chuckles and an incredulous cry of "AGAIN?!"

Ditzy chuckled. "Yes, Private Bon Bon, again. She will likely escape soon and be back with us in a week. Second, Captain Sandy Shores and Captain Carrot Top have returned from their mission to the city of New Yoke. While they were not able to retake the city, they were able to reduce the enemy forces significantly. Not only that, but they were able to intercept a Utopian force headed towards Appleoosa, led by Colonel Vinyl Scratch. The force was defeated and Vinyl has been captured. She is with the restorers as we speak."

A great cheer rose from the crowd and Twilight leaned over to Show. "Restorers?" she asked.

"An elite group of unicorns," he replied. "Their job is to help captured Utopians to recognize and fight Discord's influence. 95% success rate."

"And the other five percent?" asked Rarity.

Show shrugged. "Given up in prisoner exchanges before we could treat them."

Ditzy waited for the cheering to calm down a little before raising a hoof for silence. "Finally, as some of you may have noticed, we have some guests tonight." Several sets of eyes shot over to the Bearers before going back to Ditzy. "It is my honor to announce that, after ten years bound by Discord's magic, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony have returned. Their mission to reclaim the Elements begins tomorrow. Let us take courage from the knowledge that this war is nearing its end! This concludes the daily report." With that, she jumped off of the platform and flew back to her table.

There were a many fewer lighthearted chats and a many more whispered conversations filling the hall now. Anyone who wasn't sneaking covert glances at the Bearers was staring at them outright. Fluttershy hid behind her bangs and made a point of not looking anywhere but at her gruel. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash tried to just ignore the stares and whispers and eat as if nothing had happened. Twilight adopted a noble air and began talking with Show and the Crusaders about the Restorers and their magic. Only Pinkie acknowledged the crowds, looking around and waving at anypony who made eye-contact, a few of whom waved back.

The night had one more surprise for the girls. As they settled down in their barracks later that night to start writing in their journals, a tongue of green fire shot through the window, condensing into a scroll in front of Twilight. She quickly opened and read it. "Spike says, 'hi'," she told the girls before going back to her journal.

The girls shared worried looks before Applejack pipped up. "Listen Sugarcube, I know you're tryin' to be strong, but pretendin' this ain't nothin' ain't goin' to help you deal with it for long."

Twilight looked up and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not 'pretending' anything, Applejack. From my perspective, I saw him a few days ago."

Jaws dropped all around. "Twilight dear," said Rarity, "don't you think that that's a little, well, harsh? I know that it doesn't seem like so long to you, but for him it's been ten years."

Twilight was confused for a moment before comprehension dawned. "Oh, right. I guess I should explain. You all know about how dragons have much longer lifespans than ponies, right?" She got a collective nod. "Well, because of this, time seems to pass much more quickly for them. What's actually ten years feels like maybe a week to them. He missed me, and he's happy that we're back, but it really wasn't that long of a wait for him."

Rainbow wasn't buying it. "Oh yeah?" she challenged. "Then why don't you show us that letter and we'll see how long he really felt it was!"

Rather than object like Rainbow had expected, Twilight sighed and levitated the letter over to her. Rainbow quickly grabbed it and read it a few times, not believing what she was seeing.

Dear Twilight,

Sorry I couldn't come to see you myself, but I've been really busy these last few days. Well, these last few years, really. The Generals made me the Communications Chair about five years ago, and I've been swamped with work ever since. Heh, it kind of reminds me of the good old days back in Canterlot.

Anyway, I heard that you and the girls are back! I always knew you'd be alright, but it's still good to hear it for sure. Unfortunately, I won't be able to see you off tomorrow. The Generals are really cracking the whip to get our stock of dragonfire up. Good thing I can't feel it through my scales. Haha. Don't worry though, I'll make sure to take a day off when you get back.

Say "hi" to the others for me! Still your number one assistant,

Spike.

Rainbow shook her head as the letter was passed around. "No way. There's no way that Spike wrote this!"

"It's his handwriting, Rainbow," said Twilight, not even bothering to look up from her writing. "I told you it wasn't that long for him."

"But... but..." Rainbow shook her head one more time. "Dragons are weird," she muttered.

As if to prove her point, several more swirls of dragonfire spiraled into the room. These floated in front of Rarity before condensing into a dozen large scrolls, each of them easily five times the length of Twilight's. Raising a curious eyebrow, Rarity took the topmost scroll in her magic and unfurled it to begin reading.

Three seconds later, she hastily snapped the scroll shut, blushing deeply. Everypony else laughed as Rarity quickly shoved the large love letters under her bed.


________***________


Morning Glory always prided herself on being an early riser. Always up at six A.M. sharp, she had been the natural choice for the position of morning bugler. She took pride in the fact that she always arose on time and before anyone else.

A pride that was strained as she stepped out of her barracks to find a certain orange earth pony wandering around HQ looking for a good place from which to watch the sunrise. Sighing in slight irritation, she nevertheless grabbed her bugle and got ready to play Reveille.

Soon after the call ended, a bright flash illuminated a certain barracks. "Good morning Equestria!" called the most irritating pony in HQ. "And what a great morning it is! Not a cloud in the sky, no Utopians for miles around, and only three beautiful mares glaring at me instead of four. Where's Apple Tart this morning?"

"She went for a walk," explained Fluttershy, who had woken slightly before Applejack. Someone had to wake up their rooster after all. "She wanted to watch the sunrise."

"And to avoid getting blinded again," snapped Rainbow. "Seriously! Can't you just use the door like a normal pony?"

"But if I knocked on the door," explained Show slowly as if to a foal, "nopony would open it."

"I think that that's rather the point," muttered Rarity.

Show shrugged. "Anyway, let's get a move on, ponies! I want some breakfast before we embark on our grand adventure, so let's hurry up and get *urgh*!"

Applejack smirked from the doorway behind Show, one end of a rope tied around her tail, and the other end lassoed around Show's throat. "Let's you an' me have us a little chat outside, partner." She yanked him out by the neck, closing the door behind them.

"I wish I could say that it was nice knowing him," said Twilight as sounds of violence drifted through the window, "but I'm afraid I'd be lying."

"Oh dear," whispered Fluttershy. "I hope she doesn't hurt him too bad."

"Are you kidding?" laughed Rainbow. "I just hope she gets a few kicks in for me, too!"

A few minutes later, Applejack walked back in sporting a black eye. "Tch, too easy," she said, sounding disappointed. "I thought he'd be tougher than that."

"Really?" said Rarity, raising an eyebrow. "And I suppose that that eye is just for show?"

Applejack scoffed. "Pah, this ain't nothin'. Y'all should have seen how I looked after wrastlin' with Macky. This ain't nothin." She chuckled a bit and smiled sadly. "He sure could pack a wallop."

"So," said Rainbow quickly, "what'd you do with the jerk, anyhow?"

Applejack smirked. "Jus' taught him a little lesson about privacy. I don't think we'll have to worry about him bargin' in uninvited for a while." She turned and jerked her head towards the doorway. "Come on, I'll show y'all on the way to breakfast."

As the girls walked outside, Applejack pointed to a nearby flagpole. Hanging from the top, all four legs bound, gagged, and glaring at Applejack, was a severely irritated Show Stopper. Rainbow burst out laughing and started rolling on the ground, unable to control herself, while Twilight gave an approving nod. "Nice. How'd you get him all the way up there?"

Applejack shrugged. "What can I say?" she replied, leading the girls towards the wall. "I had some good rope."

"Um, shouldn't we let him down?" asked Fluttershy.

"Sure thing," Applejack replied, "after breakfast."

As the girls laughed and continued on, Fluttershy hesitated. With any other pony she'd have helped them in a heart-beat. But with it being Show Stopper...

She caught up just in time to hear Applejack say, "Eeyup. Made by gryphons. Can't so much as light his horn if it's even touching him."

"I'm not sure that I like all of this anti-magic stuff," said Twilight. "I mean, sure it's useful, but it just seems," she shuddered, "unnatural."

"I hear you, Sugarcube," said Applejack. "But if it gets us away from Drama King back there..."

Twilight chuckled. "Point taken."

The girls made it to breakfast without further incident, and were just finishing when Apple Bloom and Scootaloo showed up. "Hey, have you seen Show?" asked Scootaloo. "We've been looking for him all morning."

"Now that you mention it," said Rainbow, tapping her chin contemplatively, "I think we did see him, heh, hanging around our barracks."

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow as the girls shared a chuckle. "Why do I get the feelin' that y'all ain't tellin' us everythin'?"

"Because we ain't," said Applejack. "Why don't y'all come with us. We were just about to go an' get him anyway."

They walked back to the barracks, Scootaloo looking a little worried while Apple Bloom grinned in anticipation. "So," the later said as they reached the barracks, "where is he?"

Applejack chuckled and pointed to the top of the flagpole where Show was still hanging. A few seconds passed with both of the Crusaders just staring at him in disbelief. Finally, Apple Bloom fell over laughing while Scootaloo turned an appraising eye to Applejack. "Gryphonese anti-magic rope?"

"Eeyup."

"Nice. When were you planning on letting him down?"

Applejack walked up to the pole, turned, and gave it a solid buck. Show was knocked loose and came crashing down on his head. "Right about now."

Scootaloo winced. "And you weren't worried that he'd get hurt?"

"That's why I dropped him on his head," said Applejack cheerfully as Show started to untangle himself. "Figured he was already brain damaged an' maybe a good bump would set him right."

"You wish," muttered Show as he struggled with the rope around his neck. "Now let me out of this thing so I can go and get some breakfast!"

Applejack shrugged and walked over. With a few quick tugs, the knot around Show's neck came undone. As soon as the rope was gone, he teleported out.

"You do realize that he's not going to forget this, right?" asked Scootaloo.

"One," said Applejack, "he deserved it. Two, he knows he deserved it. An' three-"

"It was funnier than that time Big Mac wore one of Granny's girdles!" blurted out Apple Bloom.

Applejack smiled proudly at her sister. "Exactly!"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes but couldn't resist cracking a smile. "Well, you all had better get packing. Show will probably insist on leaving as soon as he gets back. Come on, Apple Bloom. Let's go check in on Sweetie Bell."

"Actually," piped up Rarity, "would you mind if I tagged along? I don't think I could forgive myself if I didn't see her at least once before we left."

"Are you sure, Rarity?" asked Fluttershy, worried.

"That's a good idea, actually," said Rainbow. "Hey, AJ, why don't you go with her?"

Applejack and Rainbow shared a look and Applejack nodded. "Sure, why not?" she said. "I wanted to ask Bloom about the rest of the family anyway."

As the four ponies walked away, Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. "OK, I can understand having one of us there with Rarity, but wouldn't Fluttershy have been the better choice?"

Rainbow shook her head, still watching Rarity intently. "No offence, Fluttershy, but Rarity's going to need more than just a shoulder to cry on. Applejack's the only one of us who can really relate to her right now."

Fluttershy nodded. "I guess you're right. Do you think she's going to tell her about Sunshine?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Don't think so. It's not that bad. Applejack should be able to do fine on her own."

Pinkie and Twilight shared a confused look. "Who's Sunshine?" whispered Pinkie.

Twilight shook her head. "No idea."

It didn't take long for the girls to gather their things; all of their supplies were already packed, and Twilight quickly used a spell to shrink Spike's letters before packing them in Rarity's bags. None of them quite remembered where they were compared to the hospital, so they settled in for the wait. Soon there was a knock on the door. Fluttershy opened it to reveal a fully packed, and very annoyed, Show Stopper.

"Well," he said, "let's get a move on. The sooner we head out the sooner we can be in changeling country."

"Sorry to bust your cloud," said Rainbow, "but Rares and AJ went off to check on Sweetie Bell."

Show face-hoofed, groaning loudly. "Are you serious?"

"Nope!" Show looked up to see Rainbow grinning. "I'm not sorry at all."

Show glared before rolling his eyes. "Fine, where are their bags?" he asked. "I'll carry them to the hospital and we'll wait for them there." He closed his eyes and lit his horn.

"Oh no you don't!" In a flash of light, Show was hovering in the air along with Rarity and Applejack's saddlebags. "There's no way I'm letting you transform into me again," said Twilight, horn glowing as she glared at Show. "I'll carry the bags, and you if you can't behave."

Show's anger vanished, replaced immediately by cold fury. Everypony shivered as Show glared at Twilight with eyes that promised a fate worse than death. "You're making a grave mistake," he said, all traces of humor gone from his voice. "You don't want to duel me in magic. You may be the most naturally talented unicorn since Starswirl, but i can copy that talent and power in an instant. You may be Princess Celestia's star pupil, but I have been trained in actual combat. You can make all of the threats that you want, but I don't fear you, because you would never follow through. I have killed time and time again in the last seven years, and have no qualms about following through on any threat I make. Now let. Me. Down."

You could have cut the tension with a knife. Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow were scared, and backing away. Twilight stood shocked for a moment before closing her eyes and breathing deeply. When she opened her eyes, they were just as cold as Show's. She slowly levitated him over until her mouth was right next to his ear. She whispered for a few moments, and as she did Show's face lost its hard edge and slowly paled. When she finally set him down, he just stared at her in shock as she walked to the door. "Well," she called over her shoulder, eyes light and warm again, "aren't you leading us to the hospital?"

Show shook his head vigorously to snap himself out of his shock. Immediately, his cocky grin was back in place as he followed Twilight outside. Not having much of a choice, the rest of the girls followed.

As they walked towards the hospital, Fluttershy struggled with her thoughts. She'd been the closest to Twilight when she'd whispered to Show, and she'd heard small snippets of what she'd said. "Nightmare", "memories", "banishment". That's all that I was able to hear, but with what Twilight told us about that mind-reading spell yesterday... She said that she'd studied Equestrian history straight from Luna's memories. Did she see her memories as Nightmare Moon? Even her banishment? I really hope I'm wrong.

They arrived at the hospital just as Applejack, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked out. "How is she doing?" asked Fluttershy worriedly.

Realizing who Fluttershy was referring to, Scootaloo answered. "Rarity will be out in a bit. She said she wanted some time alone with her."

Rarity came walking out a few minutes later, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "You OK, Rares?" asked Rainbow.

Rarity nodded and smiled softly. "She's alright," she whispered. "That's all that matters." She looked up at Pinkie. "By the way, I saw your sister on the way out."

Pinkie's ears perked up as they began walking towards the wall. "Octy? You saw her? How's she doing?"

"She's doing well," Rarity replied. "Very well. So well in fact, that when I saw her the doctors were having to chain her to her bed to stop her from galloping off to, how did she put it, 'slap some sense into that irritating, arrogant, bull-headed, daughter-of-a-mule DJ'."

Everypony shared a good laugh, knowing full well about Octavia and Vinyl's pre-war relationship. "She must be happy to have her back," said Pinkie. "But, why's she in the hospital? Is she hurt?"

Rarity nodded. "Broken fore-leg, but that's not too much of a problem for her, is it?"

"You know," said Scootaloo, "I don't think I ever heard the story. How did Octavia learn to walk on her hind legs anyway?"

"Well," Pinkie began, "it all started back when she started to become more famous. Most cellists have to set their cellos in a stand to hold it up for them. Then they lean on it while they play. Octy started complaining about how much time it took to get the cello perfectly set up in the stand, especially since she was sometimes playing at several events in one day. She thought it would be easier to just learn to stand like that and hold it up herself."

"Was it?" asked Apple Bloom.

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "No, but if you've known her for the last few years then you know how stubborn she is."

Another round of laughter was shared. Pinkie continued to ask Scootaloo about the rest of her family while Applejack questioned Apple Bloom on theirs. They made it to the wall and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom bid them farewell, Apple Bloom and Applejack spending a little bit longer than the others. With final calls of "good luck" and a few waves, the Bearers and Show headed out.

As soon as the small door closed behind them, Show turned, grabbed Twilight with his magic, and slammed her into the wall. Everypony else gasped, but Show threw up a shield around himself and Twilight before they could intervene. "Let's get something straight before it becomes a problem," he said, advancing on Twilight as she slowly rose to her hooves. He grabbed her again and held her against the wall. "You may have been able to frighten the clown that I am in there, but out here the fool's mask comes off. You have no idea what the world outside this wall is like. I do." He put his face right up to hers, forcing her head to turn so she was looking him in the eye. "I don't know whether what you said in there was a bluff or not, but it doesn't matter. What matters is this." He looked over his shoulder to address the rest of the girls who were rooted to the spot with fear. "Outside of that wall, there is no infighting, no power struggle, and no questioning orders. Until we get back inside, I am not only your escort. I am your commanding officer. What I say, goes." He dropped Twilight and walked towards the rest of the girls, lowering his shield as he did so. "I will not give many direct orders. Hopefully I won't have to give any. But make no mistake; I am in charge." He looked back to where Twilight was glaring up at him. "So let's make a deal. I don't turn into you or your friends unless it's vitally necessary, and in return you don't use your magic on me. Deal?" He held out his hoof to Twilight and waited.

Twilight slowly stood, brushed herself off, and gave Show the same cold glare she'd given him back in the barracks. "That depends," she replied coolly. "What qualifies as 'vitally necessary'?"

Five jaws dropped as Show slowly lowered his hoof. The girls stared at Show, waiting to see what he would do.

"Well now," Show finally said, "Princess Celestia trained you well, didn't she? You've got that look down pat."

"What look?" asked Twilight, arching an eyebrow.

"You know what look," said Show, matching her glare and tone perfectly. "It's the, I'm-superior-to-you-and-I-don't-need-to-prove-it look." His face turned slightly impressed as he appraised her. "I must say, you pull it off well. Took me ten weeks to master the demeanor and tone. How long did it take you?"

Twilight didn't answer, so Show continued. "You know, even Princess Celestia took three months before she could pull it off consistently, but Luna only took three days. Now there's a talented actress. Did you know that she used to act?"

Seeing that Twilight still wasn't responding, Show rolled his eyes. "'Vitally necessary' means that if I don't do it, someone ends up dead or grievously injured. Now, do we have a deal?" He raised his hoof again.

Twilight slowly rose her hoof and shook his. "Deal," she said, dropping her look for one of irritation. She turned and began walking toward the mess hall.

"Sparkle!" called Show, pointing westward, "our path goes that way."

Twilight looked where he was pointing and her face took on a hint of fear. "Um, Show," she said, "that's the way to the Everfree Forest."

"Exactly," said Show. "Quickest path to changeling territory."

The girls' reactions ranged from Applejack's mild concern to Fluttershy's near panic. "Um, maybe you don't know this," said a nervously fidgeting Rainbow, "but the Everfree is really dangerous."

Show rolled his eyes and started walking, forcing the girls to follow. "More dangerous than an enemy's HQ?" he asked. "Trust me, between me and Sparkle we can handle anything this place can throw at us. Besides, we've got a local expert on our side, right Shy?"

"Oh, well, I'm not sure about 'expert'," said Fluttershy nervously. "I mean, I only knew a few of the animals in there personally, and most of them have probably died by now."

"But you know how to handle the rest, right?" asked Show.

"Well, I suppose-"

"And you know your way around?"

"Well, a little, but-"

"And you know what plants are and aren't safe?"

"Well, I don't know every-"

"That sounds like an expert to me," Show finished with a satisfied smirk. "If we try to go around the Everfree, it'll add almost two weeks to our trip each way. That's another month of war."

All of the girls winced. "Good point," conceded Twilight.

"Hey, wait a minute," said Rainbow. "How do you know so much about Fluttershy?"

"Because the Crusaders never stopped talking about her," he said, chuckling. "Every other story they told was about the Stare Master."

"What about you?" asked Applejack. "Since you know so much about us, why don't you tell us about yourself?"

"Sorry, Jack," he said, "but I don't do back-stories. Comes with the whole spy outfit. Don't worry, you'll hear plenty about me once we reach the changeling capital."

"And when will that be, exactly?" asked Rarity.

"Probably about a month."

"A MONTH?"

Show looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "We're walking through the Everfree Forest and halfway across a country. How long were you expecting?"

"Wait," said Twilight worriedly, "how long is this trip going to take?"

"Hard to say," said Show, looking forward again. "It'll take us about a month to get there, plus another month before we can get an audience with Queen Milkweed. Then it'll take three weeks to get to the deer woods. From there it gets tricky because we have to wait for them to approach us. Even if they make contact on the first day, it's still a month long treck along their paths. After that we have about a week of mountain climbing to get to the dragon cave we need. How we'll manage to convince him to relinquish the Element, I have no idea, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Then there's the trip back. So, assuming no delays, it should take us about seven and a half months all told. Factor in weather delays since we'll be hiking in late October and can expect snow, and we'll probably be back around late February or early March."

The group was silent as the girls contemplated an eight month trip through foreign lands. They soon reached the Everfree, and Show walked right in, not even breaking stride. Not having much of a choice, the girls hesitated for only a moment before following him in, each of them stealing one last glance at Equestria before the trees of the Everfree grew too thick behind them.
> A New Land
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Chapter 9: A New Land


The sun had just reached its zenith when a lone pony burst out of the Everfree in a panic, stumbling forward for a few yards before tripping on his own hooves. He looked behind him as he got up, eyes wide with terror. There they were, right at the edge of the forest. Drool dripped from their mouths as they gnashed their wooden teeth. The timberwolves growled and barked as they glared at the unicorn.

As the pony stood, his breathing started to calm. "Heh... hehe..." He started chuckling. It grew slowly into a chortle and from there quickly escalated into howls of laughter. "HAHA! Ha ha ha HA! It's true! It's true, you mangy mutts! You can't leave the forest! Not on the Equestrian side, and not here! Take that! Ha ha HA!"

With a final glare at the wooden monsters, he turned away and fell flat on his face. He groaned as he struggled to rise. His trip through the Everfree Forest hadn't been an easy one, and after two weeks of avoiding and running from predators he was running on fumes. He pulled himself shakily to his hooves and forced himself onward, stumbling of into the tall golden grass that stretched as far as the eye could see.


######


The Everfree Forest was unusually quiet. The predators that normally stalked these woods cowered in fear while less hostile animals gave reverence. A great force was moving through their home, the likes of which had not been known for a decade. A group of seven ponies walked almost casually along a long abandoned path, barely even a game trail now. While the earth ponies seemed strong, and unicorns were always a concern because of their magic, it was one of the pegasi who drew the attention of every creature in the area. They didn't even need to see her; her force of presence was enough for them to know exactly who she was, and what great power she could unleash if she so desired.

"It shouldn't be much further now," said Fluttershy to the rest of the group. "The trees are starting to thin out a little, and I've been seeing fewer tracks from large animals. They usually try to stay further from the edge of their habitats."

Fluttershy had surprised everypony during this past week. Almost as soon as they'd entered the forest she had taken the lead. Her confidence had grown with every step she'd taken into the ominous woods, and she'd spent much of the trip commenting on the surrounding flora and local fauna with an excited energy that could rival Pinkie's.

Show looked up to confirm that yes, the canopy was thinning out and letting in a lot more light than it had since they'd started their journey. "Figures," he muttered to himself.

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight, who was walking beside him.

"I've been through the Everfree a couple of times myself," said Show, "and each time I was attacked time and time again by predators. I thought that that was the norm, but apparently I was just horribly unlucky. Twice."

Twilight chuckled. "You had it right the first time," she said. "If it weren't for Fluttershy, we'd probably be doing the same."

Show just shook his head incredulously. "I'm sorry, but I still refuse to believe that nothing that the Crusaders told me was an exaggeration. Nopony is so good with animals that they know instinctively not to mess with her. After an encounter, maybe, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of a hostile creature this entire week."

"You're really complainin' that we ain't been attacked?" asked Applejack from behind.

Show sighed. "I guess not. Just lamenting how harrowing my journeys were. The wounds of the flesh have long since healed, but the mind is not so easily recovered." Seeing Twilight's deadpan expression he rolled his eyes. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

Twilight nodded, chuckling again. It was something that all of the girls had noticed as soon as they'd entered the Everfree. Show had proclaimed their first time outside of HQ that he was his "true self" outside of the wall, and all of them had been looking forward to seeing what he was really like.

Dramatic was a good word for it. Not overly dramatic like Rarity was with her fainting couch, but rather constantly throwing out dramatic and theatrical phrases to say what was on his mind. It had first come out when he'd noticed Fluttershy taking the lead. He had expressed his surprise to Rarity at the time, referring to her as, "the warrior of the wilds, hidden within her own insecurity when away from her natural battlefield," and again to Twilight as having, "removed her mask of demure to reveal the proud lioness who sleeps below." This had caused a few blushes from Fluttershy and a number of suspicious glances from her friends. The perception of wooing lasted only a short time, however, as they all soon realized that he spoke that way about almost everything. A troublesome thorn bush became "that tangle of vines having grown the teeth of imps." An impressively large oak was dubbed, "surely, the king of this wood, and the father of the forest." Even the background sound of insects at night was noted as, "the natural symphony of the eventide."

Amazingly, he didn't even seem to realize that he was doing it. It didn't sound forced or awkward, just overly poetic. When asked about it, he'd just shrugged and attributed it to years in the theatre.

"Oh, look!" called Fluttershy from the front. "There's the edge of the forest."

"Finally!" shouted Rainbow. She immediately leapt into the air, speeding ahead of the group and out into the open sky. The others were right behind her, eager to be out of the confining forest. They stood just beyond the treeline for a while, gazing at the sight before them. Grasslands spread out as far as the eye could see in every direction. No trees or cities could be seen to break up the endless expanse of gold.

Rainbow glid down, grinning from ear to ear at the chance to fly again. "See anythin' but grass from up there, RD?" asked Applejack.

"Um, yeah," said Rainbow, tapping her chin. "It looked like there was a city or a town or something a few hours from here."

"That would be Equestria Minor," said Show. "We should be able to reach it before dark. But first, some lunch." He bent down and started grazing. Most everypony groaned as they joined him. They'd been grazing every meal since they entered the Everfree, and while this prairie grass offered a new taste, it was still bitter. Rarity had been the most vocal in complaining against it, but Show had shut her down quickly, reminding them all that they would need their scant supplies in the winter and on then mountains ahead.

Once they finished their lunch, they started off again, heading north-west with Rainbow flying up several times to make sure that they were still on course. And if she spent a little longer in the air then was strictly necessary, hey, she hadn't been in the open sky once in the last week. Even Fluttershy decided to take a few short flights to stretch her wings.

As the sun began to set, the ponies finally saw something silhouetted against the red and orange sky. By the time the sun had fully fallen behind the horizon, they found themselves on the outskirts of a large town.

Getting into "tour guide mode", Show gestured widely as he led them into town. "Ladies, welcome to Equestria Minor, the easternmost changeling city, and primary trading point between changelings and Equestrians!" It looked just like he remembered it: comfy looking houses with thatched roofs, flower gardens everywhere, and a huge central market. in fact, it look almost like...

"It looks just like Ponyville," said Twilight before wincing. "Or at least, like Ponyville used to look."

"Well what were you expecting?" asked Show. "A giant beehive?" He chuckled as the girls suddenly found the sky, ground, and surrounding buildings to be very interesting.

"Bigger market, though," Applejack noted as they reached the center of town. She looked around at all of the ponies finishing up business for the night. "An' I don't see any changelin's around."

"Well of course the market's bigger," replied Show. "The changeling nation is a nation of commerce and trade. Even the small towns have impressive markets. Just wait until we reach The Hub. Then you'll see what a real market looks like!"

"The Hub?" asked Pinkie, quirking an eyebrow. "Isn't that trademarked? Are you allowed to say that?"

Show's face went blank as he stared at her. He finally turned to Rainbow. "Translation?"

Rainbow smirked. "Don't worry about it," she said. "That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."

Not sure whether that was good or bad, Show shrugged and continued explaining. "The Hub is what they call the changeling capitol. It has an actual name, but if I ever knew it, then I forgot it. Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Applejack. "I already mentioned it, but why ain't there any changelin's around? All I see are ponies."

"And it looks like there's and even ration of unicorns to pegasi to earth ponies here," added Twilight. "Were the unicorns not affected by Discord's influence?"

"Not at all," said Show. "See, the unicorns here have a couple of tricks to keep his influence away. First of all, Discord's control only goes as far as the Equestrian border. Some sort of energy field is keeping it contained."

"So that's what I sensed a few days ago," muttered Twilight. "It was so feint, I thought I'd imagined it. So what's the other trick?"

"Well that's the clever one," said Show. "You see, Discord's control only extends to unicorns, right?" The girls nodded, and Show pointed to a unicorn mare who was hitching herself up to a cart of oranges. In a flash of green flame, the mare lost her horn and grew wings, taking flight with her cart. "As you can see," continued Show, "they aren't unicorns. You, me, and Rarity are the only unicorns in this city."

The girls all tensed up and Fluttershy began shaking. "Y-you mean, we're s-surrounded b-by ch-changelings?" she stammered.

Show rolled his eyes. "Yes, and they're probably more afraid of us than we are of them," he said.

"Really?" asked Rarity. "Why-ever would they be afraid of us?"

"Let's see," said Show, looking up contemplatively. "Seven year civil war, three unicorns who may or may not be under Discord's control, six mares who look very familiar to anyling who was part of the Canterlot invasion..." he trailed off and shrugged. "Nope, can't see a single reason for them to be afraid."

The girls took another look around and were surprised to see that Show was right. Everypony, or everyling, was staring wide-eyed at them, looking quickly away when their eyes met. Everyling seemed to be in a hurry to finish their business and be on their way.

Show and the girls eventually reached a small inn on the western side of the city. Walking in, they found a brown "earth pony" with a dark red mane and tail reading a newspaper behind the check-in desk. "Good evening sir," said Show. "Three rooms for one night, please. Put it on my tab."

The pony lowered his paper and was surprised to see seven ponies in his inn. "You're joking," he said, "right? I can't remember the last time an Equestrian had a tab here."

"Really?" asked Show. "Because I can. Seven years ago there was a unicorn with tabs ranging from here to Dragon's Crossing. I believe his name was Show Stopper?"

It took a moment, but recognition finally dawned. "Show Stopper?" he exclaimed. "The famous actor who disappeared all those years ago? It's been so long I didn't recognize you!"

Show sighed theatrically, putting his hoof to his forehead. "Alas! Fame is fleeting, it seems. Wait," he put his hoof down, "what do you mean, 'disappeared'? I told everyling that I was going back to Equestria."

"Maybe," grunted the pony, smirking, "but 'disappeared mysteriously' sounds a heck of a lot better than 'marched off to die in a civil war'."

Show laughed. "Good point," he admitted. "Just as well. That'll make my come-back all the more dramatic."

"Comeback?" asked the pony. "You're back to stay, then?"

Show shook his head. "Only for a while, I'm afraid. I'm just taking these six up to see the queen."

The pony looked over the six and nodded. "Well, I wish you luck with that. Three rooms it is, on the house."

Show grinned and bowed deeply. "Good sir, I thank thee" he said, voice wavering, "you do us a great kindness. Your generosity is unmatched save by that of her bearer alone."

Six sets of eyes rolled as the pony laughed, tossing the keys across the counter. "Go on then!" he said. "Straight upstairs and first four doors on the left."

They all thanked him once more before splitting off, Applejack with Rainbow Dash, Rarity with Fluttershy, and Twilight with Pinkie Pie. Show sighed happily as he lay down alone in his room. His journal could wait for the morning. Right now, he was just happy to be back amongst the changelings.

"There's no place like home," he murmured before drifting off into peaceful sleep.


######


A group of black figures flew through the early night, the sun having just set. They moved east, determined to reach the forest that marked their border that evening.

"Hey, Twitch!" one of them yelled over the wind. "You see that down there?"

Twitch, the changeling in charge of this expedition, looked down to where his flight-mate was pointing. In the tall grass below them, he saw a brown light flickering on and off. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked incredulously.

"Looks like it, sir," the other changeling replied. "But what's a unicorn doing out on this side of the Everfree?"

Twitch continued to watch the light as it blinked on and off erratically. Finally flickered off and didn't come back on. After a minute of waiting, Twitch turned to the rest of the group. "Slight detour!" he shouted. "Looks like there's a unicorn down there who needs help. Let's find him and get him back to Eqestria Minor!"

The other changelings nodded and dove towards the tall grass below, lighting their horns to aid in their search. Soon enough, Twitch heard one of them calling out that she'd found him. He zipped over to see several of his changelings surrounding an unconsious brown unicorn, his black mane and tail long and tangled.

Twitch grabbed the unicorn in his forelegs, pulling him into the air. "Let's go, everyling," he called. "This pony needs medical attention." Everyling nodded and they took again to the sky, altering their course towards Equestria Minor.

"Hang in there, kid," muttered Twitch. "We'll take care of you. Welcome to changeling territory."
> A New Way
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10: A New Way


Dawn broke over the Changeling Nation Hivis, it's first rays creeping over the treetops of the distant Everfree to strike the buildings of Equestria Minor. All throughout the city, changelings began to awaken and don their various disguises and uniforms, ready to go about their day. Many of them wouldn't have bothered under normal circumstances, but word had passed quickly the night before of travelers from Equestria. Though noling in Equestria Minor had participated in the failed Canterlot Invasion, word had reached them afterward of six mares who had plowed through half of the rag-tag army. "The Six", as these mares had come to be known, had been the subject of many a frightening tale over the last ten years, told to young pupae to keep them in line. "You'd better brush your teeth, or The Six will come for you tonight." Though it had started as a harmless joke, The Six had become a replacement for the boogeybug.

And now they were in Equestria Minor.

Two of the six had already awoken by the time the sun rose, and the rest were soon to follow, though not all of them by choice.

"Can't believe this," Rainbow mumbled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Finally get decent beds for the night, and we barely get to use them."

"We need to get going a- a- aaaaas soon as possible," argued Twilight around a huge yawn. "The longer we're here, the more likely it is that somepony- er, someone will recognize us. I can't imagine we're exactly popular amongst the changelings after what we did during the invasion."

Rainbow smirked at the memory as Twilight knocked on Show's door. "Show Stopper? Come on, get up. Everypony else is ready to go."

"I can't go on yet!" called a voice from the other side. "Stall with the ballet from act three of tonight's opera!"

Rarity and Pinkie, the only ones to get the reference, rolled their eyes as Apple jack asked, "What the hay is he talkin' about?"

"Phantom of the Opera, dear," said Rarity. "I'd imagine that we'll be hearing several more theatrical references now that he's back on his old stage."

"Exactly!" The door swung open to reveal Show Stopper, dressed in an outfit that the girls hadn't seen before. He wore a black vest with several pockets and a short black cape that almost covered his cutie mark. A gray pauper's cap sat on his head above a jovial smile.

"Hey, what happened to your uniform?" asked Pinkie.

Show grimaced. "That tacky old thing? Stuck it in the bottom of my saddlebags as soon as I could. This getup is much more my speed."

"Who cares about clothes?" whined Rainbow. "Let's go get some breakfast already. I'm starving."

Show nodded and slipped into a Prench accent. "Oui, Mademoiselle. Let us, how you say, get some grub."

He led them downstairs an up to the front desk. "Bonjour, Monsieur," he said to the attendant. "We would like ze continental breakfast, and un table for seven, se il vous plait."

"Allez vous pendre d'une falaise, fils d'un mulet."

Being the only one who actually spoke Prench, Rarity was unfortunate enough to understand the pony's response, though the others were able to guess the gist of it from her repulsed expression. Dropping the accent, but not his grin, Show tried again. "Good morning, sir. We would like the-"

"Don't have a breakfast here," the pony interrupted. "Now get your stuff and get out. I don't want to see your kind here any longer than I have to."

Show simply nodded. "Of course. Good day, sir." He then turned and strode out, leaving the others to follow him.

"What the hay was wrong with him?" demanded Applejack.

Show sighed. "Don't be too hard on him, Jack. Not all changelings are accommodating towards ponies, especially after the invasion."

"But he seemed fine with us last night," said Fluttershy.

"What are you talking about?" asked Show, leading them to a cafe. "We didn't see him last night."

"Yes, we did," said Twilight slowly. "He's the one who met us, gave us the rooms, stoked your ego, ring any bells?"

"No no, that was last night's receptionist," said Show. "This was a different ling altogether. 7 morning specials," he added to a waitress who had been about to ask for their orders.

"Then why do they look exactly the same?" asked Rainbow. "Are they brothers or something?"

Show rolled his eyes. "No. Well, maybe, but that's not why. That's the uniform for the inn."

"No clothes?" scoffed Rarity. "Since when does that constitute a uniform?"

Show's head hit the table. "Not the clothes," came the slightly muffled response. "The look: brown earth pony with a dark red mane and tail. Anyling who works there will wear that form while on the job."

The group was silent for a moment as they contemplated that revelation. It was quite the concept to wrap their minds around, having ones entire body be a uniform.

"Wait," said Twilight as their food arrived, "then how did you know that it was a different changeling?"

Show rolled his eyes. "Apart from the attitude 180? The name on the desk changed. None of you noticed?" Seeing all six of them shake their heads, he sighed. "OK, look. If you're going to travel around changelings, you have to look for the nametags. There was a small chalkboard on the desk that read 'Five Star' last night and 'Victor' this morning."

"So, how do you tell them apart when they don't have a nametag?" asked Rainbow.

"The hive mind," said Show, taking a bite of his breakfast salad.

"The what?" asked Twilight.

Show was suddenly overcome by a coughing fit. "Sorry," he coughed out. "Bit of lettuce down the wrong pipe. O answer, changelings share a communal hive mind. It's, kind of difficult to explain. Basically, each changeling has their own mind, but they also have access to a sort of artificial mind. Think of it as a massive group telepathy. It's not strong enough to read each other's minds, but it is enough for them to tell each other's names."

"Yeah, about those names," said Rainbow, "why did one of those guys have a pony name but the other have a gryphon name?"

"Good question," said Show. "There are actually very few changelings who have traditional changeling names. It's mostly the nobility that do. Everyling else takes pony names, gryphon names, really any sort of name." He paused to take a bite and look around. "Speaking of which, take a look around. It looks like there's a new trend as far as cutie marks go that might be helpful."

Everypony looked around as they ate, and it quickly became obvious what Show was talking about. Almost everyling around had a name emblazoned upon their flanks where their cutie marks should be. There was quite a variety of names, too. There were pony names such as Snowball, Summer Gale and Quicksilver, but there were also a lot of foreign names such as Elohna, Torh, Mahaue and John.

It wasn't always the cutie marks, either. Some had their names on their legs, sides, or sewn into shirts or skirts. One mare named Eve even had her name spelled out with her mane!

"Sh-should we be wearing our names too?" asked Fluttershy.

"Of course not," said Show. "The fact that we aren't makes us stand out."

"I rather think that that's what she meant," said Rarity.

Show sighed. "Look, Shy. I realize that you're as timid as your name implies, but we need word to get out that there are ponies traveling through Hivis. We don't necessarily want them to know exactly who you are yet, but the sooner they know that there are ponies here, the sooner word will reach Queen Milkweed." He stood as they finished the last of their meal. "Well, we'd better get going. Lots of ground to cover. Put it on my tab," he called to the waitress who had served them. "Show Stopper, greatest thespian in history." Several jaws dropped as changelings finally recognized him.

"Don't want them to know who we are, huh?" deadpanned Twilight.

Show grinned. "Who you are. I, however, should be recognized wherever I go."

They soon left the town and resumed their march north-west. Well, this will take forever, thought Show. I could handle this pace in the Everfree, but we need to move faster out here if we want to be back home... back in Equestria as soon as possible. But how to get them up to speed? He looked around at them and, his eyes falling on Applejack and Rainbow, he smirked.

"So Dash," he said, "I hear that you're the fastest flier in Equestria."

Several of the girls groaned as Rainbow puffed out her chest. "Of course!" she replied. "Nopony's ever beaten me in a race, and nopony ever will!"

Hook. "Really?" asked Show, raising an eyebrow. "Because the Crusaders told me about one Running of the Leaves where-"

"That doesn't count!" shouted Rainbow and Applejack.

Line. "Oh I know that coming in last didn't count, given the circumstances, but the fact remains that you still didn't beat Jack."

"We tied," Rainbow snapped. "And in a fair race we would have tied for first."

"Oh, no doubt," said Show. "I'm sure that the two of you were the fastest racers in Equestria at the time."

"What do you mean, 'at the time'?" demanded Applejack, glaring at Show.

"Well," said Show diplomatically, "it's just that you've both been gone for a decade. For the last seven years every soldier has been trained in strength, skill and speed. I just find it hard to believe that you two are still the fastest."

"Oh really?" said Rainbow, joining in on Applejack's glare. "And I suppose you think that you're faster than us?"

"Well I don't mean to brag," said Show, "but I did outrun the entire Utopian army to escape from them. I'm not the fastest by any means, but I'm probably up there in the ranks."

Rainbow jumped into the air and landed in front of Show, flaring her wings. "You want to test that?"

"I don't know," said Show, looking down and rubbing one leg against the other. "I wouldn't want to embarrass you two."

"Trust us," said Applejack. "It ain't going to be us that get embarrassed."

And sinker. "Girls, calm down," said Twilight. "This isn't a good idea."

"She's right," said Show, still avoiding eye contact. "We shouldn't exert ourselves too much out here. Besides, I'm not sure that readysetgo!"


--------***--------


By the end of the day, everypony but Pinkie was gasping for breath. Show, Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie had led the herd, with Rarity keeping pace fairly well and Fluttershy taking wing a few times to catch up. Poor Twilight was left in the dust and had to keep teleporting all day just to keep everypony else in sight. They had stopped twice to graze, both times barely giving Twilight enough time to choke something down.

"So," said Rainbow once they'd all caught their breaths that night, "still think you can outrun us?"

"I will admit," said Show, "you two are better than I expected. Tell you what, we keep this pace up all the way to the Hub. A huge wall surrounds the City. As soon as we see it, we sprint. First to reach the wall wins the race. Deal?" He held out a hoof.

Rainbow and Applejack both nodded and tapped it. "Deal!"

The next three weeks passed in much the same way. They would wake up in the morning and stretch for a bit before they started running. They would stop three times to eat, and would occasionally dine or sleep in one of the small towns they passed. After a week Fluttershy no longer needed to fly, and after two Twilight could go an entire day without teleporting. They'd seen a number of changelings on the road after leaving Equestria Minor, and the numbers had just increased as they got closer to the Hub. They'd received many curious looks as they passed, but Show had been able to direct their attention onto him and away from the girls. Finally came the night when Show announced that they would reach the Hub the next day.

"If we keep up the same pace," he said, "we'll reach it by noon. That'll give us all afternoon and evening to meet up with some of my old friends."

"And you think they'll help us, Show?" asked Twilight. As they'd traveled and talked, the girls and Show had grown closer to each other, Show showing less and less of his old arrogance as they got closer and closer to the Hub.

"Definitely," he replied. "They took me in and gave me a chance less than a year after the invasion. A couple of them might be wary of you girls for a while, but they'll come around. We'll need to get you some disguises once you get into the city, though. Can't have The Six causing a panic just by walking down the street."

They shared a laugh before lying down for the night. Show looked up the road one more time before resting his head and closing his eyes. Home soon enough.


######


The unicorn stirred and awoke, slowly opening his eyes. Thirsty. That was really all that he had the energy to think. His throat felt like sandpaper as his stomach tried to devour him from the inside. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a course croak which led immediately into a coughing fit.

Suddenly, there was a cool glass against his lips and he felt water pouring into his mouth. He quickly swallowed the small trickle, painfully reaching up to tip the glass a little more. Sweet relief filled him as a shadow of vitality returned.

"Just a bit, now," came a motherly voice as the glass was removed. "Don't want your stomach to take more than it can handle right now."

The unicorn turned his head and his eyes slowly focused on the speaker, a light red unicorn mare with kind green eyes and a matching green mane. She held the glass in her magic beside her. "Don't worry," she said. "Your safe here. My name is Flee. What's yours?"

The unicorn stared at her for a few seconds before turning back to stare at the ceiling. "Bucking Tartarus," he muttered.

Flee raised an eyebrow. "You know, if you don't want to tell me you don't have to. You don't need to make up a name that ridiculous."

The unicorn chuckled, which quickly turned into more coughing. After another sip of water to calm him down, he tried speaking again. "Might as well be. It sure describes my situation perfectly. I spend two weeks nearly getting myself killed, only to wind up back with ponies. Figures i would get myself turned around in those Celestia forsaken woods."

Flee tilted her head to the side. "And who were you expecting instead of ponies?"

The unicorn scoffed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Flee just smirked. "Try me."

A moment passed in silence before... "I was trying to cross the Everfree to find the changeling nation."

"The changelings?" asked Flee. "You mean those creatures who invaded Canterlot last year? Why would you want to find them?"

The unicorn motioned to his flank. "Check the cutie mark. I aim to be the best, and only the changelings can help me do that. Fat lot of good they're going to do me if I can't even get to them, though. Stupid Everfree."

"I see," said Flee. "And how do you know you didn't make it?"

The unicorn rolled his eyes. "Because you're a pony," he said. "Nopony's been to changeling lands in years. If I'd made it there, than you'd be a..." He trailed off as his eyes went wide. He slowly turned to see Flee smirking at him. He swallowed nervously. "To be fair, I'm extremely dehydrated, and I'm pretty sure it's affecting my ability to think."

"Then let me spell it out for you." Green flame enveloped Flee's hooves and slowly rose up her body. Her red coat solidified into a black carapace, her legs and horn filled with holes, and a pair of gossamer wings sprouted from her back. Small fangs grew from her mouth and her eyes became solid orbs of blue. "Welcome to Hivis," she said, her voice a little higher but still holding that motherly tone. She levitated the glass over to him again. "Now, drink up. I think your stomach can handle more now."

After a few moments of shocked silence, the unicorn closed his eyes, furrowing his brow in concentration. A week brown glow enveloped the glass of water and floated it over to him. He quickly drained it and finally took a look around the room. It was a rather small room, barely enough space for the bed, a table and a couple of chairs. "Where am I?" he asked.

"An inn in Equestria Minor," said Flee, refilling the unicorn's glass. "This was the chief trading city between Hivis and Equestria before, well, before things got complicated."

The unicorn took the refilled glass and drained it again. He laid back in bed, staring at the ceiling in wonder. "So, I did it," he whispered. "I made it here." A grin split his face as he started to laugh. "Oh, yes! I made it! Take that, Shining Armor! Never make it through the Everfree? Wrong. Never find a changeling city? Wrong! Killed on sight if I do get here? Bucking wrong! Haha!"

Flee chuckled at the unicorn's antics. "It would seem that the idiot's invasion left the Captain with a bad impression."

"That's the understatement of the year," scoffed the unicorn. "He can't even look at a ladybug without shivering these days. Honestly, I don't know what Princess Cadence sees in- wait." He sat up and raised an eyebrow at Flee. "'The idiot's' invasion? Is that really how you refer to your queen?"

Flee hissed and spat to the side. "Our former queen," she said. "Her niece usurped her as soon as she came crawling back from Equestria without half of the lings she went in there with. Exiled her sorry hide faster than you could say, 'failed idiot'." She shook her head and looked back at the unicorn. "Sorry. It's just that one of my sons was swept up in her 'grand cause' and almost didn't make it back alive."

The unicorn winced. "Sorry about that."

Flee quickly waved him off. "Not your fault," she assured. "Noling blames you ponies for what happened, not even The Six. It was more than enough to see Chrysalis (may she rot in her carapace) kicked out of the country." She sighed and smiled at the uniocorn. "Trust me, noling is going to give you a hard time about that, Mr..."

The unicorn smiled and reached out a hoof to shake. "Stopper," he answered. "Show Stopper."
> Disguises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11: Disguises


10 minutes.

Applejack gasped for breath where she lay leaning against the great wall. She barely had the strength to raise her head and look over at Rainbow who lay sprawled out on her back nearby, also greedily sucking in much needed oxygen. She quickly lowered her head again, finding it too difficult to keep it up.

We had to sprint for ten buckin' minutes to reach this buckin' wall! Why'd they even make it this tall?

The noon sun above them kept them unbearably hot as they sat. Off in the distance, had they the energy to look, they would have seen their friends trotting after them. It would take several minutes for them to get there, none of them having been able to keep pace with the two athletes. Not surprising, as the seven mile sprint had nearly driven them into unconsciousness. Neither had had any energy for finesse and both had simply slammed into the wall at the same time. The tie was disappointing, but at least they'd beaten Show Stopper.

They were still lying on the ground when Show and the rest of the girls reached them. "No way," said Show incredulously. "There is no way that you two sprinted on hoof that entire way."

Applejack gave a small chuckle, which turned into a groan of pain. "Y'all shouldn't have underestimated us," she muttered. "Best athletes in Equestria, right here."

Show just shook his head. "Looks like we'll be here for a while until you both get your strength back." He looked around, seeing the East gate a ways to the left. "Any particular reason you didn't aim for the gate?"

"Road wasn't straight," replied Rainbow, rolling onto her front. "Would have been more distance to run. Besides, there were changelings in the way."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "So you can think straight to determine the fastest rout, but you fail to notice that you're taking far too long to reach the wall?"

Both Rainbow and Applejack shot glares at Show. "Would've been nice to know how tall it was beforehoof," said Applejack. "Wouldn't have gone all out the whole way."

"Oh dear," said Show in mock concern, looking up at the 200 foot wall that surrounded the Hub. "Did I not mention that we'd see it from so far out? Must have slipped my mind."

Everypony else shared a laugh at the two athletes' expense and settled down to rest for a while. The girls were surprised when, a few minutes later, Show stood up and began grazing.

"Really dear?" exclaimed Rarity. "We're right outside the city. Couldn't we find somewhere inside to eat? I think we're all quite fed up with grazing." Rainbow snorted and raised an eyebrow, to which Rarity replied with a glare. "Pun most definitely not intended."

"We could," replied Show, "but I for one am never one to pass up a free meal. Besides, we'll be much too busy for lunch once we get in. Trust me, there'll be so much to see, you won't want to stop to eat. Better to fill up now than to reach this evening and discover that you're starving."

Reluctantly, the girls joined Show in grazing one last time before he led them over to the 50 foot gate. There were no changelings going in or out at the moment, leaving the gate deserted save for a single changeling sitting in a booth to the side. It was resting it's chin on its hoof, reading a book and looking like it was about to die of boredom.

"Greetings, gatekeeper," called Show as they approached. "How are you this after-"

"Name and business," said the changeling in a tired voice, changing into a grey unicorn mare before levitating over a clipboard and pen, all without looking up from her book.

Show grinned and cleared his throat. "Javert and company," he replied, his voice a full baritone. "We seek a criminal named Jean Valjean, who we believe to be hiding in your city."

The changeling rolled her eyes and leveled a deadpan look at Show. Her magic sputtered out and her clipboard dropped along with her jaw, her eyes widening in an instant. Even her disguise vanished in a flash of green fire. "Sh-Show?"

Show's grin grew even bigger. "Afternoon, Flee. You miss me?"

The changeling was still for a moment, before she launched herself across the counter, tackling Show to the ground. "SHOW!" she squealed, hugging him tight. "Oh, it's so good to see you! How have you been? What are you doing here?"

Show laughed, returning the rib crushing hug with one of his own. "It's great to see you too, Flee. How's the family?"

Flee pulled back and smirked, raising an eyebrow. "After seven years?" she asked. "A lot bigger. Buzz's got a family of his own with three little colts. Wing got hitched to a zebra back in May, and Zip's dating a gryphon from the southern tribes. We're pretty sure he's going to propose soon, but he keeps dragging his talons. What about you? Found yourself a special somepony out on the battlefield?"

Show's grin shrunk slightly. "Not as such," he admitted. "Got my eye on a mare, but it wouldn't work out." He brightened up once more. "So, Buzz finally found someling who could stand him, huh? I'm surprised."

Flee chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, he's calmed down a lot over the years. It's all Star's doing, really. If it weren't for her, I think he'd still be strutting around like an idiot."

Show's jaw dropped. "Star?" he gasped. "Not Star Quality! How in the world did Buzz land a catch like that? Even I couldn't get her to go out with me!"

"Right, because you ever had a chance with her," Flee jabbed. "Buzz became one of her little projects a while after you left. You know how she was, always trying to turn noble changelings into true noblelings. She liked the result with Buzz and married him."

Show sighed dramatically. "Ah, and here I was hoping to woo her with the 'returning warrior' shtick."

Flee's eyebrow went right back up again. "When she didn't go for your 'thespian', 'poor foreigner', 'successful business owner', 'royal-savvy commoner', or any other roles? Trust me, you lost her the first time you tried out a fake accent on her."

Thinking back for a minute, Show rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "That would be the first time I talked to her," he admitted.

"I rest my case." The girls laughed and Flee turned to look at them for the first time. "And who are your friends?" she asked.

Show stepped to the side and gestured dramatically. "Lady Flee," he said, "may I present-"

"No, you may not," interrupted Twilight, stepping forward. She smiled at Flee. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. It's nice to meet... is something wrong?"

Flee's smile had dropped at the mention of Twilight's name, and her expression had grown slightly fearful as she named her friends. "So it's true," she whispered.

Show's expression instantly turned serious. "What's true?" he asked.

Flee hesitated a moment. "A few weeks ago," she explained, keeping her voice low, "rumors started spreading around the Hub that there were several ponies making their way here."

Show nodded. "That would be us. What's the problem?"

Flee looked around, making sure that noling was nearby. "Two days ago, I heard another rumor going around that the ponies were, well, The Six. I guess they weren't just rumors."

"Tartarus!" swore Show. "I was hoping to keep those specifics under wraps for a while."

Flee nodded. "It get's worse," she said. "The rumor is that they're here for the Element and to, well, take revenge." She swallowed nervously and gave the girls a glance. "I assume that that isn't true?"

Show snorted angrily. "Would I have led them here if it was?" He started to pace frantically. "I hadn't planned for this. I'd hoped to get firmly established before everyling worked it out. Going to have to keep it hidden now. They're going to need aliases, disguises, backgrounds..."

"If I may ask," said Flee nervously, "why are they here?"

Show stopped pacing to look up at her. "Well, the rumor was partly correct. We're here to return the Element of Loyalty to its rightful bearer. Milkweed shouldn't put up much resistance; she knows she's only a temporary keeper." He went back to pacing. "The problem is, it'll take us almost a month to get an audience with her this time of year. We can't just camp out here for that long - too suspicious. How am i supposed to hide the six most infamous ponies in Hivis in the Hub for a month?"

"You do realize, darling, that we may not be incompetent in that regard?"

Show sighed. "Rarity, I realize that you're trying to help, but changing your accent slightly isn't going to be enough."

"It wasn't Rarity who spoke, darling."

Show looked up to see Applejack smirking at him. He stood in stunned silence for a while. "You can't be serious..."

"Can't I, darling?" asked Applejack in a high-class Manehattan accent.

There was a bright flash of light, and everyone turned to see Cheerilee standing where Twilight had been previously. "I'd never use this spell under normal circumstances," she said, copying Cheerilee's voice perfectly, "but desperate times call for desperate measures, and I'm copying her from before the war."

Show's jaw dropped. "But, that spell... you can't... you shouldn't be able to... IT DOESN'T COPY PAST VERSIONS!"

"Cheerilee" smirked." It does now. As for the magic involved..." She shuddered. "I'm going to have to talk to you about that later." She turned to Rarity and a beam of magic shot out of her forehead. In a similar flash, Rarity was replaced by the tall, lithe form of Fleur de Lis.

"Hm," said Rarity, looking over herself. "Good choice, Twilight," she said. "I wasn't aware you knew Fleur all that well."

"I don't," said Twilight. "The spell is drawing on your past with her to link with her memories."

"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!!!"

"Hush, dear," said Rarity. "The ladies are talking." She turned to examine Fluttershy and Applejack. "Changing your mane-styles should work for now," she said, lighting her horn. In less than a minute, Fluttershy's mane and tail were tied back in simple braids while Applejack's mane was done up in an ornate bun while her tail hung freely.

"Hey Pinks," said Rainbow as Applejack's stetson was levitated over to Fluttershy, "can you do that thing where your mane goes all flat and dark?"

Pinkie grinned and saluted. "One depressed Pinkamena Diane Pie coming right up!" She closed her eyes for a moment before her mane and tail suddenly flattened, all of her hair turning a few shades darker.

"Good thinking, Rainbow," said Twilight. "Hm, we'll have to do something a bit more complicated for you, though. I can only cast this spell on unicorns."

"Allow me, darling," said Rarity, again lighting her horn. Rainbow's mane and tail glowed for a moment before all color faded from it, leaving them a pure white. "It's not a permanent solution," said Rarity, "but the bleach spell should hold until tonight."

Twilight nodded and turned back to Flee. "Let's try this again. My name is Cheerilee. These are my friends, Fleur de Lis, Clementine Orange, Cloudy Skies, Pinkamena Diane Pie, and Apple Blossom. Nice to meet you."

"Impressive," said Flee, nodding approvingly. Just different enough not to draw suspicion. Four of you will need to cover up your cutie marks, and you'll need a more permanent solution for 'Cloudy Skies' mane and tail, but this will work quite nicely." She turned to Show, whose eyes were wide and whose jaw was unhinged. "I assume you have plans for lodging and work?"

Show shook his head to pull himself out of his stupor. "Yes," he said, eyes narrowing, "but a disguise is only the first part. It won't hold up if you don't have a good background. Why are you six here with me?"

Rarity shuddered. "I left Equestria as soon as I was released from Discord's grasp. It was simply horrible having him inside my head. I wanted him out!"

Twilight sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I- I just couldn't stand to see my students kill each other anymore."

Applejack sniffed as well, though in derision rather than sorrow. "A warzone is no place for one of the aristocracy. As soon as I heard that my good friend Fleur was back and planning to leave, I jumped at the chance to accompany her."

"And when I heard that my friend Cheerilee was leaving," said Pinkie, "I knew that it was my only chance to get off of the rock farm."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "They were about to send a show-pony on a dangerous international assignment. They needed an elite soldier to protect his sorry flank."

"An' no self-respectin' Apple would give up an opportunity to do business with an international market," said Fluttershy in a passable Apple family accent. "'specially with how badly the war's affected business these last seven years."

Flee laughed and turned to Show, who had his hoof firmly planted in his face. "Disguises, pseudonyms, and fake backgrounds. Was there anything else, oh master of deception?"

"The second best spy in Equestria gets killed because he can't reconcile his background with mine," he muttered, "but six untrained mares can come up with believable aliases at the drop of a hat." He sighed and shook his head, lowering his hoof to gaze at the girls. "Knock on wood, but this may actually work." He turned to face Flee fully. "Show Stopper and company, good guardsmare! Our business: entrepreneurship. It's time i reclaimed my theatre!"

Flee laughed and flew back into her booth to write it down on her clipboard. "Show Stopper and company, welcome to the Hub!"