Piece by Piece

by Eltirions

First published 19th of July, 2021

There's a lot wrong with the world. Rarity intends on making sure her small part of it is less wrong than the rest, one step at a time.

The world is aflame and broken. In the Crystal Empire, Rarity tries to ensure her part of the world is less broken than the world outside it, starting with finally taking proper care of the little filly that's supposed to rule it one day. But between the Empress Nightmare Moon's plans for Equus, the damage of Sombra's short but brutal second reign, the danger of the Changeling Hegemony on the western border, and her own personal problems, it's going to be a lot of things, but not easy.

Important: this takes place in the Equestria At War universe. Equestria At War is a mod for the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV, be sure to check out their Discord and Reddit if you're not familiar with it. They also have a group on this site: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212917/equestria-at-war

I couldn't find any Rarity and Flurry Heart art, so I made it myself (hence why it's not very good). This is the base I used: https://www.deviantart.com/elementbases/art/MLP-Base-248-789800058

Rated Teen for sadness, the consequences of war and a deranged tyrant ruling over a nation for a good two and half years, a four-year old orphan and all that entails, crude humour, and possibly more to be added in the future.

WARNING: I have no plan or outline for this story, this is purely a passion project, if it ends up dying in a few weeks months time I'll tell you. I am now in possession of a general outline and plan for this story, not to worry.

Chapter 1: Conversation over ice cream

8 December 1008

They stayed together for a while, and ended up leaving the food unfinished. Rarity, instead, ordered a large bucket of ice cream to be brought up to her chambers. The servant didn’t so much as twitch as he took the plates away and promised to have the ice cream sent upstairs immediately.

‘’Are we going to your room?’’ Flurry asked softly as they walked out of the dining room. ‘’Where is it?’’

‘’It’s up in the palace,’’ Rarity replied, ‘’In one of the towers.’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’Is it Mummy’s room?’’

Rarity shook her head. ‘’No, it’s not.’’ That one had been completely destroyed by Sombra, and Rarity had left it untouched. Nightmare Moon hadn’t expressly forbidden her from doing anything with it, but still she thought it better to wait for her permission to do anything.

Honestly, Nightmare Moon’s reaction to the news of Sombra returning hadn’t been what Rarity had anticipated. She’d been in the alicorn’s solar in the Crystaller Building, talking about inconsequential things over a cup of tea, when a messenger had arrived bearing the ill news.

‘’Your majesty,’’ the thestral had said between pants - she’d later found out he’d flown all the way from Bridlepolis with the news, that being the fastest way to transport news with the radio still out of commission - ‘’Sombra has returned to the Crystal Empire! He has captured Princess Cadence and Prince-Consort Shining, and his forces have taken over the country!’’

Rarity had dropped her cup of tea, but Nightmare Moon caught it at the last second with her telekinesis, even as she turned to the guard. ‘’You have more to tell me.’’ It was a statement, not a question.

The thestral had gulped. ‘’He- he has executed the Princess and her husband.’’

Nightmare Moon had gone very, very quiet for ten seconds, while Rarity and the thestral had watched her with growing apprehension that had overtaken the feeling of disgust Rarity felt in her stomach at the thought of Cadence and Shining’s death.

Then, Nightmare Moon spoke.

‘’He will burn.’’

That conversation had been eight months ago. Nightmare Moon had redirected all the forces she had north, with a simple order: bring Sombra to her. Celestia’s forces had been retreating past the Twilight Range to Shire and Ponderosa, and while the bulk of the Lunar forces continued to pursue them into Yonderhill and Coltfoalnia, a significant part moved north to fight the hordes of mind-controlled crystal ponies Sombra sent forth.

Two months later, Nightmare Moon had left Manehattan for a final confrontation with her sister in Tall Tale. When she had returned, it had been with Flurry Heart on her back, or more accurately said, attached to the back of her neck.

And then, Rarity had been sent to the Crystal Empire, together with Flurry. Why Nightmare Moon had sent her only remaining family with Rarity instead of keeping her in Manehattan, only she knew, but Rarity had been made her official guardian and sent on her way.

And for six months, she had been neglectful of her duty. Oh, there were plenty of excuses she could use: she didn’t know how to approach the filly, she had to rule a war-torn and traumatized country, her own family life was in shambles, the list went on and on.

But it was her duty now to care for Flurry Heart, and she had failed to do that.

‘’Mi- auntie?’’

‘’Huh?’’ Rarity blinked rapidly as she was shaken out of her thoughts. She looked down to see Flurry was looking up at her, a lost look on her face. ‘’Sorry darling, I was lost in thought. Is there a problem?’’

Flurry waved her hoof forward. ‘’Do we go up here?’’

Did I walk to the stairwell out of muscle memory?

Rarity looked at the stairs for a moment, before concluding that these were indeed the right stairs. ‘’Yes we do,’’ she confirmed. ‘’Don’t worry, I’m not up very high.’’

Flurry looked up the stairwell, then back at Rarity. ‘’Can I be on your back? I’m tired.’’

‘’Are you sure you can hold on, darling?’’ Rarity asked. Her falling off my back and down the stairs wouldn’t be good.

‘’Yeah, I can do that,’’ Flurry assured her.

‘’Okay then,’’ Rarity agreed after a moment of deliberation. ‘’Can you get on yourself or do you need help?’’

‘’No, it’s alright.’’ Flurry spread her wings and flew up, then landed on Rarity’s back and settled on it.

Rarity took a moment to get used to the weight, then began to climb the stairs. They weren’t very steep, but there were a lot of them.

I pity the person that has to clean them all. And the one that has to bring the ice cream up.

‘’Is it far yet?’’

‘’No.’’ Rarity sped up a little regardless. ‘’Just a few more stairs…’’

And here we are.

Rarity’s room was down the hallway. It wasn’t quite at the top of the tower, but they were still quite high up.

‘’What’s behind these other doors?’’ Flurry asked as Rarity walked down the hallway.

‘’Unused rooms,’’ Rarity answered. ‘’This is a tower meant for visiting delegates and diplomats. I just picked the largest room of all.’’ She came to a halt in front of the door. ‘’We’re here.’’

Flurry jumped off her back onto the ground. When she looked up Rarity expectantly, the older mare laid her hoof on the door handle and opened it.

Rarity had picked this room for a couple of reasons. Number one was the view: from her balcony, she had a perfect view over Crystal City. Number two was the size: this was the largest of all the delegate rooms. And number three was the most petty of them all: it was the room she’d stayed in before.

‘’This is nice,’’ Flurry commented as she walked in beside Rarity.

‘’This is the study,’’ Rarity explained, gesturing at the desk and shelves. ‘’Through that door is the bedroom, that one leads into the bathroom, the balcony is over there, and finally I have my designing room there.’’

The designing room had originally been another delegate room, but Rarity had remodelled it to be part of her room instead, with the remainder of the delegate room becoming part of its other neighbour.

‘’I like it,’’ Flurry declared. She set hoof on the carpet and immediately paused. ‘’This is really soft. Can I get one too?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’In this colour too?’’

‘’Sure.’’ A second later, Flurry tilted her head. ‘’What colours are there?’’

Rarity smiled. ‘’Whichever you want.’’

‘’I want it in pink,’’ Flurry decided after a few seconds of thought.

‘’What tint?’’ She probably doesn’t know-

‘’Like Mummy’s coat.’’

Ah.

‘’I’ll go order one tomorrow morning, alright?’’ Rarity suggested very, very timidly.

‘’T-thanks.’’

Rarity pulled Flurry in for a loose hug. ‘’I can also go and look for some pictures,’’ she offered softly. ‘’I think I still have a few laying in Ponyville, and I can ask my friends if they have some as well.’’

Flurry buried her face against Rarity’s chest. Rarity sat down and put her other foreleg around Flurry as well, before lowering her head a little.

She wasn’t sure what she noticed first, the tiny shakes of her body or the tears running down her coat. The moment she found out that Flurry was crying, however, she tightened her hug a little, stroking the filly’s feathers with her hoof. ‘’It’s alright,’’ she whispered. ‘’You can cry. It’s okay.’’

Flurry began to sob. Even muffled by Rarity’s coat, the sound was still gut-wrenching, and not just because of the sound itself, but also because of the memories. How often had Rarity comforted Sweetie like this, in the past years? This was a different type of grief, of course, but the tears didn’t sting any less because of it.

Did she cry before this? Rarity asked herself. Has she been crying herself to sleep, and was I too busy to notice?

Rarity didn’t want to believe that, but it was possible. And it was more than possible that the servants, if they noticed, wouldn’t say anything.

‘’Flurry,’’ she asked softly, ‘’have you been crying a lot?’’

‘’N-no,’’ the filly sniffed. It didn’t sound very convincing. But I don’t want to press the issue.

‘’Yes,’’ she admitted even more quietly. ‘’Sometimes.’’

Fuck. Rarity looked down. ‘’Why didn’t you say anything to me?’’
Flurry mumbled something in reply.
‘’Come again?’’

‘’Didn’t wanna bother you.’’

‘’Oh darling,’’ Rarity sighed. ‘’I’m so, so sorry. I failed you.’’

Flurry looked up with red-rimmed eyes that didn’t seem to understand. ‘’Failed me?’’

‘’I’m your guardian, I’m supposed to take care of you.’’ And I’ve done a bloody poor job of it, so far.

‘’It’s alright.’’

‘’It’s not.’’

‘’It is.’’

‘’It’s-’’

‘’Auntie, stop it,’’ Flurry cut in. ‘’We both did dumb things, and we should stop arguing about it.’’

Rarity blinked at the sudden interruption. ‘’That’s very wise of you, Flurry.’’

The filly blushed, which was an adorable sight even with the red eyes and the tear stains. ‘’Thanks,’’ she said. ‘’I heard Auntie Luna say something like that to two adults once. They stopped arguing afterwards.’’

‘’Well, your auntie is very wise too,’’ Rarity quipped. ‘’I-’’

Someone knocked on the door. ‘’My lady, your ice cream is here.’’

Perfect timing. ‘’Come in!’’

The door opened and a mare stepped in, carrying a tub of ice cream on her back. ‘’Princess, governess,’’ she greeted with a bow of her head.

‘’Put it down on my desk, please,’’ Rarity requested. ‘’I assume you brought spoons.’’

‘’Yes, my lady.’’ The mare did as requested, then stepped back from the desk. ‘’Is there anything else you require?’’

‘’No,’’ Rarity replied, before hesitating. ‘’Flurry,’’ she asked, ‘’do you want to have a sleepover here?’’

‘’In your room?’’ Flurry asked for clarification, and Rarity nodded in reply. ‘’Sure!’’

‘’Then,’’ Rarity turned back to the mare, ‘’can you get Flurry’s pillow and stuffed toys from her room? Oh, and her toothbrush.’’

‘’Of course, my lady. Anything else?’’

‘’No, I don’t think so, darling. Thank you.’’

‘’Of course. Princess, governess.’’ After giving a small bow, the mare walked out of the room again.

As soon as the door was closed, Rarity lifted the tub of ice cream, complete with two spoons, from the desk with her magic. ‘’Shall we eat this on the bed?’’

‘’Yeah!’’

With a chuckle, Rarity stood up, finally letting go of Flurry. She took a moment to adjust to the lack of a body pressing against her chest, then walked away from the centre of the study and opened the door to her bedroom. ‘’Ta-da!’’ she announced as she held the door open.

‘’That’s a big bed,’’ Flurry observed after a moment.

‘’I like big beds.’’

‘’So do I.’’ Flurry spread her wings and flew over to it, then sat herself down on the covers. After a moment of touching them with her hooves, she laid down on her belly. ‘’It’s soft and warm too.’’

‘’Yours is too, I hope?’’ Rarity joke-asked.

‘’Yeah, it is.’’

‘’Good.’’ Rarity climbed onto the bed and laid down next to Flurry. She placed the ice cream in front of them both, and opened the tub. ‘’Don’t eat too much.’’

‘’I won’t,’’ Flurry promised, before lifting up her spoon with her magic and taking a scoop from the tub. ‘’Oh, I like this ice cream,’’ she said after she’d swallowed the first bite.

‘’Nothing above plain old vanilla, no?’’ Rarity remarked between scoops. ‘’So, you said at dinner that you made friends. Do you want to tell me about them?’’

‘’Okay,’’ Flurry agreed. ‘’I made a lot of friends today. Swift Hoof, he’s nice but a little strange. Star Glitter, she’s nice too! And she has a bow!’’

‘’They sound nice,’’ Rarity commented with a smile. ‘’Are there more?’’

Flurry’s face scrunched up in thought. ‘’There’s Jewel Heart, but I think she’s a little stuck-up. Oh, and there was a thestral filly as well. Her name is Moon Tower. I think she’s called that because she’s tall. Like, really tall. Even the guard was impressed,’’

Huh. They sound like a good group. ‘’Well, I’m happy you’ve made friends,’’ Rarity said. ‘’Are you going to see them again tomorrow?’’

‘’Yeah, we agreed to meet again after lunch.’’

After lunch… ‘’Sounds nice.’’

Flurry nodded, then looked at the door. ‘’When are the pillows going to be here?’’

‘’I don’t know.’’ Rarity took a glance at the tub of ice cream and then did a double-take. It was already more than half-empty.

‘’Right,’’ she pushed the tub away and used her magic to lift the lid up from the bed, ‘’I think that’s enough ice cream for today.’’

‘’Awww…’’ Flurry pouted. ‘’Okay,’’ she sighed, before putting the spoon on top of the now-closed box. ‘’So what did you do today?’’

I did not expect that. ‘’Nothing interesting, I’m afraid,’’ she answered. ‘’There’s always a lot of paperwork, and I still have my boutiques as well. Plus, there are meetings I have to attend. A lot of ponies want to meet with me.’’

‘’’cause you’re important, right?’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’I am important, yes. And I-’’

‘’My lady? I’m back with the things you requested!’’

Again?

‘’You can come in!’’ Rarity called back. ‘’We’re in the bedroom!’’

She heard the door open, and a few seconds later the mare appeared, carrying a bag in her mouth. ‘’Princess, governess,’’ she said after she carefully placed the bag on the floor.

‘’Thank you, darling.’’ Rarity lifted the bag up with her magic and floated it over to the bed, placing it on the edge before opening it. Flurry’s toothpaste and toothbrush laid on top of her pillow, and underneath that were her stuffed toys.

‘’Here you go, Flurry.’’ One by one, she lifted the items out of the bag. Flurry immediately laid the pillow and toothbrush to the side, before collecting her stuffed toys between her forelegs.

‘’You can go,’’ Rarity waved her hoof dismissively at the mare.

The mare hesitated. ‘’Do you want me to take the ice cream with me, my lady?’’

Rarity glanced down at the tub. ‘’Store it in the fridge in the designer room,’’ she ordered after a moment, before floating the tub over to the mare. The mare grabbed the tub, then bowed again and walked out of the room.

‘’Did she get everything, darling?’’ Rarity asked as soon as she estimated the mare couldn’t hear her anymore.

‘’Yeah,’’ Flurry confirmed. ‘’Do I need to brush my teeth already?’’

Rarity turned her head around to look at the clock on her nightstand. 7:30. That’s later than normal.

‘’It’s late,’’ she said. ‘’Are you tired already?’’

‘’No.’’ A moment later, Flurry yawned loudly, and after that she had the decency to look abashed. ‘’Okay, maybe a little.’’

Rarity smiled. ‘’Well, that sounds like it’s time for bed.’’

‘’But it’s a sleepover!’’

That’s true too. But- I have an idea.

‘’But you have to get up early tomorrow,’’ Rarity rebutted.

Flurry tilted her head. ‘’Why?’’

Rarity’s smile widened. ‘’We’re going somewhere.’’

Author's Notes:

So, what I said about The Wrong Mare being a one-shot? About that...

I accidentally created something that wouldn't stop bugging me, and maybe it'll turn into something big. I don't know, I don't have anything written or planned, but we'll see where it ends up going.

Just to be clear: there's no upload schedule. I'll post updates when I write something for this story, but if I end up taking an extended break, I'll let you know.

Cheers!

Chapter 2: Introductions

9 December 1008

Rarity opened her eyes and was immediately greeted by the adorable sight of Flurry’s sleeping face, with her stuffed snail - wasn’t its name Whammy? - squeezed between her forelegs. Flurry’s other stuffed toys were spread around on her side of the bed, creating a sort-of-corridor between the filly and the rest of the world.

Rarity turned around to look at the clock. 08:17. Early.

As usual, her mane was a total disaster that would need to be remedied before she went out of her rooms. What she used nowadays wasn’t as fabulous as her usual style, but it suited her look as a professional and a ruler of a country.

As quietly as she could, Rarity got out of the bed, moving very slowly so she wouldn’t wake up Flurry. Once she was in the living room, she opened the curtains with her magic, showing the darkness outside.

Well, it wasn’t completely dark. There were plenty of lights on: getting the street lamps fixed had been a priority as part of a larger effort to repair the city’s infrastructure. After all, it was hard to repair the city when there wasn’t a proper way to travel through it.

And just why is someone knocking on the door this early in the morning?

Rarity tied her hair in a knot with telekinesis as she walked over to the door, finishing doing it just before she opened the door. ‘’Good morning,’’ she greeted.

A stone-faced thestral guard bowed his head in reply. ‘’My lady, there is a priority letter from Manehattan that arrived around midnight. It has the Empress’ seal on it.’’

Rarity blinked, before nodding. ‘’I see. Where is the letter now?’’

‘’Here you go, my lady.’’ And the thestral hooved the letter to her.

It did have Nightmare Moon’s seal on it. ‘’Thank you, darling. Do you mind waiting while I read this through?’’

‘’Of course not, my lady.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ Rarity broke the seal of the letter, then unfolded it.

Dear Rarity,

How are you doing? It might seem strange, but I am genuinely interested in how you and Flurry are doing. I hope everything is going alright.

But I’m sure I will see it for myself on Hearthswarming Eve. And speaking of… I’ve sent one of my Shadowbolts ahead to you. She should arrive the same day you receive this letter, if I have timed everything right.

As for myself, I have been doing quite fine. There is a lot of work, but I am certain you have that too, so I needn’t explain that part to you. And I will admit that perhaps it was not the smartest idea to keep the capital in Manehattan, but what’s done is done, as they say.

The following part is for Flurry.

Hello sweetheart,

How are you? I hope you’re doing alright, being back home. I’ve tried to keep your dreams safe and pleasant, but I am very busy and the Crystal Empire is far away, so I might not be able to keep out every nightmare. I apologise in advance for that.

As you know, I’m going to spend Hearthswarming Eve in the Crystal Empire with you. I don’t know about you, but I want to build a snowpony together, and have a snowball fight. Sounds fun, does it not?

To both of you: stay safe and healthy. I can’t wait to see you again.

Signed,

Nightmare Moon / Auntie Luna

Well.

‘’Thank you for delivering this,’’ Rarity said after a moment of silence, looking up from the letter at the guard. ‘’I will write a reply and send it later today. You are dismissed.’’

The guard saluted. ‘’Yes ma’am. Have a pleasant morning.’’

‘’You too.’’

Rarity closed the door once the guard had started walking down the hallway, and walked over to the couch in the corner of the room, head filled with questions. A Shadowbolt? Who’ll it be? And why is she allowing Flurry to call her Luna?

‘’Auntie?’’ Rarity turned around to see Flurry standing in the doorway to the bedroom. Whammy was next to her on the ground, and she was using her left foreleg to rub her eyes.

‘’Good morning, darling,’’ Rarity greeted her. ‘’Did you sleep well?’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’Yeah, your bed is just as nice as mine, but with you next to me I was warmer. It was nice.’’ She looked at the letter, still held in Rarity’s magic. ‘’What’s that?’’

‘’Your aunt sent us a letter,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’It arrived last night, after we went to bed.’’

Flurry’s eyes lit up immediately. ‘’Can you read it to me? Please?’’

‘’Of course, darling,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’But I’m a little hungry. Why don’t we have breakfast, and then I can read the letter to you? Does that sound fair?’’

‘’Okay!’’ Flurry chirped. ‘’Are we eating downstairs or up here?’’

‘’Downstairs.’’ Ice cream was one thing, as was being buried in work, but Rarity preferred her rooms devoid of food and the stains it inevitably left, thank you very much.

Breakfast was a very simple affair: just some hay and bread, with orange juice to wash it down. While they were eating, Rarity read the letter to Flurry, who liked it very much. ‘’I wonder who that Shadowbolt is going to be,’’ she said.

‘’So do I,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’Probably not someone we know though.’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Flurry turned her head away to look at the clock, then looked back at Rarity. ‘’Auntie, can you tell me what the time is?’’

Note to self: teach her how to read a clock. ‘’It’s almost nine o’clock, Flurry.’’

‘’Aww…’’ The filly pouted. ‘’How long until it’s afternoon?’’

‘’Three more hours,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’But I have to go do my work now. Can you play by yourself?’’ Whatever it is you do- I really have been failing in my duty.

Flurry’s pout intensified. ‘’I don’t wanna leave you,’’ she admitted softly.

Rarity attempted to smile reassuringly. ‘’I’m just going to be in my rooms, upstairs. You know where it is, and if you get lost, just ask one of the guards or servants for directions. And at twelve, we’ll go have lunch together. Remember: you’re always welcome.’’

‘’Really?’’

Rarity nodded resolutely. ‘’Really.’’

‘’Thanks, auntie.’’ Flurry shifted her chair closer to Rarity’s, then gave her flank a hug.

Rarity put her leg around Flurry’s neck. ‘’Anytime, Flurry.’’

They stayed like that for half a minute, then they finished up on breakfast and both went their separate ways. The nation didn’t stop being full of people, problems, and those things put together, just because Rarity and her ward needed a moment together. Though I wish it did.

Tax problems, remnants of Sombra’s mind-control, destroyed houses, appointments of the people that were qualified to deal with those things, it all ended up on her desk. By the time the clock struck twelve, she was just about ready to throw the forms out of her balcony.

But, she didn’t. Instead, she signed off on the last document she had read through before twelve, then got up from her chair and made her way downstairs again.

To see Flurry was waiting on her at the end of the stairs. ‘’Hi auntie!’’

‘’Hello again, darling,’’ Rarity returned the greeting. ‘’Did you have fun while I was working?’’

‘’Yeah, I did,’’ Flurry replied. ‘’I asked one of the servants to play with me and my toys. It was lots of fun!’’

That’s good. ‘’Do you often ask servants to play with you?’’

‘’Sometimes,’’ was Flurry’s answer. ‘’When I can’t play outside. But most of the time I can, so it’s not a problem.’’

‘’When I find the time,’’ Rarity promised, ‘’I’ll play with you, alright?’’

‘’Yay!’’ Flurry cheered. ‘’But first lunch, right?’’

‘’Indeed, darling.’’

Lunch was just as simple as breakfast had been. Bread and hay, but this time with milk instead of orange juice, and some vegetables as well, to spice things up a little.

‘’So what are you going to do with your friends today?’’ Rarity inquired between bites.

Flurry shrugged. ‘’Dunno yet. Maybe we’ll play tag? Or we’ll have another snowball fight. I don’t know.’’

Rarity hesitated. This might not be a good idea. Screw it, I’m going to ask anyway. ‘’Would you like it if I came along?’’

Flurry looked up. ‘’And played with us?’’ she asked for clarification.

‘’Well, yes.’’

‘’That would be so cool!’’ Flurry said. ‘’Please, do it!’’

‘’Okay, I will.’’

Once lunch was finished, they both headed for the gardens just outside the Crystal Palace. While they were connected to the Palace, they were open to anyone who wanted to visit, like the foals that had become Flurry’s friends.

The first time Rarity saw them, they were standing next to the statue of a mare posing heroically. There was a light grey colt with a brown and blue mane, a sea-blue filly with a white mane, a ruby-red filly with a purple and yellow mane out of which stuck a golden-coloured bow, and a tall dark green filly, with a dark red mane.

‘’Hi guys!’’ Flurry called out. ‘’This is my auntie, Rarity!’’

‘’Hello, darlings,’’ Rarity greeted them with a smile and wave. She received four different reactions.

The colt stared at her for a moment, then very politely bowed his head. ‘’Good afternoon, my lady. I am Swift Hoof.’’

The blue filly didn’t bow her head. ‘’Hi, miss! My name is Star Glitter!’’

The filly with the bow did a very impressive curtsy for her age. ‘’Good afternoon, Governess Belle. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Jewel Heart.’’

And finally, the thestral filly didn’t visibly react and just said, ‘’Hello, I am Moon Tower. Nice to meet you.’’

‘’It is a pleasure to meet you all,’’ Rarity declared. ‘’How are you all doing?’’

‘’Great!’’

‘’Good, I suppose.’’

‘’My day has been exemplary so far, Governess Belle.’’

‘’Fine.’’

Right, Swift Hoof is polite, Star Glitter is just a typical filly, Jewel Heart really is stuck-up, and Moon Tower is very stand-offish. Flurry is probably the one that keeps them together and will keep on doing so.

Rarity cleared her throat. ‘’That is nice to hear. I have been told we are going to be playing games today?’’

‘’Yes, we are,’’ Flurry said, before blinking. ‘’Auntie, I just had an idea.’’

Rarity glanced at her. ‘’Well?’’

‘’Can my friends stay for dinner tonight?’’

Where did that come from?

Regardless, Rarity put on her most kind and caring smile. ‘’Of course you can come for dinner-’’

‘’Hey Rares!’’

I know that voice.

Rarity turned around and looked up. There, in the sky, floating lazily and wearing the night-black uniform of a Shadowbolt, was Rainbow Dash, with that trademarked smirk on her face.

‘’Rainbow?’’

‘’In the flesh!’’ the pegasi mare declared. ‘’You miss me?’’

In a burst of speed she dove to the ground, coming to a halt at the last second to land a few meters away from Rarity and the foals. ‘’Hi kids-’’

Rarity shot forward and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow, with a speed even she was surprised by.

‘’Rares, it’s nice to see you too- oof! - but you’re squishing me!’’ Rainbow said with a very tight voice after about ten seconds of shocked silence.

‘’Right, sorry darling,’’ Rarity apologized as she loosened her grip. ‘’I’m just so glad to see you again!’’

And she really was. You don’t know how much you miss something until it’s gone. Or someone, in this case.

‘’So am I.’’ Rainbow spread her wings and gave her a hug back that was probably just as tight as Rarity’s had been, and the odds were fifty-fifty that she actually knew she was doing it.

They kept still like that for a time, Rarity didn’t know how long, before Rainbow finally, very reluctantly it appeared, let go of her.

Rarity then let go as well, and stepped aside. ‘’Rainbow, you already know Flurry of course, and these are her friends: Swift Hoof, Star Glitter, Jewel Heart, and Moon Tower. Everyone, this is-’’

‘’What’s up?’’ Rainbow sauntered forward and winked. ‘’I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest - and coolest! - pegasus in all Equestria!’’

Five seconds of silence as all the children stared at her. Then Flurry Heart cleared her throat. ‘’We’re not in Equestria, Miss Rainbow.’’

Rarity would have tittered at the comment alone, especially the innocent tone of it, but Rainbow’s look of pure surprise and shock was so perfect that she had to do more than titter.

With a very un-ladylike snort, she began to laugh. Not very loud, of course, but still noticeable. The look of betrayal from Rainbow, and the laughs and giggles from the foals, only made it worse.

Author's Notes:

No, just because I uploaded two days in a row doesn't mean I'll keep on doing that. Or maybe I will. Probably not. Like I said, I have nothing written out, so the plot is developing as we go on.

Hope you liked it regardless. Let me know if I made any mistakes.

Chapter 3: Clearing the air

9 December 1008

‘’Ha-ha,’’ Rainbow said slowly. ‘’Very funny.’’

Rarity managed one more chuckle as her laughter died down. ‘’Apologies darling, but that was just too perfect.’’

‘’It’s cool.’’ In an instant, Rainbow’s expression was back to normal. ‘’But seriously? You kids never heard of me?’’

‘’I did,’’ Flurry spoke up as she took a few steps towards Rainbow. ‘’Hi Miss Rainbow. How are you?’’

Rainbow’s smirk turned into a more kind smile. ‘’I’m doing great, kiddo. How about you? Use your wings a lot? They’re made for flying, after all.’’

‘’Yeah, I fly sometimes,’’ Flurry answered. ‘’Not very high though. My guards say that’s not safe.’’

‘’Safe? Ha!’’ Rainbow scoffed. ‘’I’ll come with you next time, squirt. You don’t gotta worry ‘bout a thing then. Even if you fall, I’ll catch you. Rarity can tell you how good I am at doing that.’’

Ah, of course. ‘’You caught me in time,’’ Rarity affirmed. ‘’Barely, but still.’’

‘’You were unharmed,’’ Rainbow added. ‘’And you would’ve been caught earlier, if you hadn’t knocked out the Wonderbolts that were trying to rescue you.’’

Rarity bowed her head. ‘’Yes, well. I was panicking, as you can imagine.’’

‘’Hey, no hard feelings,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’You can’t all be as awesome as me!’’

‘’Right,’’ Rarity said after a few seconds of silence. ‘’Darlings, why don’t we all head to the palace? I think we can all use some food.’’

‘’Food sounds great,’’ Rainbow remarked. ‘’Flying from Whinnyapolis to here was a little tiring.’’

What.

‘’I would think so,’’ Rarity exclaimed. ‘’That’s quite the distance.’’

‘’Almost five hundred kilometres,’’ Rainbow proudly declared, ‘’in about four hours. Just don’t expect me to do much else today.’’

‘’You must be exhausted!’’ Rarity grabbed Rainbow’s hoof. ‘’Come, you need to rest.’’

‘’Rares, I’m fine-’’ Rainbow lied as she tried to pull her hoof away. The fact that she didn’t succeed in doing so was proof enough.

‘’You are not, and that is that,’’ Rarity declared. Just have to explain this to Flurry.

She turned to face the filly. ‘’Flurry, I’m going to make sure Rainbow gets some food and then some rest, and then I’ll come back here, okay? I won’t be gone too long.’’

Flurry naturally didn’t look very pleased, but she nodded anyway. ‘’Sure thing, auntie. When will you be back?’’

‘’I’m not sure, sweetheart,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’I don’t think it’ll be much longer than an hour though.’’

‘’Okay…’’ Flurry stepped forward and gave her a hug. Rarity let go of Rainbow to hug the filly back, but managed to grab Rainbow before she could attempt to flee.

‘’Goodbye, darlings. It was a pleasure to meet you all, and I can’t wait to learn more about you.’’

‘’Goodbye, my lady.’’

‘’Bye miss!’’

‘’Have a good day, Governess Belle.’’

‘’Goodbye.’’

With that said, Rarity walked away from the foals, dragging Rainbow along with her.

‘’Auntie?’’ Rainbow asked as soon as they were far enough from the foals. ‘’What’s up with that?’’

Rarity turned her head and raised an eyebrow. ‘’The Empress named me her guardian, Rainbow. Is it really that weird?’’

The full story is.

‘’... I guess not,’’ Rainbow admitted. She fell silent for a few seconds. ‘’Please don’t tell Applejack about-’’

‘’I won’t,’’ Rarity promised as they approached the entrance to the palace.

Rainbow craned her neck to look at the top of the palace. ‘’I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Harmony totally ripped off this when she made Twilight’s castle.’’

‘’That… huh. Now you mention it, I see the resemblance.’’ Rarity looked up at the palace as well. ‘’The tint of the crystals is different though.’’

‘’Eh, who cares about that?’’ Rainbow flicked her wing dismissively. ‘’It’s a lot taller than Twilight’s castle, I’ll give it that.’’

They entered the palace and made for the dining room. Once inside, Rarity ordered some hay and greens, plus a canister of water. Rainbow continued to say she didn’t need the food up until the point it arrived, at which point she ate it all with a speed more fitting of Pinkie Pie than herself.

‘’Had your fill, darling?’’ Rarity teasingly asked when the food was eaten.

‘’Yeah yeah,’’ Rainbow chuckled. ‘’Good food. Thanks, Rares.’’

Rarity shifted a little closer to Rainbow, and put her hoof on the pegasi’s. ‘’Anytime, darling. And if there’s anything you need? Just ask.’’

Rainbow pulled her head away, with a look of suspicion on her face. ‘’Rares,’’ she said slowly, as if the very words were dangerous, ‘’are you trying to hit on me?’’

What. ‘’N-no…?’’

‘’Are you asking or telling me?’’ Rainbow tried to keep her tone light, but her facial expression and stance were serious.

I’m not- why would she think I’d do that? I wouldn’t hit on her… would I?

She actually wasn’t sure. That was a very scary thought. In the past, whenever she’d been flirting with someone, it had been a conscious effort on her part, and while it wasn’t always smart, she decided when she stopped and how far she went.

‘’I mean,’’ Rainbow said, ‘’I’m not going to pretend like I haven’t thought about this. You’re a beautiful mare, Rarity, we both know that. Just like we both know I’m awesomely attractive and sexy.’’ She struck a pose and winked.

Even as her cheeks heated slightly, Rarity let out a nervous giggle. ‘’I- I am- well, you are.’’

Rainbow’s face broke as she blinked. ‘’You really think that?’’

‘’Of course. I’d never lie to you, Rainbow,’’ Rarity said. ‘’Not about that.’’

‘’I kinda figured that already, but you never know, right?’’ Rainbow managed a weak chuckle at her own joke.

Rarity hummed. ‘’In any case, I’m glad you’re here, darling.’’

‘’It’s good to be back here,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’This isn’t Ponyville, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s nice, in its own way.’’

‘’The restoration is coming along nicely,’’ Rarity picked up the conversation. ‘’I had the roads repaired first, as you may have noticed. Then we started on the homes.’’

‘’Yeah, I saw all the roads and railways were either fixed or being fixed when I flew here. Lots of hard work, it appeared. I thought crystal ponies were fragile.’’

‘’Oh, hardly,’’ Rarity said. ‘’I haven’t had as much time to read about them and their history as I would have liked, but I can tell you that they’re just as tough as any other pony. When they were expanding the Empire, they fought against other ponies, yaks, changelings, dragons and all sorts of monsters.’’

‘’Really?’’ Rainbow looked as surprised as Rarity had when she found that out. ‘’Huh. I guess that explains why they were hard to defeat. Which reminds me…’’ She shifted. ‘’I have another duty here, beyond making sure everything is safe for the Empress’ upcoming arrival and guarding you and Flurry.’’

Rarity sat up a little. ‘’And what is that duty?’’

‘’I’m supposed to help with the training and recruitment of the new Crystal Guard,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’It’s going to be part of a larger effort by the Empress to get the Crystal Empire back into fighting shape. She’s going to bring some talented unicorn mage and an earth pony with her, and the three of us are going to be responsible for the Empire’s military.’’

Rarity wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

I knew this would happen. Nightmare Moon intends to make sure all of Equus is under her reign, and the Crystal Empire has a part to play in that. ‘’Why you? Don’t take this the wrong way, but the Crystal Empire barely has any pegasi. Or unicorns, for that matter.’’

‘’Well, apparently there’s going to be a lot of ‘encouragement’ to get people to move here,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’I don’t know any details, but it seems they’re giving refugees from the civil war a chance to settle here. There’s a lot of space to go around, after all.’’

That, Rarity couldn’t deny. The Crystal Empire was pretty much empty outside of Crystal City and its surroundings, so any immigrants would have plenty of room to settle.

‘’And,’’ Rainbow went on, ‘’apparently the Empress wants to experiment, try out some new tactics and strategies. They want to mix units together, see what works and what doesn’t. The Empress is going to explain everything when she gets here.’’

Rarity raised an eyebrow. ‘’How do you know that?’’

‘’She told me.’’

Rarity’s other eyebrow joined the first. ‘’Told you?’’

‘’Yeah, she kinda invited me to have tea with her in Manehattan, just after I’d finished my tests to see if I was fit to enter the Shadowbolts - I was, of course. Kicked all of the other trainees’ flanks, and then the examinator’s for good measure. Anyway, I had tea with her in the Crystaller Building, and we talked a lot. Cleared the air.’’ Rainbow smiled wistfully. ‘’She complimented my flying skills. Oh, and she forgave me for the Elements.’’

‘’She did that with me too,’’ Rarity offered. ‘’Dismissed the Elements as an understandable reaction.’’

‘’I was expecting her to be angry about it,’’ Rainbow admitted, ‘’but, you won’t hear me complaining about my new status.’’ She gestured her wing at herself. ‘’It’s not the same as being a Wonderbolt, but it’s the next best thing. And protecting Equestria is worth the uniform.’’

‘’I can take a look at it,’’ Rarity suggested, ‘’see if I can make some improvements to it.’’

Rainbow gave her a flat look. ‘’No offense, Rares, but while I’m sure you could make this look absolutely fabulous, the whole point is to be intimidating, swift and hard to see. That’s kinda not your style.’’

Rarity bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘’Point well taken, darling.’’

‘’But…’’ Rainbow’s smirk crept up again, ‘’you can take my measurements, if you’d like to.’’

‘’Now look who’s flirting,’’ Rarity couldn’t help but quip.

Rainbow flushed, but didn’t deny it. ‘’So where do I sleep tonight?’’ she asked instead. ‘’You got room for me somewhere in this massive palace of yours?’’

‘’I do,’’ Rarity affirmed. ‘’The rooms for visiting delegates are all empty, save for the one I use.’’

Rainbow tilted her head. ‘’I thought you’d use… well, Cadence’s old room…’’

Rarity shook her head. ‘’Sombra destroyed it. I kept it that way; until the Empress has seen it for herself, I won’t do anything with it.’’

‘’Sounds smart,’’ Rainbow remarked after a moment of thought. ‘’Now, care to show me my room? ‘cause I’m gonna take one long nap in that bed.’’

Rarity smiled, and reached out with her hoof again. ‘’Follow me, darling.’’

Author's Notes:

And then Rainbow Dash appeared.

Until now, I've never really done anything with her. But the conversation between Rarity and her was one of the most easy dialogues I've ever written, I think. But if I messed it up, do tell me.

In any case, this was fun to write. Which, ultimately, is the best reason to write, no? Next chapter will be Rarity playing games with Flurry and her friends. Besides that? No idea. After that? No idea either.

Chapter 4: Fight

9 December 1008

Once Rainbow had been brought to her room, Rarity made her way back down to the gardens.

And caught a snowball in her magic, five centimetres from her face.

The silence that followed that quite impressive display of reflexes was deafening. Evidently, someone hadn’t been aiming very well.

‘’Well,’’ Rarity broke the silence, ‘’whose side am I one?’’

‘’Mine!’’ Flurry immediately shouted. She was standing behind one of the bushes, together with Star Glitter. Moon Tower, Jewel Heart and Swift Hoof were together too, on the opposite side of the gardens.

‘’As you wish, darling.’’ Rarity made her way over to Flurry, carrying the snowball with her. Then, when she’d arrived at Flurry’s side, Rarity flicked the snowball towards the opposing side. It didn’t hit, sadly, but that really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Right, time to-

‘’Auntie,’’ Flurry said, ‘’you’re not allowed to use your horn. You have to use your hooves.’’

Rarity turned to face the filly. ‘’I see.’’ That did seem more fair.

And so, she scooped up some snow with her hooves and formed it into a snowball, then threw it towards the other team. Flurry and Star Glitter were already throwing more snowballs, and their opponents were returning fire with the same vigour.

It was fun in a way that Rarity had missed over the past months. And she couldn’t even recall the last time she’d had a snowball fight with anyone. Certainly not last year; then, she’d been more concerned with the civil war than with having fun.

Not that there was nothing to be concerned about now. The Empress’ upcoming visit, restoring the Crystal Empire to a working nation, and perhaps most importantly: taking good care of Flurry.

It would be hard. But Rarity was prepared to make sure everything worked out in the right way.

|-x-X-x-|

9 December 1008

With a sigh, Nightmare Moon closed the door of her solar. Today was just like any other day: too long and work-filled for her taste. She couldn’t remember Equestria being this hard to rule before.

Then again, I was sharing the burden with Sister at the time, and Equestria was smaller.

Now, it seemed that there was a new pony for every problem that popped up, and all wanted her to fix them. Because ponies still couldn’t solve their own problems.

‘’You know, Twilight is probably bemoaning the twisted fate that led to Nightmare Moon returning.’’

Why is he here?

‘’Discord, what in the Moon’s name are you doing?’’

‘’Me? Nothing. Just visiting an old friend. Why, you don’t like me?’’

Nightmare’s face darkened. ‘’Celestia might have forgiven you-’’

‘’But you’re not her, ya-da ya-da ya-da. Actually, how much of you is Luna and how much is Nightmare Moon?’’ Discord slipped down from the ceiling and placed himself in front of her, leaning back with his upper limbs on the back of his head, resting on nothing as if it was a wall.

‘’We are one, and we always have been. I am Luna’s true self.’’ There was nothing more to it.

Discord quirked an eyebrow. ‘’And her true self doesn’t want to be called her own name by her subjects? You know, for someone who longs for attention that badly, changing your name seems kind of counterproductive.’’ He tapped his chin in thought.

Nightmare scoffed. ‘’I wouldn’t expect you to understand. And for that matter, how does the Lord of Chaos feel about his name having never changed in a thousand years?’’ she shot back at him.

Discord shrugged. ‘’People call me by many different names.’’

‘’They do with me as well.’’

‘’But they all boil down to the same thing. Then again, the same can be said for me.’’ Discord suddenly let himself fall back, sinking into the floor like it was an elastic, then bouncing upwards into the sky and - somehow - ending up on Nightmare’s chair, the one she always sat in.

‘’Is there a point to this?’’ she asked, exasperated.

‘’Maybe. Maybe not.’’ Discord pulled a ball of light out of thin air and threw it up in the air, before catching it and then throwing it up again. ‘’I might just have lost it right about now.’’

‘’I beg your pardon?’’

‘’Wait a minute-’’ Discord leant forward, crossing the distance between the couch and Nightmare without moving from the couch, and stuck his paw into her mane. Before Nightmare could react, he pulled it back, something pink contained in his paw. ’’Ah, there it is!’’

He opened his paw, and Nightmare managed to see what he had just picked out of her hair. ‘’A butterfly?’’

Discord nodded, before tossing the butterfly into the air and catching it with his mouth. ‘’A metaphor. The point actually is that I’m here to make a deal.’’

This shall be interesting. ‘’A deal?’’

Discord nodded. ‘’Yes, a deal. Don’t pull that face.’’

Nightmare tilted her head. This was strange, even for him. What was his angle? ‘’You think I’d make a deal with you?’’

Discord shook his head. ‘’No. I’m going to offer it anyway.’’

Typical. ‘’Very well. I suppose listening won’t hurt.’’

‘’Actually, remember that one time-’’ Discord began.

‘’Discord.’’ And yes, I do. It wasn’t fun.

‘’Oh ruin my fun, why don’t you?’’ Discord complained dramatically. ‘’Now what was I going to say? Oh yes, the deal.’’

Nightmare waited. ‘’... Well?’’

‘’It’s simple, really. I want a promise from you.’’ Discord leant across the couch, watching her intently. If he was anyone else, it might even be sexual.

Nightmare, regardless, was unfazed. ‘’A promise of what?’’

Discord’s eyes narrowed. ‘’To never hurt Fluttershy.’’

Nightmare blinked. Was that all? ‘’I ordered my soldiers to stay away from her and her cottage when they took Ponyville, you know that. I don’t have any intentions towards her.’’

Discord nodded very, very slowly. ‘’And we both know that could change at any second. So, a deal. I get Fluttershy.’’

‘’And what do I get?’’ Nightmare inquired.

‘’Me.’’

What.

‘’I’m sorry?’’

Discord put his upper limbs together and cracked them. ‘’In exchange for leaving her and her home alone, I will take her place as protector of Equestria. Any threats pop up that you can’t send your armies against, I’ll take care of.’’

‘’Discord, you’re not an Element of Harmony-’’

‘’I don’t have to be! I am just as powerful as the Elements!’’

That sounded very whiny and childish. He was probably reading her mind, but Nightmare still didn’t voice the thought aloud. ‘’The last time we sent you out alone, you aided Tirek in stealing Equestria’s magic. Why-’’

‘’Fluttershy’s pregnant.’’

Nightmare blinked. Took a step back. Opened her mouth. Didn’t know what to say.

Discord barreled on. ‘’We just found out. She’s overjoyed, of course, as are all of her animal friends. We’re going to tell the others tomorrow.’’ His unnatural eyes locked with Nightmare’s. ‘’So there’s your guarantee. I want a secure future for my child, and I’ll do anything I can to make sure of that.’’

‘’Congratulations,’’ Nightmare finally managed to say, and it wasn’t a lie. ‘’I- I’m happy, for you both.’’

Discord’s eyes softened. ‘’Thank you.’’ There was a sincerity to his voice that Nightmare had never expected to hear from him.

He stuck out his griffon claw. ‘’So, what do you say, Moony?’’

Nightmare took the claw and shook it. ‘’We have a deal.’’

Author's Notes:

So, been a while.

Sorry for the delay, but I wasn't really sure how to continue this story. I have some plans, but real life stuff (moving houses and then holidays) is keeping me busy, so it might be a while again before I upload a new chapter of this.

Chapter 5: City Trip

9 December 1008

‘’Auntie?”

Rarity was shaken away from her introspection by Flurry’s voice. ‘’Yes, darling?’’

There was snow in the filly’s hair, but she didn’t seem to care. ‘’You said yesterday that you were going to take me somewhere today.’’

Did I?

Rarity backtracked her memories, and remembered that she had said that. ‘’Well, you’ll have to wait and see, darling. We’ll go in an hour or so, alright?’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’Okay. Thanks.’’

Great thinking, Rarity. Now I have to figure out somewhere to go.

Let’s see… it can’t be too far from the palace, obviously. Maybe-

Something very cold hit her face.

With a yelp Rarity dove to the ground, immediately raising her forehoof to her face. Of course a snowball would hit her while she was distracted.

‘’Are you alright, auntie?’’ Flurry asked her.

‘’Just fine, darling. I was distracted,’’ Rarity admitted with a rueful smile. ‘’How about we show your friends who can throw the best snowballs?’’

‘’Yeah!’’ Flurry cheered. ‘’We’ll show them!’’

And while we do that, I can get back to thinking.

Rarity rose from the ground and threw another snowball, timed just right with Flurry and Star Glitter’s snowball. Two of the three were hits, but Rarity was already busy with gathering snow for the second volley.

How about… the Princesses’ Plaza? Would she like that?

Well, too bad if she doesn’t.

There went the second volley, followed quickly by the third. The flowers and benches their opponents were hiding behind were positively coated in snow.

‘’We surrender!’’ A colt’s voice - and thus, coming from Swift Hoof - said.

‘’No we don’t!’’ a filly’s voice immediately said.

‘’I agree with Swift,’’ another filly said. Rarity guessed that the objector was Moon Tower, while the agreer was Jewel Heart.

‘’Are they going to argue?’’ Star Glitter wondered.

‘’Probably,’’ Rarity noted absently. ‘’Oh well. It appears we’ve won this battle, then. I think this calls for a celebration, no?’’

Hot chocolate would do, with some cookies to go along with it. And then, it was off to the Princesses’ Plaza.

‘’What kind of celebration?’’ Flurry asked, tilting her head in a curious - and very cute - way.

‘’The kind with all of your friends, hot chocolate, and biscuits,’’ Rarity supplied.

‘’Yay!’’

|-x-X-x-|

9 December 1008

Sweetie sat down in her cabin with a very double feeling.

On one hoof, she was glad to have finally made the choice to go to Rarity in the Crystal Empire. They hadn’t parted on very good terms, after all, and after half a year of silence, Sweetie wanted to try and make amends.

On the other hoof, she felt like she was betraying her convictions. Equestria had been conquered by a power-hungry tyrant, and Rarity’s first instinct once she was free had been to retain their friendship? Sweetie really couldn’t understand it; she’d told Rarity as much.

In hindsight, shouted at for the entire evening before storming off to her room and packing her stuff in a fit of rage is probably a better description.

She wasn’t taking much with her: a scarf for in the north, money, some food that ought to last her until Ponyville, and the letter Rarity had wroten her, as well as a letter from their parents to Rarity.

Someone opened the door. ‘’Good afternoon, Miss Belle.’’

Didn’t I book a private cabin? And how does he know my name? ‘’Good afternoon, sir. Is there something I can help you with?’’

‘’In fact there is, Miss Belle. Do you mind if I sit down?’’

Yes. ‘’Of course not.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ The unicorn casually sat himself down opposite her, closing the door with his grey magic as he did so. ‘’I should introduce myself first. My name is Twinkle Flower, and I am an agent of the Imperial Investigative Service.’’

Immediately, Sweetie prepared herself to escape. Teleporting from the train was out of the question: she had only a rough idea where exactly she was, and would probably end up impaling herself on a tree branch. Obviously, any other attempt to escape would have to go by the stallion, and Sweetie doubted he’d just allow her to leave.

‘’What do you want?’’ she asked.

‘’It is not what I want, but the Empress, in this case,’’ Twinkle corrected her. ‘’Her original plan was to invite you over to Manehattan, but I have been informed that has changed.’’ He leaned forward. ‘’The Empress is going to be in Crystal City for Hearthswarming Eve, just like you will be.’’

‘’How do you know that?’’ Sweetie demanded to know. Had they been spying on her? She pushed back her other questions for later. It was doubtful Twinkle would be able or willing to answer them, anyway.

‘’Well, one of the first tasks undertaken by the IIS was the protection of the Elements of Harmony and their family. Obviously, you are included in that description as well,’’ Twinkle explained. ‘’Just like myself and a few others were assigned to watch over you and your parents, others are doing the same for Princess Twilight or Lady Applejack.’’

‘’And what, everything I do gets told to Nightmare Moon?’’

‘’Far from it,’’ Twinkle said. ‘’Only important things. Like you leaving Hoof City for Crystal City.’’ He tilted his head. ‘’Now she wishes to speak with you there.’’

She can want anything, it doesn’t mean I’ll listen. ‘’And if I don’t want to do that?’’

‘’Her majesty,’’ Twinkle stressed the title, ‘’has insisted. I am to make you sure you get north in one piece, using every means the Imperial Investigative Service has at its disposal.’’

‘’So you’re forcing me?’’

‘’Well…’’ Twinkle gave her a slight smirk. ‘’Call it a hard suggestion.’’

Sweetie held his gaze for a moment, then let herself sink back into the chair and looked out the window. ‘’Fine.’’

I’ll play along. For now.

‘’And besides,’’ Twinkle continued, ‘’you are not in possession of many options, if you do not want to live in the Lunar Empire. You could always try Stalliongrad, but aside from that most of your options lie outside Equus. Hippogriffia, Aquileia, the Riverlands nations…’’

‘’Hmph.’’

‘’And really, what even is your problem with the Empress?’’

‘’None of your business,’’ Sweetie shot him down. ‘’So shut up.’’

|-x-X-x-|

9 December 1008

In hindsight, she should have eased the other foals into the palace a little more. They were so awed, they almost didn’t touch the chocolate and biscuits the staff had prepared for them.

Seeing their awed looks was worth it though.

Of course, Rainbow decided that this was the best moment to wander back into the room.

‘’Not tired enough to sleep longer,’’ she declared.

Of course you’re not.

With a gesture of her hoof, one of the staff pulled out another chair and set it down next to Rarity’s.

‘’Chocolate?’’ Rarity offered Rainbow as the pegasus sat down in it.

‘’Sure.’’ Rainbow took one of the mugs and drank from it, then pretended her tongue wasn’t on fire.

‘’Some water perhaps, darling?’’ Rarity suggested with a little smirk.

‘’I’m-’’ Rainbow coughed. ‘’Fine. I’m fine!’’

Rarity shrugged. ‘’If you say so.’’

‘’Auntie?’’ Flurry asked as she looked up from her mug. ‘’Can my friends come with us to where we are going?’’

If they had gone out of the city, Rarity would have said no. Taking the foals with them to the Princesses Plaza, however, was alright, because it was in the city.

‘’They can, Flurry,’’ she nodded. ‘’If they want to, of course,’’ she added, turning to look at the other foals. ‘’No one’s going to force you, darlings.’’

‘’I beg your pardon, Governess Belle, but where do you intend to go?’’ Jewel requested to know.

‘’I’m afraid that’s a surprise, darling.’’ Rarity gave her a kind smile. ‘’But we’re not going to leave the city.’’

Jewel considered that, then nodded. ‘’Very well, Governess Belle. I don’t mind coming along.’’

‘’I’m free,’’ Star Glitter and Swift Hoof said at roughly the same time.

‘’As am I,’’ Moon Tower added.

‘’Well then!’’ Rarity put her mug down and clapped her hooves together. ‘’Once we are finished, we can leave.’’

‘’Great,’’ Rainbow remarked.

Rarity turned her head to look at her. ‘’You want to come too?’’ Then she leaned in and whispered into Rainbow’s ear, ‘’We’re going to Princesses Plaza. Lots of shops.’’

Rainbow’s face scrunched up in disappointment, but she nodded regardless. ‘’I’m going to be staying here for a long time. Might as well see the premises.’’

Rarity nodded, and then a thought came to her. ‘’What about your home?’’

Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively. ‘’Everything I want to keep will arrive with the Empress’ train. The rest I gave to Scoots.’’

‘’Including the house?’’

When Rainbow nodded, Rarity smiled brilliantly, then leaned in and gave Rainbow a quick peck on the cheek. ‘’That is very generous of you, darling,’’ she complimented.

‘’Hehe, yeah…’’ Rainbow was blushing. So was Rarity. Fuck.

‘’A-anyway,’’ Rarity quickly went on, ‘’I’m finished with my chocolate. How’s everyone else?’’

‘’Done!’’ Flurry called out. ‘’Jewel and Star and Moon are too!’’

Rainbow looked at the mug for a second, then downed it all in one go. ‘’That’s hot,’’ she breathed out a few seconds later. ‘’Done.’’

‘’So am I!’’ And Swift Hoof put his mug down with all the others on the table. ‘’Can we go now, my lady?’’

‘’That we can,’’ Rarity confirmed as she stood up. ‘’Everyone follow me, please.’’

On the way to the gates, she called over two of the guards, both thestral stallions. ‘’We are going into the city,’’ she told them while Rainbow kept the foals distracted. ‘’Would you two be so kind as to escort us?’’

‘’Of course, my lady,’’ one of the stallions said. ‘’It would be our honour.’’

Rarity gave him a nod. ‘’Thank you, sirs.’’

‘’Just doing our job, ma’am,’’ the other stallion said.

With that done, they left the Palace behind, and made their way to the Princesses Plaza.

The Princesses Plaza had been the second place a market had been constructed, before Sombra’s and the Empire’s subsequent disappearance and then return. It was a large rectangular plaza, with a statue of Princesses Celestia and Luna in the centre. The plaque on the statue read: “Let all who see know of the friendship between the Principality of Everfree and the Crystal Empire.’’

It had been a nice statue, but Rarity had only seen it once, during the Crystal Fair of 1007, just a few months before the civil war began, when she’d taken a one-week break from campaigning with Luna and her team. It had been destroyed, either by Sombra or in the battle for the city, and the broken remnants had long since been removed. Now only the base and the beginnings of the legs remained.

A shame, but it’ll be months before we can invest money into things like this.

Flurry, evidently, had never been to the Plaza, which made sense, because the thing was on the southern end of the city, quite a long distance from the central city and the Palace. Of the other foals, only Jewel Heart and Swift Hoof looked like they recognized the place.

‘’This is the Princesses Plaza,’’ Rarity explained as they entered the Plaza. Flurry was walking on her left, Rainbow was hovering on her right, the foals were behind them, and the guards at both ends of the group. ‘’It was built to be a market.’’ She gestured at a few of the stalls that still stood; it seemed both them and their owners had survived the war intact. ‘’There,’’ she pointed at the bust, ‘’used to be a statue of the Princesses, back when they were the Princesses of the Everfree Kingdom, over a thousand years ago.’’

‘’What happened to it?’’ Flurry asked as she looked at the destroyed statue.

‘’It was destroyed in the war,’’ Rarity decided to reply after a few seconds. ‘’There hasn’t been enough money or ponypower to repair it yet.’’

‘’Aww…’’ Flurry pouted.

Rarity patted the filly’s head. ‘’It’ll be repaired, don’t worry.’’

It occured to her that she'd told Flurry she would get some pictures of her parents to her, and turned to Rainbow. ‘’Rainbow,’’ she asked softly, ‘’do you have any pictures of Flurry’s parents?’’

Rainbow glanced at the filly. ‘’Sure,’’ she replied just as softly, ‘’I can take a look.’’

‘’Thank you.’’

‘’No problem, Rares.’’

The moment was broken when Star Glitter cleared her throat. ‘’Miss Rarity, can we go and see the shops?’’

‘’Of course, darling,’’ Rarity turned to Star Glitter and smiled, ‘’but I must insist one of these fine gentlecolts accompany you, for your own safety.’’

Star Glitter looked up at one of the guards, who gave her a reassuring smile. ‘’Okay,’’ she said cheerfully. ‘’Will you come with me and Swift, mister? We want to see what those shops over there have.’’

‘’Of course, my lady,’’ the guard replied respectfully and if he was just a little amused, Rarity wouldn’t begrudge him that.

With a nod of confirmation from her, the guard left with the two foals, heading towards the western end of the Plaza, where the most stalls and shops were located at the moment.

Rarity looked down at Flurry. ‘’What do you want to do?’’ she inquired.

‘’I dunno,’’ Flurry replied. ‘’Can we just stay for a while? There’s a bench over there.’’

There was indeed, and Rarity didn’t mind that in the slightest. ‘’Of course,’’ she agreed. ‘’And what do you want to do?’’ she asked the remaining two fillies.

Moon Tower shrugged. ‘’Don’t really care, ma’am.’’

‘’Well, I wouldn’t want to impose, but…’’ Jewel Heart trailed off, and it was obvious what she really wanted.

‘’Well, then why don’t we retire to the bench and simply rest?’’ Rarity suggested.

‘’I’m gonna go for a fly-’’ Rainbow stopped as Rarity turned the full force of her glare on her.

‘’You’ll do no such thing,’’ she declared. ‘’You’ve flown quite enough for today, I think. So you’ll stay on the ground, with me.’’

Rainbow didn’t look too happy about that, as expected, but not as expected was that she listened. Either she really is still tired, or there’s something else…

Probably the tiredness.

Rarity didn’t want to consider the most likely alternative.

Author's Notes:

And now this story won't leave me alone again. Terrific.

Anyway, I'm going on holiday from coming Friday untill the 25th, so don't expect any updates (on this or on the Crystal Story) or any new stories in that time.

Chapter 6: Confession

9 December 1008

Shrouded Night had been trained for nearly a year by the Night Guard, and had used that training to fight in the Battle of Canterlot, the Battle of Hope Hollow and various battles against Sombra’s army. Then he’d been reassigned as part of Governess Rarity’s protection detail in the Crystal Empire. As such, he’d resigned himself to doing nothing but guard shifts for a long time.

An escort mission, however dull it might be, was still more exciting than patrolling the same corridors day and night.

The fact that his current charges were two four-year olds only made things better.

‘’Mister?’’ the colt suddenly said.

‘’Yes?’’ Shrouded gave the kid an easy smile.

‘’What’s your name?’’

Well, that’s a first. ‘’I am Shrouded Night, a Sergeant of the Night Guard.’’

The colt looked thoughtful at that, and nodded. ‘’I’m Swift Hoof, and this is Star Glitter. It’s nice to meet you.’’

Shrouded tipped his head a little at both of them. ‘’It’s nice to meet you too, Swift Hoof, Star Glitter.’’ He paused, then added, ‘’You said you wanted to visit some of the shops? Which ones?’’

The two foals exchanged a look, and then both shrugged. ‘’I dunno,’’ Star Glitter said. ‘’I just wanna look around, see what they have.’’

Well, that was to be expected. They probably don’t have money anyway.

‘’That’s alright,’’ Shrouded assured them. ‘’Just don’t run off, okay?’’

‘’Sure!’’

‘’Thanks.’’ And Shrouded allowed them to lead the way to the shops they wanted to visit.

No one spared the two foals a moment’s notice, but everyone stared at him. Of course they did; he was a thestral, and a member of the Night Guard. That was a rare sight, even more so in the Crystal Empire. Shrouded kept an easy expression on his face. He wasn’t their enemy, after all.

‘’Look at that!’’

Well, sure.

Shrouded followed the direction that Star Glitter was pointing at to see a small statue of crystal. It was dark blue, depicting an alicorn.

The Empress, he realized after a moment. Probably a replica of the statue that used to stand here.

He blinked out of his thoughts to see Star Glitter staring with very big eyes at the store owner, who was shaking her head.

‘’I’m sorry, little one, but I can’t sell it to you,’’ she said, sounding very sincerely sad.

‘’But why not?’’ Star Glitter asked.

‘’Because it costs money, money which you don’t have,’’ the store owner explained.

‘’Aww…’’ Star Glitter pouted.

‘’I’ll buy it for you,’’ Shrouded spoke up as he stepped forward.

The store owner's eyes widened, then she bowed her head. ‘’Of course, sir.’’

Shrouded reached into his armour and pulled his wallet from a hidden pouch in his upper leg armour. ‘’How much again?’’

‘’Seventeen bits, sir.’’

‘’Here you go.’’ Shrouded hooved her the bits and took the little statue from the counter, then turned to Star Glitter and gave it to her. ‘’And here you go.’’

Star Glitter took the statue and stared at it in amazement for a few seconds, then jumped forward and threw herself around Shrouded’s left leg. ‘’Thankyouthankyouthankyou!’’

‘’No problem?’’ Shrouded awkwardly replied. A hug had not been on his list of things to expect.

Star Glitter lifted her head up and smiled as bright as the sun itself. ‘’Oh, I’m going to put this next to my bed!’’ she said as she held up the statue. ‘’Thank you so much, mister!’’

‘’Hey, not a problem, kid,’’ Shrouded - still somewhat awkwardly, to his distaste - said. ‘’I’m glad you’re happy with it.’’

Now where’s that other kid?

‘’Where’s your friend?’’ he asked Star Glitter.

The filly looked around, then shrugged. ‘’I dunno.’’

For all the love of…

‘’Right,’’ Shrouded sighed, resisting the oh-so-enticing urge to swear loudly and violently. ‘’Come with me, and we’ll find him.’’

‘’Sure,’’ Star Glitter agreed. She finally let go of his leg and walked next to him as he went deeper into the market.

After some searching - which could have been faster, but Shrouded didn’t want to leave Star Glitter on the ground - Shrouded finally found the colt in front of a young stallion, probably in his late teens, talking animatedly with him.

‘’Swift!’’ Star Glitter called out, and she galloped over to him.

‘’Hi Star,’’ Swift Hoof greeted her as he turned to face her. ‘’I was just telling my cousin about you! Shield, this is Star Glitter. Star, this is my big cousin, Starling Shield.’’

The stallion smiled down at the little filly, who gave a nervous smile back. ‘’It’s nice to meet you, Star Glitter.’’

‘’Nice to meet you, Starling Shield.’’

Starling Shield looked up, and in that process, his eyes fell on Shrouded.

Here we go.

‘’Swift, why is there a guard following you?’’ Starling Shield asked slowly. His posture had shifted. This, Shrouded darkly noted, is someone who does not like the Lunar Empire.

‘’Good afternoon,’’ he greeted as he stepped forward. ‘’Your cousin and his friend are visiting the Plaza with some other friends, which include Princess Flurry Heart and her guardian, Governess Belle. The Governess asked me to escort these two,’’ he gestured at the two confused-looking foals, ‘’when they asked if they could visit the stores. I’m just keeping an eye on them.’’

Starling Shield, slowly, looked down at his cousin. ‘’You’re friends with the Princess?’’ He didn’t sound like he believed it overly much.

‘’Yeah!’’ Swift Hoof confirmed, both him and Star Glitter nodding. ‘’She’s really nice! We even had a snowball fight with her and her aunt, and then hot chocolate in the palace!’’

Starling Shield blinked. ‘’Her aunt is here?’’

‘’The Governess,’’ Shrouded supplied.

Starling Shield’s head snapped up to glare at him. ‘’I didn’t ask for your opinion, Lunarist.’’

Shrouded ought to be insulted. He wasn’t, not really. ‘’Take care with your tone, youngling,’’ he chided, because Starling Shield might be less than ten years younger than him but he was acting like someone half his age, whatever that actually was. ‘’I am an officer of the Night Guard, and disrespect is not appreciated.’’

He wouldn’t do anything, not for something as simple as this and certainly not in front of the children, but still.

‘’Oh yeah?’’ Starling Shield took a step forward-

And found himself facing the fact that Shrouded was the one with the rifle in this situation.

‘’I’m not going to harm them,’’ Shrouded promised as he saw Starling Shield analyze the rifle that hung on his left side. ‘’In fact, that would be the opposite of my sworn duty.’’

‘’Starling, he’s nice,’’ Swift Hoof spoke up. ‘’Please, don’t fight with Shrouded.’’

Shrouded held the younger stallion’s gaze until he turned back to his cousin and sighed. ‘’Okay Swift, but I don’t like him.’’

The feeling’s mutual.

|-x-X-x-|

9 December 1008

Dinner was about the opposite of what it had been the day before.

Flurry sat on Rarity’s left, and Rainbow on her right, with the other foals spread around the table next to each other. Conversation flowed richly but separately, as both the foals and the two adults kept to themselves.

‘’Nice food they got here,’’ Rainbow remarked between bites.

‘’Well, it is a palace,’’ Rarity couldn’t help but point out.

‘’Yeah.’’ Rainbow took a swig from her drink, and frowned. ‘’I don’t like wine.’’

‘’And I’m not a fan of your usual swills,’’ Rarity countered without heat.

‘’I know.’’ Rainbow chuckled. ‘’I do remember Pinkie’s party after we defeated Chrysalis for the second time, y’know.’’

Rarity blushed a little. That had been a night to remember. ‘’The only thing I remember is waking up in the Celestial Church.’’

‘’Didn’t you deface-’’

‘’I heard,’’ Rarity cut in before Rainbow could continue, ‘’that a particular pegasus was found sleeping in Celestia’s bathtub.’’

‘’Ah-ha,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’That. Yeah.’’ She rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. ‘’It wasn’t very comfortable.’’

‘’I can imagine,’’ Rarity said dryly. ‘’We should never have let Discord touch the drinks.’’

‘’Don’t I know it,’’ Rainbow agreed. ‘’I’ll be sure to tell him on Hearthswarming Eve.’’

Rarity was very happy there wasn’t anything in her mouth, for she would have spat it out. ‘’What?’’

‘’Crap,’’ Rainbow muttered. ‘’Uhhh… so yeah, Discord and Fluttershy are coming for Hearthswarming Eve. Pinkie and Applejack both couldn’t come, and Twilight hasn’t been seen by anyone since…’’

Rarity managed to nod, barely. ‘’And the Empress knows this?’’

‘’How the- how should I know?’’ Rainbow retorted. ‘’I’m just a Shadowbolt. You’re more her confidante than I am. But yeah, she probably does.’’

Rarity put a hoof to her head. This was going to cause so much trouble.

She eyed her glass. Definitely not strong enough for this.

‘’Alright.’’ She could deal with this later. ‘’Can you come to my office after I’ve put Flurry to bed? We’ll talk about all of this then.’’

‘’Sure thing,’’ Rainbow agreed easily enough. ‘’Got nothing better to do anyway.’’

‘’Thank you, darling.’’ Rarity tipped her head at her. ‘’I appreciate it.’’

‘’Hey, no problem.’’ Rainbow raised her glass and clinked it against Rarity’s. ‘’To friendship.’’

‘’To friendship.’’

After dinner, Rarity sent the other foals home, escorted by the same guards that had accompanied them on their afternoon excursion, then walked with Flurry to her room once she’d been showered and had brushed her teeth. ‘’Did you have a nice day?’’ she asked.

‘’It was very nice!’’ Flurry replied cheerfully. ‘’I liked playing with you and with my friends, and going to the Plaza, and seeing Rainbow again.’’

Rarity smiled. ‘’I liked it too,’’ she told her. ‘’But tomorrow I really do have to work, Flurry.’’

‘’Aww…’’ Flurry pouted even as she nodded. ‘’I understand, auntie. Maybe Rainbow can play with my friends and me?’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ Rarity admitted, ‘’you’d have to ask her. She’ll probably say yes.’’

‘’Yay!’’

They arrived at the door to Flurry’s room, which had a guard standing on each side of the door, who both bowed their heads in acknowledgement. Rarity nodded to them as well, then opened the door.

Flurry’s room was honestly beautiful, in Rarity’s opinion. There seemed to be something to the crystal that made it glitter and shine even more than elsewhere in the castle, and there was something soothing about it that Rarity couldn’t put her hoof on.

Flurry spread her wings and flew over to her large bed, settling down in front of the pillow, around which laid some stuffed toys. She smiled, then folded her wings to her body, grabbed Whammy and crawled under the covers.

So adorable. How did I ever manage to ignore her?

Rarity knew damn well why. She had been caught in her grief over Sweetie and the fallout of the civil war, and had thrown herself into her work as a way to cope. Fucking stupid of her, in hindsight.

‘’Auntie?’’

Rarity walked over to the bed and made sure Flurry was warm and nice under the covers. ‘’Good night, darling. I’ll see you tomorrow.’’

‘’Good night!’’ Flurry chirped.

Rarity hesitated, then leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on Flurry’s forehead, just under her horn. ‘’Sleep well, darling.’’

‘’You too, auntie.’’

And with that, Rarity flicked on the night light and left the room.

Right.

|-x-X-x-|

9 December 1008

Rainbow cursed the tiredness in her wings. Flying was so much easier than walking up these damn stairs.

This Palace has too many fucking levels, she thought darkly as she continued on.

The bottle craned under her left wing was looking more appealing each time she looked at it. But drinking while climbing the stairs was bound to end in an accident that, if not harmful, would certainly be embarrasing. She was already tipsy as it was.

Besides, she was saving it for the conversation.

Contrary to popular belief, Rainbow did have observational skills. And she had damn well seen how surprised everyone had been at the appearance of Flurry and Rarity. The guards had hidden it quite well, but they were obviously taken aback by how the two interacted with each other. The citizens outside the Palace had been surprised as well, but that seemed to be more because apparently neither of them had been seen outside the Palace yet.

Suffice it to say that Rainbow had some very poignant questions for Rarity. And as luck would have it, she’d finally reached the level where both she and Rarity now stayed.

She walked down the hallway to Rarity’s office, then knocked on the door. ‘’Rares, I’m here.’’

‘’Come on in, darling.’’

Rainbow opened the door and stepped in. ‘’Nice room.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ Rarity was sitting at her desk, directly in front of the door. ‘’Please, have a seat darling.’’

‘’Sure.’’ Rainbow walked over to the chair, then sat down in it.

‘’You're drunk.’’

So what?

‘’You're stressed over something.’’ Rainbow put the bottle she’d requisitioned on Rarity’s desk. ‘’Drink.’’

‘’I don’t think-’’

‘’Drink.’’ Rainbow ordered, doing a very good imitation of the Wonderbolt/Shadowbolt instructors.

Rarity stared at the bottle for a few seconds, then pulled a glass from one of the desk’s drawers and filled it with the liquor. She picked up the glass with her hoof and slammed it down her throat, then managed to not spit it out.

‘’Impressive,’’ Rainbow remarked.

‘’Where did you get this from?’’ Rarity inquired as she put the glass down.

Rainbow shrugged. ‘’I went to the kitchens and asked for something strong. They got me this.’’

Rarity hummed. ‘’Well, it’s certainly got a kick to it.’’

‘’Rarity,’’ Rainbow cut through the awkward silence before it could form, ‘’I have some questions.’’

‘’Questions?’’ Rarity tilted her head. ‘’About what, darling?’’

Go for the killing strike first.

‘’Why did everyone seem so surprised about how you and Flurry were acting with each other?’’

Rarity gasped. Her eyes widened a little. ‘’I-’’ She faltered.

Rainbow cursed herself. ‘’Rares,’’ she tried.

‘’I’m sorry!’’ Rarity cried. ‘’I’ve been horrible! I ignored her and mistreated her and- and-’’ She broke down completely, burying her face on the desk, sobs shaking her body.

In an instant, Rainbow was besides her, wings wrapped around her friend as she pulled Rarity’s face into her neck. ‘’Shh, shh,’’ she tried to soothe. ‘’Rares, don’t cry, please.’’

‘’I’m hor-ri-ble!’’ Rarity wailed as she continued to cry. ‘’I shouldn’t be here!’’

Now that was just a lie. And it was painfully obvious that Rarity wasn’t going to be soothed to calmness.

‘’Rarity,’’ Rainbow said, softly but in her best imitation of Spitfire’s trainer voice, ‘’Calm. Down.’’

Slowly, far too slowly, Rarity lifted her tear-stricken face from Rainbow’s equally soaked neck. ‘’R-rainbow,’’ she whispered.

‘’Tell me everything.’’

And Rarity did just that.

She talked about the stress leading up to the referendum, the bombing, Nightmare Moon’s return and her house arrest. Her release on Nightmare Moon’s orders, and her first conversations with the Empress. Being assigned a place as head uniform designer for the Imperial Armed Forces, all the while being one of the few people Nightmare Moon saw as a friend.

Rainbow tensed her grip the longer Rarity continued, talking of Sombra’s return, the two front war, and Nightmare Moon’s victory over Celestia. The fucking madmare dropping the responsibility for a four-year old alicorn on Rarity’s shoulders. Rainbow would very much like to punch her.

Then Rarity’s explosive argument with Sweetie, and the months spent in the Crystal Empire. Rarity had thrown herself into her work, ignoring everything else by doing that. Including Flurry Heart.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ was the only thing Rainbow could manage when Rarity was done speaking.

‘’It’s not your fault,’’ Rarity whispered, her voice more than a little hoarse after talking for so long.

But it was. Rainbow should have written letters, visited, done something. So much for being the Element of Loyalty.

‘’Rainbow,’’ Rarity shifted a little in Rainbow’s hug, ‘’thank you. For coming. I missed you.’’

In that moment, Rainbow would have liked to lean in close to Rarity and kiss her.

But she didn’t, because doing so would send Rarity all the way back down to the path of stress, and that was precisely what Rainbow didn’t want. Even through the pleasant buzz of the alcohol, she could realize that much.

‘’I missed you too,’’ she decided to say. ‘’Want me to stay tonight?’’

Rarity nodded as best she could. ‘’Please.’’

‘’Okay.’’

Author's Notes:

Surprise update from France has appeared! This was some great fun to write.

So, we can finally move on to the next day. I've spent a little over 10K words on just one day, and this story is supposed to go until Hearthswarming Eve, which is the 31st. I'm not sure how the story will go on, but I don't think that every day will be described in 10K words. I'd be impressed in myself if I managed that. (FYI, that would make the story about 220K words. The largest document I've ever written is a little over a 100K, and that was spread out over a year.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this comeback to the story. Now please excuse me while I try to figure out how to make it to the 31st without too many timeskips.

Chapter 7: Interactions

10 December 1008

Rarity awoke to find a lot of blue coat-hairs in her face. She blinked, lifted her head a little, and saw Rainbow’s sleeping face.

Vaguely, she remembered Rainbow carrying her to bed, and then snuggling up against her as they talked about unimportant things. They must’ve fallen asleep together some time later.

Rarity, as quietly and gently as she could manage, tried to get out of the bed.

Rainbow noticed anyway. ‘’Five more minutes,’’ she groaned as her eyes slowly opened.

‘’Good morning, Rainbow,’’ Rarity greeted in a soft voice.

‘’Rares?’’ Rainbow’s eyes snapped open, and she groaned again. ‘’Ugh… definitely drank too much last night.’’

Rarity had a headache too, but it was a minor one. ‘’My condolences.’’

‘’Thanks,’’ Rainbow snorted. She rolled out from under the covers and spread her wings. ‘’Ah, that feels much better!’’

Rarity kept herself from pointing out that she’d told Rainbow as much yesterday. ‘’I’d imagine so,’’ she said instead, and then looked at the clock.

9:02. More or less on time.

‘’I’ve got to have breakfast with Flurry,’’ Rarity informed Rainbow as she summoned her comb with her magic. ‘’Are you coming as well?’’

‘’Sure.’’

Rainbow, predictably, raced down the stairs, leaving Rarity to catch up with her on the ground floor. Then, they made their way to Flurry’s room.

‘’Flurry?’’ Rarity called out as she knocked on the door.

The door opened rather suddenly. Flurry stood on the other side of it, her horn glowing with magic that was, then, pulling open the door. ‘’Good morning auntie!’’ she greeted with a big smile on her face.

‘’Good morning, darling,’’ Rarity replied with a smile of her own. ‘’Did you sleep well?’’

‘’Yeah!’’ Flurry’s smile got even wide as she saw Rainbow as well. ‘’Miss Rainbow!’’

‘’Morning, squirt,’’ Rainbow greeted with a lazy grin. ‘’Ready for breakfast!’’

‘’I am!’’ Flurry nodded enthusiastically. ‘’Let’s go!’’

‘’Race down the hall?’’ Rainbow suggested.

Wait no-

Before Rarity could say anything, Flurry spread her wings and began to fly. Rainbow watched her go for a few seconds, then darted after her, leaving Rarity and a desperately-trying-not-to-laugh thestral behind.

With a huff, Rarity went after them, keeping herself restrained to a normal pace, because someone had to keep to propriety in this palace.

By the time she got to the dining room, the door was open and Flurry and Rainbow were both sitting inside, grinning at each other.

‘’Auntie, I won the race!’’ Flurry announced loudly as Rarity stepped into the room.

‘’Congratulations, darling,’’ Rarity said warmly as she sat down next to the filly, before catching Rainbow’s eye. The pegasus gave her a wink.

‘’I’ll beat you next time, kid,’’ Rainbow quipped.

‘’But first breakfast,’’ Rarity smoothly cut in.

Breakfast was delivered and eaten while the three of them had a pleasant conversation. Rainbow and Rarity both merrily danced around last night, like it never happened. Rarity did want to address it, eventually; but certainly not in front of Flurry.

‘’So,’’ Rarity asked when the meal was finished, ‘’what are the plans for today?’’

‘’Oh yeah!’’ Flurry’s face lit up, as if she’d- ‘’I just remembered. Miss Rainbow, auntie has to work. Can you play with me today?’’

‘’Sure, I’ve got the time,’’ Rainbow immediately replied. ‘’But you have to do something for me first, alright?’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’What is it?’’

Rainbow winked at Rarity again, then said, ‘’You’ve got to call me Rainbow, or Dash, or Commander if you want to. But not Miss. Makes me feel old.’’

Flurry tilted her head and was thoughtfully silent for a few seconds, then nodded. ‘’Okay, Rainbow.’’

‘’Thanks, kid.’’ Rainbow gave her the same fond smile Rarity remembered Scootaloo getting from the pegasus sometimes. ‘’Now, say goodbye to Rares, and then we can go use those wings of yours.’’

‘’Okay!’’ Flurry got out of her chair and gave Rarity a tight hug, which she eagerly returned. ‘’Bye, auntie!’’

‘’I’ll see you at lunch,’’ Rarity promised. ‘’Have fun with Rainbow.’’

‘’We will,’’ Rainbow quipped as she got out of her own chair. ‘’Good luck with work, Rarity.’’

‘’Thanks.’’

They parted outside the room, and Rarity made their way back up the stairs to her office, and the stack of documents that awaited her inside.

She needed to delegate, that much was obvious. But to who?

There’s no one. The Empress needs everyone down in Manehattan, so I can’t poach from there. And there’s probably not a single pony with a talent for this in the Crystal Empire.

Or maybe there was. But they probably already had an important job, and Rarity didn’t feel comfortable taking someone like that away.

But this couldn’t continue. Rainbow had made that abundantly clear last night, between their soft reminiscing.

‘’Rarity, you and I both know you throw yourself into your work,’’ she’d said. ‘’But it’s not healthy.’’

Rarity had smiled wanly. ‘’I think I’ve had this talk before.’’

‘’And clearly,’’ Rainbow had flicked her wing against Rarity’s side, ‘’you’ve not listened.’’

‘’I’m sorry-’’

‘’Don’t be sorry,’’ Rainbow had cut her off. ‘’Just… promise me you’ll try to work on it?’’

‘’I promise.’’

But now was not the time for reminiscing. Rarity grabbed her notebook from her desk’s drawer. ‘’Qualifications for secretary,’’ she read aloud as she wrote it down.

This was going to take some time.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

The air in the Crystal Empire was as clear and cool as it was in Cloudsdale, the main difference being that Cloudsdale was quite a bit higher up.

Rainbow let herself soak in the rays of the morning sun, wind blowing through her mane and feathers. She wasn’t even in the air, and it already felt glorious.

‘’This is nice,’’ Flurry commented next to her.

Rainbow turned her head slightly and chuckled. Flurry was mimicking her stance: standing straight, head tilted a little back, wings spread open but not too wide. Her mane was a lot curlier and shorter than Rainbow’s, but it was affected by the wind all the same, and her wings never failed to impress.

‘’It is, isn’t it?’’ she agreed with an easy smile. ‘’Do you like flying?’’ she asked a few seconds later.

Flurry turned her head and nodded. ‘’It’s nice,’’ she said. ‘’I used to fly a lot with Mummy, when she wasn’t working.’’

Rainbow wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, but years of interacting with Scootaloo allowed her to make an attempt anyway. ‘’That must’ve been nice,’’ she said softly. ‘’And lately?’’

It took Flurry a moment to reply. ‘’Sometimes, I fly with my guards. But it doesn’t happen a lot.’’

Rainbow faked a smile, and decided to steer the conversation away before it turned even more sad. ‘’Well, I’m going to make you a promise. Every Sunday starting this one, I’ll go fly with you for at least an hour. How does that sound?’’

An hour on Sunday wasn’t nearly enough practice for her, but they’d have to start somewhere. And since Flurry didn’t live in a cloud city…

‘’Really?’’ Flurry’s eyes were wide, astonished.

‘’Really,’’ Rainbow confirmed.

Flurry threw herself forward and wrapped her legs around Rainbow’s forelegs in a tight hug. ‘’Thanks so much, Rainbow!’’

Rainbow put her wings around Flurry, stroking the filly’s feathers in a way she remembered her mother doing a couple of times. ‘’No problem, Flurry,’’ she said softly.

Flurry broke the hug after a few more moments. ‘’Can we fly now?’’

Rainbow grinned. ‘’Of course.’’ She spread her wings, and leapt up.

The northern wind swept up under her, cold but not too cold. Rainbow climbed about ten meters in the air, then paused and looked down to see Flurry wasn’t on the ground.

‘’I’m here!’’

The fuck?

Flurry was hovering roughly five meters to Rainbow’s right, while she’d been on her left on the ground. ‘’That was fast,’’ she said.

It hadn’t been fast by any stretch of the word, but sure. ‘’It was,’’ Rainbow lied. ‘’How high do you wanna go?’’ she asked a moment later.

Flurry looked away from Rainbow and up towards the Palace. ‘’There.’’ She pointed at one of the lower towers. ‘’That balcony.’’

‘’On the top floor?’’ Rainbow asked for confirmation.

Not too high for her, but still quite a distance. Good pick, kid.

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’Good choice,’’ Rainbow complimented the filly. ‘’Race you there?’’

‘’’Kay!’’ And Flurry was gone.

Rainbow caught up with her in moments, of course. Flurry was fast for her age, owing to the size of her wings most likely, but Rainbow hadn’t been selected as Commander of the Crystal Shadowbolts if she couldn’t even outfly a four-year old filly, no matter if that filly was an alicorn princess.

Still, she allowed Flurry to reach the balcony first, lagging just a second behind her. ‘’Congrats, you win,’’ she declared as they both settled on the balcony.

Flurry’s cheeks were already starting to look a little red from exhaustion, but it only made her look more adorable. ‘’This is great!” she cheered. ‘’I never do anything like this with my guards!’’

Yep, Rainbow was definitely going to ‘request’ some Shadowbolts from Equestria. And the guards were going to get a scolding. This was honestly a disgrace.

‘’Well, we can do a lot more,’’ she said instead of the curses she’d thought up for those thestrals. ‘’But a lot of my tricks require training.’’

‘’Training?’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Rainbow flicked her wing. ‘’Using your wings a lot, building up stamina, knowing what you can and can’t do, you need to do all of that to be the best.’’

Flurry was definitely impressed by that, if her look was anything to go by. ‘’Like you?’’

Well, of course. ‘’Yes, like me.’’

Flurry beamed. ‘’Cool!’’

Rainbow nodded slowly. ‘’Cool.’’

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

Sunset Shimmer was very much unamused.

‘’I have a very bad history with the Crystal Empire,’’ she couldn’t help but remind Nightmare Moon.

The alicorn raised an eyebrow. ‘’And this means?’’

‘’That I don’t like being there,’’ Sunset explained with a well-hidden groan. Talking to Nightmare Moon was, at times, more exhausting than talking with Celestia. At least she wasn’t Nightmare Moon’s student.

Nightmare Moon didn’t look any more impressed.

With a sigh, Sunset tore her gaze from Nightmare Moon, and looked around her solar. Everything was in shades of dark blue and black. On the roof, stars shone, with the main light coming from the magical recreation of the Moon. The chairs they sat on were velvet, plush but not too much, balancing comfort with Nightmare Moon’s otherwise comfortless rooms.

It wasn’t like Celestia’s had been. Celestia’s rooms had been warm and inviting, just like her. Nightmare Moon wasn’t cold, per se, but she was- actually, she was cold, just not so much to Sunset.

The fact Sunset had prevented Twilight from reaching Celestia probably had something to do with that.

‘’So?’’

She looked back at Nightmare Moon. ‘’So what?’’

Nightmare Moon’s eyebrow came up again. ‘’I could give you an order,’’ she mused.

‘’And I’d disappear before reaching the border,’’ Sunset pointed out. Escaping custody had been one of many skills she’d acquired on the other side of the mirror.

‘’Not if I’m going with you,’’ Nightmare Moon rebutted, and that was probably true.

‘’Maybe.’’ Sunset picked up the cup of tea from the table. It was one of the blends Celestia had liked; Sunset liked it too, and Nightmare Moon probably knew both of those facts.

‘’Maybe,’’ Nightmare Moon agreed.

Silence came to the room again. Sunset busied herself with her tea, enjoying the flavour, if not necessarily the memories that came with it.

‘’Sunset,’’ Nightmare Moon spoke up after a minute, ‘’I won’t force you to go. It wouldn’t work. But I am asking you to go.’’

‘’As the Empress?’’

That sounded harsher than I intended.

‘’As Flurry’s aunt,’’ Nightmare Moon gently but firmly corrected her.

Sunset nodded, slowly. That made sense.

Nightmare Moon was far more pragmatic than Celestial propaganda gave her credit. Celestia was more pragmatic than many ponies expected too, but in a different way; where Sunset had expected Nightmare Moon to be crazy and rageful, she’d found a calm and collected leader, capable of compassion when necessary.

Celestia’d had that pragmatism too, but she had warmth, and more compassion than Nightmare Moon. But also a darker side, scheming and manipulative. Unless Nightmare Moon was even better at hiding than Celestia was, Sunset thought the solar alicorn beat out her sister in that department.

Then again, Nightmare Moon organized the civil war… but that wasn’t really manipulative.

But she was straying.

It made sense that Nightmare Moon would ask her.

But Sunset wasn’t sure what her answer would be.

‘’I’ll think about it.’’

‘’I’ll need an answer before the 21st,’’ Nightmare Moon curtly informed and dismissed her in the same sentence, though she left the latter unsaid.

‘’Of course.’’

Author's Notes:

FYI, I had intended for Sunset to be a surprise reveal when Nightmare Moon got to the Crystal Empire, but oh well. Still got some tricks up my sleeve. I'm not going to spoil them, obviously, but I hope that they'll be a surprise.

Also, I suck at titles. But you already knew that.

Chapter 8: Interactions 2

10 December 1008

‘’So how do we start?’’ Flurry asked her.

Fortunately for her, Rainbow had already thought of that. ‘’’We start,’’ she explained, ‘’by flying.’’

Flurry frowned. ‘’Just flying?’’

‘’Just flying. See that cloud?’’ Rainbow picked a cloud at random and pointed her forehoof at it. ‘’We’re going to fly to there.’’

Flurry looked at the cloud for a few seconds, then shook her head. ‘’I’m not allowed to go that high.’’

‘’By your guards?’’

Flurry looked away. ‘’By Mummy,’’ she whispered a few seconds later.

Fuck.

She was going to have to approach this very, very carefully. She didn’t want to upset Flurry - at least, not anymore than she already had - but this was clearly something that needed to be addressed.

She took a deep breath. I’ve done this before. I can do it again.

But Flurry wasn’t a fellow soldier, wasn’t an adult. And none of the soldiers she’d talked with had lost their parents. Fucking Tartarus.

Carefully, Rainbow stretched her wing and placed it around the filly. Flurry didn’t seem to notice at first, but then she slid closer to Rainbow, until she was pressing against her side. Rainbow closed her wing around Flurry protectively.

‘’I’m sorry.’’ She didn’t have anything to be sorry for. There was nothing Rainbow could have done to save Cadence and Shining. If she’d understood correctly, they’d been executed a few hours after Sombra’s reappearance; Rainbow had been flying a scouting mission in Ponderosa at the time. By the time she got back to base, the news had just been reporting on through the radio.

Flurry made a noise that didn’t have any meaning, and pressed harder against Rainbow’s side. She wasn’t crying, but that could probably change at any second.

‘’I…’’ Come on Rainbow, use your words. ‘’What did you and Mummy do when she didn’t have to work?’’

Flurry sniffed, and for a second Rainbow thought she wouldn’t answer.

‘’We went flying,’’ Flurry quietly said. ‘’Or we walked through the Palace and the gardens. Sometimes we walked through the city, but there were always guards with us. We played together, and sometimes I fell asleep with her.’’

Rainbow began to stroke Flurry’s feathers with her own. ‘’And what did you do with Daddy?’’

‘’We went into the gardens as well,’’ Flurry replied, ‘’and we played in my room. Sometimes, Daddy went training with the other guards while I watched. But he was busy a lot, and I wasn’t always allowed to watch while they trained.’’

Rainbow hummed. She had a couple of ideas. ‘’You know they loved you, right?’’ she asked.

‘’Yeah.’’ It was almost a whisper.

‘’Good.’’ Rainbow put her foreleg around Flurry and gave her a weak hug. ‘’Last night I talked with Rarity about the past couple of months.’’

Flurry seemed to understand the meaning behind that immediately. ‘’And?’’

‘’And she was acting stupid,’’ Rainbow quipped dryly. Flurry giggled a little. Success.

‘’I mean it,’’ she continued. ‘’She should have taken proper care of you. She knows that now, and she says she told you.’’

‘’She did.’’

‘’Do you believe her?’’

That, Flurry didn’t understand. ‘’I guess? She seems like she’s sorry.’’

Rainbow wasn’t fully convinced that was what Flurry actually believed. But she was also not cut out for emotional talks like this, and Flurry probably didn’t trust her a whole lot, which was perfectly fair.

I’ll tell Nightmare Moon when she gets here, and she’ll handle it.

Ratting on Rarity wasn’t nice, but it was necessary. Nightmare Moon was pragmatic and understanding enough that she probably wouldn’t do anything too excessive to Rarity, so Rainbow figured her odds were pretty safe that everything would turn out fine.

And if it didn’t…

‘’Okay.’’ Rainbow hesitated, then booped Flurry’s nose with one of her feathers. ‘’Want to go up to the cloud?’’

‘’But Mummy said I shouldn’t go so high…’’

‘’We don’t have to go there,’’ Rainbow pointed out. ‘’We could go fly through the streets, or we could do a few laps around and up and down this tower, or…’’

An idea came to her. ‘’Or we could go down to the training area. Wherever that is.’’

Flurry frowned. ‘’Whatcha gonna do in the training area?’’

‘’Train, of course. I’m a Shadowbolt, remember?’’ Rainbow reminded her.

‘’Oh yeah.’’ Understanding dawned on Flurry’s face. ‘’That sounds nice. Can we go there?’’

‘’Do you know where it is?’’ Rainbow asked back. ‘’I don’t know the way around here yet.’’

‘’I know where it is,’’ Flurry confirmed. ‘’Follow me.’’

‘’Sure thing, Flurry.’’

Rainbow followed the filly down to the ground and through the hallways of the Palace until they arrived at a large training room. There was exercise equipment behind a half-opened door in the right wall, and the field itself was large enough for around fifty ponies to stand at attention and have some space left over.

The floor was smooth crystal, but Rainbow could see a set of intricate-looking buttons marked with glowing symbols on the far side of the room. It’s a magical floor, then. Sweet. That means I have options.

‘’Right,’’ she said, turning to Flurry, ‘’I’m going to ask one of the guards outside if they can gather some other guards and send them here, and then I’m going to show you how I practice.’’

‘’Okay!’’ Flurry’s bright, wide smile was too adorable for both her own good, Rainbow’s reputation, and Rainbow’s heart.

Rainbow darted out of the door and caught the eye of the guard patrolling the hallway. ‘’Hey, you!’’ she shouted.

The thestral snapped off a salute. ‘’Ma’am.’’

‘’Get some of your off-duty comrades and tell them to come here,’’ Rainbow ordered her. ‘’I’m going to be running some drills with them, make sure they’re up to scratch.’’

The thestral obviously didn’t approve; but she saluted anyway. ‘’Yes ma’am!’’

Rainbow watched her for a few seconds, before slipping back into the training room. ‘’Flurry?’’ she asked as she approached the buttons. ‘’Do you know how these work?’’

‘’Kinda,’’ Flurry replied. She hopped off the bench and walked over to Rainbow. ‘’That one is for a grassy field,’’ she pointed at the symbol of three vertical stripes, ‘’and that one is snow.’’ She pointed at the snowflake. ‘’I don’t know the rest.’’

‘’That’s alright.’’ She could deal with this.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

‘’Hey, Shrouded?’’

Shrouded looked up from his cup of coffee right into Misty’s face. ‘’No,’’ he said immediately and resolutely.

‘’You don’t have a choice, I’m afraid.’’ Misty actually sounded sad about it. ‘’That Shadowbolt ordered me to get everyone off-duty to the training hall. She wants to drill you.’’

Of course she does. ‘’I dislike everything about this day,’’ Shrouded informed her.

‘’Fair.’’

Shrouded sighed, eyed his coffee, and downed it all in one swig. ‘’Very well.’’ He stood up and walked over to the rack where the armour was stored when they weren’t wearing it.

Misty hummed. ‘’You didn’t seem to dislike me waking up in your bed this morning.’’

Shrouded turned and flicked a biscuit at her. Misty, predictably, caught it with her wing and put it in her mouth. ‘’Thanks for the biscuit,’’ she said sweetly.

Two can play at that game. ‘’You don’t want to know where I got that from.’’

Misty choked.

Shrouded chuckled and began to put on his armour. Peytral, sabatons, flanchards, croupiere and helmet all went on in a minute. He checked himself in the mirror that was there for that purpose, then grabbed his rifle from the weapons rack.

While he did this, Misty watched him with something between amusement and irritation. ‘’You done?’’

‘’Who else?’’ Shrouded asked in return.

Misty shrugged. ‘’I've already got Evening and Glade waiting outside, and Darkheart is rounding up anyone unfortunate enough to be off-duty.’’

Roughly as expected. Shrouded tipped his head in acknowledgement. ‘’Shall we, then?’’

They moved through the Palace to the training hall, a group of eight far-too-tired and one moderately-energetic thestrals. The usual ribbing and teasing was replaced by yawns and muttered curses; having the night shift was not bad, per se, but no one had energy left afterwards.

Shrouded’s coffee kept him awake, for now. How long that would last remained to be seen.

The door to the training hall was open, which they took as an invitation to enter. Shrouded was the first inside, and his attention was immediately drawn to Commander Rainbow.

And the filly by her side.

‘’Well well well,’’ Commander Rainbow said as she jumped off the bench. ‘’It seems they’ve finally arrived.’’

‘’Are you gonna drill them now?’’ Princess Flurry Heart asked.

‘’Yes I am.’’

Terrific.

‘’Commander, the off-duty guards,’’ Misty introduced them.

‘’Good.’’ The Commander swept an eye over all of them. ‘’Dismissed, soldier.’’

‘’Ma’am.’’ Misty saluted, then darted out of the room, abandoning them to their fate like the vindictive shit she was. Cunt.

‘’Alright!’’ The Commander barked. ‘’Drop your weapons. You have five seconds.’’

Shrouded placed his rifle on the floor, then looked back-

The Commander leapt forward.

Shrouded took a step back and blinked as Evening was launched a few meters back by the Commander’s unexpected kick. The pegasus was smirking smugly. ‘’Come on then,’’ she said. ‘’Give me a fight.’’

Shrouded shared a look with Darkheart, then the remaining seven of them all attacked at once. That, logically, should have been the end of it.

Commander Rainbow evaded all of their kicks, and then gave as good as she ought to have gotten. Shrouded got a kick to the jaw that sent him flying away into Glade’s side, knocking both of them on the floor.

Fuck, that hurts like a fucking Moon-damned-

‘’Get up!’’ Glade hissed. ‘’We’ve got to-’’ She was interrupted by one of the guards Shrouded didn’t know the name of landing face-first into her own.

Despite the situation, Shrouded couldn’t help but chuckle weakly. Then he turned his head towards the direction the unnamed guard had come from.

It was just Darkheart against Commander Rainbow now. The rest of them were on the floor just like Shrouded.

Darkheart tried a kick from the left, aided by a burst of speed from his wings. Commander Rainbow caught the kick, twisted Darkheart’s hoof then pushed his leg back before following up with a left kick of her own.

Darkheart stumbled back, but his armour should have caught the blow. Then again, Shrouded was wearing the same armour, and he could feel pain all the same, so what the Tartarus did he know.

Darkheart tried to attack-

The Commander jumped up in the air, flipped herself around, and bucked him in the face with both her hind legs. Darkheart flew back approximately five meters, and didn’t get up.

Commander Rainbow was fucking smirking.

‘’How did you like it, Flurry?’’

‘’You kicked their flanks!’’ the Princess cheered from her spot on the benches that Shrouded would gladly sit on as soon as he had convinced his body to get up.

The Commander’s smirk turned even fucking wider. ‘’I did,’’ she boasted, before glancing at them with something between distaste and humor. ‘’Now get up and listen to me tell you every single thing you did wrong.’’

With a groan, Shrouded managed to pull himself up. ‘’Yes ma’am,’’ he intoned dully.

Fuck him with a scalpel.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

‘’You need a shower,’’ was the first thing Rarity said as soon as she saw Rainbow appear in the hallway, together with Flurry. ‘’I can smell you.’’

What did you do, Rainbow?

‘’I’m going to have one,’’ Rainbow said cheerfully, suspiciously cheerfully. ‘’But I thought I’d get Flurry back to you first.’’

Rarity couldn’t fault that. ‘’Thanks,’’ she said, before looking down at the filly. ‘’Did you have a nice morning, darling?’’

‘’Yeah, I did!’’

‘’That’s very good.’’ Thankfully, Flurry didn’t smell in the slightest. ‘’Shall we have lunch?’’

‘’Sure!’’

‘’I’ll pop in after I’m done,’’ Rainbow informed both of them, then flew down the hallway, because of course she did.

Once they were sitting in the dining room, Rarity turned to Flurry. ‘’So, what did you do with Rainbow?’’

‘’We went flying around the Palace,’’ Flurry replied, ‘’and then we went to the training hall and I got to watch Rainbow train with some of the guards.’’

That explains the smell then.

Rarity smiled. ‘’That sounds nice,’’ she offered. ‘’Much better than my work, at any rate.’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Flurry turned back to her food, and for a short time they were eating in silence.

That suited Rarity just fine. She could use the silence to think about what she wanted from her steward? Secretary? Whatever the title would be.

Attention to detail, for one. The ability to maintain that attention after seven hours of deadly boring work. They need to be smart, and they need to know how to handle people.

‘’Auntie?’’

‘’Hmm? Yes, darling?’’

Flurry shifted a little in her seat. ‘’You said you were going to teach me how to levitate more than one thing at once.’’

‘’I did,’’ Rarity confirmed, already reviewing her schedule in her head. ‘’But I have to do a lot of work today. Maybe…’’ Maybe when? She was far too busy. ‘’Maybe tomorrow.’’

There wasn’t time tomorrow, she knew that, but that wasn’t important. She could get the work done in the evening. Doing what she promised Flurry was more important.

‘’Definitely tomorrow,’’ she corrected herself. ‘’We’ll start after breakfast, alright?’’

‘’Okay!’’ Flurry agreed. ‘’Thanks so much, auntie!’’

‘’It’s no problem, darling,’’ Rarity said. You deserve it, all of it.

Author's Notes:

As I said, I am bad at titles.

That said, having Rainbow absolutely wipe the floor with the Night Guard was a joy to write, even if pony hoof-to-hoof combat is pretty hard to make interesting. I hope I managed to do so anyway.

Chapter 9: Interactions 3

10 December 1008

At that moment, Rainbow burst in, mane and coat still dripping a little. At least the smell was gone.

‘’I hope you saved some for me!’’ The pegasus leapt onto her chair next to Rarity. ‘’I could eat a whole house.’’

Flurry giggled as Rarity raised an eyebrow. ‘’Crystals, I’ve heard, are hard to digest.’’

It took Rainbow all of two seconds to recognize what Rarity was doing, and she played along masterfully. ‘’I can handle anything!’’ she boasted, pushing her chest forward.

Rarity tried really, really hard not to stare at her chest fluff. But she knew from experience that it was so soft and warm and-

‘’I’m sure you can,’’ she managed to say as her brain continued to think about Rainbow’s chest. ‘’I just don’t think the stomach ache would be worth it, darling.’’

‘’I,’’ Rainbow said pointedly, ‘’don’t get stomach aches. I’m too awesome.’’

‘’You are!’’ Flurry agreed with wide-eyed innocence. ‘’You beat all of those guards! It was so cool!’’

‘’Glad you think so, kid.’’ Rainbow reached out and ruffled the filly’s mane. Flurry reached her head up a little, leaned into Rainbow’s hoof.

‘’What did those guards do to you?’’ Rarity inquired out of morbid curiosity.

‘’Nothing, I just grabbed the off-duty ones,’’ Rainbow snickered, ‘’and kicked their flanks. It was good practice, and once they were past the first round they actually started working together and fighting back. Still too easy.’’

Rainbow was probably exaggerating, but it wasn’t a full lie either, else Rarity would have figured it out by now. She wasn’t as skilled as Applejack at sniffing out dishonesty, but Rainbow couldn’t lie about her own skills to save her own life.

‘’Rainbow, tomorrow auntie is going to teach me how to lift more than one thing with magic!’’ Flurry brightly informed the older mare.

‘’That’s very nice of her!’’ Rainbow said. ‘’But I had an idea that I think you’re going to like too. Both of you.’’

‘’Oh?’’ Rarity leaned forward. ‘’Do tell, darling.’’

‘’So, I talked with a couple of the guards after I was finished showing them how good I am,’’ Rainbow said, ‘’and they mentioned that they were surprised to see Flurry. I asked what they meant and they said that the two of you were both a pretty rare sight in public.’’

Flurry ducked her head, while Rarity tipped her head in acknowledgement. ‘’And?’’ Rainbow was going somewhere with this, obviously, but Rarity hadn’t the faintest clue where.

‘’Well, if your own guards barely see you, imagine how the rest of the Empire must feel.’’

That’s… oh fuck, that’s a pretty good point.

‘’I-’’ Rarity kept herself from swearing out loud, but just barely. ‘’I had forgotten that.’’

‘’Well don’t worry!’’ Rainbow said cheerfully. ‘’I have just the way to fix it!’’ She spread her wings to look more imposing. ‘’We go on a nationwide tour!’’

What?

Nationwide tour?

‘’The Empress arrives on the 22nd,’’ Rarity sputtered, ‘’we have to be there for her. We can’t visit all of the Empire’s cities in time- how are we even going to travel?’’

‘’We’ll be back before the 22nd, we can if we only visit the important ones, and train,’’ Rainbow replied as if she was reading from a list. ‘’I wasn’t just thinking about this under the shower, y’know.’’

Well…

‘’Rainbow Falls, Snowybury, Quebuck, Hedgewards and Ponytown,’’ Rarity thought out loud. ‘’Those are the Empire’s largest cities after Crystal City. The train tracks are all repaired, it’s just the trains south that need some more work, but that’s nearly done too. If we leave on the 12th, we can make it back…’’

This could actually work.

Slowly, a grin crept up on her face. ‘’Rainbow, you’re a genius!’’ she cried out.

‘’I know!’’ Rainbow said exuberantly, grinning as well. ‘’We stay two days in each city, that’s plenty of time, right?’’

‘’It should be,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’We can leave in the evening and arrive in the early morning to maximize our time everywhere.’’

‘’So we’re going to travel?’’ Flurry spoke up. Rarity turned her head to see the filly was almost vibrating with excitement.

‘’Yes, we are,’’ Rarity confirmed. ‘’But… it’s not going to be just fun.’’

Each city was going to go all-out, even with the limited time to prepare. There were going to be parades and feasts everywhere. ‘’There’s going to be a lot of stuff because of you,’’ she said gently. ‘’Ponies are going to celebrate a lot, and you’re going to be meeting a lot of different people and travelling a lot, Flurry. It’ll be exhausting.’’

‘’But fun, right?’’

‘’Heck yeah!’’ Rainbow said. ‘’Once the boring parts are done, we can go do whatever you want!’’

Flurry’s eyes lit up. ‘’Everything?’’

‘’Within reason,’’ Rarity added with a small glare at Rainbow, who just kept on grinning. ‘’But yes, we’ll have plenty of time even with the boring parts to explore each city.’’

‘’Then let’s go!’’ Flurry declared.

‘’Tomorrow evening, after dinner,’’ Rarity decided on the fly. ‘’And I need to find someone to do some of my work here, but that’s not a problem.’’

It was, but Flurry didn’t need to be bothered by that. Whatever happened, Rarity would be going on a tour with Flurry and Rainbow tomorrow, in the train.

‘’So, what’s for lunch?’’

Oh, Rainbow.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

Everything still hurt.

‘’Urgghhh…’’ Evening groaned, part-exhaustion part irritation. Shrouded fully agreed with that.

‘’Cheer up!’’ Darkheart, cunt that that he was, said with fake happiness. ‘’You still have to patrol, but this time it feels like you’ve been in a fight already!’’

Glade opened one of his eyes and glared at Darkheart. Shrouded wasn’t even the subject of the glare, and he still felt cowed. Darkheart, it seemed, gave no fucks, which would be admirable if it wasn’t so fucking typical of him.

Oh well, at least he’d been just as mangled as the rest of them.

‘’Please tell me this won’t happen again,’’ Evening pleaded without hope.

‘’It wasn’t going to,’’ Darkheat confirmed, still smiling with a fake smile. ‘’But I’m sure Commander Rainbow would be just as pleased to continue training with us.’’

Shrouded grabbed his third mug of coffee and downed about half of it, then glared at the mug. The mug, predictably, didn’t do much back, mainly because it was a fucking mug.

‘’What have we done to deserve this?’’ Evening asked the roof. The roof also didn’t answer her.

‘’Well, we did sign up for the Night Guard,’’ Shrouded volunteered. ‘’Could have guessed this would happen.’’

Evening huffed. ‘’I hate everything about this,’’ she primly informed all three of them. ‘’Why did I sign up again?’’

‘’Good of the nation, protecting our Empress - Princess, at the time -, a sense of duty,’’ Darkheart listed off.

‘’Boredom,’’ Glade added without opening his eyes.

Evening glared murder. ‘’Oh very well.’’ She got up from the table. ‘’If I am not appreciated here, I’ll just go somewhere else.’’

Glade opened his left eye again. ‘’Go to your husband,’’ he suggested smoothly.

‘’Rady,’’ Evening sputtered as she flushed red, ‘’is not my husband!’’

Ah, this again.

‘’Forgive me, you sure act like a married couple,’’ Glade apologized without meaning it. ‘’Go on then.’’ He waved at her with his wing.

‘’Fuck you too,’’ Evening blurted out, before darting out the room and slamming the door behind her.

Glade and Darkheart both chuckled, while all Shrouded managed was a wave of his hoof at the door. ‘’Bye,’’ he muttered under his breath, before downing the other half of his cup.

‘’So,’’ Darkheart began after half a minut'se silence, but was interrupted by a polite knock on the door.

‘’Yes?” he called out.

The door opened to reveal a member of the palace staff, a white mare with a red mane. ‘’I have a letter for Sergeant Shrouded Night. It was delivered to the Palace during lunch.’’

Shrouded raised an eyebrow. Post to them went through a private mailbox; who would send him mail to the Palace’s public address. ‘’I’m Shrouded Night,’’ he said as he sat up a little in his chair.

‘’Then this is for you.’’ The mare walked over to the table and hoofed him the letter.

Shrouded took a moment to look at it, but found nothing out of the ordinary. The letter was indeed addressed to the Palace, and to him.

‘’Huh,’’ he said, before opening the letter.

Honourable sergeant,

Good day to you. We are Morning Candle and Ruby Rose, the father and mother of Star Glitter. Yesterday, you bought our daughter a small statue at the market, which she has been very happy with so far. The statue has earned a place of honour on her bedrest, and she has been showing it to anyone who comes by.

We just wished to thank you for your generosity. We are not poor, but we are not rich either, and an expense like this would have been a blow to our monthly finances. Still, we want to repay you for your kindness by inviting you to dinner tonight, or another date if tonight does not fit into your schedule.

Our address is Hercindia Street 48, if you want to come by. Dinner will be at six.

We hope you have a good day.

Kind regards,

Morning Candle

Ruby Rose

Well.

He could safely say he hadn’t expected this.

‘’So what is it?’’ Glade asked as soon as Shrouded lifted his eyes from the letter.

‘’An invitation to dinner from the parents of that filly I bought a statue for yesterday,’’ Shrouded replied, still a little shocked. ‘’Captain, permission to-’’

‘’Granted,’’ Darkheart said with a smirk. ‘’I’ll get Misty to fill in your shift. A little punishment for leading us into a trap.’’

Glade snorted as Shrouded nodded. ‘’Thanks, cap.’’

‘’Don’t thank me,’’ Darkheart dismissed. ‘’You’re the one that’s spending the evening with two civvies and their overexcited child.’’

That’s one way to look at it.

Glade’s cackling certainly didn’t help.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

It was nice to be back in Ponyville. Hoof City was nice, but it wasn’t home like Ponyville was.

Sweetie and her… companion had been met by her friends as soon as they stepped out of the train. After an enthusiastic greeting, followed by a party from Pinkie, Sweetie had settled back into Carousel Boutique, together with Twinkle.

That had been one of their many disagreements: Twinkle had insisted on sleeping inside Carousel Boutique, so he could be certain Sweetie was safe. She had insulted just about everything about him she could think of and even threatened to sic Discord on him, but he had held his position until he’d haggled her into being allowed to sleep in the guest bedroom, while Sweetie stayed in her own room. Rarity’s room remained empty, and Sweetie hadn’t gone into it.

Apparently, Applejack had been making sure the Boutique was kept clean and safe to live in. Sweetie had thanked her profusely, which the older mare had, predictably, brushed off.

Sweetie sighed, and moved her gaze from one of the towers of Twilight’s castle to the School of Friendship. It remained closed as long as Twilight was unwilling to come out of her castle, which she apparently hadn’t done since receiving the news Celestia had been banished. Spike came out once or twice a week to get supplies and talk, but Twilight hadn’t been seen for months. Spike assured everyone that she was fine, but Sweetie had her doubts.

‘’Oh, don’t worry about Bookbutt, she’ll be alright.’’

‘’Ga!’’ Sweetie exclaimed as she whipped her head around. ‘’Discord! You scared me!’’

‘’I know,’’ the draconequus chuckled as he floated down to the ground. ‘’That was the point.’’ He stopped a few centimetres above the ground, then laid back in the air. ‘’So, how are you doing?’’

‘’If you’ve been reading my mind, you already know that,’’ Sweetie said dryly.

‘’I’m not reading your mind,’’ Discord rebutted . ‘’I’m simply picking up your stray thoughts, which is something you ponies do all the time. None of you can keep your thoughts to yourself, even when you're not talking.’’

‘’Oh.’’ That makes sense.

‘’Well, I try not to, thank you very much,’’ Discord quipped. He lifted his claw up, and a twirling mannequin appeared in it, doing a very good ballet dance before vanishing into biscuit crumbles.

Sweetie ignored that. ‘’Is there something you want?” she asked him.

‘’Yes,’’ Discord replied, and then didn’t elaborate.

After half a minute passed, Sweetie sighed. ‘’Gonna tell me?’’

Discord shrugged. ‘’Haven’t decided yet.’’

For all the love of…

‘’Just kidding,’’ he suddenly chuckled. ‘’I want you to come have dinner with us tonight.’’

That wasn’t half as bad as it could have been. ‘’I’d be happy to,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’Scootaloo can’t cook to save her life and having apples in every dish is starting to get boring already.’’

‘’I’d imagine so,’’ Discord said with a smirk. ‘’Dinner’s at seven, at the cottage. We’ll be waiting.’’ And he teleported himself away with a snap of his fingers.

Sweetie got up from the grass as well and brushed off some debris that had gotten onto her coat.

As predicted, Twinkle stepped out of the shadow of the tree he’d been watching her from under. ‘’Miss Belle.’’

‘’I’m going back to the Boutique,’’ Sweetie primly informed him, before beginning to walk away.

‘’As you wish,’’ Twinkle said as he fell in behind her.

Sweetie hated that he had to follow her, but she put up with it for now. He wasn’t a bad pony, truly, but the fact he was present at all irritated her beyond belief.

She shook her head to get away from the thoughts of him. Right. Dinner. I’ll have to tell Applejack I won’t be there tonight.

But as she made it down to the farm, her mind wandered back to her unrequested protector again, despite her best efforts.

Author's Notes:

Guess I've figured out a way to spend the time until NM arrives.

Also, for clarity's sake, here is a map of the Crystal Empire.

Legenda:
A: Crystal City
B: Rainbow Falls
C: Snowybury
D: Ponytown
E: Hedgewards
F: Quebuck

1: Butterfly River
2: Amoriac River
3: Quartz River
4: Snowy River
5: Emerald River
6: Cry River
7: Rainbow River
8: Angel River
9: Hearthswarming River

Chapter 10: Interactions 4

10 December 1008

‘’So, Flurry. Rainbow and I have to go talk to some ponies about the tour,’’ Rarity explained to the filly while Rainbow wolfed down her meal. ‘’What do you want to do?’’

Flurry looked at her with hopeful, pleading eyes. ‘’Can I come with you? Please? I promise I’ll be quiet.’’

Rarity’s first instinct was to say no. Flurry would no doubt find everything very boring, and Rarity didn’t want the filly to be bored. ‘’Don’t you want to play with your friends?’’ she asked instead of answering.

Flurry shook her head. ‘’They’re all busy today. Star Glitter has to help her parents at work, and so does Swift Hoof. Jewel Heart has family visiting, and Moon Tower didn’t have time, I dunno why.’’

She looks so sad.

‘’Well, I guess you can come,’’ Rarity allowed. ‘’But it’s going to be a lot of talking.’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’You said there was going to be a lot of talking with ponies on the tour too. So it’s good if I do it more, right?’’

The filly’s simple yet correct logic stumped Rarity for a moment, before she smiled. ‘’That’s very smart of you, Flurry,’’ she complimented. ‘’And you’re quite right. In fact, after Rainbow and I are done talking with other adults, why don’t we talk about what you’re going to have to do on the tour?’’

‘’That sounds nice,’’ Flurry said with a nod. ‘’Can we go?’’

‘’Rainbow has to finish her…’’ Rarity glanced over to see Rainbow swallow the last pieces of her meal, ‘’... lunch.’’

‘’Done,’’ Rainbow declared with a grin. ‘’Who do we need to talk to?’’

‘’The Captain of the Night Guard, for one,’’ Rarity said as she thought aloud. ‘’The Chamberlain of the Palace, to make sure everything keeps running while we’re away. The Mayor of Crystal City should probably be informed, and of course we need to send letters to the mayors of the cities we’ll be visiting, so they can prepare.’’

‘’Hmmm…’’ Rainbow rubbed her chin. ‘’Y’know, the Wonderbolts always did a press release to announce their tours. Maybe we could do the same?’’

That wasn’t a bad idea. ‘’Yes, we should probably do that,’’ Rarity said. ‘’I’ll make a draft of that then, sometime today.’’

‘’But first talking, right?’’ Flurry asked.

‘’But first talking,’’ Rarity confirmed with a nod. ‘’Come on, let’s go to the Chamberlain first.’’

The position of Chamberlain was an ancient one. Whoever held it was the head of the household, and in this case, the Palace staff. He or she took care of anything that happened between the staff and made sure they all did their duties - and were suitably compensated for them.

The current Chamberlain of the Palace was a crystal pony stallion called Tight Ship, who had also held the position under Cadence’s reign. He had survived Sombra’s return, according to himself, by sneaking back to his home in one of the city’s outer blocks and then pretending he was just another stallion through copious use of hair dye, turning his natural gold to a light blue shade, which in Rarity’s professional opinion clashed horribly with his earth-brown coat.

‘’Princess, Governess, Commander,’’ he greeted them with a bow as they entered his office. ‘’What can I do for you?”

‘’Tight, we will be taking a tour through the Empire’s major cities, starting tomorrow evening after dinner. We will return on the night of the 21th and the 22nd, and we will be travelling via train,’’ Rarity informed him.

The stallion raised an eyebrow, then nodded. ‘’Of course, milady. I shall make sure the Palace remains in prime shape while you are away.’’

‘’Thank you,’’ Rarity said, and she meant it. If Tight Ship didn’t already have enough of a workload managing the Palace, Rarity would have picked him as her steward/secretary in a heartbeat. ‘’The cities we will be visiting are Rainbow Falls, Snowybury, Quebuck, Hedgewards and Ponytown, and we will be staying two days per city.’’

‘’Of course.’’ Tight Ship nodded again. ‘’I assume Captain Darkheart will be providing security?’’

‘’Wait, Darkheart?’’ Rainbow suddenly asked, before snickering. ‘’He was one of the guards I absolutely wrecked,’’ she explained as Rarity turned to look at her.

And promptly resisted the urge to facehoof. Of course you did.

‘’I trust he wasn’t injured too badly?’’ she asked warily.

Rainbow waved her wing dismissively. ‘’Some bruises, but nothing broken. But he didn’t tell me he was a captain.’’

‘’Thank you for that,’’ Rarity said sarcastically, before turning back to a smiling Tight Ship. ‘’So yes, security will be arranged after this meeting.’’

‘’Very well. Is there anything else I can do to help?’’ Tight Ship asked.

‘’Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’I’m sure you’ve got enough work as it stands.’’

‘’Less than you would expect, actually,’’ Tight Ship admitted. ‘’The Palace is running just as efficiently as it did…’’ He glanced down at Flurry. ‘’As it did before.’’

‘’Well, that is very good indeed,’’ Rarity jumped in before the conversation could derail to darker topics. ‘’But I do not have anything you could do that I cannot do myself, darling.’’

Tight Ship bowed his head in acknowledgement. ‘’Very well, milady. I shall see to the preparations, and hoof-pick some members of the staff that will accompany you.’’

‘’Thank you, darling.’’ Rarity graciously tipped her head at him. ‘’It has been a pleasure speaking with you again. I think I will come by sometime before dinner again.’’

‘’Until then, milady.’’

‘’Have a nice day, Mr Ship!’’ Flurry chirped as she waved at Tight Ship.

‘’You too, Princess,’’ the stallion replied with a soft smile.

‘’Right,’’ Rainbow said as soon as the door was closed. ‘’The Captain then?’’

‘’Indeed,’’ Rarity confirmed. ‘’I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see you again.’’

Captain Darkheart was the leader of the Night Guard stationed in the Crystal Empire, and until Rainbow had arrived he’d reported directly to Rarity, once a week. Darkheart, it had to be said, was a handsome stallion. He had a midnight black coat, almost as dark as his Empress’, and his mane was a deep maroon red.

They found him in the mess hall of the barracks, together with a couple of other guards who all looked bruised and battered.

‘’Ma’am,’’ Darkheart saluted.

‘’Good day, Captain,’’ Rarity greeted him. ‘’We will be taking a tour of the nation’s biggest cities via train from tomorrow evening until the night of the 21st to the 22nd. I trust you will be able to arrange our security.’’

The other guards stilled, and Darkheart took a single, deep breath. ‘’Of course we can, ma’am. Train, you say? I will select some of my best to guard it.’’

‘’We will be travelling to Rainbow Falls, Snowybury, Quebuck, Hedgewards and Ponytown, in that specific order,’’ Rarity continued. ‘’I imagine it might be a good idea to contact local police forces so you can work something out with them.’’

‘’I will be sure to do that, ma’am,’’ Darkheart said. ‘’Are we travelling with the same train you and the Princess used to get here?’’

‘’We are,’’ Rarity confirmed.

‘’Then I know what to expect.’’ Darkheart gave them all a little smile. It wasn’t much, but it was something. ‘’Is there anything else?’’

Rarity shook her head. ‘’Not at the moment, no. But if anything comes up, I will send for you.’’

‘’Of course, ma’am. I’m at your service.’’ Darkheart saluted again.

‘’Well, we shan’t keep you longer,’’ Rarity said.

‘’Captain,’’ Rainbow spoke up, ‘’present a list of guards you’ve picked to me before dinner tonight, so that I can review it.’’

‘’Will do, ma’am.’’

Rainbow nodded. ‘’See to it.’’

‘’Bye, Captain!’’ Flurry waved again as they left.

‘’Goodbye, Princess.’’ Darkheart gave another salute, which Rainbow returned seriously and Flurry made a very good attempt at.

‘’Why do you want a list of the guards?’’ Rarity asked Rainbow as they walked down the hallway.

‘’I like to know who I’m working with,’’ Rainbow explained. ‘’So once I have the list, I’m going to meet with everyone on it, see what they’re made of. Can’t have shoddy security.’’

‘’They’re Night Guards,’’ Rarity said exasperatedly, ‘’I’m sure they’re skilled at their jobs. Many of them fought in the civil war as well.’’

‘’I know that,’’ Rainbow said, ‘’but I still kicked their flanks today, and it was eight on one. So I’m a little skeptical.’’

Rarity could see the logic in that. ‘’Very well,’’ she agreed. ‘’But keep them intact, please.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rainbow agreed as if that was obvious, ‘’who do you take me for?’’

A good friend… and maybe more?

But Rarity, of course, didn’t say that out loud. ‘’Of course, forgive me, darling. Now, what was next again?’’

‘’You wanted to talk to the mayor!” Flurry helpfully spoke up. ‘’And then write some letters to other mayors!’’

Ah yes, that’s right. ‘’Thank you for helping me remember, Flurry,’’ Rarity said warmly.

‘’No problem, auntie!’’ Flurry smiled brightly.

‘’I think we can meet the mayor in my office,’’ Rarity thought aloud. ‘’I’ll send her a message, and we can talk while we wait for her to arrive.’’

‘’Sounds good,’’ Rainbow remarked. ‘’Can you bring up some drinks as well?’’

‘’I want lemonade!” Flurry immediately added enthusiastically.

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity agreed, and they went to her office.

Once they had arrived, Rarity penned a quick letter and had a servant send it off, before the drinks were brought in. Flurry got her lemonade, while Rarity took a cup of tea and Rainbow got a fizzy drink Rarity hadn’t heard of before.

‘’It’s called Maneia,’’ Rainbow explained. ‘’Someone in Applewood came up with it during the war, and it’s been a wild success.’’

‘’Well…’’ Rarity eyed the bright green drink doubtfully. ‘’To each their own, darling.’’

‘’Auntie, we were gonna talk about the tour,’’ Flurry reminded her in a sort of whiney voice.

‘’That we were,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’So, let’s plan.’’

She reached into her drawer and pulled out a small book that Tight Ship had gotten her in the first week of her being in the Crystal Empire. It was a short description of the Crystal Empire’s cities, its history and its people.

‘’Rainbow Falls first,’’ Rarity said as she laid the book down on the table, then flicked through it until she found the right pages. Clearing her throat, she read aloud: ‘’Rainbow Falls is the only cloud city in the Empire, populated by crystal pegasi. The first cloud homes around the Falls were built in 489 BLB, and since then the city has grown until around a quarter of a million people are living in it. The city is built in layers around the Falls, with pegasi typically using their wings to get to and from levels, while stairs have been built for non-flying ponies. The higher you come the more beautiful and thus expensive it becomes, and the city hall, barracks and other governmental structures are all located on the top levels.’’

‘’Can I read the next part?’’ Flurry interrupted with a pleading voice. ‘’I really want to.’’

‘’Of course, darling.’’ Rarity turned the book around so Flurry could read it.

Flurry sat up on her chair and cleared her throat a few times, before beginning to read. ‘’Rainbow Falls prides itself on being the northernmost cloud city in the world, and this alone makes it a major tourist attraction. The main reason people visit is, of course, the Rainbow Falls themselves. They are beautiful and massive, larger even than the Neighgara Falls in northern Equestria. The pegasi use the clouds created by the Falls to make their houses, using normal clouds only as secondary material.’’ There were a few stumbles and short pauses as she tried to figure out how to say a word, as well as a few mispronounced words, but the message of the text was conveyed perfectly nonetheless.

‘’Huh,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’Did not know that. That’s pretty interesting.’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’And that was some very good reading, Flurry. I’m impressed.’’

‘’So am I,’’ Rainbow added. ‘’Where’d you learn that?’’

Flurry ducked her head and blushed. ‘’Auntie Twilight taught me,’’ she replied softly. ‘’I like reading. It’s nice.’’

Rarity and Rainbow exchanged a look. ‘’Well, I’m glad you like it,’’ Rarity said after an uncomfortable silence. ‘’Reading is an important skill for later.’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’That’s what auntie Twilight and Mummy said too. I’m going to have to read a lot when I’m a grown-up, right?’’

‘’Yes, you will have to,’’ Rarity confirmed with a nod. ‘’So it’s good that you’re starting it early. Do you want to read more, or I shall do it?’’

‘’No, I’m fine,’’ Flurry said with a shake of her head. She cleared her throat again. ‘’But the page ends here.’’

Rarity turned the book around to look at it. ‘’I think,’’ she said, ‘’that we need to look at this part.’’ She pointed at a paragraph that had the header ‘People of Rainbow Falls’.

‘’Okay!’’ Flurry chirped, before turning the book back to face her. ‘’Rainbow Falls is home to around two-five-zero-zero-zero-zero people?’’ She looked up with a frown. ‘’That doesn’t sound right.’’

‘’It’s two-hundred and fifty thousand,’’ Rarity clarified. ‘’If something has four numbers in it, it’s a thousand. Five numbers is ten thousand and six numbers a hundred thousand. Seven numbers is one million.’’

‘’Thank you, auntie!’’ Flurry said cheerfully. ‘’So, around two-hundred fifty thousand people, of which… what’s a nine and zero mean?’’

‘’Ninety, so a ten and then nine times,’’ Rainbow explained before Rarity could.

Flurry nodded. ‘’There’s a weird symbol behind ninety. It’s two circles, one above and one below, and a diagonal line through it.’’

‘’That symbol stands for the percentage of something.’’ Rarity picked up Flurry’s glass, which was more or less half filled. ‘’This glass is fifty percent empty. Percentages go from zero to a hundred, most of the time.’’

‘’Thank you, auntie!’’ Flurry said again. ‘’Of which ninety percent are pegasi, either crystal or normal. The citizens of Rainbow Falls are a cheerful bunch, and rarely get angry about anything. Given that they are pegasi, there’s a lot of com-pet-itions?’’

‘’Competitions,’’ Rarity corrected gently.

‘’Right. Competitions that involve endurance and strength, as well as bravery. There’s a gap in the central square of each level, through which ponies can dive down. Going up through it is not allowed, and the gap is mainly used as a game for young pegasi. They have to dive through and try to find the next hole all the way from top to bottom, without using their wings to do anything other than glide.’’

Rainbow whistled. ‘’Sounds like my kind of thing.’’

The problem was that it really did.

Rarity leveled Rainbow with her strongest glare. ‘’Do not take Flurry with you,’’ she said softly.

‘’I won’t,’’ Rainbow promised, and Rarity only half-believed her.

Author's Notes:

FYI, this is not the same Rainbow Falls as shown in the episode of the same name. Just to clarify that.

Also, I know this was a lot of info-dumping. But I hope I made it entertaining anyway. The next chapter won't have as much lore, I'm pretty sure of that.

Chapter 11: Interactions 5

10 December 1008

There was a knock on the door. ‘’Milady, Mayor Winter is here for you.’’

‘’Send her in!’’ Rarity called out to the pony behind the door.

The door clicked open, and Mayor Winter entered. She had a white coat and a golden and yellow mane, which was tied back in a traditional crystal bun, and she was wearing a simple business suit.

Long Winter, as her full name was, had been born during Sombra’s first reign, in the first days of the dark king’s rule, which was why her name was so dark. Unlike most who were born during that time, she had kept her birth name, as a reminder to those days. She’d been elected as Mayor of Crystal City a week before Rarity and had arrived. They’d spoken a few times since then.

‘’Princess,’’ she stopped to bow to Flurry Heart, ‘’Governess. Commander. Good day to you all.’’

‘’’Good day to you, Mayor Winter,’’ Rarity returned the greeting. ‘’Please, have a seat.’’

‘’Hello, Mayor Winter,’’ Flurry chirped with a smile.

‘’Hi,’’ Rainbow said, as discourteous as ever. ‘’Nice to meet you.’’

Mayor Winter nodded as she sat down. ‘’What can I help you with, Governess? Your letter said it was a matter of some urgency.’’

‘’Indeed.’’ Rarity nodded, then cleared her throat. ‘’We,’’ she gestured with her hoof to indicate she meant all three of them, ‘’will be going on a tour of the Empire’s largest cities outside of Crystal City, starting from tomorrow evening until the night of 21st to the 22nd. The news will be made public tomorrow morning, but I wanted to inform you beforehoof.’’

‘’Thank you,’’ Mayor Winter said after a second of silence. ‘’I assume the parade for the Empress will continue as planned?’’

‘’It will,’’ Rarity confirmed.

‘’Excellent.’’ Mayor Winter tilted her head. ‘’Is there something else?’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’The announcement will be made via a press conference,’’ she told the other mare. ‘’Could you make sure that a space is set-up somewhere? Perhaps in front of the Palace?’’

Mayor Winter nodded. ‘’That is a good idea, Governess. I’ll make sure that it’s done before tomorrow morning. At what time will the announcement be?’’

‘’11:30,’’ Rarity decided after a few moments of thought.

‘’Then it’ll be done before that, Governess,’’ Mayor Winter declared. ‘’And I’ll make sure people know to come.’’

Rarity inclined her head in gratitude. ‘’Thank you.’’

‘’Of course. If there is nothing else…’’

There wasn’t, and so the Mayor took her leave again. Once she was gone, the three of them turned back to the book. There was still much to learn, after all.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

Dinner was at six, which was why Shrouded had made sure to be on his way half an hour before that. He had decided to go in his armour, but he left his rifle and took only his hoofgun instead.

Well, and the hidden blades in his hoofguards. But those were a last resort.

Directions weren’t that hard to find, even if Crystal City was larger than any city Shrouded had ever been in, even larger than Manehattan. Once Shrouded spotted Hercindia Street on the signs, he followed them until he reached the street itself.

Hercindia Street wasn’t in the outskirts of the city, but it wasn’t near to the centre either. It was located in the middle between those two extremes, and if Shrouded had to guess, was likely home to mostly civil servants and such folk. The houses weren’t large but they still had plenty of space, including a small garden behind each house.

While fliers were a rarity in Crystal City anyway, with the majority population being crystal earth ponies, Shrouded was sure he got more looks than normal. Part of that came because he was a thestral, another part because he was a Night Guard. He wasn’t really affected by it, but it was a little irritating.

He kept his eye on the house numbers until he got to 40. Then, he dove down and landed on the street. Better to walk the rest of the way.

There weren’t a lot of ponies out on the street, which made sense given the time. Shrouded checked which side Number 48 was going to be, then began to walk.

He arrived in front of the door less than a minute later. The house looked just the same as all the others in the street; there was nothing truly remarkable about it. Shrouded would have walked right past it if he didn’t have a reason to be there.

Shrouded took a deep breath, then stepped forward and knocked three times in quick succession.

And now we wait.

Not for very long. After roughly ten seconds, the door was opened with a click by a blue-coated mare with a red mane. ‘’Good evening,’’ she greeted. ‘’You must be Sergeant Shrouded Night.’’

‘’That I am,’’ Shrouded confirmed, making sure to smile. ‘’It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.’’ He stuck out his hoof to her.

The mare shook it. ‘’I’m Ruby Rose, Star’s mother,’’ she said as if that wasn’t obvious. ‘’It’s a pleasure to meet you too. Please, come in. Dinner is almost ready.’’

She turned around and walked into the house. Shrouded followed behind her, closing the door behind him. He stood in a small hallway with only one door at the end, and a staircase next to it.

Ruby Rose walked through the doorway into the living room. It had a sofa, a coffee table, a bookshelf against the wall in which a radio also stood, and a table for six, as well as a doorway to the kitchen.

Sitting on the sofa was Star Glitter, with the statue Shrouded had bought her in her hooves. As soon as she saw him, her eyes widened. ‘’Shrouded! You came!’’

‘’I did,’’ Shrouded said, widening his smile a little. ‘’How are you, Star?’’

‘’I’m great!’’ She held up the statue. ‘’I’ve been showing this to everyone! All my friends are jealous of it!’’

‘’Well it is a very nice statue,’’ Shrouded remarked, a little uncertain of what to say.

‘’Yes it is!’’

‘’Star, don’t harass him,’’ Ruby Rose gently reprimanded her daughter, before turning to face him. ‘’Please, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?’’

‘’Some water, if you have it,’’ Shrouded replied as he sat himself down on the sofa, Star Glitter sitting back next to him.

‘’Of course.’’ Ruby Rose disappeared into the kitchen, and returned half a minute later with a glass of water. ‘’My husband says hello,’’ she said as she put the glass down on the table and then sat down herself. ‘’He’s a little busy with dinner at the moment.’’

Shrouded hummed and nodded, before taking a sip from the water. ‘’Thank you for inviting me here, ma’am,’’ he said after swallowing.

‘’It was the least we could do,’’ Ruby Rose said, ‘’but you are welcome nonetheless.’’

Just then, a stallion’s voice sounded from the kitchen. ‘’And done!’’

‘’That’s our cue for dinner,’’ Ruby Rose informed them both as she stood up from the couch she’d sat down on not even twenty seconds ago.

Star Glitter got off the couch as well and followed her mother, and was in turn followed by a very bemused Shrouded.

A purple crystal unicorn stallion with a pure white mane emerged from the kitchen doorway, carrying four plates in his magic. ‘’Good evening, Mr Sergeant,’’ he said, sticking out his hoof. Shrouded took it and was rewarded by a deceptively strong grip back.

‘’Good to meet you, sir,’’ he said.

‘’The pleasure,’’ the pony that could only be Morning Glory said, ‘’is mine. Morning Glory’s the name.’’

‘’Shrouded Night.’’

The plates had been put down, and so they all sat down at the table, Star Glitter seated next to Shrouded while the other two adults in the room sat across from them.

Shrouded took a moment to analyze the food on his plate. Mashed potatoes with broccoli and dandelions. Nothing exuberant, but as good a meal as they got in the barracks.

‘’Dig in,’’ Morning Glory said, and they all began to eat.

Shrouded took a bite from his potatoes and promptly experienced the most pleasurable sensation he’d ever felt while eating food. He swallowed what was in his mouth, then said, ‘’This is delicious!’’

‘’Glad to hear you say so!’’ Morning Glory said. ‘’It might not be my cutie mark, but I like cooking a lot. Probably not what you’d expect from a mayoral secretary, but oh well.’’

Shrouded wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so he just kept on eating the incredible food, interspersed with small sips from his glass of water.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

‘’You are NOT coming with me,’’ Sweetie declared firmly. ‘’This is a private dinner.’’

‘’I have my orders, Miss Belle,’’ Twinkle replied calmly. ‘’And nothing will come in their way.’’

‘’I will,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’You can go eat somewhere else.’’

They’d been bickering like this ever since Sweetie had left the Boutique to head for Fluttershy’s cottage, only to be followed by Twinkle.

‘’I will not,’’ Twinkle said. ‘’I’m sure Lady Fluttershy will be able to accommodate one more person.’’

Before the argument could derail even further, a pop sounded.

Discord loomed over both of them, one eyebrow raised. ‘’No fighting at the table,’’ he said sternly. ‘’Now come. We’re waiting.’’

Sweetie opened her mouth. ‘’I-’’

The world blurred, and then they stood in Fluttershy’s cottage.

‘’Ah, Discord!’’ the owner of the house said. ‘’You’re back! And with Sweetie and her friend. Hello, you two.’’

Sweetie smiled back at Fluttershy. ‘’Nice to see you again, Fluttershy.’’ She gave the older mare a hug. ‘’How are you doing?’’

‘’Everything’s fine,’’ Fluttershy said, ‘’but Discord could stand to be a little less overbearing.’’

‘’I’m not overbearing!’’ Discord indignantly retorted as he held up his paw. ‘’I’ll have you know this is a lion’s paw!’’

Fluttershy giggled as Sweetie rolled her eyes, while Twinkle gave nothing away at all, probably because of his training, whatever it had been. Sweetie still wasn’t sure what he was, beyond working for the IIS, but he had clearly had some sort of training.

‘’Dinner is ready,’’ Fluttershy said after her giggles died down, pointing at the table with a hoof. ‘’Please, have a seat.’’

Discord wrapped himself around Fluttershy’s seat after she had sat down in it, his neck extending to the chair he would have taken if he had been a normal being. Sweetie and Twinkle both sat across from them, which meant they sat next to each other. The food was simple but refreshing: some sort of hay that had been sugared, probably with chaos magic, and an assortment of tasty flowers, with apple juice as drink.

‘’So, Sweetie, how are you doing?’’ Fluttershy asked after they had taken their first few bites in silence.

‘’I’m doing fine,’’ Sweetie replied between bites. ‘’Being back in Ponyville again is nice, even if it’s only for a short while.’’

Fluttershy nodded. ‘’You’re leaving tomorrow, right?’’

‘’In the afternoon, yes.’’

‘’I wouldn’t do that,’’ Discord mysteriously offered. He reached down with his neck and grabbed one of the flowers from the plate, swallowing it in a single bite.

Sweetie frowned. ‘’Why not?’’ Rarity certainly wasn’t going anywhere, and Sweetie wanted to be in the Crystal Empire before Nightmare Moon arrived.

‘’Well…’’ Discord grinned, showing that a couple of leaves from the flower were stuck against his teeth. ‘’Call it a hunch. But I have the feeling that if you go tomorrow, you’ll find that Rarity won’t be in Crystal City.’’

Fluttershy turned her head to look at her… whatever they were. ‘’Discord, what do you know?’’ she asked sternly, for Fluttershy at least.

‘’As I said, it’s just a hunch.’’ The Lord of Chaos shrugged. ‘’Contrary to what some people,’’ his eyes glanced at an angle Sweetie couldn’t follow, ‘’believe, I can’t see the future.’’

Sweetie weighed her options. She could do as she planned, or she could listen to Discord. He seemed to be genuine, and by now Sweetie trusted him enough to believe he probably wouldn’t lie to her. He certainly wouldn’t lie to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy brightened, and nodded. ‘’Okay. She can come with us then.’’

‘’Wait, you’re going to the Empire?’’ That’s unexpected.

Fluttershy turned back at her. ‘’We are, for Hearthswarming Eve. Rainbow and Rarity are both there now, so we’ll take their presents from the people of Ponyville to them and return with the presents they have for Ponyville.’’

‘’And you’re teleporting.’’ Sweetie guessed.

Discord shook his head. ‘’No, we’re taking the train.’’

‘’Why?’’

It wasn’t Sweetie who asked that, it was Twinkle, He seemed genuinely surprised by what Discord had just said. Then again, so was Sweetie.

Discord shifted a little tighter around Fluttershy. ‘’It’s not advisable.’’

‘’Not advisable…’’ Sweetie trailed off.

Surely not.

There’s no way.

‘’Discord is just worried because I’m pregnant,’’ Fluttershy said softly. ‘’I’m not worried. I know he won’t let me be harmed.’’

Sweetie exhaled loudly. ‘’You’re pregnant!?’’

‘’Yup.’’ Discord said, popping the p. ‘’Found out a couple of days ago. The rest of Ponyville already knows, but we’d forgotten to mention it to you.’’ He was grinning now.

Sweetie sat back in her chair. ‘’Congratulations,’’ she finally offered.

‘’Yes,’’ Twinkle echoed faintly, ‘’congratulations.’’

Then he fainted.

Author's Notes:

This just keeps on getting better.

Next chapter, I've decided, will feature Sunset's POV again, as well as Sweetie's and Rarity's. Also, you may have noticed that since I'm bad at titles, I'm just going to pick a title for a one day and stick to it. I'll keep the titles for the chapters I've already given one though.

Also also, what I said about each day taking 10K words is shaping up to be true, since this chapter puts 10 December 1008 over 10k words and I'm not even finished with the day yet.

What have I gotten into...

Chapter 12: Interactions 6

10 December 1008

For all the…

‘’What?’’ Sunset shouted at whoever was knocking on her door. ‘’I’m busy!’’

‘’Milady, I have the dinner you ordered,’’ the - likely a servant - answered from outside.

‘’Ughh…’’ Sunset teleported to the door and pulled it open. ‘’Thank you,’’ she snarled, grabbing the plate from the stunned pegasus before slamming the door closed again.

‘’Fucking servants…’’ she muttered under her breath as she walked back to her desk.

She’d been granted a large apartment in the Crystaller Building, complete with two-pony bedroom, a luxurious bathroom, and a massive living room that had featured extremely luxurious and comfortable couches and chairs, plus everything a pony could need on his or her stay in Manehattan.

Sunset had pushed all of that against the wall, placing the desk in the centre of the room with a single chair to sit on, while filling up the shelves, chairs and tables with books and other things she needed for her work.

She wasn’t officially the Royal (or Imperial) Magician, but she practically served the Empress in that way, as the strongest and most knowledgeable unicorn in Nightmare Moon’s service.

Which was one of the other reasons she didn’t want to go to the Crystal Empire: she could do so much more here than up there!

But Nightmare Moon had insisted, and Sunset wasn’t fool enough to fight the alicorn. Her duel with Twilight had been hard enough, and that hadn’t even been a true fight.

Plus, she had to admit that the prospect of teaching an alicorn filly about magic had its appeal. Even if said alicorn filly resided in a frozen wasteland.

Hard to believe the Crystal Empire was once the most powerful nation on Equus, she thought wryly as she sat down in her chair, placing the food in front of her after pushing away the book that had been laying there.

She dug into the food without too much care for manners; there was no one to see her do so, and she was hungry. So, she downed the potatoes and hayburger in an impressive display of messy eating.

Like I care. It’s tasty.

Still, Sunset did know her limits, and so she slowed down a little, incidentally decreasing the mess she made of things. As she finished her food, she pushed the plate away and pulled the book towards her again.

Because if she was going to have to go to the Crystal Empire, she was going to be prepared. The last time she’d ended up unprepared in a foreign environment hadn’t gone so well, after all, even if the Empire was less foreign than the world on the other side of the mirror had been.

‘’Right,’’ Sunset muttered under her breath. ‘’Let’s get back to reading.’’

And of course, there was another knock on her door at that exact moment.

‘’Sun fucking damnit,’’ Sunset cursed, before teleporting to the door again and pulling it open. ‘’What?’’

The Night Guard in front of her took a step back, eyes wide. ‘’I didn’t mean to disturb you, ma’am,’’ she blurted out, ‘’but the Empress has requested your presence in her solar-’’

Sunset didn’t catch the rest of what she said, as she had already teleported to Nightmare Moon’s solar. ‘’You asked for me?’’

Nightmare Moon raised one eyebrow at her. ‘’I did,’’ she confirmed. ‘’Please, have a seat.’’

Sunset all-but-collapsed into it. ‘’Tell me whatchu want…’’

Instead of doing that, Nightmare Moon gave her a concerned look. ‘’Sunset, are you alright?’’

‘’Fine,’’ she dismissed with a wave, ‘’M’just tired…’’

‘’Not just tired,’’ Nightmare Moon declared. With the grace inherent to alicorns, she got up from her chair and walked over to Sunset. ‘’The news can wait. You need rest.’’

Don’t wanna…

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

Twinkle blinked awake again a few moments, and blushingly sat back up again. ‘’Apologies,’’ he said.

‘’Are you alright?’’ Sweetie asked before she knew it.

Twinkle turned to her and smiled. ‘’Yeah, I am. I was just surprised.’’ His golden eyes met hers.

They’re kinda nice to look at...

‘’Ahem.’’

Wut?

Sweetie’s head snapped towards a smiling Fluttershy and a smirking Discord. ‘’Oh, sorry,’’ she apologized.

‘’Oh, I don’t mind,’’ Fluttershy said. There was something to her tone of voice that made Sweetie a little suspicious, but she couldn’t place her hoof on what exactly it was.

Discord chuckled - for some reason - and unwound himself from Fluttershy to stand next to her. ‘’Not to worry, my colty friend. I’ll make sure my child - or children - won’t destroy all of Equestria. At least, not permanently!’’

‘’Discord!’’

Twinkle swallowed. ‘’Of course, sir.’’

‘’Be nice,’’ Fluttershy scolded the draconequus, before giving Twinkle a reassuring smile. ‘’Discord’s just a bit of joker.’’

‘’That I am,’’ Discord confirmed cheerily.

Twinkle just nodded, and said nothing else. The rest of the dinner continued in a slightly awkward mood, which to Sweetie’s surprise seemed to affect even Discord.

I knew he liked Fluttershy, but I had no idea it was this bad, she thought dryly as she watched the two interact.

Soon enough the dinner was done. Both Sweetie and Twinkle offered to help with the dishes, but Discord fixed that problem with a snap of his claws, and so they left and headed back for the Boutique.

‘’So what happened back there?’’ Sweetie asked. ‘’Why did you faint?’’

‘’Surprise,’’ Twinkle dismissed.

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. ‘’I don’t think that’s it.’’

Twinkle didn’t say anything, nor did he look at her. After a few seconds, Sweetie sighed. ‘’Very well.’’

‘’Do you believe what he said? About Crystal City and your sister?’’ Twinkle asked out of the blue.

Sweetie took a moment to ponder that, then replied, ‘’I think I do. And I don’t mind staying here a few more days.’’

‘’Okay.’’

By the time Sweetie crawled into bed, she was still thinking about the revelations at dinner. With those thoughts in mind, she fell asleep.

|-x-X-x-|

10 December 1008

By the time a servant knocked on the door and asked if they wanted dinner, Rarity had almost lost her voice from all the reading and talking. Flurry had almost dozed off, slouching in her chair, and Rainbow wasn’t much better. Rarity hadn’t seen which of the two had done it first, and to be honest she couldn’t care less.

By unanimous vote, it was decided that dinner would be had upstairs. And because Rarity agreed they could all use some more energy, she ordered hayburgers and chips for all three of them.

Once they had been delivered, the three of them moved from the chairs they’d been sitting on for the past hours to the couch. Rainbow sprawled herself out on the left end and Rarity sat down on the right, while Flurry snuggled herself in-between them.

‘’Give the cooks a raise,’’ Rainbow ordered after taking her first few bites of her dinner. ‘’They made the chips taste good. That’s supposed to be impossible.’’

Rarity chuckled. ‘’These aren’t the same chips you’d get in a restaurant.’’

Rainbow eyed the chips. ‘’Look the same to me,’’ she declared after a few moments.

She isn’t wrong. They do look nearly identical.

‘’Appearances can be deceiving,’’ Rarity intoned.

‘’What’s that mean?’’ Flurry asked. ‘’It sounds nice.’’

‘’It means,’’ Rainbow explained before Rarity could even open her mouth, ‘’that ponies aren’t always who they look like. Take Fluttershy. You remember her? Yellow pegasus with a pink mane?’’ When Flurry nodded, she continued, ‘’Well, if you look at her she seems like she’d be blown away by a stray breeze. But I don’t think I’ve ever met a more determined mare in my life. If she sets her mind on something, it’ll happen.’’

‘’Oh,’’ Flurry said, brightening a little and smiling, ‘’I get it. Thanks for explaining, Rainbow.’’

Rainbow gave the filly a soft smile back. ‘’Anytime, Flurry.’’

‘’So,’’ Rarity said after a few seconds of comfortable silence, ‘’what shall we do after dinner?’’

She knew what she wanted, of course: rest. And the only task she had left for this evening was writing letters to the mayors of the five cities.

‘’I say we chill,’’ Rainbow offered. ‘’I’ve read enough books for the rest of the week.’’

‘’I’m tired,’’ Flurry said, before yawning loudly.

Rarity gave Flurry another pillow, so she had two instead of one. ‘’You’ve had a tiring day,’’ she said softly.

‘’Mmmyeah…’’ Flurry agreed. ‘’But it was also fun. I liked being with you.’’

Something bloomed in Rarity’s heart, and she could see that Rainbow felt the same. ‘’I- we,’’ Rarity corrected herself with a glance at Rainbow, ‘’like being with you too, Flurry.’’

She hesitated, then reached forward and gave Flurry a hug. After a few seconds, Flurry leaned into the hug, and then without prompting Rainbow joined it.

Rarity placed her head on top of Flurry’s, while the filly buried hers against Rarity’s coat. Rainbow’s head, by logic, ended up next to Rarity’s, which the latter had no problem with at all.

She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but when they finally separated, the food was cold.

‘’I’m still hungry,’’ Rainbow decided after they had looked at the food in silence for about five seconds, and she grabbed her burger again. Rarity and Flurry followed suit.

When they’d finished up their food, they had dessert in the form of the ice cream from two days ago, kept cold by Rarity’s fridge. It was, of course, still very nice.

‘’So what now?’’ Rarity wondered aloud when they’d finished the ice cream.

‘’Chilling,’’ Rainbow replied as if that was obvious.

‘’Yes, but…’’ Rarity tried to think of what to say, and came up short. ‘’I still need to write those letters.’’

Flurry and Rainbow both pouted.

‘’I’m sorry darlings,’’ Rarity apologized, ‘’but I really do need to write them. I’m sure you can keep yourselves entertained. I won’t be long.’’

She got off the couch and walked over to her desk. Once she was sitting in her chair, she pulled out an empty piece of paper and a pencil and started to write.

Dear Mayor Branch

Good day to you. I write this letter to inform you that I, Governess Rarity Belle, shall be visiting Rainbow Falls as part of a tour of the Crystal Empire’s most important cities, together with Crown Princess Flurry Heart and the Commander of the newly-created Crystal Shadowbolts, Rainbow Dash. This visit shall occur from the morning of the 12th of December until the evening of the 13th of December, this month. We shall be arriving via train, but will require accommodations for our stay.

If you have any questions, please send them to me as soon as possible, preferably with the courier that will be bringing this message to you, so that I can reply to you in a timely fashion.

I hope to have sufficiently informed you.

Kind regards,

Rarity Belle, Imperial Governess of the Lunar Crystal Governorate

Once that letter was done, she wrote four more for the other cities, and then collected them in her magic and walked over to the door.

She opened it and looked at the guard next to it. ‘’Please take these letters to the Chamberlain, and tell him I wish for them to be sent with the fastest couriers available.’’ After a moment, she added, ‘’Also, convey to him my apologies for not showing up to my appointment in the afternoon.’’

The guard saluted as he took the letters from her. ‘’Right away, ma’am!’’ And he sped down the hallway.

Rarity nodded to herself, then turned around and looked back in the room.

Rainbow and Flurry were both still laying on the couch, with Flurry snuggled next to Rainbow. But while Flurry’s eyes were closed, Rainbow’s were open and watching her every movement.

Rarity managed to keep her blush down rather well, in her own opinion. ‘’I’m done,’’ she announced as she closed the door and walked towards the couch.

‘’I noticed,’’ Rainbow remarked dryly. ‘’But someone’s a little tired.’’ She nudged Flurry with her wing.

‘’Mmm…’’

‘’I think,’’ Rarity noted with amusement, ‘’that it’s someone’s bedtime.’’

Flurry slowly opened her eyes. ‘’Can I sleep here?’’

‘’You want to have a sleepover again?’’ Rarity asked back.

‘’Yeah.’’ Flurry snuggled even closer against Rainbow, who only looked more delighted by that. ‘’This is warm and nice. Don’t wanna walk all the way down.’’

Maybe… ‘’Would you like it if you moved into one of the rooms on this floor?” Rarity asked.

Flurry’s eyes lit up. ‘’Can I?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’We can move your belongings tomorrow morning, and you can stay here tonight.’’ She turned to Rainbow. ‘’Darling, could you get Flurry’s pillow, toothbrush and…’’

‘’And Whammy,’’ Flurry added.

‘’Sure thing.’’ Rainbow slid off the couch and walked over to the door to the balcony. She opened it, then turned around and grinned. ‘’Fifteen seconds.’’

And she was gone, only a trail of rainbow light indicating she was ever there.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve-

Rainbow was back in the doorway, all the things Rarity and Flurry had requested on her back. ‘’How did I do?’’

‘’Twelve seconds,’’ Rarity primly informed her.

‘’Awesome. Here you go, Flurry.’’ Rainbow hoofed Whammy to Flurry, and placed her pillow and toothbrush on the table.

Flurry immediately cuddled Whammy close to her chest. It was an adorable sight. ‘’Thank you, Rainbow.’’

‘’No problem, kid.’’ Rainbow laid herself back down on the couch. ‘’It was good to flex, even for a few seconds. Remember that.’’

‘’I will,’’ Flurry promised. ‘’Do I have to go brush my teeth now?’’

‘’Yes, you do,’’ Rarity answered.

And Flurry dutifully did just that. Once she had brushed her teeth, Rarity tucked her into bed while Rainbow watched.

‘’Good night, Flurry,’’ Rarity said once the filly was snugly nestled under the covers in the middle of the bed.

‘’Good night,’’ Rainbow echoed.

‘’See you tomorrow, auntie, Rainbow,’’ Flurry replied.

Rarity nodded, then turned away and began to walk towards the door. Rainbow was already standing in the doorway, watching her.

‘’Wait, don’t leave!’’

Both their gazes turned towards Flurry, who had sat up in the bed. ‘’We’ll just be in the living room, darling,’’ Rarity assured her even as she tried to figure out why Flurry was doing this.

Flurry didn’t look convinced. ‘’And you’ll both come back, right? Please?’’

…

Rarity didn’t know what to do, and when she looked at Rainbow she could deduce from the expression the pegasus had on her face that she didn’t either.

‘’Please?’’ Flurry begged.

The mental image of Flurry in her bedroom all alone, crying into her pillow, flashed through Rarity’s mind.

‘’Yes, we will both be there,’’ she declared.

In one second Flurry’s expression went from scared and sad to elated. ‘’Thank you!’’

Rarity was still a little flabbergasted, so she just nodded and said, ‘’Sleep well, Flurry.’’

‘’Good night, Flurry,’’ Rainbow added, her own bewilderment clear in her voice.

‘’Good night, auntie, Rainbow,’’ Flurry said, before nestling into the bed again.

After watching her for a few more seconds, Rarity pulled herself away and stepped out of the room, then closed the door.

‘’Leave it slightly open,’’ Rainbow whispered to her.

Rarity caught her resolute look, and nodded. She pulled the door open ever so slightly, just enough that a small beam of light would shine through; but more importantly, enough that Flurry could still hear their voices and be reassured that they were still there.

Once that was done, Rarity and Rainbow walked back to the couch in silence, both sitting back on their ends again. There wasn’t a lot of space between them, but it felt like a lot now that Flurry wasn’t there.

They didn’t say anything for some time, which suited Rarity just fine. She needed time to think, to process all of what had happened today, and in the past days.

‘’I don’t think anyone would mind jumping into a bed with you.’’

She gasped, startled. ‘’Rainbow!’’

‘’What?’’ Rainbow chuckled. ‘’It’s true.’’

Rarity fought a losing battle against her blush. The fact that she wasn’t sure if she wanted Rainbow to see it or not certainly didn’t help the defending side. ‘’Thank you, darling, for that compliment. But you don’t have to sleep here tonight. I can say you left in the night, or something.’’

Even to her own ears it sounded crude and unbelievable, and above all else, a lie. She didn’t want to lie to Flurry. The filly had already endured too much.

‘’So you don’t mind-’’

Rainbow shook her head. ‘’I don’t mind in the slightest. Flurry deserves some people in her life.’’ She waved her hoof dismissively. ‘’And besides, I meant what I said. You are beautiful.’’

So many times, so many ponies. Why is it this time that it makes me so nervous?

Rarity chuckled and hoped it didn’t sound too nervous. ‘’As I said, you are beautiful too, darling.’’

Rainbow suddenly looked distinctly skeptical. ‘’Awesome? Sure,’’ she said. ‘’Sexy? Definitely. But beautiful? I dunno…’’

That won’t do. Rarity reached forward and put her hoof on Rainbow’s. ‘’You are beautiful, Rainbow, don’t ever doubt that. You may not think so, but I know that you are.’’

Rainbow stared at her in silence for a few seconds, then smiled. ‘’Thanks, Rares.’’ She sat up and gave Rarity a hug, which she was all too happy to return.

Author's Notes:

I know the POVs of Sunset and Sweetie are a little short, but they just didn't want to be written. On the other side, this is the largest chapter so far, and an absolute monster of a Rarity POV. Sorry for the shippers, but you'll have to wait a little longer...

Next stop: 11 December 1008! Only (checks notes)... 21 more days to go...

I think... next chapter will have either Rainbow or Rarity as POV, as well as Shrouded and Nightmare Moon. I kinda gave you a cliffhanger after all, and I think you deserve an explanation for what happened to Sunset.

Chapter 13: Preparations

11 December 1008

He’d gotten back to the Palace sometime before nine in the evening, and had then immediately gone to bed. The day had been far too exhausting.

Luckily for Shrouded, he did not have shifts in the morning. His first watch started at noon, though that wasn’t standard. He’d have to find a way of thanking Darkheart later.

With that decided, he rolled out of his bed, away from the pleasurable warmth that was Misty’s body next to him. He would have preferred to stay, but he had to get up sometime.

‘’Why do you leave me!’’ Misty over-dramatically cried out as she sat up in the bed.. ‘’Am I not good enough for you?’’

Shrouded fixed her with a look that made her giggle and snicker at the same time. ‘’Obviously,’’ he drawled.

‘’My heart is broken! Oh, the equinity!’’ Misty pretended to swoon.

Shrouded chuckled at his lover’s antics. ‘’What a shame.’’

‘’Ugh, fuck you too.’’

‘’We did that seven hours ago.’’

Misty’s glare would have killed him, if it could. ‘’Go then,’’ she said. ‘’Leave me.’’

Shrouded, wisely, took this as his que to retreat. He loved Misty, he really did, but she was snippy before her first three cups of coffee. Shrouded could sympathize; he wasn’t much better.

He got three metres into the mess room, before Darkheart greeted him with a jovial, ‘’Good morning, Shrouded,’’ that indicated nothing but pain would come.

Shrouded ignored his commanding officer and continued his walk towards the coffee machine.

‘’I’ve taken the liberty of assigning both you and Misty to the escort of the Princess,’’ Darkheart continued with the same tone of voice, ‘’and by that I mean you two will primarily be escorting the Princess in particular.’’

‘’Sir yes sir,’’ Shrouded muttered sardonically as he filled his cup with coffee. ‘’Whatever you say sir.’’

Oh, he understood perfectly well what Darkheart was saying, but he just plain couldn’t be made to care until he’d had at least two and a half cups of coffee.

When he had consumed those two and a half cups, he finally bothered to reply directly to Darkheart. ‘’Is there a reason you have picked us for this task, sir?” he asked semi-warily.

‘’I’m so glad you asked,’’ Darkheart replied with a smile that meant nothing good. ‘’I selected you because it has been proven you are good with children, and I selected Misty because she’s the most competent mare we have.’’

Shrouded raised an eyebrow at the praise. ‘’Why do I feel there’s a catch.’’

Darkheart’s smile turned into a smirk. ‘’While I’m sure Commander Dash will agree to my reasoning,’’ he said, ‘’she takes the security of the Princess very seriously, and will no doubt insist on additional training to make sure you meet her exceptional standards.’’

Motherfucker.

‘’Sir.’’ Would it be immoral to throw his remaining coffee into Darkheart’s face? It’d certainly be a waste of coffee. ‘’Sir, Misty is going to kill you.’’

Darkheart chuckled. ‘’I’ll take that advice to heart, sergeant. Now go and have your breakfast.’’

‘’Sir.’’ Shrouded didn’t bother saluting to him.

Once he’d sat down and had eaten his breakfast, Shrouded allowed himself to wonder at Darkheart’s choice.

The argument he used for me is weak, and the one for Misty is non-existent. I suppose you could argue that the Princess would need both a mare and a stallion to look after her, but that alone wouldn’t be enough reason…

Shrouded wasn’t going to question his post, oh Moon no. He was quite content with being responsible for the Princess’ safety. It was technically a dangerous job, but here in the Crystal Empire there was barely any risk to the filly. Everything Shrouded had seen indicated that the Crystallians loved Flurry Heart, and wouldn’t let her come to harm.

But harm is relative.

That had been a lesson drilled into him during training, as a vital part of the VIP protection lessons: harm was relative. A rabid fan who tried to kidnap their favourite singer or actor might not mean anything harmful, but the kidnapped person definitely wouldn’t see it that way, and the law wouldn’t either.

From what Shrouded could tell most Crystallians were more or less content with the current state of affairs, although how much of that was because the Lunar Empire had liberated them from Sombra the thestral didn’t know. But there were probably a few nutjobs who thought that Nightmare Moon was the source of all evil, and that they had to rescue their Princess from the clutches of darkness.

Shrouded snorted. Some people…

‘’So I hear we’re assigned together,’’ Misty said as she sat down next to him, carrying her own breakfast. ‘’Who’d you suck off for that?’’

‘’No one,’’ Shrouded replied truthfully. ‘’Darkheart probably thinks it’s funny,’’ he offered.

Misty reached up and pecked his cheek. ‘’Well, I certainly don’t mind,’’ she admitted as she began with her breakfast. ‘’Not sure if it’s funny though.’’

‘’We are not sneaking kisses while guarding the Princess,’’ Shrouded declared before Misty could even think of the idea.

‘’Aww…’’ Misty pouted very cutely.

It was Shrouded’s turn to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. ‘’But when we’re off-duty…’’

‘’Fair,’’ Misty decided, and dragged him in for a longer kiss.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

Damnit, I should have seen it!

Sunset had been sleeping for over twelve hours now. Nightmare had checked, multiple times with different doctors, that she was actually sleeping and not in a coma or something similar, and luckily she was.

But Nightmare still couldn’t visit her dreams.

There was a reason for that, of course. Ponies always dreamt, even if they didn’t remember doing so most of the time, but Nightmare had experienced a completely dreamless sleep before with other ponies. It usually only happened when they were deathly tired, and their brain was so exhausted it couldn’t even conjure up anything to dream about. Soldiers had it sometimes, if a battle had been going on for far too long.

Nightmare continued to watch the sleeping unicorn with a mixture of pity and regret. Why hadn’t she paced herself?! Sunset had been Celestia’s student, she had to have known her limits for studying.

Maybe she forgot about them. Or maybe… she’s afraid.

Nightmare was pretty sure that Sunset was the person most likely to pose a challenge to her in a fight, outside of Twilight. Sunset was an extremely skilled mage, and unlike Twilight was not afraid to go for the kill. Nightmare was far more powerful, of course, but Sunset would still make for a difficult opponent.

Was that your plan, Celestia? she wondered. Train someone to kill me, so you wouldn’t have to do it yourself? That sounds like you.

Through the window, Nightmare looked at the sun she had risen into the sky about an hour ago. Celestia was watching Faust from it, or maybe she wasn’t; Nightmare had no way of knowing without going there herself, and she had no intention of ever doing that unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sunset stirred a little. Nightmare looked back at her, but other than having shifted her head a little the unicorn still looked exactly the same.

‘’Your majesty?’’ one of her guards asked through the door. ‘’We have a priority message from Crystal City.’’

‘’Bring it here,’’ Nightmare commanded immediately. Why was there a priority message? Had something happened?

The guard entered and hoofed her a letter stamped with the seal of the Crystal Palace. ‘’Thank you,’’ she dismissed the guard with a wave of her hoof.

Once he was gone, she opened the letter with her magic and unfolded it.

Your Imperial Highness,

Greetings. My name is Tight Ship, Chamberlain of the Crystal Palace. I write this letter to inform you that the Crown Princess, the Governess and Commander Dash shall be taking a tour of the Governorate’s largest cities (Rainbow Falls, Snowybury, Quebuck, Hedgewards and Ponytown, in that order) from the evening of the 12th of December until the evening of the 21st of December, this year.

The Governess has requested I pen this letter, seeing as she is busy with the preparations for the tour. I have been assured that all the security and planning is being seen to by qualified ponies, and that the Crown Princess shall be back in time for your own arrival on the 22nd. I look forward to seeing you there.

Signed,

Tight Ship, Chamberlain of the Crystal Palace

Nightmare stared at the paper. A tour of the nation? Whose idea was that?

She put it down next to the bed, on the nightstand, and then raised her hoof and rubbed her forehead. If they wanted to go on a tour, Nightmare trusted Rarity to ensure that Flurry would remain safe and be raised into a princess capable of one day ruling the Crystal Empire.

And perhaps even more.

Nightmare had considered it. Twilight wouldn’t ever want to rule together with her, probably, but if Flurry could do it… Nightmare wouldn’t say no to an extra pair of hooves to help her rule.

But that would be Flurry’s choice. And there were other options besides her, anyway.

Sunset stirred again.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

Rarity awoke to find a comfy warmth pressing into her barrel. She immediately looked down to see Flurry had snuggled against her during the night, her legs wrapped around and against Rarity in a very loose hug. Behind Flurry laid Rainbow, snoring softly.

It was warm and adorable. Rarity wanted it to last.

But it couldn’t. She turned her head around to see the time. 09:27. Great, two hours until the press conference.

‘’Flurry,’’ she said softly, ‘’time to wake up.’’

‘’Hmm…’’ Flurry mumbled, stirring a little.

‘’Rainbow,’’ Rarity said a little louder. ‘’It’s morning.’’

‘’Rares…’’ Rainbow muttered. ‘’Don’t wanna.’’

‘’We have two hours until the press conference,’’ Rarity informed them both. ‘’We need to have breakfast and get ready for that.’’

‘’Auntieeeeeeeeeee…’’ Flurry whined as her eyes fluttered open. ‘’Tired.’’

‘’I know,’’ Rarity said sympathetically, ‘’but it’s time. Come on.’’ She pulled away the covers and got out of the bed.

Flurry yawned, then followed behind her, while Rainbow sulked and then leapt out of the bed. ‘’Why did we plan it so early?’’ Rainbow whiningly asked.

‘’Because we have things to do,’’ Rarity reminded her.

They had a quick breakfast, which was briefly interrupted by Tight Ship informing her that he’d sent a letter about the tour to the Empress, for which Rarity thanked him profusely. After that breakfast, they all refreshed themselves, and then it was already almost time for the press conference.

Rarity put the finishing touches on Flurry’s mane. It wasn’t anything extravagant, just a bit of combing and setting everything just right. She’d pulled her own mane into a more complicated version of her usual working bun, elegant but relatively simple compared to some of the hairstyles she saw in the Empire every day.

‘’Rares.’’

Rainbow was not very happy with the fact she had to wear her uniform. It wasn’t a bad uniform: the colours blended well together, and it was practical and suited for the tasks it was made for. But Rarity had to admit that it wasn’t very fabulous.

‘’Rainbow,’’ she said back. ‘’You look good.’’

Rainbow smirked. ‘’I always do,’’ she quipped with a toss of her head and a wink. ‘’So I’m going to be standing behind you and next to Flurry, right?’’

‘’You are,’’ Rarity affirmed with a nod. She’d be taking centre stage, obviously, with Flurry behind her, more hidden but still obvious to anyone who tried to see her, and Rainbow next to Flurry to make sure she was protected.

There would be more guards, of course, but Rainbow would be Flurry’s shield if anything happened. Rarity trusted her to get Flurry out if a fight broke out.

Once all the preparations were finished, they went down to the front of the palace, where a stand had been set up for Rarity. Heart Square was steadily filling up with ponies; already there were thousands present. Speakers had been installed so everyone could hear Rarity loud and clearly, and the Night Guard was out in full force, together with Crystal City police.

This is it.

And that was when Rarity realized she hadn’t prepared a speech.

‘’Rainbow I don’t have a speech,’’ she hissed under her breath. ‘’Rainbow I-’’

‘’You’ll be fine,’’ Rainbow proclaimed confidently. ‘’You can think up a speech on the fly. Just tell them what you wrote in those letters, and everything will work out.’’

‘’But-’’

Rainbow pulled her in close and pressed her muzzle against Rarity’s. ‘’Go,’’ she said after the longest five seconds in Rarity’s life.

Rarity practically galloped onto the stage, heart racing. Touching muzzles wasn’t a kiss - good friends did it too, and nobody could deny that she and Rainbow were good friends, but it was so close to it that Rarity had half-expected it to end in a kiss anyway.

She slowed her pace just before the cameras could catch her, and forced herself to maintain her elegant, prim posture as she walked onto the stage and towards the microphone.

She tried not to focus too much on the crowd: by now there were probably over ten thousand ponies, and if she thought too much about that she was sure to panic.

Deep breaths, Rarity. You can do this.

‘’Good morning,’’ she blagged into the microphone. ‘’My name is Rarity Belle, Governess of the Crystal Empire. It is a pleasure to be here in front of you.’’

She took a moment, and weighed the crowd. They appeared to be curious, and willing to listen. They were quiet, at the very least. ‘’I realize that I have not been very present in your lives since arriving in the Empire. I’m certain that some people find no problem with the current state of affairs; however I am not content with my isolation from you.’’

Breath again. ‘’Do not make a mistake: I’ve no wish to interfere in your lives any more than necessary. I simply wish to be more connected to the people I am supposed to rule. A ruler should be connected to those they are sworn to protect; I have made a mistake in ignoring this, and for that I wish to offer my sincere apologies to you all.’’

She allowed the silence to stretch on for a few seconds, before picking up her speech again. Now she felt that the crowd was more than a little surprised. ‘’But simple apologies won’t suffice, I’m afraid. And there is something else.’’ She turned her head and gestured at Flurry. ‘’Crown Princess Flurry Heart has been wishing to see more of the nation beyond Crystal City, and so do I.’’

Rarity allowed herself to smile as a wave of anticipation and adoration swept through the crowd. ‘’To that end,’’ she said, ‘’the Crown Princess, Crystal Shadowbolt Commander Rainbow Dash and myself shall take a tour of the nation’s five largest cities: Rainbow Falls, Snowybury, Quebuck, Hedgewards and Ponytown, starting this evening and ending the evening on the 21st this month.’’

Author's Notes:

Ooohhh... I'm setting up some plot points for later and I like it!

Next chapter will not be out for a while, I think. School is starting again so I won't have as much time as I had to work on this, and I'm running a little dry on the creativity side anyways. But I hope you all enjoyed the daily updates while it lasted.

Incidentally if you want more of writings go read my other stories
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/502103/twilight-sparkle-princess-regent-of-the-crystal-empire

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/500443/on-the-shores-of-the-west

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/495171/the-crystal-story-flurrys-tale (currently being rewritten)

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/502235/the-true-history-of-the-crystal-empire (will contain spoilers for this story eventually probably)

Omake 1: Southern Conflict

12 November 1008

Winter in the jungles of Aztlan was barely any different from any other season, except for the fact it was marginally less warm. Not cold, mind you, just less warm.

Jungle Trek didn’t care too much. He was used to all sorts of temperatures from the jungle, and at least it wasn’t raining.

‘’We received news from the north,’’ one of his scouts reported without preamble as he entered the tent. ‘’Baltimare is completely overrun. Their troops are going to collapse in the next few days.’’

And then they’ll come for us.

At least with Celestia, there would have been a possibility of negotiation. No such thing was there with Nightmare Moon. She would crush them all.

And Jungle knew they couldn’t win.

Oh sure, they could wage a guerrilla war for months, perhaps even years. But people grew tired eventually, and then their cause would be lost, stamped out by the iron hoof of the Lunar Empire until naught but specks of ash remained of the flame of Aztlan’s dream.

Jungle got verbose when thinking.

‘’Try to see if some can’t be convinced to fight with us.’’ Any hooves to aid their fight would be welcomed easily enough, even former enemies. Anybody who tried to resist such an idea was a fool.

The scout nodded. ‘’I’ll tell the others, sir.’’

Jungle nodded. ‘’Dismissed.’’

Once the scout was gone, Jungle sank into his chair. ‘’What a clusterfuck,’’ he muttered as he reached for his glass.

Something exploded outside.

Jungle grabbed his gun instead of his glass, then jumped out of his chair and ran outside.

People were shouting, guns were being fired, and someone was casting spells- Jungle frowned, and shot the first thestral he spotted in the neck. The stallion - or mare, he couldn’t tell from this distance - went down with a gurgled scream.

Jungle dove to the side immediately, taking cover behind a couple of boxes and only occasionally peeking out to shoot whoever caught his eye first. He was a good marksman, and only missed twice, neither of which were his own fault.

He had no idea if they were winning or losing, or how the enemy had discovered their camp, but he knew two things: he was still breathing, and he still had a working gun with ammo. That meant he could fight.

And so he kept on fighting.

He killed… maybe ten? Fifteen? Something like that, before he received a blow to his back.

As Jungle tried to get up - smashing through wooden boxes was not fun - he turned around to see an orange unicorn tower over him.

‘’Evening,’’ she greeted casually as a bolt of crackling energy flew from her horn. ‘’I’m Sunset Shimmer.’’

You’re beautiful.

Despite everything, that was the first thing Jungle could think of.

‘’Uhhh…’’

Sunset Shimmer smiled sweetly as she sent another spell forth. ‘’I’ve been informed you’re Jungle Trek?’’

‘’Yes?’’ He cringed at his own voice crack. Steady Jungle. She’s the enemy, no matter how attractive she is.

Sunset Shimmer’s smile widened. ‘’Good.’’

And the world went black.

|-x-X-x-|

12 November 1008

Jungle awoke to find Sunset Shimmer was still standing over him, but in a single second he could already tell he wasn’t outside anymore. He was laying on something soft - a bed, if he had to guess.

And he was in a room. A dark one, true, with just a single lamp hanging from the roof, and only the bed he was apparently laying in. Oh, and the mare standing next to said bed, looking rather irritated.

‘’So, you’re finally awake,’’ Sunset Shimmer said. ‘’Good. I have some questions for you.’’

‘’And then what?’’ Jungle inquired. Damn, his throat was sore.

‘’I haven’t decided yet,’’ Sunset Shimmer replied brightly. ‘’So, first question!’’ She pulled out a sheet of paper from somewhere, then flipped it around.

Silence hung in the room for about five seconds.

‘’I can’t read,’’ Jungle drolly deadpanned.

Sunset Shimmer’s face went through a flood of emotions that did very flattering things to her eyebrows. ‘’Celestia fucking damnit,’’ she swore.

Jungle managed to raise an eyebrow. ‘’Are you allowed to say that?’’

Before he could see it happen, he felt something bounce off against his head. Sunset Shimmer glared murder at him.

‘’Not. Funny,’’ she ground out, before flipping the paper again.

Jungle took the time to settle himself in a more comfortable position. Given that he was probably going to be executed as soon as this mare was finished torturing him, he might as well enjoy the small comforts they were offering him.

‘’Very well.’’ Sunset Shimmer exhaled loudly. ‘’First question: why are you fighting against the Lunar Empire?’’

‘’Money.’’ It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either. Despite what some people - fuck you too Reed - thought, Jungle did have morals, and he truly did believe in Aztlan’s cause of freedom.

‘’Surprising,’’ Sunset Shimmer muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Jungle to catch. He couldn’t help but smirk at that.

‘’Any more?’’ he asked lightly as he shifted a little. That was a very soft pillow. He wanted one.

‘’Shut that face of yours,’’ Sunset Shimmer ordered. ‘’Next question. Where is Doctor Caballeron?’’

Now that, I won’t share. ‘’Somewhere, I’m sure,’’ Jungle answered, and that was all he would say.

‘’That’s not an answer.’’

‘’I couldn’t care less.’’

Sunset Shimmer’s glare intensified. ‘’Answer me.’’

‘’Nah.’’ You’re beautiful, sure, but I don’t answer to Lunarists.

Their gazes locked for a few seconds.

‘’You will answer me.’’ Sunset Shimmer’s tone was low and commanding. Her horn was starting to glow a dangerous shade of teal.

‘’I won’t.’’

The world turned fully teal. Sweet Tree it was bright.

‘’We’re in your mind.’’ Sunset Shimmer’s voice was coming everywhere at once and Sweet Tree Jungle was almost pissing himself. ‘’If you’re not going to give the information willingly, I will just have to obtain it the hard way.’’

Jungle looked down and saw nothing but teal light. If they were truly in some sort of mindscape, it wasn’t his own.

He steeled himself. He was Jungle Trek, and he had survived worse than this. He could do this, for Aztlan.

For Aztlan.

Author's Notes:

This is a day later than planned because of School. School is also the reason writing has slowed down over the past two weeks. I am actively working on Chapter 14, but with the aid from some good guys over on the EAW Discord (one of which created the OC featured here) I've made a few corrections to the previous chapters, which will also be uploaded today.

Might do more of these in the future, idk yet.

Edit: the guy I wrote this for has published his own non-EAW story with this OC, and it's already pretty fucking good. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/496499/misadventures-of-a-henchpony

Chapter 14: Preparations 2

11 December 1008

For a second, the crowd was silent.

Then they began to cheer.

Rarity allowed it to wash over her; she had stood in front of massive crowds before, and this was no different. Was it?

‘’Thank you!’’ she said after a minute, and the noise started to die down. ‘’Thank you! But please, there is more I wish to say.’’

When the noise had reached a manageable level, she continued her speech. ‘’This tour will obviously be of great importance, but just once is not enough. Starting from the first Tuesday after Hearth's Warming Eve, I will hold an open court from one o’clock until three o’clock in the afternoon. Anyone with any concerns, requests or petitions can schedule an audience with my secretary via mail.’’

She still had to find a secretary, but she could probably find one before that time. Hopefully. ‘’I cannot promise I will be able to solve every problem or answer every question that you bring to me, but I will do utmost best to see them fulfilled, if possible.’’

‘’To finish,’’ she continued into the final part of his speech, ‘’I would like to thank all of you.’’ For what?

‘’For your patience,’’ she decided to say, ‘’and for your persistence. I have not been out much in the last months, but I have seen the fruits of your labour. Truly, it is an inspiring thing to witness, and something I hope to continue to witness for a long time. Thank you all for coming here, and have a good day.’’

She stepped back from the microphone and allowed the crowd to react to her statements.

And react they did. They began to cheer, slowly but surely, a chant that started somewhere Rarity couldn’t see and ended in what had to be over ten thousand, perhaps even twenty thousand or more, people shouting her name. ‘’Rarity! Rarity!’’

It’s… extraordinary.

She had never heard her name said by so many before. A warm feeling bloomed in her chest as she exhaled loudly. Fucking Tartarus!

‘’Rares!’’

Rainbow swept her up in a powerful hug. ‘’That was epic!’’ she shouted into Rarity’s ear.

Tonight, Rarity decided. I’ll ask her out for a date. A nice dinner for two in Rainbow Falls. Yes, that sounds just right.

She - admittedly, somewhat awkwardly - hugged Rainbow back. ‘’Thank you, darling.’’

‘’It was a really nice speech, auntie,’’ Flurry said as she wormed her way in between them and spread her wings to hug both older mares at the same time. ‘’I liked it.’’

‘’Thank you, Flurry.’’ Rarity managed to tear her head away from studying Rainbow to smile at the filly. ‘’It’s nice to hear that.’’

‘’Hmm…’’ Flurry brushed her cheek against Rarity’s leg. ‘’Can we go see if my friends are free now?’’

Rarity blinked at the sudden change of topic, but nodded anyway. ‘’I think we can,’’ she said. ‘’But I’m not sure.’’

‘’Why not?’’

Rarity walked off the podium before explaining, ‘’I think some ponies want to talk to me first. Like the mayor.’’ And indeed, the mare was already approaching them.

‘’That was a very good speech, Governess,’’ Mayor Winter said. ‘’Though I think you’ve already noticed that.’’

‘’I have,’’ Rarity agreed dryly. ‘’And I must thank you, darling, for managing to set this all up in such a short time-span. It is impressive.’’

Mayor Winter bowed her head a little in acknowledgment. ‘’It was a trial,’’ she admitted, ‘’but we made it work.’’

‘’Do give my compliments to the people that built this,’’ Rarity requested politely. ‘’Now, I must apologize for my briefness, but we have to move on.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Mayor Winter agreed. ‘’The work doesn’t wait, as I’m fond of saying.’’ She opened her mouth a little as if she wanted to say something more, but then closed it again.

Rainbow, apparently, couldn’t stop her curiosity. ‘’Something you want to say, mayor?’’

‘’Oh no, Commander, it’s nothing,’’ Mayor Winter dismissed smoothly. ‘’Although…’’ her expression turned pensive.

‘’Out with it,’’ Rainbow commanded.

Rarity shot her a cross look. Rainbow outranked the mayor, certainly, but that didn’t mean she should be impolite to her. ‘’Please, if you have something to say, say it, mayor.’’

‘’As you wish, Governess.’’ Not the response Rarity would have liked, but she took it anyway. Mayor Winter hesitated for a few more seconds, then said, ‘’I heard that you are in need of a secretary.’’

How did-

‘’Mr Ship told you, didn’t he.’’ It wasn’t a question.

Mayor Winter bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘’We’re old colleagues, and we both wish the best for this city and this nation.’’

‘’And now you’ve got a secretary from somewhere?’’ Rainbow’s sarcasm was impossible to miss. Rarity gave her another quick glare as she pulled Flurry a little closer to her.

‘’I… have a marefriend,’’ Mayor Winter admitted, blushing a little. ‘’She’s a dab hoof at administration. In fact she’s better at it than I am.’’

‘’Go on.’’

‘’Currently she’s working as my private secretary,’’ Mayor Winter continued, ‘’but I can miss her in that function. She’s doing great work, no doubt, but you need her more than I do.’’

Well…

‘’I have some free time,’’ Rarity thought aloud. ‘’Mayhaps she can come by at three?’’

‘’I’ll inform her as soon as I’m back at City Hall,’’ Mayor Winter said. ‘’Now then, I won’t keep you any longer.’’

‘’Of course.’’ Rarity nodded her head in agreement. ‘’Good day, mayor.’’

‘’Good day.’’

‘’Bye miss!’’

‘’Good day to you all, Princess, Governess, Commander.’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

The last thing Sunset expected when she woke up was seeing Nightmare Moon watching her concernedly.

‘’Urgghhh…’’ she groaned. Her mouth was dry, she was still tired, and she wanted some food. ‘’What happened?’’

‘’You collapsed,’’ Nightmare Moon said simply. ‘’You’ve been dead to the world for nearly fourteen hours.’’

Well, that explains a lot.

Sunset managed to sit up in the bed. ‘’Is there any water-’’

Nightmare Moon’s horn lit up, and a glass floated over to her. Sunset grabbed it with her hooves and drank it all in one swig. ‘’Ahhh…’’ she breathed after swallowing the cold water. ‘’Thank you.’’

‘’No problem.’’ Nightmare Moon tilted her head. ‘’I must admit, it’s strange to see a unicorn use their hooves like that.’’

‘’I got used to it,’’ Sunset said dismissively as she put the glass on the nightstand.

Nightmare Moon hummed. ‘’Celestia never told Luna what happened to you.’’

‘’I never told Celestia either.’’ And I’m not planning on telling you.

Nightmare Moon must have gotten the message, because she inclined her head. ‘’Very well. Do you want something to eat?’’

‘’Yes please.’’

Nightmare Moon nodded and smoothly stood up. ‘’I will make certain you get some food.’’

Sunset managed a nod, then sank further back into the bed. It was, for all intents and purposes, a very nice bed, and as such she didn’t really mind.

Right. Almost fourteen hours have passed. That means it’s… almost nine, now? Sunset took a quick look around the room and spotted a clock hanging above the door, to her right. Alright, it’s nearly eight. I’m obviously not awake yet.

She tried to recall if she had any dreams while she was… had she been asleep or unconscious? It didn’t matter; she couldn’t recall anything, which was weird. Usually she could remember flashes or colours, at least.

Or more. But Sunset didn’t like to dwell on that. Only bad things lay that way.

‘’Here you go.’’ Nightmare Moon levitated a plate with a sandwich on it onto the bed.

‘’Thanks.’’ It was a good sandwich. Or maybe it wasn’t, and her hunger was making up for it. Sunset didn’t really know.

Nightmare Moon resumed her seat next to the bed. Why she did that, Sunset had no idea.

‘’Don’t you have anything better to do?’’ she asked between bites.

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. ‘’Perhaps.’’

Sunset gave her the most distrustful look she could manage in her current state. ‘’There are definitely better things to do than wasting your time fussing over me.’’

Nightmare Moon seemed to consider that, but between Sunset’s sleepiness, the darkness of the room (she wanted those curtains too) and the alicorn’s perfectly serene expression, she could have been thinking about Discord on a unicycle and Sunset wouldn’t be able to tell. Probably.

‘’I was worried for you.’’

What.

Before Sunset could even think of a reply to that, Nightmare Moon continued, ‘’You were in a dreamless coma. There was nothing anyone, including me, could have done to safely pull you out of it. I kept watch for the night.’’

That explained why she couldn’t recall dreaming: she hadn’t. ‘’I see.’’

Nightmare Moon nodded her head a little. ‘’I will, however, take my leave soon. There are other things I must see to. You will stay here and recover from your coma.’’

Well, it’s not like I’m in any position to argue.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

As soon as the Mayor was out of earshot, Rainbow turned towards Rarity. ‘’You’re not actually going to hire them.’’

Rarity coughed pointedly.

For fuck’s sake.

‘’We’ll see, darling,’’ Rarity dodged the issue instead of actually answering the question. ‘’For now, I think it’s best if we have a quick lunch, and then go and see if Flurry’s friends have time.’’

‘’Yay!’’ Flurry cheered, and that was adorable and would remain adorable forever.

Flurry honestly reminded Rainbow of Scootaloo. A younger Scootaloo that could fly and wasn’t a rabid fanfilly of Rainbow, but still.

Hopefully, Scootaloo was doing alright. She had a house and her friends, so she should be. Still, a letter would probably be a good idea. And Rainbow could ask about the others down in Ponyville while she was at it. Yes, that was a good idea.

‘’Rainbow, don’t fall behind!’’

Now that can’t happen.

In three seconds Rainbow had caught up to Rarity and Flurry. ‘’No sweat.’’

Rarity rolled her eyes. ‘’If you say so, darling.’’

They made small talk like that all the way into the dining room, which Rainbow didn’’t mind at all. During the war, she hadn’t been with any of her friends except for AJ and Pinkie, and those occasions had been rare. It hadn’t been the same with the other Wonderbolts, and she hadn’t spoken to any of them since the end of the war.

‘’Rainbow?’’

Rainbow blinked, and looked sideways into Rarity’s eyes. ‘’Yeah?’’

‘’Are you with us, darling?’’

‘’Always.’’

‘’Good.’’ Rarity smiled. ‘’Flurry’s friends are probably in the gardens. We’re going to visit them after we’re finished with this,’’ she gestured at the lunch, ‘’and then I was thinking you could stay with the children when it’s time for me to receive the Mayor’s marefriend.’’

Rainbow couldn’t help but snort. ‘’Have fun with that.’’

Rarity raised an eyebrow, before tittering a little. ‘’I’m sure everything will be fine.’’

Rainbow didn’t agree, but the chance that the secretary and marefriend of the city’s mayor wanted to harm Rarity was pretty low. Still, it didn’t sit right with her. ‘’I’d like it if you had a guard with you.’’

Rarity looked offended by the very idea. ‘’Darling, I need to be able to trust this mare. Having guards in the room isn’t very confidence-inspiring.’’

‘’True, but still.’’

‘’I’ll be fine,’’ Rarity stressed again, still sounding disbelieving. ‘’And I am perfectly capable of defending myself, darling.’’

Rainbow sighed. ‘’Very well.’’

I don’t like it, but Rarity can hold her own in a fight. She’s not weak, despite appearances.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

Rarity had taken the liberty of going back to her room half an hour before three, when her prospective secretary was scheduled to arrive. She’d refreshed her make-up and checked her mane and tail for any imperfections, and then slipped on a comfortable dark purple cloak with silver-blue details.

She’d also had two cups of tea prepared, kept warm by a spell she’d cast herself, and some cookies. Meetings with cookies were, of course, better than meetings without cookies.

And now, we wait.

The clock read 2:54. So, with nothing better to do, Rarity began to look at the ceiling.

It wasn’t, truth be told, a very interesting ceiling, at least not any more interesting than the other ceilings of the Crystal Palace were.

Am I doing this right?

By all rights, this is my job. I shouldn’t be passing it off to anyone else.

But I can’t do this all and care for Flurry too. In fact, I can’t even do this without caring for Flurry. The pile of documents on my desk is almost a mile high, for Luna’s sake!

Yes, I need someone to help me. Maybe even more than one person.

Let’s just hope that this mare is up for the task. Because otherwise, we have a problem.

‘’Milady, your 3 o’clock appointment is here!’’

‘’Send her in!’’ Rarity called out as she looked down.

The door opened, and a light turquoise mare with a two-toned faded red mane stepped in, dressed in a simple business suit.

‘’Good afternoon, darling,’’ Rarity called out immediately. ‘’Please, have a seat.’’

‘’Of course, Governess,’’ the mare replied. Rarity watched her move from the door to the seat; she looked nervous, but also guarded, like she expected an attack at any moment. A remnant from Sombra’s reign, perhaps?

Still, the mare sat down without any complaint. ‘’Good afternoon, milady. It’s an honour to be here.’’

‘’Thank you, darling,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’It’s a pleasure to have you here. Please, introduce yourself.’’

The mare’s red eyes, a similar shade as her mane, met Rarity’s. ‘’I’m Lily Merrimare.’’

Author's Notes:

Hurray! We live!

Also, school has started up fully now, so updates will definitely be sporadic from now on. I'll try to write as much as possible still.

Chapter 15: Preparations 3

11 December 1008

Lilac had, somehow, royally fucked up.

She’d been fucking up and suffering from fuck-ups for the better part of a year now, true, but that didn’t make it any less heartstoppingly terrifying.

Governess Belle’s smile was probably meant to be reassuring. But there was a reason Lilac had stocked up on love after shouting at Long for an hour.

Lilac loved that mare, really she did, and she owed her a lot, but this was beyond stupid straight into the depths of idiocy that were usually reserved for toadies with only a name and money to support their position.

‘’Well, I’m Rarity Belle,’’ Governess Belle said, ‘’but I assume you knew that already.’’ She raised her cup of tea to her mouth. ‘’Please, help yourself,’’ before taking a sip.

Over the past months, Lilac had gotten used to using her hooves instead of her horn to do things with, so the movement of lifting up the tea cup came naturally to her. She took a sip and tasted the tea in her mouth. It tasted of citrus. ‘’This is a nice blend,’’ she offered.

‘’Thank you, I picked it myself,’’ the Governess said. ‘’Feel free to take a biscuit if you feel so inclined. This might be a job interview, but it is also a friendly conversation.’’

Lilac was sure that the Governess meant her words; for as long as she believed she was speaking to a pegasus, of course.

‘’Thank you,’’ Lilac replied - probably a few seconds too late.

‘’So, darling,’’ Governess Belle began after a few more seconds of awkward silence. ‘’I’ve been told by Mayor Winter that you are a, as she put it, ‘dab hoof at administration’. So tell me about yourself. Where do you come from?’’

Oh joy. Here I go.

‘’Well, I was born in Whinnyapolis, in 981. My parents were simple factory workers, but I got my cutie mark in administration, as you can see.’’ Lilac was quite proud of how good of a cutie mark she’d made. It was a piece of paper filled with scribbly lines, over which a writing quill hung. It looked very realistic.

She cleared her throat. ‘’Anyway, after graduating from university I started working for the local government, and until last summer, just after the war, I moved here.’’

It was a bad cover story, but it was also the best she had. Lilac just hoped that Governess Belle didn’t question it overly much.

The unicorn hummed. ‘’I see. May I ask why? The Crystal Empire was not in the best of states at that time.’’

‘’And I wanted to help with that,’’ Lilac jumped in. ‘’So I moved to Crystal City. I accidentally bumped into Long - that is, Mayor Winter - while I was getting my registration arranged, and she offered to help me and my niece settle in.’’

‘’Niece?’’

This was always the most emotional part of the story. ‘’My brother- he had a child, but the mother died in a car accident a few weeks later and he drank himself to death on the anniversary of her death two years later. I took the child into my custody. She’s called Sugar Petal, and she’s sixteen years old.’’

Governess Belle gasped. ‘’My condolences, darling,’’ she said softly. ‘’I shouldn’t have asked.’’

‘’It’s fine.’’ It wasn’t. Lying about the death of her once-lover and his wife wasn’t something Lilac had ever expected herself to be forced to do, but here they were.

‘’If you say so, darling.’’ Governess Belle didn’t sound convinced. ‘’If you are ever in need of anything, do not hesitate to ask me.’’

Well, you are the Element of Generosity. ‘’Of course, my lady.’’

Governess Belle waved her hoof. ‘’It is nothing. Now please, tell me more about what you can do.’’ She gestured at a stack of documents put on a closet against the wall. ‘’As you can see, I have a lot of work to go through. I know this is a little late, but you’ll have to start right away, seeing as we’re leaving tonight. My apologies.’’

That was fine; Lilac hadn’t expected anything less. ‘’I’m at your service, my lady. I will admit that it looks like quite the adventure, but I have no doubt that I’ll be able to make sure everything is correct.’’

‘’I’d be ever so grateful for that, darling,’’ the Governess said with an air of obvious relief that Lilac couldn’t fault her for.

The mare’s horn lit up blue, and about half the stack floated over to the desk. ‘’Shall we get started, then? I find that talking while working always works great.’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

If there was one thing Nightmare hated about being the sole ruler of Equestria, it was that everyone who couldn’t sort out their own problems went to her. And she couldn’t just ignore them, because that would only make things worse, and her Empire needed stability more than anything right now.

But she could spare a few minutes to visit Sunset again, to see how she was doing. It wouldn’t do if the unicorn wasn’t at full strength when they left for the Crystal Empire.

‘’How is she?’’ she inquired of the two guards that were posted in front of the door.

‘’Last we checked she had fallen asleep again after eating her food, your Majesty,’’ one of the guards replied.

Could be worse. ‘’Thank you.’’

Indeed, Sunset was sleeping serenely when Nightmare entered the room, an empty plate on the nightstand next to the bed. It was a more peaceful scene than any the alicorn had seen Sunset in yet.

Nightmare’s horn lit up blue, and she closed her eyes.

When she opened them again a second later, the Dream Realm was spread out in front of her. And given that almost no one was sleeping at this point in time, it felt really empty.

This, combined with their proximity to each other, made it that Nightmare immediately found Sunset’s dream.

Now, she had never entered Sunset’s dreams before, since there had never been any need to. But now she needed to ensure that Sunset was sleeping safely, even if a quick glance allowed her to determine she was not having any sort of nightmares.

And so, Nightmare entered Sunset’s dream.

She found herself standing in front of a cathedral. How odd.

The cathedral was fully made of grey stones, twin towers reaching high into the sky. The sun was darkened by the shadowy clouds, but still visible occasionally, and it’s rays reflected prettily off the polished roof and windows of the cathedral.

The doors of the cathedral were fully opened, and there was a mass of ponies inside. Curious.

Now what is this place?

Nightmare strode into the cathedral. It was an immense hall, but Nightmare had no idea to which religion or god the imposing building was dedicated. All the symbols and iconography she could see appeared to have been forcefully removed with some form of spellwork, and from the looks of it said removal had been quite recent.

Of course, dreams were weird places, and this barely cracked the top thousand.

Nightmare turned her attention away from the building and directed it towards the people inside of it. There were rows of benches on both sides of her, filled with ponies dressed in mourning clothes, their faces blurred and anything distinctive about them shrouded by clothing.

Nothing strange about that. Background ponies were often blurred in dreams.

Nightmare looked forward, at the altar, and saw Sunset standing right in front of it, facing in the direction of the altar.

The alicorn approached the steps leading up to the altar and silently ascended up them until she reached the top of the low platform, a few steps behind Sunset.

‘’I’ve been wondering if you’d ever show up.’’

So, she’s conscious. Why am I not surprised?

‘’I am checking in on your health,’’ Nightmare said simply. ‘’But I must confess my curiosity at this scene.’’ She still couldn’t see what was laying on the altar.

Sunset didn’t turn around as she replied, ‘’My dreams are my own.’’

‘’True,’’ Nightmare agreed, and said nothing else.

Silence fell.

Nightmare could not hold herself back forever. She stepped forward and looked at what was on the altar.

And looked.

‘’I trusted her.’’

‘’So did I.’’

It wasn’t a lie. Nightmare, when she was Luna, had trusted Celestia, and it had ended in war not once but twice. That mare was so utterly twisted, selfish and haughty that Nightmare had barely kept herself from just outright killing her in Tall Tale, on that fateful day.

|-x-X-x-|

29 June 1008

Tall Tale was in ruins, which was a shame. Nightmare liked the city, how it blended nature with modern buildings. Her visit in 1003 was still a fond memory of hers, even if the cheerful city that had greeted her then was unrecognisable when put next to the smoking ruin it was now.

The city’s parks had been cleared, used for stationing soldiers and building defences. The bridges across the river had either been destroyed or fortified, and most of the civilian population had been evacuated into the countryside, something that Nightmare Moon did not mind at all.

The battle had entered it’s fourth and final day. Her troops had whittled down the defences and broken through them last night, and now there was no more hope for Celestia. She would pay.

But there was another reason aside from her sister. Her niece was here, and no matter what, Nightmare would not leave Tall Tale without her.

‘’Your Majesty, we are ready,’’ one of her guards informed her.

‘’Very good.’’ Nightmare flexed her wings once to make sure her armour was fastened correctly, and then she strode outside.

She took to the skies, followed by a cadre of her Night Guard, and made straight for where Celestia was supposed to be, in City Hall. That building, of course, had been hit by the same effects of war as the rest of the city, and it was half-destroyed.

Of course, that didn’t prevent its remaining defenders from opening fire. Nightmare created a magical shield in front of herself and her followers as they dived down, straight into the storm of bullets.

A golden spear of light burst from the roof of the building. Celestia, dressed in her full armour.

Nightmare snarled. ‘’SISTER!’’

Celestia didn’t reply verbally. That was not a problem.

Nightmare released her shield as her Night Guard broke away, knowing well enough to not get tangled this clash of gods.

Nightmare took the first shot, a beam of pure magic that would have torn through a tank. As it stood, Celestia met it with a beam of her own, and the world exploded.

They met hoof-to-hoof. Nightmare’s hoof met Celestia’s face and Celestia’s hoof introduced itself to Nightmare’s barrel. An adequate exchange, considering that Nightmare managed to find Celestia’s uncovered face while Celestia only managed to hit magically-reinforced steel.

Nightmare followed the kick up with another, which Celestia managed to dodge. Celestia then cast a swift bolt of energy that bounced off Nightmare’s cheek, leaving a light bruise that was probably going to sting later.

But Nightmare could give as good as she got, of course. She dove down and slammed her forehooves into Celestia’s neck, then bucked her away with her hind legs. The white alicorn fell down and almost hit the ground, but managed to recover just in time.

Not that it mattered. Nightmare descended on her like a lightning bolt, and slammed her into the concrete of the square before her sister had a chance to get back into the fight.

Once Celestia had been crushed, Nightmare leapt up and concentrated all her might. ‘’Goodbye, sister,’’ she muttered as her eyes glowed white.

With a blindingly bright flash, Celestia disappeared from the face of the world.

Immediately, Nightmare bled off the excess magical backlash by shaping it into whips that struck out at the remaining defenders.

‘’Secure them,’’ she ordered the nearest Night Guard, who took an admirable two seconds of shocked staring, before realizing what she was doing and hastily saluting.

Nightmare gave a brisk nod, then swept across the square and marched into City Hall.

Where are you, my niece?

Nightmare’s horn sprang alight with a purple glow, and though it stung a little, the Life Detection Spell still allowed her to sense a small but immensely powerful life form in the basement.

When she reached the basement, the door was locked but unguarded. A simple unlocking spell did the trick, luckily.

The door opened soundlessly, revealing a comfortable bedroom that was definitely not intended to be such. And sitting on the bed, looking straight at the door, was Flurry Heart.

And now Nightmare had no idea what to say. She hadn’t planned for this; the words should have come naturally.

So, they looked at each other. Flurry looked… scared. But not nearly as much as Nightmare had expected.

The filly shifted. ‘’Auntie Luna?’’

Nightmare smiled as she suppressed her customary look of irritation at her old name. ‘’Hello, sweetheart.’’ She took a few steps forward, until she was within reach of Flurry.

‘’What happened to Auntie Tia?’’ Flurry asked after a short silence.

‘’She…’’ How do I explain this? ‘’She’s…’’

‘’Did you kill her?’’

Nightmare almost took a step back in shock. ‘’No!’’ she blurted out. ‘’No, I did not kill her. I sent her away.’’

‘’To where?’’

‘’To the Sun.’’

‘’Okay.’’ Flurry moved forward a little, and Nightmare wrapped her in a hug.

‘’You’re safe now,’’ she whispered into the filly’s ear. ‘’Don’t worry.’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

‘’You there?’’

‘’I was merely reminiscing,’’ Nightmare immediately rebutted. ‘’We are in your dream, after all.’’

Sunset huffed. ‘’Shut up.’’

Nightmare would have raised an eyebrow, but didn’t feel like it. Instead, she simply looked at the altar again.

‘’I miss her.’’

Nightmare had deduced that the moment she saw Celestia’s cutie mark. She didn’t mind it, but she didn’t fully understand it either.

‘’It must have been hard for you, fighting Twilight.’’

‘’The fight itself?’’ Sunset sounded dismissive. ‘’Twilight was too surprised to act really aggressively. But if it had lasted longer, I probably would have lost.’’

‘’That was not what I meant.’’

‘’I know.’’ And Sunset, of course, refused to elaborate.

‘’I think,’’ Nightmare said, ‘’that I have not thanked you properly for doing what you did. Going against Twilight and Celestia like that.’’

‘’It was…’’ Hard. But Sunset probably wouldn’t say that.

‘’Thank you,’’ Nightmare jumped in after it became clear Sunset was not going to finish her sentence. ‘’For everything.’’

Sunset looked away from the altar and tipped her head in acknowledgement. ‘’They betrayed me, so I… betray isn’t the right word.’’

‘’You did a good thing.’’

‘’I did,’’ Sunset agreed, for which Nightmare was grateful.

Author's Notes:

We got 300 views!

Which is why this chapter got out now, as a little celebration and thanks to y'all that are reading, liking and commenting on this. I don't think I've said this yet, but the story will go untilt the 31st of December 1008, and a sequel directly after that is in the planning phases.

Cheers!

Chapter 16: Preparations 4

11 December 1008

‘’I did.’’

Sunset hated it. She hated that she was talking about it to Nightmare Moon of all ponies, she hated that it had happened, she hated it had been necessary.

Her horn lit up, and the altar was covered in flames in an instant. ‘’And it’s done now.’’

‘’It is.’’ Nightmare Moon sounded… oddly calm about the whole affair. ‘’I don’t begrudge you mourning what was lost, though.’’

‘’Do you?’’

Nightmare seemed to consider the question. ‘’I do not mourn it.’’

‘’Really?’’ I find that hard to believe.

‘’I mourn the peace and stability that Equestria enjoyed, but even that was only a false thing,’’ Nightmare replied. ‘’The thestrals knew no peace under Celestia, and neither did so many others.’’

‘’I,’’ Sunset said dryly, ‘’am aware.’’

‘’You are,’’ Nightmare agreed with an inclining gesture from her head. ‘’Perhaps more so than most. Perhaps more than anyone.’’

‘’That’s not-’’

‘’Isn’t it?’’ Nightmare Moon interrupted. ‘’Celestia ignored your needs until you broke, and then sent her student to fix her own mistakes. You trusted her, and look how she repaid that trust.’’

That was… distressingly true.

‘’... fine,’’ Sunset allowed. ‘’You’re right. Damnit, you’re right. Celestia abandoned me.’’

She poured more power into the flames, and the altar started to melt. The fire wasn’t near hot enough to do so, but this was a dream, after all.

‘’By all rights,’’ she continued, ‘’I should hate her. And I do.’’

Silence fell in the cathedral as the altar was consumed by the flames.

‘’But,’’ Nightmare Moon said eventually.

Sunset swallowed. Moment of truth. ‘’But.’’

Nightmare Moon turned to the side and looked down, staring Sunset straight in the eye.

‘’But I miss it.’’

The words flowed out before Sunset could stop them. ‘’I came back to Equestria expecting nothing, but I wanted to talk to Celestia. To explain what I did to her.’’

29 March 1007

Canterlot’s hallways hadn’t changed at all in the decade of Sunset’s absence, she idly noted as she followed the guard that functioned as her guide.

‘’Here we are,’’ the guard informed her in a neutral tone of voice as they arrived in front of the doors.

‘’Thank you,’’ Sunset responded with a similar tone. Not that I don’t know that, flankhole.

The guard knocked on the door. ‘’Your Majesty, your visitor is here.’’

‘’Send her in!’’ Celestia’s voice called out clearly, despite the - enchanted and rather thick, Sunset knew - door in-between them.

The guard opened the door and held it open for her. Sunset gave him a tiny nod as she entered.

The rooms hadn’t changed in any way since Sunset had last seen them. They were still as stately and regal as always.

‘’Sunset!’’

Celestia leapt from her chair in a graceful movement that no non-alicorn could ever hope to replicate, and moved towards Sunset.

Sunset bowed her head. ‘’Princess Celestia.’’

Celestia stopped, only a single step away from Sunset. ‘’Sunset.’’

Sunset raised her head and gave her ex-mentor a wry smile. ‘’Been a while.’’

Celestia chuckled weakly. ‘’Yes, indeed. It’s so good to see you again.’’

‘’It is good to see you too, Princess.’’

‘’Sunset-’’

‘’Do you have anything to drink?’’ Sunset sidestepped the issue.

Celestia’s face was marred for just a moment by the slightest of frowns, before it cleared up again. ‘’Of course! Please, have a seat.’’ She gestured at the pair of chairs next to the fireplace.

Sunset walked over to them and sat down in the right one, which she had always used. Celestia sat across from her.

‘’What did you want to drink?’’ the alicorn asked.

‘’Tea will be fine.’’

Celestia hummed. ‘’Your old blend?’’

You still remember that? Of course you do. ‘’Please,’’ Sunset said with a slight hitch in her voice.

Celestia’s horn lit up, and two cups, already filled if the steam rising from them was any indication, floated over to the table, accompanied by a box that Sunset knew was filled with all manner of exotic teas.

‘’Thank you,’’ she said after Celestia had picked the right blend from the box and put it into her cup. With her telekinesis, Sunset pulled the cup to her and allowed the smell of mango to enter her nose.

‘’So, Sunset,’’ Celestia began the conversation after a moment of silence. ‘’How are you doing?’’

‘’I’m doing good, I suppose,’’ Sunset replied rather vaguely.

There was that slight frown again, and it lasted a second longer this time. ‘’That is good to hear,’’ Celestia’s calm and serene voice said anyway. ‘’How are you finding Equestria?’’

The word was out of her mouth before she knew it. ‘’Shitty.’’

Celestia raised an eyebrow. ‘’Oh? Do elaborate.’’

I’d rather not, thank you. Even if it’s true.

Saying that wouldn’t work, and so Sunset drank from the far-too-hot tea in an attempt to gain a few more moments to formulate a response. ‘’Well,’’ she said as she lowered the cup away from her mouth, ‘’I just find it strange that you’ve done nothing with all the criticism I had on your rule back then.’’

‘’You were not a very reasonable person back then.’’

That one stung more than Sunset liked to admit, even if it was true. ‘’Fair,’’ she allowed, ‘’but my points were not wrong, you acknowledged that even then.’’

‘’Your points,’’ Celestia rebutted breezily, ‘’were that thestrals should be integrated more fully into Equestrian society.’’

‘’They were.’’

Sunset, having grown up in Buckcastle before becoming Celestia’s student, had been friends with a lot of thestrals, seeing as the city had a large community of them. And she had been a smart filly, even then. She’d been able to see how badly the thestrals were being treated by the rest of Equestrian society.

Celestia let out a long sigh. ‘’As I said then, I don’t disagree, but over the past years I have tried my best to work on this problem. In fact, I have done-’’

‘’No, you haven’t.’’

Sunset had looked into it. She’d gone back to Buckcastle for a week after spending her first two weeks in Equestria in Ponyville; the thestral ghetto - a word she had picked up on the other side of the mirror - had grown slightly in size, but it hadn’t changed at all with how dilapidated it was. Sunset had gone looking for her old friend, Serene Star, and had found that she had become blind in one eye thanks to a factory accident that wouldn’t have happened if the overseer had just listened to Serene and the other workers.

And Celestia had done nothing. It was almost slavery.

‘’I went back to Buckcastle,’’ Sunset said before Celestia could get a word in. ‘’You remember Serene Star, the filly I used to write? She’s blind in one eye now, because the overseer of the factory she works in refused to listen to her warnings about malfunctioning machinery. And she told similar stories about her other friends.’’

‘’Sunset-’’

‘’Don’t Sunset me,’’ Sunset cut in. ‘’You have done nothing, Celestia. I checked the laws and decrees: Nothing has happened. You haven’t passed a single law that aids thestrals since I left; in fact you haven’t done so since you made lynching them illegal in 678.’’

Celestia frowned heavily now. ‘’And what would you want me to do, then?’’

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!

Sunset exploded. ‘’I don’t fucking know, maybe make some fucking laws or statements to start fixing your fucking country, you overweight mare?!’’

‘’Sunset Shimmer!’’ Celestia snapped. ‘’It is not so simple as that, young lady!’’ She drew herself up. ‘’From the first days after Nightmare Moon I have tried to help the thestrals, to help ponies see they are not the enemy! But the thestrals have always refused my help.’’

‘’That doesn’t work on me anymore, Celestia,’’ Sunset snapped back. ‘’You don’t know what I saw on the other side of the mirror.’’ What she was saying about the thestrals was just wrong, Sunset knew that, and so she didn’t even bother to think about it.

‘’No, I don’t, but that is not relevant to this discussion-’’

‘’It is,’’ Sunset interrupted. ‘’You know what I saw there? I saw entire groups of people, enslaved and killed for who they were. Simple things, like their beliefs, or even their colour. For those things, they were discriminated against, bullied and forced out of society. Tell me that is not what is happening to the thestrals, has been happening to them since Nightmare Moon.’’

‘’Sunset, I tried,’’ Celestia said, pleadingly, ‘’but ponies refused to listen. Everyone refused to listen to me. I did my best, but I am not a miracle worker.’’

Sunset snorted. ‘’I find that hard to believe. It’s more likely you don’t listen to them.’’

‘’I beg your pardon!?’’

‘’Stalliongrad,’’ Sunset deadpanned. ‘’The Apple War. The Changeling Invasion. The Cozy Glow Disaster. You’d think you would get the hint eventually, but it seems your skull is as thick as your cheeks.’’

‘’I-’’ Celestia slumped back. For a moment it seemed like she might burst into tears. Then, she sat up again, as if someone had kicked new life into her. ‘’I will not be spoken to in this way.’’

It was Sunset’s turn to raise an eyebrow. ‘’I’ll speak however I want,’’ she retorted. ‘’I’m not your student anymore, and technically I’m not even an Equestrian citizen.’’

Twilight had actually gotten her a passport as soon as she’d stepped out of the portal, but Celestia didn’t know that. Probably.

‘’Regardless,’’ Celestia continued, ‘’I still demand a level of respect, especially from you, Sunset Shimmer.’’

‘’No.’’

Celestia’s voice turned lower than Sunset had ever heard it go, and she felt her hairs rise despite herself. ‘’I will not repeat myself,’’ she warned. ‘’This is why you left in the first place; because you refused to listen to me. Are you going to repeat that mistake?’’

‘’Oh, I will,’’ Sunset said with a smirk that portrayed more confidence than she felt. ‘’I will repeat this to the newspapers, to Twilight, to Princess fucking Luna, until you fix this.’’

‘’You will not!’’

‘’Are you attempting to tell me what to do?’’

That seemed to snap Celestia out of whatever trance she was in. ‘’Sunset, you can’t-’’

‘’I can, and I fucking will.’’ Sunset said, before teleporting away.

In a blink, she stood outside the gates of Canterlot Palace. Without saying anything, she turned and galloped away.

Away from this place.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

‘’I miss her. What we used to have, I mean. Discussing spellwork until late in the night, having lessons at day, just… being with her.’’

‘’I know what you mean,’’ Nightmare Moon said before Sunset could continue spewing truth without regard for her own safety. ‘’I, too, miss things of that time. But I could never in good conscience go back to it, knowing what I do now.’’

‘’Neither can I,’’ Sunset admitted immediately. ‘’How I didn’t see it back then, I’ve no idea.’’

‘’You were young, and hopeful still. I was too, once.’’

‘’That doesn’t excuse it,’’ Sunset argued.

‘’Perhaps not,’’ Nightmare Moon agreed, ‘’but it is an explanation. And I already forgave you, did I not?’’

That was true too. It seemed that Nightmare Moon, when she was inside the Dream Realm, spoke the sort of absolute truths Sunset usually avoided.

‘’You did,’’ she admitted. ‘’But still-’’

‘’We can have this argument until the end of time itself,’’ Nightmare Moon interrupted, ‘’or the end of this dream, whichever you prefer.’’

‘’Neither.’’

‘’Very well.’’

They stood together in silence, broken only by the sound of flames.

Celestia’s arguments did make sense, Sunset carefully thought and didn’t say aloud. Help needs to come from two sides. And the thestrals really didn’t want to be helped. The situation was a clusterfuck all around.

I should have gone back, or not left at all. Instead, I went to Luna, and it all spiralled down from there.

Sunset tore the flames away from the altar and sent them up against the roof in a spike of anger. She forced my hoof. What’s done is done; I can’t move back.

But she could make a better future.

‘’I’ll do it,’’ Sunset said.

‘’Do what?’’ Nightmare Moon asked.

‘’I’ll go to the Crystal Empire,’’ Sunset elaborated, though she wasn’t sure how Nightmare Moon hadn’t realized what she meant. ‘’I’ll go help there, and I’ll teach Flurry the magic she needs and wants to know.’’

Nightmare Moon smiled a full, wide smile. ‘’Thank you, Sunset,’’ she said, gratitude tangible. ‘’You do not know how much that means to me.’’

Sunset really didn’t. She tried to appreciate it anyway. ‘’Just give me a coat before I leave,’’ she tried to joke. ‘’It’s freezing up there.’’

‘’So it is,’’ Nightmare Moon agreed with a chuckle. ‘’Not to worry, I shall give you all that you require.’’

Part of Sunset wanted to see how far she could push that. ‘’Thanks,’’ she said instead, of outing that thought.

‘’In the Crystal Empire, however,’’ Nightmare Moon said, ‘’you shall also have to speak with someone.’’

‘’Who?’’

‘’Your possible successor.’’

Author's Notes:

This one was a struggle to write, since I had to invent a reason for Sunset to be in the position she is, which wasn't easy. Still, I think it worked out fine, in the end.

I know this is short, but the chapter really was done, and I didn't feel like adding another POV to this when Sunset was so dominant in this; it would have been out-of-place.

EDIT 22-9-2021: I have reworked the Sunset-Celestia flashback and the Sunset-NMM second conversation slightly so it is more objective and not as one-sided. You can thank https://www.fimfiction.net/user/367527/Big+Saij for that.

Chapter 17: Preparations 5

11 December 1008

Lily, Rarity had to admit, was doing a very good job. She clearly was as skilled at her job as Mayor Winter had said she was.

‘’So, darling,’’ she said as she finished signing the final document of her stack, ‘’I think we’ve had a splendid conversation, no?’’

Lily nodded. ‘’I think so too, my lady. I hope it was informative for you.’’

‘’Certainly,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’In fact…’’ she reached into her drawer, and pulled out the contract she’d written beforehoof. ‘’I know it’s quick, but I think I can safely say the job is yours, if you want it.’’

Lily stared at the contract for a long moment, then tentatively held out her hoof. ‘’May I?’’

‘’Of course.’’ Rarity slid the document over to her.

It wasn’t the most complicated of contracts Rarity had ever made; but it was very extensive, and it paid very well. Rarity had made sure of the last part.

‘’Well, it’s certainly an honour, my lady.’’

No.

‘’I accept.’’

Rarity didn’t bother to hide her relief. ‘’You don’t know how much that means to me, darling.’’

Lily blushed a little. ‘’I’m flattered, truly. I hope I can live up to the expectations.’’

‘’From what you’ve shown me today I’ve no doubt you can,’’ Rarity assured her. ‘’I’m afraid that I must ask you come with us on the train ride, however.’’

That seemed to surprise Lily. ‘’I… see.’’

‘’I know it is not ideal, darling,’’ Rarity placated, ‘’but I am afraid the trip takes precedence. If you want, you can take your niece with you. There’s plenty of room on the train.’’

‘’Sugar would like that,’’ Lily said in a musing tone. ‘’Very well,’’ she decided a couple of seconds later. ‘’I accept.’’

‘’Wonderful!’’ Rarity hoofed her a pencil, and watched anticipatingly as Lily placed the pencil on the document-

And didn’t sign.

‘’Darling, is something wrong?’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

What’s taking you so long, Rarity? Rainbow wondered as she glared up at the tower.

The sound of something moving through the air entered her ears at just the right time, allowing her to narrowly avoid what would have otherwise been a very cold snowball to the muzzle.

‘’Hey! No fair! I was distracted!’’

‘’Don’t be distracted!’’ Flurry called back, before giggling with her other friends.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. ‘’I’ll show you something distracting,’’ she muttered under her breath. She spread her wings and darted off into the sky, making sure the foals were watching her and the rainbow trail she left behind.

Then, she dove, nearly hitting the ground in the process, but of course she pulled up at the last possible moment and shot over the snow.

Now comes the fun part.

Rainbow lifted herself up as if she was braking about five metres from Flurry and her friends, conveniently right in front of a large snowpile. Then she dove into the snow, sending it flying forward.

The shrieks told her the plan had worked.

‘’Not fair!’’ Flurry complained as she brushed some snow out of her mane. ‘’We can’t do that!’’

‘’You could, if you learned it,’’ Rainbow argued as she landed next to the filly and flicked the snow off her horn with a wing. ‘’I can teach you.’’

‘’Really?’’

‘’Of course!’’ Rainbow replied. ‘’I’m a Wond-Shadowbolt, remember?’’

‘’Oh yeah!’’ Flurry’s eyes were wide and excited. ‘’But my friends wouldn’t be able to do it.’’

That was a problem Rainbow had never considered. All the people she’d knew as a filly had been pegasi too; well, except for Gilda. She’d never thought about people that couldn’t fly.

‘’Well, they can watch,’’ she said as she looked at the other fillies - and colt, of course. Couldn’t forget the colt.

‘’I guess,’’ Flurry said, but she didn’t sound very convinced. That wasn’t a problem.

‘’Right, wanna do something else?’’ Rainbow asked the group at large after a few seconds of awkward silence.

We’ve been doing this for over an hour, after all. Snowball fights are fun, but not that fun. If Rarity would just hurry up…

‘’Can we have chocolate?’’ One of the fillies - Star Glitter - asked.

‘’Chocolate!’’ the colt cheered.

‘’Sure thing.’’ Rainbow wasn’t cold, per se, but she never said no to hot chocolate during the winter. And in the Crystal Empire, winters were a lot worse than in Ponyville.

Rainbow glared at the two mares guarding the entrance to the Palace, but their steely faces revealed nothing of any amusement they might be feeling.

They got inside and into the room they’d used the day before yesterday, where Rainbow quickly ordered six mugs of hot chocolate.

‘’Commander Dash, might I ask a question?’’

‘’Only if you call me Rainbow,’’ Rainbow replied as she turned her head to face Jewel Heart. If someone said Jewel Heart was Rarity's long-lost relative, Rainbow would have believed them on the spot.

The filly swallowed. ‘’Of course, Comm- Rainbow. In any case, I wanted to ask: were you and Governess Belle present during the return of the Empire?’’

‘’Well, I wasn’t there when it actually happened,’’ Rainbow answered, ‘’but we arrived like a week later.’’

She wanted to say more, but all the foals suddenly seemed to be a little sad.

Why- Oh.

Rainbow almost cursed herself out loud. Of course that was going to bring up memories. And there really wasn’t anything she could say to make it better now.

Flurry, who was sitting on Rainbow’s left, scooted closer until she was pressing against Rainbow’s side. Instinctively Rainbow put her wing around the filly. ‘’You alright?’’ she softly asked.

‘’Yeah.’’ It didn’t look like it, but looks could be deceiving. ‘’Thanks, Rainbow.’’

‘’Of course, Flurry.’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

‘’Ah’m afraid ya can’t visit her, sugarcube.’’

Sweetie frowned. ‘’Is she still under house arrest?’’

Applejack tipped her hat. ‘’That she is. But it ain’t just that. Spike comes out some days, and what he says ‘bout Twilight ain’t good.’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ Twinkle asked before Sweetie could, which was rather impressive all things considered.

Applejack shifted. ‘’Well, he says she’s acting mighty strange. She barely speaks to him, and keeps ‘erself locked up in a room or sumthin’.’’

That didn’t sound all too good, but Spike was prone to exaggeration. ‘’I’m sure everything is fine with her,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’I think she’s just processing everything that’s happened.’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Applejack agreed, but she didn’t sound too convinced. ‘’Anyway, I gotta git back to work.’’

‘’Alright. Thanks, Applejack!’’

Applejack tipped her hat. ‘’Ain’t nuthin’, sugarcube.’’

With a smile of her own, Sweetie left the farm and headed back to Ponyville proper.

‘’I won’t even try to convince you to not try this,’’ Twinkle dryly remarked as he followed behind her.

‘’Can you get me in?’’ Sweetie asked without turning around.

‘’No,’’ Twinkle replied immediately. And dammit, Sweetie had no idea if he was lying or not.

‘’Of course you can’t,’’ she muttered under her breath. ‘’You’re not good for much, are you?’’

Twinkle remained silent, and Sweetie honestly wasn’t sure if she would have rather had an answer.

‘’Anyway,’’ Sweetie continued a few seconds later, ‘’I’m gonna go back to the Boutique.’’

‘’As you wish.’’ Twinkle fell in behind her.

By the time they’d reached the Boutique, Sweetie was already contemplating what to eat. She could try to cook herself, but that would most likely end in disaster. So take-out it would most likely be.

‘’Why do you even want to enter anyway?’’

Twinkle’s question switched the tracks of her train of thought in an entirely different direction.

‘’I dunno,’’ Sweetie was finally forced to admit. ‘’Twilight’s a friend, I guess, and you check up on friends.’’

Twinkle hummed. ‘’It doesn’t sound like she wants to see her friends, though.’’

Sweetie glared at him. ‘’Sometimes people don’t always know what’s good for them.’’

Twinkle raised an eyebrow at her. ‘’Says you.’’

Damn, he’s got me there.

Instead of replying verbally, Sweetie just entered the Boutique and frowned at the darkness inside. The sun wasn’t down yet, and she hadn’t-

‘’SURPRISE!’’

Twinkle’s indignant squeak was almost lost in the chorus of voices that assaulted Sweetie’s ears, led most sincerely by Pinkie Pie, of course.

‘’Sorry it took so long!’’ Pinkie apologized as she jumped into Sweetie’s face. ‘’But I had to plan your ‘Welcome back to Ponyville for a few days Sweetie’ party and also a ‘Welcome to Ponyville Twinkle Flower’ party and also my sisters are coming for Hearthswarming and I have to help Twilight and-’’

‘’Pinkie,’’ Sweetie chuckled as she gave the other mare a hug, ‘’I get it. And this is great.’’

And it really was. A party without Pinkie Pie just wasn’t it. Something just lacked otherwise.

‘’This is a very nice party, Miss Pie,’’ Twinkle stepped up beside her. ‘’You shouldn’t have.’’

‘’Nuh-uh! Everyone new to Ponyville gets a party!’’

Twinkle looked like he wanted to argue that point, before probably remembering something and visibly giving up any attempt at resisting. It was somewhat cute, admittedly.

Sweetie squashed that thought without remorse. Twinkle was many things, but he was certainly not cute.

The party itself was as good as any Pinkie had ever organized, and before long Sweetie found herself talking with Applebloom and Scootaloo again. They had spoken often since Sweetie had arrived back in Ponyville, of course, but still it was good to see them again.

‘’You helped organize this?’’ Sweetie asked her two friends.

‘’Nah,’’ Scoots replied dismissively, ‘’Pinkie did it all by herself. She’s back to being herself again, it seems. Rough couple of months after the war ended, but she’s alright now.’’

Sweetie’s smile stilled a little, and she nodded. ‘’That’s good to hear.’’

‘’Granny’s calmed down too,’’ Applebloom said, halfway into a glass of cider already - Really? The party had been going on for all of ten minutes! ‘’She ain’t rantin’ nearly as often as she used ta.’’

‘’Still, that’s tough,’’ Sweetie remarked. ‘’Is she alright otherwise?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Applebloom replied, ‘’as good as can be.’’

There was something to the way Applebloom spoke that made Sweetie feel like she wasn’t speaking the full truth, but she wasn’t going to darken the party with questions like that.

‘’That’s good,’’ she said. ‘’I missed you girls,’’ she added a few seconds later, before silence could descend.

‘’We missed you too,’’ Scootaloo immediately said. ‘’Ponyville isn’t the same without you.’’

‘’Thanks,’’ Sweetie said, blushing just a little. It was certainly good to be back here.

She knew, of course, that nothing would ever be the same again. That was the price of war. The question was if Scootaloo and Applebloom knew that too.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

Fuck it all.

Lilac cleared her throat. ‘’My lady, I’m afraid I’ve not been wholly truthful with you,’’ she admitted.

Better to do this now, she chanted at her anxiety and fears. Worst case, the Governess tortures me. I can handle that.

Ocellus would escape. Tartarus, Lilac could see at least two ways of escaping from this office, and she did have combat training; she was pretty sure she could overpower the Governess if it came to it.

The mare tilted her head. ‘’Go on, darling.’’

So far so good. ‘’Lily Merrimare is nothing but a cover name. She’s never existed.’’

In an instant, the Governess’ attitude changed. Her horn sparked alight, charged with a bolt of energy that looked a fair bit more powerful than Lilac had anticipated it being, as her eyes narrowed. ‘’Answer me truthfully,’’ she commanded with an air of authority. ‘’Are you a changeling?’’

‘’Yes.’’

Lilac dropped her disguise.

She did not receive a bolt of energy to the face, so that was a plus.

The Governess broke the silence that had fallen. ‘’Well, I’m afraid you’ve picked the wrong mare to attempt to abduct.’’

‘’I’m not here to abduct you, my lady.’’ Lilac made sure her tone was clear and measured, while still conveying she wasn’t lying. ‘’I am not here on the command of Queen Chrysalis or any other changeling. My niece and I are here as refugees.’’

That, it seemed, took the Governess by surprise. ‘’Refugees?’’ she asked.

Lilac nodded. Here’s my window. ‘’I raised too many questions about the methods of the Queen. They - the Queen’s Guard - came to the house of my once-husband and shot him and his wife. I found out, got Ocellus to me and then fled across the border.’’

That had been three weeks of Tartarus. Every ‘ling between Vesalipolis and Acornage had been searching for them, even if they didn’t know why, and Lilac had used her stack of favours as well as exhausted every one of her skills in the harrowing journey.

Not that it had gotten much better in Equestria. Once she and Ocellus had taken on their disguises, they could travel openly without anyone asking questions, for the most part; the Civil War had only just ended, after all. But Lilac had always had an active imagination, and the story she’d made up wasn’t too far from the truth, so the lies rolled off her tongue easily.

The disguise itself had been harder; not the actual disguise, but maintaining it for days on end, with the only rest being at night, when they made camp. And even then, as Ocellus slept, Lilac had kept watch, for changelings and monsters alike.

‘’And I am expected to believe this?’’ The Governess sounded impossibly doubtful, but there was that tiny sliver of belief present in her voice, and Lilac clung to it like a sailor to a lifeline in the storm.

‘’Other than Ocellus and myself, I do not have proof to verify I am speaking the truth,’’ Lilac revealed honestly. ‘’I only ask for a chance. If you don’t want to give me the job anymore that is understandable; I just want a chance.’’

The Governess looked at war with herself for a long minute, though the glow of her horn dimmed considerably, down to the level Lilac had originally been expecting it to be at. For despite all the stories about the Elements of Harmony, they had never claimed great magical skill or power on the side of Rarity Belle.

‘’Very well,’’ the Governess said. ‘’I trust you. Heavens know why, but I do. You were honest to me, and honesty is, as my friend Applejack would say, the best of virtues. While I do not fully concur-’’ she gave a small smile, ‘’I agree it is an important thing nonetheless.’’

Lilac couldn’t help it; she exhaled. YES!

The Governess stuck out her hoof. ‘’Let’s start again. I am Rarity Belle, Governess of the Lunar Crystal Empire.’’

After a moment, Lilac took the hoof and shook it. ‘’Lilac Vesalipolis. Drones use their birth hive as their last name. Only royals have actual surnames.’’

The Governess nodded understandingly. ‘’It’s a pleasure to meet you in any case, Lilac,’’ she said. ‘’And please, call me Rarity. We are going to be working together, after all.’’

Wait…

‘’I can still become your secretary?’’ Lilac asked before she could help herself.

The Governess - no, Rarity - smiled. ‘’The work hasn’t disappeared yet, darling, and I think you and I have a great many things to discuss.’’

Well, Lilac couldn’t fault the mare for that. ‘’As you wish… Rarity.’’

Author's Notes:

It's here! This was hard to write, but once I pushed through I got it out. I hope to get the next chapter out within another week or so, maybe earlier.

For those wondering how Lilac looks as a changeling: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/816610237154852874/892513261273104394/Lilac.png

The idea icon of her pony form (small but the best thing I have unfortunately): https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/816610237154852874/892513256785195068/MAN_lydia_merrimare.png

Chapter 18: Preparations 6

11 December 1008

Rainbow was just about to gather some guards to train again in an attempt to give the children something to do when the door opened and Rarity finally walked in, followed by Lily Merrimare.

‘’Darlings!’’ Rarity greeted everyone with that dazzling smile of hers. ‘’It is a pleasure to see you all again! Did you have fun together?’’

‘’Hi auntie!’’ Flurry hopped off her chair and walked forward, meeting Rarity in a hug. ‘’We had lots of fun!’’ she answered Rarity’s question.

‘’That is good,’’ Rarity said as she returned the hug Flurry gave her. ‘’I’m glad you and your friends enjoyed yourselves.’’

‘’What am I, chopped wheat?’’ Rainbow quipped.

Rarity rolled her eyes. ‘’You’re never forgotten, darling.’’ She took a sideways step and pointed at Lily Merrimare. ‘’Everyone, this is my new secretary, Lily Merrimare.’’

‘’Hello,’’ the pegasus said, ‘’it’s a pleasure to meet you all.’’ She bowed her head at Flurry. ‘’And an honour to meet you, Princess.’’

‘’It’s nice to meet you too,’’ Flurry said after a moment. ‘’Are you coming with us on the train ride?’’

No, she isn’t.

‘’Yes, I am,’’ Lily Merrimare answered. ‘’And, if she wants to, my niece will come too.’’

‘’Indeed, Sugar may come if she wants,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’I’m sure the train can fit one - or two - more on it.’’

Had they been alone, Rainbow would have tried to talk some sense into Rarity. However, doing that with the foals - especially Flurry - present, was not in any way a good idea. So, she held her tongue.

‘’Anyhow,’’ Rarity continued, turning to the foals, ‘’I must apologize for how long we took. I quite forgot the time, I’m afraid.’’

‘’No sweat,’’ Rainbow remarked. ‘’We had fun anyway.’’ That sounded a bit more crude than intended.

‘’I’m glad to hear it,’’ Rarity said. ‘’Now, we still have some time left, but we do have to start packing for tonight, and I’d prefer to have that done before dinner.’’

‘’Can’t it wait?’’ Rainbow asked. ‘’What are we going to do after dinner then?’’

‘’Oh, I’m sure we can think of something,’’ Rarity replied dismissively.

‘’But auntie,’’ Flurry spoke up, ‘’we’re going to have a late dinner, and then my friends have to go home afterwards. I can’t play with them if I have to pack.’’

Rarity blinked, as if she had forgotten that. ‘’Forgive me, darling, I hadn’t considered that. In that case, we can pack after dinner. You’re not going to see each other for some time, after all.’’

Predictably, the faces of the foals all lit up at that. ‘’Yay!’’ they cheered together. It was a cute sight, Rainbow would not deny that.

‘’So, what do you want to do, Flurry?’’ Rarity asked. ‘’I have a free schedule now, after all.’’

‘’I have lots of toys!’’ Flurry chirped. ‘’We can go play with them!’’

Toys. Of course.

‘’Cool,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’What kind of toys?’’

‘’Knights and princesses,’’ Flurry replied, ‘’and dragons, like Uncle Spike! And wizards too!’’

Rainbow resolved to get Flurry a Wonderbolt (or Shadowbolt, she wasn’t picky) action figure for Hearth's Warming Eve, coincidentally solving the problem of what she was going to get the filly.

‘’Well, that sounds like fun indeed,’’ Rarity commented with a smile. ‘’I think we’ll all go play in your room then, no?’’

‘’Sure!’’

‘’Perfect!’’ Rarity turned to face Lily Merrimare. ‘’Darling, if you would, you can head back home to pack and then have a tour and dinner here, or can you do it in reverse. It matters not as long as you make sure you are in my office by seven.’’

‘’As you wish, my- Rarity.’’ Lily Merrimare bowed her head a little. ‘’I shall head back home, and then I’ll come back for dinner with my niece, if she wants too.’’

‘’In that case, I’ll see you at dinner. Good day, Lily.’’

‘’Good day, Rarity.’’

Lily said her goodbyes, then left the room. Rarity, Rainbow and the foals all made their way to Flurry’s room, which was still big enough for all of them. Rainbow would have loved such a big room when she was a kid.

Not that she had had a bad childhood. But still. Big rooms were big rooms.

Rainbow and Rarity kept to the edge of the room, as the foals began to examine and then play with Flurry’s extensive toy collection.

‘’So, how did the conversation go?’’ Rainbow softly asked Rarity. The outcome was obvious, of course, but Rainbow wanted to know how that had come to be.

But Rarity shook her head. ‘’I’ll tell you more on the train, together with Lily.’’

Rainbow scowled, but nodded anyway. ‘’Okay, but I want the full story.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity agreed, as if that was obvious. For a moment it looked like she wanted to say something more, but she didn’t.

‘’Auntie, Rainbow, come play with us!’’ Flurry requested suddenly. ‘’We need more people so we can use all the toys!’’

Rainbow jumped off her chair and Rarity gracefully slid off it. ‘’Who’s my guy?’’ Rainbow asked no-one in particular.

Flurry pointed at a pegasus mare, clad in silver armour and wielding a spear and shield, red mane contrasting sharply with her deep blue coat. ‘’You’re gonna play with Sir Gleaming Shield!’’ she instructed. ‘’Auntie Rarity, you can play with this one!’’ And Flurry held up a figurine of a unicorn mage, a white stallion with an orange mane. ‘’This is Archmage Dusk Shine!’’

Well, it could be worse. Rainbow was still going to get Flurry a Wonder/Shadowbolt figure for Hearthswarming, but a guard was the next best thing. Well, a member of the Cloudsdale Royal Legion would have been better, but anything of them was hard to get outside of Cloudsdale.

‘’She looks positively delightful, darling,’’ Rarity remarked as she laid down next to Flurry and took the figure from her. ‘’What adventures is she going to experience?’’

‘’Together with Sir Jack Apple, the Thief Bubble Berry, the Scout Rainbow Blitz, the Druid Butterscotch and the Sorcerer Elusive,’’ Flurry pointed at a yellow guard, a bright purple thief, a orange scout, a green druid and a red sorcerer as she listed off the names, ‘’they will save the kingdom of Prince Crescendo,’’ she pointed at a white unicorn with a crown, ‘’from the evil wizard Sundown Glare!’’ She held up a dark unicorn with a blood-red mane and a wizard’s hat.

Flurry moved the figures around until everyone had at least one, with Prince Crescendo standing behind the gathered heroes and Sundown Glare being in a small castle on the other side of the room.

Well, this’ll be fun.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

Lilac made her way back home as quickly as she could. It wasn’t as far from the Palace as it could be, but it was still quite a distance.

Not that the home itself was bad. Winter had a very generous salary, and she had used it to buy an apartment only half an hour away from Heart Square, which was impossibly expensive to anyone else.

Lilac didn’t slow down until she stood in front of the door to the complex. She fished the key out of her pocket, unlocked the door and got up the stairs and to the door to their home.

She really was lucky to have such a lovely marefriend.

The key slid into the door, and then the door opened with a click. ‘’Sugar, I’m back!’’ Lilac called out as she stepped into the hallway.

A few seconds later, as Lilac was hanging her scarf on the rack, Sugar’s yellow face, complete with moderately-unkempt mane that had more or less the same colour as Lilac’s coat and slightly darker blue eyes, appeared from the doorway to her room, which was connected to the main hallway. ‘’And, how did it go?’’ she asked without preamble.

‘’I’ve got the job,’’ Lilac replied with a smile.

‘’Great,’’ Sugar said without much enthusiasm. ‘’Congratulations.’’

Lilac gulped. Today was full of revelations she was not looking forward to. ‘’But I have to go with the royal tour tonight.’’

Sugar stared at her.

‘’You can come too,’’ Lilac hasted to add. ‘’And…’’

‘’And what?’’

Lilac would have scolded Ocellus for her tone- probably would, later. ‘’And… I told the Governess our story.’’

‘’WHAT!?’’ Ocellus shouted.

‘’Quiet!’’ Lilac snapped. ‘’As you can see, I’m not imprisoned or harmed in any way. The Governess- Rarity, as she told me to call her - wants to speak with me about it in more detail tonight, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to have me locked up. Or you, for that matter.’’

‘’But… but why!?’’ Ocellus stammered. ‘’Why-’’

‘’Better she knows now,’’ Lilac said in a reasonable tone of voice, ‘’than she figures it out herself. You saw how that almost turned out with Winter.’’

They’d been dating for a month, already living together, when Ocellus had accidentally let her concentration slip and turned back into a changeling. Lilac, after lots of talking, managed to convince Winter they meant no harm, and that she was sorry for deceiving her.

Lilac did love Winter, after all. She hadn’t ever expected to fall in love with a pony, but here they were.

‘’... I guess,’’ Ocellus sullenly admitted after a few seconds. ‘’But now what?’’

‘’We go on as normal,’’ Lilac answered firmly. ‘’Rarity will probably bring Commander Rainbow Dash with her to the conversation tonight, so she’ll know too, but other than those two, no one else needs to know. We’re still safe here, don’t worry.’’

‘’I don’t think we’re safe anywhere.’’

Ocellus had developed a dark sense of humour over the past months. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism, but it still hurt Lilac to see her once so bright and excitable niece turned into this sombre and dark being.

‘’Come here,’’ she said softly.

Ocellus crossed the distance between them in what Lilac was sure was record time, and Lilac wrapped her forehooves around the not-filly in a hug.

One thing ponies are better for than lings: their coats are very soft.

Ocellus’ wings touched Lilac’s own. When making their disguises, Lilac had been forced to pick between pegasus and unicorn, and had settled on pegasus in the end, as unicorn magic was pretty hard to replicate while also maintaining a disguise so people didn’t see it wasn’t actually unicorn magic.

‘’You don’t have to come with me,’’ Lilac said softly after they’d been hugging each other for some time. ‘’You can stay here with Winter, if you want.’’

‘’Are you kidding?’’ Ocellus asked, her voice muffled by the fact she was burying her muzzle in Lilac’s chest. ‘’Of course I’m gonna go with you.’’

Lilac hadn’t really expected anything else, but the confirmation still felt good. ‘’Everything will be alright,’’ she whispered. ‘’We’re safe. Chrysalis can’t get to us here.’’

‘’Are you sure about that?’’

‘’Yes,’’ Lilac lied. She knew perfectly well that nowhere on Equus, and perhaps even outside it, was safe from Chrysalis while she lived. One day, Lilac would kill that bitch with her own hooves; she’d promised as much.

‘’You’re lying,’’ Ocellus accused without any heat.

‘’Am not,’’ Lilac said.

‘’Am too.’’

‘’Am not.’’

‘’Am too.’’

‘’Am not!’’ Lilac faked indignance very well, in her own opinion.

It had the desired effect: Ocellus giggled a little, before lifting her face up from Lilac’s chest and meeting Lilac’s eyes with her own. ‘’Am too, infinity,’’ she declared authoritatively.

After a second of staring, both of them began to giggle. Ocellus loosened her hold on Lilac and Lilac reciprocated hesitantly, before pressing a kiss just under where Ocellus’ horn would normally be. ‘’Never forget I love you,’’ she said softly.

‘’Love you too,’’ Ocellus said immediately, and Lilac felt a spark of something inside her at those words. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it had been growing more defined over the past months.

Probably just emotions, she decided dismissively after a moment of thought.

‘’Come on,’’ she said aloud. ‘’Let’s get packing, and then we’ll go to the Palace. We’re going to have dinner there.’’

‘’With the Governess and the Princess?” Ocellus asked.

‘’Yes,’’ Lilac confirmed. ‘’And presumably Commander Rainbow Dash too, though I haven’t asked that.’’

‘’What do you think they’ll serve?’’

‘’No idea.’’

Not that it really mattered. Changelings could eat food, but they fed on love, and what other species considered normal food didn’t do much for them.

That was why Lilac found it so curious that Ocellus had taken an interest in cooking, of all things. Winter wasn’t a majestic cook, but she could do it well enough, and she was always happy to show Ocellus how she had to do certain things. Still, Lilac wasn’t going to complain if it meant Ocellus did more than her school work and reading books in her room all day.

‘’Probably something complicated,’’ Ocellus decided after a few moments of silence. ‘’Anyway, what do I need to pack?’’

‘’Well, we’re gone for nine days, not including tonight,’’ Lilac said, ‘’so what do you think you’ll need?’’

‘’Books,’’ Ocellus immediately declared. ‘’A jacket too.’’

‘’I’ll pack our toothbrushes,’’ Lilac said, ‘’but you have time. Dinner isn’t for more than an hour.’’

Though maybe, if we’re early, we could do the tour before dinner.

‘’Actually,’’ she corrected herself, ‘’make a bit of haste, so we can have the planned tour before dinner. Or at least part of it.’’

‘’Sure,’’ Ocellus agreed. ‘’I don’t have much to pack anyway.’’

Lilac didn’t either, and after writing a note for Winter and laying it out on the dinner table, they left for the Crystal Palace.

Author's Notes:

Right, here we are with Chapter 18. Only 2 POVs this time, and the plot is moving forward. I think Chapter 19 will be the last chapter during 11 December 1008, and then we'll get to Rainbow Falls!

Chapter 19: Preparations 7

11 December 1008

Rarity hadn’t done anything like this in a long time; Sweetie had stopped playing with dolls and other such toys long before she had moved in with Rarity.

But it was fun nonetheless. There wasn’t much story to the playing, of course, but truth be told there didn’t need to be.

Rarity pulled her mage away as Flurry moved the evil wizard forward, making sure that her figure wasn’t struck by the attack Flurry was no doubt going to use.

Damn, I still have to teach her telekinesis. I totally forgot about that.

‘’Flurry,’’ she spoke up, ‘’I just remembered I was going to show you how to lift more than one thing at a time today.’’ Perhaps now wasn’t the greatest time to mention it, but perhaps they’d remember it properly if spoken aloud.

Flurry’s eyes lit up. ‘’Oh yeah!’’ she said. ‘’Can we do it now?!’’

That, Rarity hadn’t been expecting. ‘’Are you sure, darling?’’ she asked. ‘’Don’t you want to spend time with your friends?’’

‘’We can do it here, right?’’

They certainly could. There were more than enough things lying around that both Rarity and Flurry could easily lift at the same time, after all.

But the idea of distracting Flurry from the final few hours with her friends before they left still didn’t sit right with Rarity. Alas, there was no going back now.

‘’We can,’’ she agreed. ‘’If we make a little room, that is.’’

She had room in less than half a minute, as all the foals and Rainbow made space for her.

‘’Now,’’ Rarity began, putting on a ‘teaching’ voice she’d used when visiting schools in Equestria during the Thestral Rights Campaign, ‘’it’s not that hard, darlings. It’s simply a matter of concentration, after all.’’

She lifted up one of the toys with her magic. ‘’Flurry, please do what I do.’’

‘’Okay auntie!’’ Flurry lifted up one of the other toys in her own magic.

‘’Hold it up for a few seconds,’’ Rarity instructed. When those few seconds had passed, she continued, ‘’now try to grab another toy with your magic.’’

Rarity followed her own instructions and lifted another toy in her magic, placing it next to the first one, then proceeded to watch Flurry.

The filly glared frustratedly at one of the toys. ‘’Come on!’’

The toy wobbled in an equally wobbly yellow aura, floated up a few centimeters, and then both it and the toy Flurry was already holding dropped to the ground.

‘’Aww…’’ Flurry pouted.

‘’Try again,’’ Rarity coaxed. ‘’You can do it, I’m sure of it.’’

‘’Okay.’’ Once again, Flurry’s horn sprung alight, and the toy she had tried to pick up floated into the air without any trouble. ‘’Now come on!’’

Once again, the other toy inched up into the air, before dropping again. This time, however, Flurry didn’t drop the other toy, which was an improvement, at least.

‘’Look at that!’’ Rarity complimented. ‘’You’re already getting better!’’

Flurry didn’t reply, and tried again. And again, and again.

Time kept on passing, and though Rarity tried to be helpful, she was no teacher of magic. Rainbow and the other foals watched mostly in silence, sometimes offering words of encouragement to Flurry.

‘’I can’t do it!’’ Flurry finally shouted in frustration as she dropped the toy she was lifting and pouted mightily.

‘’I didn’t get it right the first time too,’’ Rarity consoled, before moving forward and sitting down next to Flurry. ‘’You have all the time in the world. It’s not a problem, Flurry.’’

‘’Really?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity said. Was Flurry really this conscious about something so comparatively small?

‘’I just wanted to get it right,’’ Flurry said softly. ‘’I wanna show auntie Luna I learnt things.’’

Oh, Flurry.

Rarity put one of her forelegs around Flurry. ‘’If you practice, I’m sure you can get it before she arrives here.’’

Sure, it had taken her months, but Flurry was far more powerful than Rarity had ever been (discounting the usage of the Elements and the Rainbow Power, of course), and probably had more talent with magic than her too, if her father and aunt were any indication. If any four-year old could do it, it was Flurry.

‘’If you say so.’’ Flurry snuggled up against Rarity’s side. ‘’Thanks for teaching me, auntie.’’

Rarity turned the embrace into a full hug. ‘’It’s my pleasure, Flurry.’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

When Lilac and Ocellus got back to the Crystal Palace, she found a brown stallion waiting for her at the entrance.

‘’Good day,’’ he greeted. ‘’You are Miss Merrimare, the Governess’ new secretary, correct?’’

Lilac nodded, before extending her hoof in greeting. ‘’That I am, and this is Sugar Petal, my niece and ward. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr…’’

‘’Tight Ship,’’ the stallion answered as he shook her hoof. ‘’The pleasure is all mine, my ladies. I am the Chamberlain of the Palace, and I understand the Governess wished for you to receive a tour?’’

‘’She did,’’ Lilac confirmed. Though I certainly didn’t expect the Chamberlain to be the one leading us around.

‘’Good!’’ Tight Ship said. ‘’I’m sure one of these fine gentlecolts can take those bags off your hooves, and then we can get started, no?’’

So said, so done, and after one of the guards had taken the bags both Lilac and Ocellus were carrying, Tight Ship began the tour in earnest.

‘’So, this is the Palace’s central hallway. All the floors on this hallway connect to it. If you follow it straight ahead from here,’’ he pointed down the hallway, ‘’you’ll eventually reach the throne room. But before that, you’ll come across what is known as the Fountain Square.’’

‘’Fountain Square?’’ Ocellus asked.

‘’You’ll see,’’ Tight Ship said with a mysterious smile.

And sure enough, they did. Fountain Square, in Lilac’s opinion, was aptly named: it was quite literally a small square with a fountain in the centre. To the left, right and directly ahead of her (behind the fountain, obviously) were hallways, while staircases ledged between either left or right and the hallway ahead led up to a balustrade from where one could look down on the scene, and presumably go into other hallways.

‘’This is Fountain Square,’’ Tight Ship said. ‘’The hallway on our left leads to the kitchens, the storage rooms and some offices, while the one on the right splits apart later, with a hallway leading to the barracks and the armoury and another leading to the gardens and the pools.’’

‘’The Palace has pools?’’ Lilac asked, one eyebrow raised. Given how old the building was, such a feature was surprising.

‘’Oh yes,’’ Tight Ship confirmed. ‘’They were constructed on the order of Emperor Amoriac the First, in 412 BLB. A few of them are available to the staff and diplomatic guests, but most of the pools are reserved for the Imperial Family only.’’

‘’Speaking of guests,’’ he continued, ‘’every member of the staff has their own quarters, though some share, obviously. However, as the secretary of the Governess, you have been given private quarters in the Eastern Tower, on our left. You can reach that one from here, but there is also another staircase closer to the pools. Shall we?’’

‘’Sure,’’ Lilac agreed with a nod, and once again Tight Ship took the lead, guiding them through the crystal halls until they’d reached the staircase he had spoken of.

‘’We go up here for a while,’’ he explained. ‘’The towers don’t get narrower until almost at the top, and they’re quite tall, I’m afraid.’’

Lilac craned her neck upwards. The Crystal Palace was the only building she’d seen so far that outshone the spires of Vesalipolis in height, and it outshone them by quite a margin.

‘’Can we fly up?’’ Ocellus asked, because of course she did.

‘’You can, of course,’’ Tight Ship acknowledged, ‘’but I’m afraid I can’t, and the lifts won’t be constructed until the summer. So I, at least, have to walk.’’

‘’Then we might as well walk with you,’’ Lilac decided with a side glance at Ocellus. Behave.

Ocellus tilted her head a little in acknowledgement. Good. Lilac didn’t disagree with the idea of flying up there, in theory, but it was rather impolite and even insulting to do so when their guide would have to walk all the way.

And the stairs weren’t that tiring to climb, even though their number would have suggested otherwise. Lilac had ensured neither she nor Ocellus lost the endurance and stamina they’d built up during their escape and subsequent time in the wild, and it showed. Tight Ship, obviously used to doing this every day, leisurely kept pace with them.

‘’The second level has some higher-class rooms, for guests, as well as offices and the ballroom,’’ Tight Ship explained as they continued to climb. ‘’The third and fourth level have rooms too, but less, and more offices and such. The fourth floor has the library as well.’’

The explanation continued for quite some time, until they’d reached the twelfth level. ‘’Right, this is our stop,’’ Tight Ship quipped. ‘’This level only has a few big rooms; the tower is already getting narrower here, seeing as this is the second-last level before the pinnacle. Come, I’ll lead you to yours.’’

They went into the hallway directly in front of them, coming across doors on both sides, until reaching the end of the hallway, where Tight Ship turned right. ‘’This is yours,’’ he said, before fishing a set of keys out of his pockets and sliding one into the door. It unlocked with a click as he turned it.

Tight Ship pushed open the door, then stepped aside. ‘’After you.’’

The room was, in one word, massive. It was, perhaps, only a little smaller than Winter’s entire apartment, and all that for a single person, where Winter’s apartment had been constructed for a family of three.

‘’Nice,’’ Ocellus whistled, and Lilac found herself agreeing with that, though nice was not the word she would have used.

‘’The Mi Amore dynasty has always believed in treating their staff right,’’ Tight Ship remarked. ‘’Even the menial servants have quite comfortable accommodations, especially for the time they were built in.’’

‘’I can believe that,’’ Lilac absently said as she looked around the living room. Because there was no need for a kitchen, the living room was huge, with a table large enough to seat ten people at, as well as two couches, two sofa chairs, and a coffee table. Of course, there was a fireplace, crackling merrily behind crystal bars.

‘’Thank you for the tour,’’ Lilac said as she turned towards Tight Ship. ‘’I would’ve never found this otherwise.’’

Tight Ship tipped his head. ‘’You’re welcome.’’ He glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘’We’ve some time yet until dinner, if I recall correctly. What do you want to do?’’

That was a good question. Tight Ship would probably show them more of the Palace if they asked, Lilac reasoned, but she wasn’t sure if there was more they needed to see.

‘’So, where is the Governess’ office?’’ Ocellus asked just as Lilac was coming up with the idea of asking that.

‘’In the Northern Tower,’’ Tight Ship answered, ‘’which is used for ambassadors and other such high-class delegates. She has neglected to use the Central Tower, though as the Regentess of the Crystal Empire she has that right.’’

Good to know. ‘’And how can I get to the Northern Tower? I assume my office will be somewhere there.’’

‘’Ah, for that you have to go back to the second level, and then take the hallway that leads in the direction of the gate. I’d suggest heading to Fountain Square first; it’s the easiest path. You may get lost in the corridors otherwise,’’ Tight Ship advised.

Lilac inclined her head in acknowledgement. ‘’Thanks.’’

‘’It’s my pleasure, my lady.’’

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

After the heartwarming moment between Rarity and Flurry, which Rainbow would freely admit was adorable to anyone who asked, they all went back to playing, but not with the same heart as they’d had before. And pretty soon, Rarity cleared her throat and drew everyone’s attention to her.

‘’Darlings,’’ she said, ‘’it’s almost dinnertime. Shall we clean this up and head for the dining room?’’

‘’Okay auntie!’’ Flurry agreed with some of her usual cheer, which in turn served to cheer up the others.

With seven people, the room was easily cleaned of the toys and such that had been scattered throughout it. We still have to pack, but this should make it easier, Rainbow dryly thought.

She wasn’t used to cleaning up; her house was usually something that could generously be called ‘semi-organized chaos’, at best. And in the military she didn’t have much to clean up in the first place, aside from her uniform and the letters she’d sometimes received.

Still, Rainbow had always been good at doing things quickly, and cleaning the room, especially with others helping her, was no big effort.

‘’Right, so what’s for dinner?’’ Rainbow asked as they made their way through the Palace, Rarity at the head of their little column with Rainbow flying next to her.

‘’Would you believe me when I say I have no idea?’’ Rarity mused aloud. ‘’I don’t usually place orders; the surprise is most invigorating.’’

That made sense, kind of. Still, it seemed strange. ‘’You don’t have a list of things you like?’’

‘’Of course I do,’’ Rarity said as if that was obvious, ‘’and the kitchens know that, just like they know what I don’t like. And a lot of things need to be imported here first, of course. We’re not starving, but many things simply don’t grow here, and I don’t want to take away from the things that do overly much.’’

‘’How is the food situation anyway?’’ Rainbow inquired.

‘’Could be worse,’’ Rarity said. ‘’He didn’t destroy it, but some of the fields were damaged or destroyed in the war.’’

And the ponies that tended to them too, Rainbow carefully thought and didn’t say aloud. From the look in Rarity’s eyes, it was obvious she knew that too.

‘’We’ve had to import a little every month, which was harder then than it is now,’’ Rarity continued. ‘’We’ll be back to normal before the coming harvest, if everything goes well, and then we can start reducing the imports to what they were before.’’

‘’Huh. Neat.’’

They arrived at the dining room, where two stallions in suits were waiting on them. ‘’Good evening, Princess, Governess, Commander, ladies and gentlecolts,’’ one of them greeted. ‘’With your permission, we shall wait for the new secretary to join us before beginning the dinner.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity agreed with a nod. ‘’Did she arrive yet?’’

‘’Yes, together with her niece,’’ the stallion answered. ‘’The Chamberlain took them on a tour of the Palace.’’

‘’I see,’’ Rarity remarked. ‘’In that case, I think we shan’t have to wait for too long, no?’’

At that moment, the door opened again, and Lily Merrimare stepped through it, followed by a younger, yellow pegasus with a mane coloured similarly to Lily Merrimare’s coat, who was probably that niece of hers.

‘’Good evening,’’ Lily Merrimare greeted them all. ‘’Are we late?’’

‘’Not at all, darling,’’ Rarity assured her before Rainbow could say something. ‘’We’ve just arrived ourselves. And is this your niece?’’

‘’She is,’’ Lily Merrimare confirmed. ‘’Sugar, introduce yourself.’’

‘’Evening,’’ the third pegasus in the room said, ‘’I’m Sugar Petal. Nice to meet you all.’’

Rainbow wasn’t sure if she found the lack of respect irritating or refreshing.

Rarity didn’t seem affected in the slightest. ‘’It’s a pleasure to meet you, darling. Come, let’s all take our seats.’’

There was more than enough room at the table for all nine of them, of course. Rainbow ended up with Rarity on her left and Lily Merrimare on her right, with Flurry and Star Glitter being left of Rarity and Flurry’s other friends on the other side of the table, together with Sugar Petal, leaving one empty chair.

‘’So,’’ Rarity began what was sure to be an interesting conversation, ‘’how did you find your room, Lily?’’

‘’It’s impressive, Rarity,’’ Lily Merrimare replied. ‘’I’m not sure what I’m going to do with so much space.’’

‘’I’m sure you can find something,’’ Rarity said in a reassuring tone.

Stars, this is boring.

Rainbow tuned out the conversation and began to think instead. Rainbow Falls was sure to be interesting, but she didn’t know anything about the other places they would be visiting. Rarity was probably going to take that book of hers, of course, so Rainbow would have plenty of time to look through it.

But first, dinner.

Author's Notes:

Evidently this is not the last chapter set on the 11th. I won't apologize for that, obviously.

Also, I made a blog yesterday. Go read it here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/966475/commentary-on-my-favourite-fics

Until next chapter!

Update: I have finished editing/rewriting my first story: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/495171/the-crystal-story-flurrys-tale
Please, go check it out if it feels like something you'd enjoy.

Chapter 20: Preparations 8

11 December 1008

Dinner was, in one word, disorganised. Flurry and her friends held their own conversation, completely separate from the one Rarity was having with Lilac. It was quite different from the dinners of the past days, and Rarity wasn’t sure if she liked it, but Lilac and she had a lot to talk about.

‘’So, Rainbow Falls is first, right?’’

‘’Indeed it is,’’ Rarity confirmed. ‘’Our accommodations have been arranged; we’ll be staying the Ilnarian Resort, a private resort owned by the Crown.’’

That was something she’d discovered about a month ago: the Crown owned several retreats and resorts throughout the country. Chief of those was the Westmarester Palace in Quebuck, the only actual palace in the Empire outside the Crystal Palace, but there were many smaller holdings too.

By some spot of luck or cosmic grace, all of the cities that they would be visiting had a property owned by the Crown, and Rarity had already ordered all of them be prepared for habitation.

The one in Rainbow Falls might not be finished by the time we arrive, but the others surely will be.

‘’I see,’’ Lilac said. ‘’Are there any plans for the visits themselves?’’

‘’We - meaning Rainbow, Flurry and myself - have looked through a guide on the cities,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’We’re still working on picking the right places to visit, and Rainbow and I had planned to talk about that tonight. Would you mind joining in?’’

‘’I’d be delighted to help,’’ was Lilac’s answer.

Of course, they’d be discussing more than attractions tonight, but they both knew that already.

‘’Auntie?’’

‘’Yes, Flurry?’’

‘’When we get back from the trip, can my friends come for a sleepover?’’

Rarity smiled kindly at Flurry. ‘’Of course they can,’’ she said. ‘’In fact, they can come over anytime they want.’’

After all, what harm can four foals really do? When they’re not looking for their cutie marks, of course.

‘’Really?’’ Flurry’s eyes lit up. ‘’Thanks so much, auntie!’’

‘’You’re welcome, Flurry.’’

Dinner was nothing truly special, and neither was the small talk Rarity made with Lilac. The real conversation would be reserved for later, on the train.

As the servants took the plates and cutlery away, Rarity cleared her throat. ‘’Darlings,’’ she addressed the others in the room, ‘’I think Flurry, Rainbow and I should pack. So, I’m afraid this is goodbye for now.’’

‘’But my friends can come wave goodbye to me, right?’’ Flurry asked with pleading eyes.

‘’They can, if their parents allow.’’ Not that Rarity doubted it would be allowed, but asking was the polite thing to do.

‘’Yay!’’ Flurry, Swift Hoof and Star Glitter all cheered together, while Jewel Heart grinned brightly and Moon Tower cracked a small smile.

Seeing Flurry so happy did wonders for Rarity too. She truly had been stupid.

Lilac and her niece decided to wait downstairs, and so it was just the three of them that made their way back to Flurry’s room.

Shampoo, comb, brush, soap, toys of course, Rarity listed off in her head. What else do we need?

Whatever they needed from Flurry’s room, it would be easy to find with how thoroughly they had cleaned the room. Once inside, they quickly collected all the items Rarity had thought of, as well as Whammy and a few other stuffed toys. All in all, one pair of saddlebags was needed for all of Flurry’s items, which was not at all bad.

‘’I have an idea,’’ Rainbow said suddenly, just as Rarity was opening the door of Flurry’s room again so they could make their way upstairs. ‘’Rarity, can you get our stuff yourself? I’ll wait with Lily and Flurry.’’

There was something to Rainbow’s tone that seemed suspicious to Rarity, but it was probably nothing. ‘’That sounds like a splendid idea, darling,’’ she remarked. ‘’Do you mind, Flurry?’’

‘’No, auntie!’’ Flurry chirped, and that was that.

|-x-X-x-|

11 December 1008

Applejack would have something to say about this, Rainbow reflected as she and Flurry flew/walked back through the hallways of the Palace to Fountain Square.

She didn’t like lying, much less to any of her friends; but she wanted to find out more about Lily Merrimare and her niece. Something about them didn’t sit right with her. There was something off with the way they acted that Rainbow couldn’t put a feather on, but it was definitely not right.

Of course, she’d rather not have Flurry with her, but such were the risks.

‘’So, what do you think of Lily and Sugar?’’ Rainbow decided to ask Flurry. She was, after all, a pretty smart filly. Maybe she’d noticed something Rainbow hadn’t. Unlikely, but there was always a chance.

‘’Lily’s nice, I think.’’ Flurry sounded a little uncertain, though it didn’t detract from her skipping. ‘’I dunno about Sugar. She didn’t say much during dinner.’’

That was certainly true. ‘’You’re going to be seeing Lily a lot,’’ Rainbow remarked. ‘’Do you know what her job is?’’

Flurry nodded. ‘’She helps auntie Rarity with her work, right?’’

‘’Right in one,’’ Rainbow complimented. ‘’Very good.’’

‘’Thanks, Rainbow!’’

It was a little reminiscent of Scootaloo, except with less hero-worship. Rainbow didn’t mind the hero-worship, but it was quite obvious in Scootaloo’s case. Flurry also had some of it, but a lot less.

Lily and Sugar were, as agreed, waiting in Fountain Square. To be more precise, they were seated on one of the benches that were lined around the main fountain.

‘’Princess Flurry Heart,’’ Lily bowed her head respectfully as they approached, ‘’Commander Dash. Is everything packed?’’

Sugar Petal, pointedly, did not even look their way, continuing to look at the fountain. Rainbow was insulted.

‘’Rarity is getting her stuff and mine,’’ she replied. ‘’How about you?’’

‘’The Chamberlain had servants take our bags to the train when we arrived at the Palace,’’ Lily answered, and that did sound like something Tight Ship would do. ‘’How long do you think Rarity will need?’’

Rainbow made a dismissive gesture with her wing as Flurry jumped up and settled herself on the bench next to Lily. ‘’She can take a while,’’ Rainbow said, ‘’but we have a deadline, of course, and Rarity is also punctual.’’

‘’I see.’’

Rainbow kept close watch on Lily as she placed herself on the couch between Flurry and Lily. She was not going to put the filly in any more danger than necessary, thank you very much.

An awkward silence settled in the room, broken only by the faint echoes of hoofsteps from servants and guards from other areas of the Palace and the sounds of the fountain the room was named after. After a minute or so, Flurry snuggled close to Rainbow, and Rainbow of course put her wing around the filly protectively.

‘’Looks like someone’s tired,’’ she noted softly.

‘’Hmmm…’’ Flurry murmured. ‘’Not yet.’’

Rainbow chuckled, unable to look away from the adorable sight of the filly. Whoever even dreamt of disturbing such a sight?

‘’Darlings!’’

There you are.

Three pairs of eyes settled on Rarity as she appeared on the staircase, a scarf wrapped around her neck and a pair of elegant embroidered saddlebags hanging from her back.

And maybe that’ll still happen. The memory of some of the conversations they’d had in the past days flashed through her mind.

Not now. Rainbow shook herself, and grinned. ‘’Took you long enough!’’ she quipped.

‘’Tut-tut, darling,’’ Rarity chided without much heat as she descended the staircase. ‘’Packing requires time. Especially given that I had to pack for you as well.’’

She’s got me there.

‘’Now, shall we head for the station?’’ Rarity asked as she arrived in front of the bench they were all sitting on.

‘’Let’s,’’ Rainbow agreed.

They made for the main gate of the Palace, where Captain Darkheart and his hoof-picked group of soldiers awaited them.

‘’Princess, Governess, Commander,’’ he said as he saluted. ‘’We are ready for deployment.’’

‘’Very good, captain.’’ Rarity gave the entire group a look, then discreetly nodded at Rainbow, who took the cue.

‘’Listen up!’’ she barked at the group as she stepped forward. To their credit, none of them were taken off-guard. ‘’You’ve got one duty: protect these two,’’ she pointed at Rarity and Flurry, ‘’from anything that’s stupid enough to try and harm them. Now, if something gets past you that means I have to deal with it. You don’t want that, because that means I’ll kick your flank too after I’ve finished kicking the flank of whatever got past you. Got that?’’

‘’Yes sir!’’ the guards, with the exception of the captain, all said.

‘’Good.’’ Rainbow gave Captain Darkheart a salute that he returned, then turned back to Rarity. ‘’Done.’’

‘’Inspiring, darling,’’ Rarity replied with a wink. ‘’Let us go then. We’ve a train to catch.’’

Crystal City had one train station, located on the edge of the city, both because there was not enough space further in the city and because it was easier to connect to the Crystal Stadium for the 1003 Equestria Games. That did mean it was quite a distance away from the Crystal Palace, however.

Rarity, of course, had arranged something for that. One quick car ride later, they were in front of the Crystal City Station, which was one of the largest train stations Rainbow had ever seen, almost as large as Manehattan’s or Canterlot’s.

‘’You locked down the station for this?’’ Rainbow teasingly asked Rarity.

‘’Only for half an hour,’’ Rarity rebutted. ‘’And nobody takes the train at this hour anyway. This isn’t Manehattan.’’

That was very true.

The station was, except for its size, not actually that different from any other train station Rainbow had ever visited. All the important bits were still there and recognisable; the rest didn’t matter. Rarity would probably vocally disagree if she voiced that thought aloud, so she didn’t.

‘’Flurry!’’

Her four friends, it appeared, had gotten there before them. They were accompanied by their parents, who each looked just as Rainbow had expected them to look, and were not really worthy of note.

‘’Guys!’’ Flurry rushed forward towards them. ‘’You’re here!’’

As the foals started to speak with each other, Rainbow approached the train. It didn’t look too different from any other train Rainbow had ever been on, except for the curtains all being closed.

‘’Darling, don’t take too long!’’ Rarity called out after a few minutes, after loading her and Rainbow’s saddlebags into it. ‘’We’ve got to go!’’

‘’Okay, auntie!’’ Flurry called back. ‘’Goodbye, guys!’’ Rainbow heard her say.

It was absolutely adorable to see the five foals give each other a group hug, before slowly but surely separating. Flurry walked over to Rarity and then got on the train after throwing a final look at her friends.

‘’Come on, let’s go,’’ Rarity said after a moment.

‘’Goodbye, Flurry!’’ Flurry’s friends all waved at her, and the other filly waved back.

The train was, all in all, not much different from a normal train, that much was evident to Rainbow as soon as she entered. Cabins on one side and the corridor on the other. Those cabins dominated most of the carriages, and a peek inside one of them revealed they were quite spacious. Certainly big enough to comfortably sleep in for some nights.

The train started moving a few seconds later, giving a shrill whistle that Rainbow could have done without, if she was frank. She made her way back to the others to see Rarity and Flurry were waving out the window.

Once they had left the station, the two stopped waving. ‘’So, time for bed, I think,’’ Rarity said with a smile.

Half an hour later, Flurry had been put to bed, and Rainbow could finally have the talk she’d been promised. The table the four of them were sitting at was very comfortable, she had to say.

‘’So.’’ Rainbow put her hoof on the table. ‘’Talk.’’

Rarity and Lily exchanged looks, while Sugar just looked away. That was not good.

‘’Darling?’’

‘’I…’’ Lily hesitated. ‘’I’ll just show you.’’

Show-

The pegasus burned away to reveal a changeling.

In an instant, Rainbow had leapt over the table into the changeling.

Or, that had been the idea. Instead, she was suspended in Rarity’s magic, hanging above the table.

‘’Rarity, let me go!’’ Rainbow shouted. ‘’They’re changelings!’’

‘’Rainbow!’’ Rarity snapped. ‘’Lilac and…’’

‘’Ocellus,’’ Sugar Petal said, before she revealed herself to be a changeling too. Of course she did. Rainbow was going to launch them both out of the fucking window.

‘’Lilac and Ocellus,’’ Rarity continued, ‘’are friends. They are refugees, and they are anything but supporters of Chrysalis.’’

‘’Like Tartarus they are! They’re changelings!’’

‘’Rainbow!’’

‘’What?!’’

‘’I’m not letting you down unless you’re willing to listen to Lilac’s story,’’ Rarity said sternly. She took a deep breath. ‘’And then, once we’re done with that, I’d like to ask you something else.’’

Rainbow stared at Rarity, who had definitely gone insane. Still, she couldn’t contain her curiosity. ‘’What?’’

‘’Well…’’ Rarity hesitated, and blushed a little.

She wouldn’t.

‘’I would like to ask if you’d like to go on a date tomorrow evening, after dinner.’’

Author's Notes:

We are done with December 11th! Alicorns be praised!

Now, Ch 21 will be out eventually. I wrote the majority (as in, ~1900 of the 2200 words) in the past two hours, which the lads over on the EaW Discord can attest to, and I am never doing that again. Gods.

Go read this: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/504874/a-perfectly-normal-day-in-ponyville and this: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/966869/schedule-and-plans-for-the-rest-of-the-year

And have a nice day/night!

Chapter 21: Pay-Off 1

12 December 1008

Shrouded was not necessarily happy about his posting. But it could be worse.

Currently, his assignment was patrolling the front carriages of the train. At the current time of day, he would not appreciate that; he still didn’t, but the cup of warm coffee made up for a lot.

To his right was a small strip of land and then a big river, which they had headed north past for some hours now, if Shrouded has his geography right. The Rainbow River was one of the Empire’s bigger rivers, and flowed down from the mountains into the western part of the Empire, before continuing into Stalliongrad and towards the sea.

The river certainly looked big, and they hadn’t changed direction in some time, so all signs pointed to this being the right river.

A glance at the clock told Shrouded it was almost seven. Moon, but even with this coffee he felt tired. Still, he resumed his watch, stepping out of the carriage onto the small balcony-like platform that connected the front carriage with the one he was in. Because it needed to be patrolled too, he spread his wings and flew up to the roof of the train, making sure to steady himself before touching down again.

Thank Moon for enchanted horseshoes.

The sun was, of course, not yet up at this time. Shrouded, being a thestral, wasn’t especially bothered by this; like most of his kind, he preferred the night to the day, and his vision was not obscured by the darkness like that of other creatures was.

Thus, he was able to see Rainbow Falls the moment it came into view in its full glory, though there were enough lights lit in the city that a pony of another tribe would have been able to discern much the same as Shrouded could from this distance.

In front of him rose up a cliffside, some one hundred metres high if he had to eyeball it. The river to his right obviously flowed down from it, if the massive rainbow-coloured waterfalls falling down from the cliffs were any indication.

On its own, it was an impressive sight.

But there was more, which made it all the more intriguing to watch. An entire cloud city constructed around the many waterfalls - Shrouded counted three big ones and seven smaller ones, and probably countless more that were too small to be viewed from here - with, from the looks of it, seven layers reaching from the riverside at the bottom of the cliff to the top of the falls, with a tower rising above the upper level, its roof almost touching the actual clouds, though that was more likely than not a trick of the distance.

As the train came ever closer and closer to Rainbow Falls, more details became clear. Thousands of little lights from houses and other buildings cut through the darkness of the early morning, illuminating the cliffside they were built against. The buildings, from what Shrouded could tell from this distance, looked to be built in a style that seemed to mix Crystallian and traditional pegasi architecture, the latter of which Shrouded was quite familiar with, having been trained in the Lightning Bolt Academy for Pegasi in Stratusburg.

The lowest level looked more industrial; there were several factories to be seen, with chimneys also made of clouds - one of the wonders of Pegasi magic - from which more clouds - of smoke, not of water and ice - rose up into the sky, cleverly diverted away from the levels above them by something Shrouded couldn’t see yet. Maybe it was a device of some kind, or maybe there were pegasi managing it.

The levels above that already began to look more residential: the buildings looked smaller, though it was hard to say for certain when everything was white and so far away yet, but Shrouded could definitely see more lights there, and the silhouettes of pegasi too. The second level could have been a mix of industry and houses, but the third and fourth were definitely primarily meant for houses, with apartments clearly visible.

The fifth level looked to be filled with the least amount of buildings, and instead Shrouded saw vague shapes that might be statues, as well as some large and stately buildings - museums? - and some buildings that were definitely mansions for the rich.

The sixth level, then, was the most interesting so far. It, unlike the others, looked very martial. Instead of the rough edges - if there were railings or anything similar, which Shrouded doubted, they weren’t visible from here - there were clearly defences on the sixth level. Battlements and towers, whose roofs almost touched the seventh level, at least the parts of it that were cloud-based, and from whose peaks hung banners, a rainbow ending in a white horizontal stripe.

Shrouded snorted. Very inventive.

The seventh and upper-most level of the city was located at the top of the cliff, and probably extended some way back, but that was not visible from Shrouded’s position, of course.

What was clearly visible was perhaps the city’s most eye-catching thing after the waterfalls it took its name from: a tall tower, perhaps one-third as high as the cliff it was built on (or next to, Shrouded couldn’t see from this angle), also made of clouds by the looks of it. It wasn’t nearly as large as the Crystal Palace, but it could certainly pass for one of its lesser towers, if it had been covered in snow. Like the level underneath it, the seventh level also looked like it had battlements and towers, but unlike the sixth level there was a wall these stood on.

Of course, it’s connected to the ground up there, so they’d want a wall.

All in all, it was one of the most impressive cities Shrouded had ever seen. Ayacachtli covered more space still, and it would always be the most dear city to Shrouded’s heart, but Rainbow Falls looked like how a pegasus would have built Ayacachtli, how it straddled the cliffside and waterfalls, so much like the cavern-homes of Shrouded’s youth.

And, he’d read that there were actually some caverns in the cliffside, the most important of which were the massive stairs that led from the top of the cliff to the bottom, allowing non-fliers to access all the parts of the city, something Ayacachtli lacked, seeing as there was no need to build bridges or stairs in a city used almost exclusively by thestrals.

Rainbow Falls wasn’t, or if it was, was at least designed with the expectation that non-fliers would be visiting constantly. Ayacachtli wasn’t.

How that reflected on either city, Shrouded didn’t bother to spend much time thinking about. He had more important duties than looking at the city until they arrived there.

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

I hate alcohol.

Of course, that she rarely got drunk - and had only legally been able to do so for seven months - did nothing to help either.

With a groan, Sweetie Belle finally opened her eyes. There was something lying on top of her.

Correction, someone.

‘’Morning, Sweetie.’’

‘’Scootaloo,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’Why are you on top of me?’’

Scootaloo gave her a stupid grin that hadn’t changed a bit in all those years Sweetie had known her. ‘’Well, you were drunk last night,’’ she began.

‘’I’ve noticed,’’ Sweetie muttered under her breath.

Scootaloo continued as if Sweetie hadn’t said anything. ‘’And it was getting late - or early, technically - and so AB and I decided to get you to your bedroom.’’

Sweetie’d had a suspicion that was where she was, but she hadn’t bothered to confirm it yet. Now it had been confirmed for her. ‘’And just what happened then?’’

Scootaloo shrugged. ‘’I dunno. We were both drunk too, so I think I fell asleep on top of you.’’

‘’And Applebloom?’’

‘’Next to you,’’ Scootaloo said with a smirk.

Sweetie turned her head sidewards and sure enough, Applebloom was draped on the other edge of the bed, with one half of her body already bungling out of the bed, snoring very softly. ‘’Ah.’’

Scootaloo shifted. ‘’Want me to get off?’’

Sweetie, despite her hangover, managed to raise an eyebrow at her.

Scootaloo, after a few seconds, began to chuckle. ‘’Alright, so I could have worded that better.’’

‘’Yes, you could have,’’ Sweetie agreed.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, then rolled off Sweetie, which allowed her to turn and stand up. Sun, but she felt terrible.

‘’I am never ever drinking with you two again,’’ Sweetie curtly informed Scootaloo.

‘’Sure you aren’t.’’ The pegasus had the gall to smirk after saying that.

Sweetie summoned up her pillow with her telekinesis and threw it at Scootaloo. At least, that was the idea; instead, the pillow wonkily shot past Scootaloo and hit the door, which actually made a slight yet noticeable noise at the impact.

‘’Really?’’ Scootaloo asked. ‘’Really.’’

‘’Really,’’ Sweetie deadpanned.

‘’Urggh…’’ Applebloom groaned.

Sweetie turned around to see Applebloom raising her head, one eye half-open and the other still closed. ‘’Good morning, Applebloom.’’

‘’Consarnit Sweetie, not that loud,’’ Applebloom said as she brought her hoof up to rub at her forehead. ‘’Ah’ve got a headache from here to Coltfoalnia.’’

‘’Sorry,’’ Sweetie apologized with a softer tone.

‘’It’s alright.’’

Then why did you- never mind.

Sweetie shook her head in a vain attempt to clear away her headache. ‘’Breakfast?’’ she suggested after a few moments of silence.

‘’Good idea,’’ Scootaloo remarked. ‘’I’m starving.’’

Applebloom made a noise that could charitably be interpreted as agreement, and so the three of them made their way downstairs.

Pinkie must’ve cleaned up after we went to bed.

There was no sign of yesterday evening’s celebrations to be seen in the living room, which would be quite impressive if Pinkie hadn’t been the one who organized the party. Since she had, Sweetie wasn’t in the least surprised by this.

‘’I don’t have much,’’ she admitted as they entered the kitchen, ‘’but I can make some eggs, if you want. Does that sound good?’’

‘’You’re cooking?’’ Scootaloo asked. ‘’Are you sure that’s a good idea?’’

Sweetie snorted derisively as she got the eggs out of the fridge. ‘’I took lessons with my mum.’’

Rarity had never had the time to teach her to cook, which Mum had been very disappointed by. The first week after she’d arrived in Hoof City, Sweetie had been forced into having a crash course in cooking for herself, and when someone actually was there to help her to do it, it went surprisingly well.

She’d never be a master chef, of course, but she could cook well enough to save her own life, and that was what mattered for now.

‘’Eggs sound nice,’’ Applebloom answered Sweetie’s question. ‘’Dunno what kinda drinks ya’ve got, but Ah’d like a juice.’’

‘’Yeah, I’ve got orange and apple juice.’’

‘’Apple juice, then.’’

I shouldn’t have bothered.

‘’Gimme a glass of that too,’’ Scootaloo said as Sweetie poured two glasses of apple juice, then obliged Scootaloo’s request and filled a third glass with it too, before passing two glasses to her two friends and keeping one for herself.

‘’Ah’ll set the table,’’ Applebloom offered after she’d taken a swig of the juice.

‘’Thanks,’’ Sweetie said with a smile.

‘’I’ll just stand here and watch,’’ Scootaloo quipped dryly, which earned her a slightly cross look from Applebloom.

Sweetie didn’t mind. As long as Scootaloo wasn’t getting in the way or distracting her from cooking, she could do what she liked in the kitchen.

Right. Fill the pan with water, make sure the eggs have a little hole in them, then put them in the water.

Sweetie’d found that mentally repeating the steps to herself as she cooked made it easier to remember what she was supposed to do. In hindsight that seemed rather obvious, but she’d never really thought about it before.

‘’So, how about that Twinkle?’’

For the love of-

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

‘’My lady, we’ve almost arrived at the city.’’

Rarity didn’t bother to open her eyes as she replied: ‘’I shall be up momentarily. Thank you.’’

‘’Of course, my lady,’’ the voice of the servant said through the door. ‘’The Princess and Commander Rainbow are already awake.’’

Of course they were.

Rarity had slept well enough, but only for a few hours. They’d stayed up late last night - perhaps it had even been today already, she couldn’t recall with any certainty - and afterwards Rarity had probably lain awake in bed for an hour or so, churning over the events of the past days in her head.

But that could all wait for later. Right now she had to prepare for their imminent arrival in Rainbow Falls.

She got out of bed, fixed her appearance as best she could in a few minutes’ time, then left her room and made her way through the train towards the carriage built for eating.

Rainbow and Flurry were sitting in one of the booths together, their breakfast before them. Flurry wasn’t eating it, though, and instead looking out the window.

‘’Good morning, darlings,’’ Rarity greeted as she sat down on the other side of the booth. ‘’Did you sleep well?’’

‘’Hi auntie!’’ Flurry chirped brightly. ‘’I had a nice sleep! How about you?’’

‘’I slept well enough,’’ Rarity replied, before turning towards the waiter. ‘’I’d like some toast bread with orange juice and an omelette, please.’’

‘’Coming right up, my lady.’’ And with that, the waiter retreated.

‘’So,’’ Rarity restarted the conversation as she turned back to Rainbow and Flurry, the former of which was steadfastly avoiding looking at her more than was strictly necessary, ‘’Flurry, are you excited for Rainbow Falls?’’

‘’Yeah I am!’’ Flurry replied excitedly. ‘’It’s gonna be so cool!’’

‘’Definitely,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’I cannot wait.’’

‘’Neither can I,’’ Rainbow remarked. ‘’How long left again?’’

‘’I’ve no idea,’’ Rarity replied truthfully. ‘’I think an hour?’’

‘’Less,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’I hope.’’

‘’We’ll see.’’

Author's Notes:

Here's the first chapter of the 12th! Hopefully I won't spend another 19K on one day, that'd be excessive.

The first part is rather wordy, I'll admit, but I wanted to get the description right. I do hope I did.

Leave a comment and like if you enjoyed it, and have a nice day/night.

Chapter 22: Pay-Off 2

12 December 1008

Once breakfast was eaten, Rarity took a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth and help Flurry do the same, then they and Rainbow went back to the booth to watch.

Rainbow Falls was certainly impressive to see, and only got progressively more so as they came closer and closer to the city.

Flurry had all-but-pressed her nose against the window, eyes wide. ‘’It’s so pretty!’’

‘’It is,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’I’ve never seen anything like it.’’

It looked very much like a pegasus-Canterlot, to Rarity. The buildings were primarily made of clouds, though she saw several foundations of similarly-white stone as well, and of course the roads and such were paved.

There was a great crowd gathered on both sides of the train, mainly consisting of crystal pegasi, who were all waving and cheering as they passed. A few of them were waving flags, both of Rainbow Falls and of the Crystal Empire. Rarity even spotted one or two flags of the Lunar Empire.

‘’Wave back, Flurry,’’ Rarity instructed softly, before following her own advice and properly waving. Rainbow’s wave was a little more show-like than was proper, but that could be excused as a remnant from her Wonderbolt tours. In any case, it was not a problem.

‘’Okay auntie!’’ Flurry chirped, before waving back excitedly at the ponies.

The train noticeably slowed down as it came closer and closer to the station, which wasn’t really visible from Rarity’s angle, sadly. It seemed she would have to wait just a little longer.

‘’Are you ready, Flurry?’’ she asked to occupy the time. ‘’It’s going to be very busy once we get off the train. There will be a great many ponies waiting for us, and we’ll have to speak to some of them.’’

‘’Like the Mayor, right?’’

‘’Indeed,’’ Rarity confirmed. ‘’She will probably be the first person we speak to. Now, aside from introducing yourself, you won’t have to say much, but remember to answer any questions you’re asked in a polite manner. If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine too, just say so. And make sure you stick close to me or Rainbow at all times. Can you do that, sweetheart?’’

Flurry looked up at Rarity and nodded very seriously. ‘’Okay auntie, I’ll do that.’’

Rarity smiled, then leaned in and nuzzled Flurry. ‘’Thank you, Flurry.’’

Just then, the crowds disappeared as walls loomed up; they’d, apparently, entered the station.

‘’Ready?’’ Rarity asked Rainbow.

Rainbow huffed dismissively. ‘’Always,’’ she boasted.

Rarity nodded, just as the train came to a halt. ‘’Let us go, then.’’

Unlike a normal train, this one had few places to disembark from. The frontmost exit had been picked as their standard disembarking point, and as such Captain Darkheart and his soldiers were already present both outside and inside that part of the train.

‘’Your Highness, my lady, Commander,’’ he saluted them all. ‘’The area is safe, and we have found no security issues.’’

‘’Well done, Commander,’’ Rarity complimented. ‘’Then we shall disembark and see what awaits us, no?’’

‘’Indeed. But, there is one more thing, ma’am,’’ Darkheart said. ‘’I have picked two of my finest as a personal escort for the Princess. I felt it was prudent she be as safe as possible.’’

Well.

‘’I appreciate the initiative, Captain,’’ Rarity said after a moment. ‘’Which two of your soldiers will be guarding her?’’

‘’Sergeants Shrouded Night and Misty Skies will be performing that job,’’ Darkheart replied. ‘’They are two of my best. I do not think anyone will try to harm the Princess, but should such a thing happen, she will be safe regardless.’’

‘’Thank you,’’ Rarity said honestly. ‘’It is a relief.’’ She looked down at Flurry. ‘’Did you hear that, Flurry? You’re going to have two ponies make sure you’re safe.’’

Alright, I could have worded that better.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and Darkheart’s face smoothed out into serenity. Flurry just looked up at Rarity and smiled brightly. ‘’Okay, auntie!’’

‘’Sir,’’ two voices said at roughly the same time; two thestrals, one mare and one stallion stepped forward and saluted.

‘’These are Sergeants Shrouded Night and Misty Skies,’’ Darkheart said. ‘’As I said, they are the finest we have.’’

Flurry, out of the three of them, was the first to react. ‘’They look nice.’’

Rainbow was the second to speak. ‘’I tossed you around, didn’t I?’’

‘’Yes ma’am,’’ the stallion - Shrouded Night - answered.

‘’Well, you did recover the best after your captain, so I guess you’ll do,’’ Rainbow declared. ‘’And you,’’ she pointed at the mare - Misty Skies - ‘’you are the one who rounded them up for me, aren’t you?’’

‘’I was, ma’am,’’ the mare acknowledged.

‘’Good.’’

With that said and done, the group turned towards the doors, which were opened a moment later.

And Rainbow Falls Station unfolded itself before them.

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

Administrative work was the bane of Nightmare’s existence. She could safely admit that much to the silence of her own mind.

She tore her eyes away from the mind numbingly boring document in front of her and looked around her office for something to occupy her mind with instead. It didn’t matter how important this might be, she would actually go insane if she kept on working without a break.

The first thing in the office that caught her eye was the map of Equus she had mounted on the wall facing the windows, directly in front of her. It showed major highways and railways, rivers, national and regional borders, as well as important locations and cities, and the terrain of the continent.

The map was less detailed outside of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, but for now that mattered little. When the Lunar Empire had pacified those regions, they would be mapped in full and the map would be completed.

Before expansion outside of Equestria could be started, of course, Nightmare needed to consolidate Equestria. The majority of the land was part of the Lunar Empire and had been mostly rid of organized resistance, with a few exceptions. The South-East of Equestria, though officially completely under control of her Tzinacatl Army, was still a hot-bed of native, socialist and Celestial resistance. And of course, the occupation of the Spa Islands by the Dragon Isles could not be forgiven or forgotten.

Next to this region was the so-called ‘Confederacy of Southern States’. While it claimed to be a republic acting with the will of the people, Nightmare knew from IIS reports that the big corporations ran the nation as their personal playground. Their fooling around with the lives and livelihoods of ponies would most likely take years to properly fix.

Two more breakaway states - or rather, statelets - existed. Las Pegasus and Vanhoover had both fallen to a socialist revolution, Vanhoover from the start, Las Pegasus a few months after its independence. Individually or together, they posed no threat, and the Lunar Imperial Army could occupy them without much effort.

If not for one thing. Stalliongrad, evidently not satisfied with the lands in the north it had already taken, had stated clearly, though not in so many words, that any attack on Las Pegasus or Vanhoover would be met with war.

Nightmare hated waiting; she wanted to march north at the head of her armies and personally destroy the Stalliongradians. But alas, while she had the numerical superiority on paper, the fact of the matter was that a war was impossible until she could pull the necessary troops for it from the Tzinacatl Army, and that would take some time yet even with the most optimistic estimates.

But come summer, Nightmare’s empire would be ready for war again. And with any luck, the Crystal Empire too.

It was, after New Mareland, the least war-ravaged part of her domain; the campaign to Crystal City had wrecked destruction, but only in a relatively small part of the nation, and that damage had already been restored. Unlike many Equestrian ponies, the Crystallians were eager to help their new government, and by and large they were cooperating peacefully with the Lunar occupation, with no large protests, riots or resistance groups that Nightmare knew of.

She looked at one part of the map in specific: Rainbow Falls. Currently, Rarity and Flurry were there, unless something had gone terribly wrong, but that did not bear thinking about.

They’re safe. They’ve got a Shadowbolt and Night Guards protecting them, and Rarity is no slouch when it comes to it.

Nightmare looked back at the document she was supposed to be working on. She quickly skimmed through it, then signed it. Despite her personal opinions, there was no longer such a pressing need for guns as there had been at the height of the war, and so production could be scaled back slightly, which would allow consumer products to be produced again, on a very limited scale.

Now, what is next?

A letter from Captain-Marshal Barrel Roll, it appeared. Those were always a pleasure to read. Barrel Roll had been one of the few high-ranked Royal Guards that had defected to her during the Civil War, but he had admitted to her in private that he did it not out of any special love or deference for her, but rather out of the sense that Celestia could not adequately provide protection for Equestria and its citizens.

Nightmare had, of course, agreed with him, before making him one of the few non-thestrals in the Night Guard. Now he was a Captain-Marshal, equivalent to any of the generals who were counted among the Imperial Chiefs of Staff, and led the Night Guard’s operations on the West Coast.

That meant he made regular reports to her, and those were always full of snark and commentary. As such, this one would likely be filled with the same, even if his report wasn’t supposed to arrive until the day after tomorrow.

With a touch of telekinesis, she opened the letter and unfolded it.

From: Captain-Marshal Barrel Roll

To: Her Imperial Majesty Nightmare Moon

Subject: Recommendation for medal

Your Imperial Majesty,

It is, once again, my pleasure to write to you. I am sure you are wondering why I am writing to you outside of my scheduled report. The reason for that is simple: you see, most recently I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting and serving with one Private Minty Smith, of the Lunar Guard Prancisco Garrison. Having thus met her and seen her in action, I would recommend she be awarded the Medal of Exemplary Bravery.

Of course, such an honour is not given lightly. I am certain you wish for a suitable explanation as to exactly why Private Smith is befitting of such a privilege as bearing the Medal of Exemplary Bravery. Well, allow me to explain.

I first met the Private while myself and two of the Night Guard were tagging along with their patrol through the southern suburbs, near the docks. The patrol proceeded smoothly, of course; few would dare to assault a platoon of Lunar Guard backed up by three of Her Majesty’s Night Guard.

Or so you would think.

Out of nowhere came a dozen earth ponies with shovels and other such tools, plus another dozen pegasi and five unicorns, also equipped with tools. It was an ambush, but not a very well-set one; they had us surrounded but their hiding places were too far from us: only a few were close enough to harm us, and they failed to do that.

We shot seven dead and injured eight, then incarcerated the rest with the aid of another platoon that had heard the shooting and had come to our aid.

During this short scuffle - I wouldn’t call it a fight - Private Smith, while ducking to avoid the swing of a hoe, caught a bullet in her left foreleg; someone, one of the unicorns we discovered afterwards, had someone gotten possession of a hoofgun and had tried to shoot the Private in the head. Fortunately the shot missed, but the bullet had to be removed, of course.

And this is where it gets impressive. You see, not a day after this incident, Private Smith was walking on the docks around ten o’clock in the evening, off-duty of course. However, she heard shouting, and so went to investigate, as befitting a good soldier.

What she found was a horror in the making. A minotaur and a griffon had cornered three young foals who had evidently forgotten the time while playing outside, and were beating them up for reasons we have not gotten from them.

Private Smith did her civil duty, despite her injury, and immediately jumped to the foals’ rescue. Against a minotaur and a griffon, both quite bulky and large for their kind. Not a fair fight, obviously.

Yet still Private Smith had the courage to step in. The resulting fight lasted a few minutes, and ended with a crushed rib cage for the minotaur and two broken claws for the griffon. Meanwhile, Private Smith lost a tooth and gained a black eye, as well as some claw marks that’ll probably scar.

But the foals remained unharmed.

I am certain you can draw your own conclusions from this.

Yours honourably,

Captain-Marshal Barrel Roll.

Well.

Nightmare pulled a blank piece of paper out of her desk. It seemed she needed to start drafting a letter.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to ShiningBeacon and The Great Scribbly One for allowing to me use their OCs, Barrel Roll and Minty Smith, for a cameo! Be sure to check their fics out too, they're great!

As always, comments are appreciated!

Chapter 23: Pay-Off 3

12 December 1008

The Rainbow Falls Station closely resembled the Crystal City Station, though built with the same materials as the rest of the city and some small touches that set it apart from its larger brother in Crystal City.

Waiting a few metres away from the train was a white crystal pegasus mare, with a bright red and golden mane that was done in a neat bun not unlike Rarity’s own. She wore an elegant dark blue suit, which both obscured her cutie mark and brought out her light blue eyes somewhat more.

‘’Your Highness.’’ She curtsied towards Flurry. ‘’My lady, Commander. It is my greatest pleasure to receive you here. I am Snowberry Branch, the Mayor of Rainbow Falls. On behalf of the city, welcome.’’

‘’It is our pleasure to be here, Mayor Branch,’’ Rarity returned the greeting.

‘’I do hope your trip was pleasant,’’ Mayor Branch said. ‘’As requested, our finest accommodations have been prepared for you. The Sheer Cliff Hotel is ready to receive you as their honoured guests.’’

Now that sounds like a pegasi hotel if I’ve ever heard of one.

‘’Very good, very good,’’ Rarity remarked. ‘’I’m certain we shall enjoy our stay in Rainbow Falls.’’

‘’I am certain of that too,’’ Mayor Branch agreed. ‘’Please, if you’ll follow me.’’

‘’Of course.’’

The station, it seemed, was empty except for them, which seemed like an unnecessary disruption. I should ensure this does not happen in other cities.

‘’Pardon me,’’ Rarity said, ‘’but is the station closed?’’

‘’It is, ma’am,’’ Mayor Branch confirmed. ‘’Not as much trouble as one might expect, though. This is the final station of the East Crystal Line, and from what I’ve understood the delay caused by this is minor.’’

Well, that makes things better.

Rarity nodded. ‘’I see. Still, I don’t think it was needed. After all, we are only here for a few minutes.’’

‘’Better safe than sorry, Rares,’’ Rainbow said before Mayor Branch could reply.

‘’I suppose,’’ Rarity agreed, and dropped the issue. Things between Rainbow and herself were already tense enough; no need to throw more oil on that particular fire.

‘’I am afraid there is quite the crowd gathered outside,’’ Mayor Branch informed them. ‘’Of course, they won’t get in the way of the cars, but I thought it prudent to say so anyway.’’

‘’I am grateful for the warning,’’ Rarity replied.

The doors were pulled open by two of the Night Guard, and the square in front of the station was revealed to those inside.

Immediately, they were greeted by a wave of noise. There was a massive crowd gathered outside the station, separated from the road by fences and police officers. Down the square, two cars were waiting.

‘’Ma’am,’’ Mayor Branch pointed at the front car, ‘’that one is for you.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Rarity agreed, and they quickly bridged the distance between them and the cars. A look ensured Rainbow didn’t do anything too egregious, and Flurry stayed close to Rarity, just as they’d agreed upon.

A porter held the door open, and Rarity went in first, followed by Flurry and then Rainbow. Then the door closed, and a few seconds later the car started.

At that moment, Rarity realised she had no idea where the Sheer Cliff Hotel actually was. Terrific.

She resolved to ask the driver. ‘’Excuse me, miss? Could you tell us where exactly the Sheer Cliff Hotel is, please?’’

‘’It is on the fifth level, ma’am,’’ the driver answered without taking her eyes off the road. ‘’Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes until we’re there.’’

‘’Thank you.’’

That done, Rarity settled into the most comfortable position she could achieve while still appearing proper and dignified, and then looked out the window.

The crowds had thinned out a little once they’d moved out of the square in front of the train station, but there were still a great many ponies on both sides of the road, cheering and waving. Rarity made sure to wave back, of course.

One quick drive up the cliffside to the fifth level, through the tunnels inside the cliff, and a quick check-in procedure later, the three of them had arrived at the rooms they’d be using.

The Sheer Cliff Hotel was impressive, certainly, but it was not as great as the Crystal Palace. The best part about it was the view, and that was all Rarity had to say about it; it was just like any other five-star hotel she’d ever stayed in.

‘’I like it here,’’ Flurry declared as she jumped onto the bed. ‘’It’s different from the Palace.’’

That, Rarity couldn’t deny. ‘’It is,’’ she agreed.

‘’I’m gonna go for a fly-’’ Rainbow began.

‘’We have business first,’’ Rarity cut in, just as she heard the door open.

‘’Ma’am,’’ Mayor Branch said, ‘’is the room to your liking?’’

‘’Very much so,’’ Rarity replied with a nod. ‘’Now, Mayor Branch, I assume you have some plans for today - and tomorrow, at that?’’

‘’I have taken the liberty of doing so, yes,’’ Mayor Branch confirmed. ‘’May I?’’

‘’By all means.’’

The pegasus cleared her throat, then began. ‘’So, Rainbow Falls has a few major attractions, aside from the Falls themselves, of course. We have one of the best, if not the best, spas in the entirety of the Crystal Empire, which I know from personal experience to be some of the most relaxing hours one can have. Then, we have the Spear Point Tower, named after the mayor who ordered its construction. You have most likely seen it as you approached the city.

Of course, there is the Rainburg, the fortress on the sixth and seventh level. It is still used by the military, though it has only been attacked a few times in its history, and currently it is also partially open to the public. Finally, there are the tunnels through the cliffside, and the caverns further inside. Those are very beautiful, with crystals in all colours and many rivers and smaller waterfalls.’’

‘’Most interesting,’’ Rarity replied after a moment of thought. ‘’Is there any particular order in which we can visit these places?”

‘’There is not, ma’am,’’ was Mayor Branch’s answer. ‘’You can visit them in whatever order you please.’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’Very good. We will discuss what we want to do, and then we shall tell you what the plan is.’’

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

Sunset had descended on the shooting range with all the fury she could manage. The resulting storm of magic had torn apart most of the range, and Sunset would eventually have to apologise for that to someone, probably.

For now, she was content to lay on a bench in one of Manehattan’s parks, watching ponies pass by without a care in the world.

She’d gotten a dandelion sandwich and a coffee from a cafe on the way to the park. Currently, the sandwich was half-finished, and the coffee she’d taken only small sips of; it was very good, and so she was drinking it slowly to enjoy the taste that much more.

Manehattan, to Sunset, was an intriguing place. Far more bustling than Canterlot, and Buckcastle was a hovel compared to the Big Apple.

She wasn’t sure she liked it.

She tore her thoughts away from such things and focused on watching other people again. There were all kinds of ponies, of course, but she also saw a couple of hippogriffs, a deer family and even a horse.

‘’Oh, it’s so wonderfully chaotic, don’t you think?’’

What in the sweet name of- Sunset’s head snapped to her right, where she saw a creature straight out of Celestia’s garden.

‘’Discord,’’ she greeted simply.

‘’Sunset Shimmer,’’ he returned her greeting.

Now why is the Lord of Chaos here?

‘’Don’t mind me,’’ Discord said, ‘’I’m just here to admire the view. As I said, this is a piece of organised chaos.’’

Sunset couldn’t help herself. ‘’I don’t see much chaos,’’ she observed.

‘’Because you’re used to it,’’ Discord answered. ‘’Think about it. There are creatures of every race, every culture, every profession, living so very close to each other. By all logic, this should be a battlefield of incompatible ideas.’’

He twisted himself around the bench, then rested his head on his own tail. Somehow. Sunset didn’t want to know how.

‘’But it’s not,’’ the draconequus continued. ‘’Because of you ponies.’’

Sunset blinked. ‘’I don’t follow.’’

‘’You ponies and your Harmony and Friendship,’’ Discord explained. ‘’It’s what keeps your nation running. But it’s a form of chaos too, and I never really appreciated that until recently.’’ He smiled wistfully.

‘’I see.’’ She definitely didn’t, but that wasn’t a problem.

‘’Anyhow.’’ Discord untangled himself from the couch, and looked at Sunset. ‘’What are you doing here?’’

‘’I am relaxing.’’

‘’Wrong.’’

Sunset raised an eyebrow. ‘’Elaborate, please.’’

‘’Well, you’re not relaxed,’’ Discord stated. ‘’And I’m wondering why.’’

‘’I’m relaxed,’’ Sunset argued, ‘’and even if I wasn’t, that’s none of your business.’’

‘’Maybe not,’’ Discord agreed, ‘’but I’m curious anyway. So talk.’’

‘’No.’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’No.’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’I’m not arguing about this,’’ Sunset declared, before jumping off the bench.

‘’It’s not an argument,’’ Discord argued. ‘’You’re wrong, I’m right; that’s fact, not opinion. You cannot argue against facts.’’

Sunset said the first thing that came to mind. ‘’Stop making sense.’’

Discord gasped. ‘’Make sense?! Me? How dare you!’’

Uh oh.

Discord rose to his full height, which was quite a bit taller than Sunset had ever been, looming over her menacingly. ‘’Say that again.’’

Sunset took one look at him, then grabbed her coffee and sandwich with her telekinesis and teleported away.

Author's Notes:

My apologies that it took so long for this chapter to be released. I will try to be quicker next time.

Also, I know this one is a little shorter than usual. I know it seems strange that I took so long to write a new chapter only for it to turn out shorter than usual, but here we are.

Chapter 24: Pay-Off 4

12 December 1008

They had decided to head to the Spear Point Tower first, and then visit the Rainburg, before ending their day with a visit to the spa. All in all, it promised to be a busy but interesting day.

So, a quick trip in the car later, they stood at the entrance to the Tower. The Tower was surrounded by a courtyard of grass, through which ponies would probably walk on a normal day. As it stood, the Lunar Guard had closed off the Tower and its courtyard, for security reasons.

Rarity wouldn’t have minded if other ponies had been in the Tower together with them, but there were security concerns, so Captain Darkheart had insisted.

Rarity could have overruled him, of course, but there was something to be said for a little peace and quiet. Still, they couldn’t very well spend the entire tour away from the public; that would defeat the entire point of the tour in the first place.

So, the Spear Point Tower it was. They were a group of seven in total: Rainbow, Flurry, the two Sergeants Captain Darkheart had assigned them, two extra guards, and finally Rarity herself.

Flurry was looking up at the tower, head bent back. ‘’It’s tall,’’ she declared after a moment. ‘’Are we going all the way to the top?’’

‘’I don’t know, darling. It will depend on how we feel, I suppose.’’

‘’Okay.’’

Just then, the door opened and a young pegasus mare stepped out. ‘’Good morning, my ladies and gentlecolts!’’ she greeted excitedly. ‘’My name is Cloud Gem, and I’m one of the guides in the Spear Point Tower! Come on in, I’ll show you around, unless you want to walk through the gardens first, of course.’’

Well, she’s certainly invested in her work.

‘’Thank you,’’ Rarity said. ‘’It is our pleasure to be here, Miss Gem. I think we’ll start with the tour of the interior first.’’

‘’As you wish, ma’am! Please, follow me.’’

The Tower was just as white on the inside as on the outside. Everything was made of the same white stone, with barely any variation in colour. The only parts of the building that were not white were the chandeliers, and even they were made of polished metal, shining in the light they cast.

‘’The Spear Point Tower is one of the newer large buildings in Rainbow Falls,’’ Cloud Gem explained as they walked. ‘’It was built by Duke Spear Point, who claimed it would be the centre of the new defences of the seventh level. In practice he used it as his personal party tower. When the nobles finally had enough of it, they defenestrated Duke Spear Point and had the Tower stripped of all decorations, which is why everything is white and made of stone here.’’

‘’What’s defenestration?’’ Flurry asked before Rarity could.

‘’Tossing someone out a window,’’ Rainbow answered before Cloud Gem could. ‘’Very interesting way of dealing with someone. There was this one time-’’

‘’Let’s not talk about that,’’ Rarity interrupted Rainbow before the conversation could derail any further. ‘’Instead, let us continue the tour.’’

‘’Right,’’ Cloud Gem said. ‘’Well, we are almost at the Great Hall, so…’’

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

Once breakfast had been served and eaten, Sweetie and her two friends settled in the living room of the Boutique. They were plenty full from the delicious breakfast, which Scootaloo and Applebloom had complimented her on. Sweetie had just been happy she was able to finally cook something decent for her friends.

‘’Hooey,’’ Applebloom sighed. ‘’That was some mighty fine cookin’, Sweetie!’’

‘’Thanks,’’ Sweetie replied. ‘’So, anything you girls wanna do today?’’

‘’Dunno,’’ Scootaloo said. ‘’I’m bored too, but I can’t think of anything fun to do.’’ She aimlessly flapped her wings up and down.

‘’Let’s go to Twilight,’’ Sweetie suggested after a short silence.

‘’We can’t,’’ Scootaloo shot the idea down immediately.

‘’Spike’ll let us in,’’ Sweetie argued.

‘’We need to get past the Night Guard first,’’ Scootaloo argued.

‘’Can’t yer agent do sumthing ‘bout them?’’ Applebloom asked.

Sweetie shook her head. ‘’I asked, and he said no.’’

Scootaloo shrugged. ‘’Well ask again.’’

‘’I don’t think he’s changed his mind,’’ Sweetie remarked dryly.

Applebloom raised an eyebrow. ‘’You can always try, Sweetie.’’

Sweetie sighed, and shook her head again. ‘’It’ll achieve nothing, girls.’’

‘’Just try, for Celestia’s sake!’’ Scootaloo exclaimed. ‘’The worst thing he can do is say no anyway.’’

‘’Yeah, and go to the guards around Twilight’s castle, tell them we’re coming.’’ Really, that wasn’t so hard to expect, was it?

’Ah fuck, yer’ve got a point,’’ Applebloom swore. ‘

‘’So break-in then?’’ Scootaloo suggested after a few moments.

‘’We won’t get iiiiin,’’ Sweetie insisted. ‘’Especially not you.’’

‘’Hey!’’ Scootaloo said indignantly. ‘’I can be stealthy, if I want to be.’’

‘’Scoots, yer as stealthy as Pinkie Pie at a party,’’ Applebloom quipped.

‘’Actually-’’

‘’We could just ask Spike when he’s in town again,’’ Applebloom continued.

‘’He was here five days ago, and he only comes out once a week,’’ Scootaloo pointed out.

That could work. ‘’So, we wait on him, and then ask him if he can help us,’’ Sweetie decided.

Applebloom shook her head. ‘’That won’t work. Mah sis ain’t even allowed in.’’

‘’Yeah, because she’s an Element of Harmony too. But we’re not. We’re just the younger sisters…’’ This required more thought to work properly. Perhaps there was a way to get in after all....

‘’For the record,’’ Scootaloo spoke up, ‘’I don’t think we’ll get in.’’

‘’Worth a try,’’ Applebloom said. ‘’Ah do wanna talk to Twilight.’’

‘’Yeah, so do I,’’ Scootaloo added. ‘’I’ve got questions I want answered.’’

‘’I-’’ Sweetie began.

The door to the living room opened. ‘’Good morning, ladies,’’ Twinkle greeted as he strode into the room. ‘’I went for a walk and had breakfast out of the house. I trust you are all well on this fine morning?’’

‘’Morning,’’ Sweetie greeted back. ‘’Did you happen to catch our conversation?’’

‘’The end of it,’’ Twinkle replied as he laid himself on a couch. ‘’I am not going to help you get into Princess Twilight’s castle.’’

I didn’t expect anything else.

‘’Why not?’’ Scootaloo asked. ‘’You got something to hide?’’

‘’Not at all,’’ Twinkle replied with a straight face, ‘’but even if I wanted to let you in, I can’t; don’t have the clearance.’’

‘’Then who does?’’ Applebloom inquired.

Twinkle shrugged. ‘’I’ve no idea.’’

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

Nightmare Moon was most displeased.

‘’And just why,’’ she drawled, ‘’was this considered to be anything remotely resembling a good idea?’’

To his credit, the stallion maintained a steady face. ‘’Your Majesty,’’ he began respectfully, ‘’it was the Mayor’s idea.’’

‘’I did not know mayors commanded soldiers of my,’’ Nightmare placed special emphasis on that word, ‘’loyal troops.’’ She glared down at the stallion. ‘’Continue,’’ she said after a moment.

‘’There’s not much else to say, ma’am. The Captain followed the Mayor’s instructions, without complaint.’’

‘’And what was your own opinion of these instructions?’’ Nightmare questioned.

‘’Ma’am,’’ the stallion took a moment to think about his response, before saying: ‘’The Mayor’s idea was doomed to failure from its conception. The Captain should have anticipated this and shot down the Mayor, but for reasons that I can’t fathom he didn’t.’’

‘’I see,’’ Nightmare said neutrally. ‘’Is that all, Sergeant?’’

‘’Yes ma’am.’’

She nodded. ‘’Very well. You may return to your duties.’’

The stallion saluted, then headed off again.

Nightmare let out a long sigh as soon as the soldier was out of earshot. She’d already interviewed the Captain and Mayor, and interviewing various soldiers had been more a courtesy than truly necessary, but Nightmare liked to be thorough in these matters.

Considering what had happened, she didn’t think that was at all outrageous.

‘’Why on Faust,’’ she muttered under her breath, ‘’would you let prisoners spend more time than necessary outside their cells?’’

She had already fired the Mayor of the town. A mare that thought having prisoners socialise with the residents of her quaint countryside village was clearly not fit to govern anything larger than a filing cabinet.

It had been a perfect plan: placing the prison out of the way, in a small settlement some twenty kilometres north of Bridlepolis, should have ensured that no resistance fighters or ‘heroes’ would try and release the prisoners. She hadn’t factored in equine stupidity, however, and now it had come around to bite her in the flank.

It would be better if this was an intended break-out. Then I could have at least had a clear enemy to blame.

But from her ‘thorough interviews’ with the Mayor and Captain had only come the information that both had been well-intentioned, truly believing that their action had been smart. In a way it was pitiful.

But pitiful they might be, the consequences of their actions were anything but. Not every prisoner had escaped, but still a number of former Equestrian officials and officers had managed to disappear into the wilderness. Nightmare had moved some of her Guard from Manehattan to help the Army with the search, but she doubted they would find anyone. Too late for that now.

She sighed again. One of these days…

At least no one truly important had escaped. Those ponies were held either in the Crystaller Building’s basement, which had been hastily converted into a prison/minor office for the IIS, or they were held in the IIS Headquarters, which were located near the harbour, in several old warehouses that had since been expanded into one bigger building.

Of course, Sunset had her own little place for those things, but Nightmare politely pretended she didn’t know about that. To be frank she couldn’t give half a damn about what Sunset did, as long the people she did whatever on were either held voluntarily or were guilty. That was why she had assigned an agent to periodically check up on the place. Her latest report indicated she hadn’t yet gotten tired of torturing that Aztlanian Earth Pony.

Nightmare took a moment to admire the view in front of her; standing on the roof of the prison, she could see the village, filled with more soldiers than civilians by the looks of things.

‘’Your Majesty? We believe we’ve found tracks of some of the fugitives.’’

Without turning around, Nightmare nodded. ‘’Very well then.’’ She spread her wings and leapt off the roof, stars shining both in her mane and in the sky above.

Let’s hunt.

Author's Notes:

Hello there!

Here we are again, and my apologies for the continued delay on my other longfics; I'm just not really into MLP atm. I'll do a Christmas fic and another one-shot before the end of the year, at least, but no guarantees on other updates.

Chapter 25: Pay-Off 5

12 December 1008

The tour of the Spear Point Tower concluded soon after, as the majority of the tower’s rooms were not interesting to visit, though the view from the top of the tower was nonetheless ’Magnificent!’, as Rarity had put it. Rainbow, for her part, was used to such heights and sights, and so wasn’t anywhere close to Rarity’s level of impressedness.

Now, they were at the Rainburg. They’d swapped in the excitable Cloud Gem for a more sombre guide, an earth pony stallion by the name of Snow Shield who’s actual job was drill sergeant.

‘’And over here,’’ he explained as they walked through a hallway, ‘’are the offices of officers who are stationed here. A few are kept free for visiting brass, but most are occupied by people who are stationed here for a longer time.’’

‘’Interesting,’’ Rarity remarked, and Rainbow had no idea if she meant it.

Then again, lately it seemed Rainbow didn’t know a lot of things about Rarity. With any luck, their date tonight would remedy the worst of that. At least, that was Rainbow’s intention.

Right now, however, the only conclusion Rainbow could draw was that none of them (that being Flurry, Rarity and herself) found this tour interesting. At least, she and Flurry didn’t find it interesting, and she was willing to bet money Rarity did too, but was just too polite to say it.

But Rainbow didn’t care about that. So, she walked over to Rarity. ‘’Hey, Rares,’’ she whispered. ‘’Wanna get out and grab some lunch.’’

Rarity nodded almost imperceptibly. ‘’How?’’

That, admittedly, was a bit of a problem. ‘’Dunno,’’ Rainbow admitted. ‘’You got any ideas?”

Rarity shook her head. ‘’Let me think on it, darling.’’

‘’Sure thing.’’

Rainbow fell back again, and did her best to not appear disinterested. If anyone would pick up on that, it’d be a drill sergeant.

Finally, Rarity made her move. ‘’Excuse me, sir. Thank you for your wonderful explanation, but I’m afraid our time is up. We’ve an appointment at the Spa after lunch.’’

The Spa. Of course. Probably still better than this.

To his credit, Snow Shield just nodded once. ‘’Of course, ma’am. I hope you found it informative.’’

‘’Certainly,’’ Rarity lied, because if Rainbow Dash, Commander of the Crystal Shadowbolts, didn’t find anything military-related interesting, Rarity sure as Tartarus didn’t find it interesting. ‘’I’ll see if we can’t continue this tour another day. But for now, thank you for your time.’’

‘’Yeah, thanks for the tour,’’ Rainbow added with as much fake sincerity as she could muster.

‘’I liked it, mister!’’ Flurry said enthusiastically. ‘’You talk very nicely!’’

Snow Shield, from the flash of surprise and incredulity on his face, hadn’t expected that, but he forced his face back into a slight smile, and then saluted. ‘’Happy to hear it, Princess, ma’am, sir. Shall I take you back to the exit?’’

‘’Please.’’

Once they were out of the Rainburg and back in their car, Rarity instructed the driver to head for a place where they could have lunch, being less picky than Rainbow had expected her to be.

So, the driver drove them to an idyllic restaurant on the fourth level of the city. ‘’I come here often with my family,’’ she explained. ‘’My kids love it.’’

‘’What do they serve here?” Rainbow asked, interested.

‘’Traditional pegasus food, mainly,’’ the mare replied. ‘’They catch fish locally, or import it from elsewhere. There’s a variety of dishes without fish as well, of course, but it’s their main attraction.’’

Now that is delicious.

‘’Sounds good,’’ Rainbow remarked.

‘’Fish.’’ Rarity’s doubt was clear.

‘’Fish,’’ Rainbow confirmed. ‘’Trust me, it’s great. You’re gonna love it.’’ Fish for lunch was not something she usually did, but surely it’d be nice for once?

Rarity, after eating it, proclaimed it an ‘acquired taste’, but with a tone that said she wouldn’t mind acquiring said taste. Flurry, meanwhile, loved it; Rainbow blamed her pegasus heritage. As for herself; it wasn’t the tastiest fish she’d ever eaten, that honour went to a restaurant in Coltfoalnia she’d visited once, but it was still very good.

The guards that were still protecting them ensured nobody got close enough to interrupt their lunch without cause, but before it arrived they allowed people through to ask questions, most of which were directed at Rarity or Flurry. Rainbow was just a little jealous.

‘’I enjoyed that,’’ Rainbow said as they walked back to the car.

‘’So did I,’’ Rarity said. ‘’I have to admit, I thought more people would come to us.’’

‘’The guards kept them away,’’ Rainbow reminded her.

‘’True,’’ Rarity agreed, ‘’but still.’’ She glanced down. ‘’Did you enjoy it, Flurry?’’

‘’Yeah!’’ the filly replied. ‘’The food was very nice! Can we go eat here again?’’

‘’I don’t know about that,’’ Rarity answered, ‘’but we can have fish more often, if you want.’’

‘’Yay!’’

‘’To the Spa please, darling,’’ Rarity requested once they were all seated in the car again.

‘’As you wish, ma’am.’’

The Rainbow Falls Golden Spa happened to be on the fifth level, so up they went again. Rainbow tapped out of the proceedings, choosing to simply think and not say anything until they got into the pool. Bath. Jacuzzi. Whatever.

‘’Rainbow?’’

‘’Hm?’’

‘’You’ve been oddly silent, darling,’’ Rarity remarked with a faint tone of concern. ‘’I know you’re not the biggest fan of these things, but…’’

‘’Oh, it’s alright,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’I was just thinking about… things.’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’As you say. And how do you find it, Flurry?’’

‘’It’s nice,’’ Flurry answered. ‘’Everything feels soft and warm.’’

‘’That is the intention.’’

Rainbow, for the first time in a while, allowed herself to relax fully. Here, there was no stress, no issues that needed to be dealt with. Just Flurry and Rarity, talking amicably.

Let’s just rest…

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

The crystal doors closed, and Sweetie let out a breath.

‘’That shouldn’t have worked,’’ Scootaloo summarised what all four of them were probably thinking. At the very least, Sweetie was thinking along those lines.

‘’Well.’’ Twinkle cleared his throat. ‘’That was unexpected.’’

Sweetie looked down the hallway. There didn’t appear to be anything different from how the place had looked when last she visited, before the war. No Lunarist iconography hanging from the walls, no damage from the war, nothing.

Still, there was something off. A feeling of unease.

‘’Was the place always this creepy?’’ Applebloom asked no one in particular. ‘’Ah feel like Ah’ve walked into the damn Everfree.’’

Sweetie and Scootaloo shared a look; that Scootaloo shared Applebloom’s concerns was evident.

The sound of a gun being pulled out suddenly echoed down the hallway.‘’Shall we see if there’s anyone home?” Twinkle asked idly, holding the hoofgun in his left forehoof.

Scootaloo stared at him. ‘’Why do you have a gun?’’

Twinkle gave Scootaloo one of the most deadpan looks Sweetie had ever had the pleasure of witnessing. ‘’I’m an agent of the IIS,’’ he said with a tone that made it sound like he was explaining something to a small child. ‘’In case anyone gets any ideas, I need to be able to defend myself.’’

‘’Let’s just get going,’’ Sweetie cut off any argument that might have formed otherwise. ‘’I don’t want to stay here any longer than necessary.’’

‘’Agreed.’’

‘’Fine.’’

Sweetie cleared her throat, then shouted down the hallway: ‘’Hello? Spike? Twilight? Anyone home?”

They waited, but no reply came. In fact, the entire castle felt oddly silent.

‘’Creepy,’’ Scootaloo muttered.

‘’Ya can say that again,’’ Applebloom added.

The light inside was dim, as if someone had put a curtain up around the lamps, but nothing Sweetie could see appeared to be obscuring them. This, logically, did not help ease their feeling of discomfort as they made their way down the hallway.

Where’s Spike?

‘’Hello?’’

Still no reply. This was downright concerning.

‘’Library?’’ Applebloom suggested eventually.

‘’Sure,’’ Sweetie quickly agreed, and they made their way to the library.

They entered the library. It seemed, for lack of a better word, disorganised. Books were strewn everywhere with no logic to them. It was definitely not like Twilight. Something was wrong here.

‘’Look at this.’’ Scootaloo gestured at the room with her wing. ‘’It looks like a tornado, or something, swept through it.’’

Twinkle had pocketed his hoofgun and was looking over one of the tables. ‘’These books are about soul magic…’’ he thought out loud. ‘’Just what is happening here?’’

Sweetie didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

‘’Oh, hello girls!’’

That was Twilight’s voice, but it sounded strained, like she had to try to be sincere.

Sweetie turned around.

Twilight looked… different. Ruffled, for one, like she hadn’t combed her mane in weeks. And… there was something off about her. Just like there was something off with the entire castle, but it seemed to be even worse with Twilight. It almost looked like she didn’t fully belong in this world.

‘’Uhh… hi Twilight,’’ Sweetie greeted, trying to hide her surprise and nervousness. Scootaloo and Applebloom followed with similar greetings, while Twinkle remained silent.

‘’It’s nice to see you again,’’ Twilight said, before her eyes flicked over to Twinkle. ‘’And who’s this?’’

‘’I’m Twinkle Flower, ma’am.’’

Twilight nodded. ‘’Nice to meet you, Twinkle Flower.’’

Doesn’t she see the uniform?

‘’How are you doing, Twilight?’’ Sweetie asked. ‘’I can’t imagine being locked in here is nice.’’

‘’Oh, I’m doing just fine,’’ Twilight replied. ‘’Really. It’s actually been wonderful. Nothing to distract me from my reading.’’

Applebloom frowned. ‘’Don’t ya miss yer friends?”

Twilight’s smile morphed into a scowl. ‘’No. They’re all traitors.’’

What.

‘’Hey now! Mah sister ain’t no traitor!’’ Applebloom snapped.

Twilight fixed her with a look. ‘’Is she fighting against the Nightmare’s soldiers? Is she refusing to sell them food, to allow them on the Apples’ land?’’

‘’No, but-’’

‘’Just like I thought,’’ Twilight cut Applebloom off. ‘’She’s laid down and surrendered. And don’t get me started on Rarity and Rainbow Dash.’’ She spat on the floor. ‘’Those are the worst of them all. Cursed collaborators,’’ she muttered, glaring at the floor.

Sweetie took a step back, away from Twilight. Clearly, the alicorn was unhinged. ‘’Twilight,’’ she began.

Twilight looked up, and Sweetie finally spotted the manic glint in her eyes.

Oh fuck.

‘’Ah, but I can’t let you go out and let people know I said that, now can I?’’ The alicorn’s horn began to glow dark purple. ‘’Don’t resist, it’ll just make things worse.’’

Before Sweetie could reply to that, she heard a voice in her head. You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

I will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

Sweetie turned around and began to walk away.

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

‘’No!’’

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

There was a bang- a gunshot. A scream of rage.

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

The world exploded in light.

You will listen to Twi-

Everything went black.

Author's Notes:

For once the chapter isn't a month after the previous one :p.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone! I've got a few things coming up later today and tomorrow too, keep an eye out for those!

Chapter 26: Pay-Off 6

12 December 1008

Ponyville was swarming with soldiers. Again.

Nightmare had personally attended the battle for the town; Twilight Sparkle had vacated the town already, but there was still a stiff defence put up by the Celestialists. Still, Ponyville wasn’t a fortress; its only defence was the Canter and the Everfree to the east, and with Canterlot already in her hooves, it was easy enough to attack from two sides and cut off any escape route.

Currently, Nightmare was once again contemplating the stupidity of her soldiers. She had given explicit orders that no one was to enter Twilight’s castle without a direct order from her. Why had the guards let through Sweetie, her friends and her bodyguard?

‘’Your Majesty?’’

‘’Report,’’ Nightmare snapped back at the soldier. ‘’Where did Twilight go?’’

‘’We can’t tell, ma’am,’’ the soldier, one of her Night Guard, admitted glumly. ‘’The teleport’s trace is completely scrambled; could be by the magic of the Castle, could be intentional, could be both. At least that’s what Imperial Magician Shimmer says.’’

If anyone knows, it’s Sunset.

Nightmare was not one to ignore the power of magic, but its finer details had always escaped her; part of that was a lack of interest, another was a lack of time to fully delve into the more arcane parts of the magical arts.

‘’I see,’’ Nightmare said succinctly. ‘’I will talk further about this with the Imperial Magician myself. How are the…’’

She couldn’t think of a proper word, but the soldier understood what she meant anyway, as he replied: ‘’All four of them are being treated in the hospital. Agent Flower has broken his left foreleg and has taken a magical bolt to the head, but he should be alright. The three young mares are all physically alright, aside from some slight bruises, but the doctor says there is some remnant of mind controlling magic on all four of them.’’

Nightmare took a breath. ‘’I see,’’ she said again. ‘’And the dragon Spike?’’

‘’We found him in his room, and had to knock him out after he attacked us. There is, apparently, severe damage from mind control spells to his mind. At this point it’s unknown if he will ever recover.’’

Stars damn it all.

She should have locked Twilight up, instead of keeping her in house arrest. She definitely should not have left Spike with her; then again, if Twilight could overpower a dragon’s natural magic resistance, leaving her with a pony guard would have been even more dangerous.

‘’How did no one notice this?’’

It wasn’t a question aimed at the soldier, but she got an answer from him anyway. ‘’Ma’am, if I may… We’ve already taken some testimonies from the former Bearers and Lord Discord, who have all reported that Spike did not act out of character anytime in the past months.’’

Nightmare frowned. That was quite strange; mind control spells usually overrode the affected person’s being completely, turning them into creatures who could only act within exact parameters set down by their controller, and those parameters did not allow the controlled person to continue acting as normal.

Perhaps Twilight had invented a new and dangerous form of mind control. That was the only explanation that made sense. And if it was true, then that was quite a problem.

‘’I will speak with them myself,’’ Nightmare informed the soldier. ‘’Where is the Captain?’’

‘’She’s combing out the castle with the Imperial Magician and a few others.’’

‘’In that case, report to her second-in-command. Tell her I will be visiting Lord Discord before visiting the hospitalised ponies.’’

‘’As you wish, ma’am.’’ The soldier saluted with his wing, then bowed his head and flew off.

Nightmare turned around and almost had a heart attack.

Discord was already waiting on her, grinning. Next to him was Fluttershy, who looked calm and completely unaffected by her… husband’s(?) behaviour.

‘’Afternoon, Moony,’’ Discord greeted lazily. ‘’I hear you’re looking for me?’’

‘’Yes,’’ Nightmare said, ignoring her own surprise. ‘’What do you know?’’

Discord shrugged. ‘’As much as those guards were willing to tell me, officially. Unofficially, I’ve figured out a little more. And, for the record, I didn’t know they were going to go into Twilight’s castle. If I did, I would have stopped them, or gone with them. Alas, I am not omniscient.’’

‘’You knew Twilight was doing this?’’ Nightmare snapped.

Discord raised an eyebrow. ‘’I just said I’m not omniscient, Moon and Star,’’ he quipped. ‘’And no, I did not know Twilight was doing anything with mind control. I guessed, and let me state extra clearly that it was a guess, nothing more, that she would go a wee bit cuckoo, and that visiting her like that probably wouldn’t have gone over too well, but I had no idea she would try to mind control anyone.’’

Nightmare let out a breath. ‘’She had control of Spike too. He might have permanent damage.’’

Fluttershy gasped, while Discord’s shoulders sagged. ‘’I’ll see if I can do anything,’’ he offered, sounding very sincere. ‘’I’m not a healer, but I think I’ve gotten pretty good at unfucking messes.’’

Nightmare took a moment to contemplate it, then nodded. ‘’As you wish. I’ll tell Captain Mournhoof you two are free to go wherever. She shouldn’t try to stop you anyway, but still. Better safe than sorry.’’

‘’Thank you, your Majesty,’’ Fluttershy spoke up. ‘’I think we’ll visit the Crusaders and Twinkle now.’’

‘’You do that,’’ Nightmare said with a smile, before remembering something. ‘’Oh, and Fluttershy? Congratulations on your pregnancy.’’

With that said, she spread her wings and leapt up into the air, headed for the castle.

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

Sunset glared down the hallway. They were quite far into the castle now, probably underground as well. They’d gone down a staircase or two already, after all.

Sunset was at the head of their little group; behind her were Captain Mournhoof and a section of the Night Guard, making ten ponies in total including herself. Between Sunset’s magical skill and the combined firepower of nine Night Guards, there shouldn’t be anything in the castle that could stop them.

Still, that didn’t mean Sunset liked being inside a castle that had been inhabited by a (soon-to-be-certified) madmare for months with no clear escape route in sight.

‘’It looks safe,’’ she noted.

‘’Looks can be deceiving,’’ Captain Mournhoof remarked. The dark blue thestral stood next to Sunset, peering down the hallway as well. ‘’You know anything about this place? More specifically, where this leads?’’

‘’My guess is as good as yours,’’ Sunset replied. ‘’The only one who knows is a wanted criminal as soon as the paperwork is done, probably.’’

Mournhoof chuckled dryly. ‘’Let’s just move forward then, see what we find. Keep your eyes peeled, lads.’’

They moved forward through the hallway, Sunset and Mournhoof at the front. Sunset had a shielding spell ready the moment she noticed anything off, and she’d already seen that Mournhoof could get her rifle out and ready to fire in the same time it’d take her to cast a shield. Presumably the other soldiers could do the same.

The hallway was well-lit, at least. Still, Sunset couldn’t see where it led to; the hallway just seemed to go without end.

As they continued walking, however, they found this was not the case. At the end of the hallway, a door was visible and steadily growing more so. Sunset also noticed another thing: the air was getting thick with magic.

She stopped. ‘’There’s a lot of magic in the air, and I mean a lot. I don’t know what it means we’ll be finding inside there, but it’s probably not very safe.’’

‘’Noted,’’ Mournhoof said. ‘’Anything else?’’

‘’No.’’

‘’On we go then.’’

Once they were in front of the door, Sunset gently opened it with her telekinesis, and one of the soldiers took point. ‘’Clear,’’ she said after a few seconds, and Sunset opened the door further to allow them all to walk through.

As she might have expected, inside was a laboratory. Quite an extensive one, too; it must have been there before the Civil War, there was no way Twilight had constructed it in secret during her house arrest.

‘’Talk to me Shimmer, what are we dealing with here?’’

‘’A laboratory,’’ Sunset sweetly replied. ‘’What she was researching here, I’ve no idea.’’

‘’Find out.’’

‘’Yes ma’am,’’ Sunset muttered under her breath as she moved towards what appeared to be the main table. ‘’Don’t touch anything,’’ she called out to the soldiers, who had spread themselves around the room.

‘’You heard her,’’ Mournhoof said. ‘’Keep your hooves to yourselves.’’

Spread out on the main table were schematics of various magics; spells. Sunset had to admire it; it was a very detailed research paper, penned in some of the neatest hornwriting she’d ever seen. For all her seeming insanity, Twilight had still been able to work on magic like no one Sunset had ever met, including herself.

‘’This is how Twilight’s mind control spell works,’’ Sunset informed Mournhoof, who’d walked over to stand next to her. ‘’I’ll have a look, see what else there is.’’

‘’Do that.’’ Mournhoof cast a critical eye over the research equipment. ‘’Can this be moved?’’

‘’Maybe,’’ Sunset replied after giving it a glance. ‘’I’d have to take a closer look. For now I wouldn’t try it though.’’

‘’Understood.’’

‘’Ma’am, there’s a doorway here!’’

Both Sunset and Mournhoof turned towards the stallion who’d said that, to see him standing on the far right side of the room, next to what looked like a full-body mirror. As Sunset came closer, however, she saw the mirror had a small knob.

‘’What’s the plan?” she asked Mournhoof.

Mournhoof looked critically at the mirror. ‘’Do you detect anything off?’’

Sunset cast a life-detection and then a magic-detection spell at the mirror, both coming back negative. ‘’Nothing,’’ she replied with a shake of her head. ‘’It could be shielded against my spells, however.’’

‘’I’ll take that chance,’’ Mournhoof declared after a moment. ‘’Alright, form up everyone! Eyes on this door. I’m going to open it, Sunset is going to be next to me, and the rest of you will be back, at the ready.’’

‘’Yes ma’am,’’ the soldiers replied, and they moved to their positions. Sunset, for her part, prepared a shielding spell.

‘’Ready?’’ Mournhoof inquired.

‘’Ready,’’ Sunset affirmed with a nod.

‘’Here goes nothing,’’ she heard Mournhoof mutter, before she reached out and touched the knob. After a moment, she pulled. That did nothing, so she pushed, and the door opened.

Something moved.

Mournhoof was slammed back by a grey… thing; Sunset couldn’t for the life of her see what it was. But that didn’t matter; she snapped her shield up immediately, before shooting an energy bolt at the thing.

The bolt missed, as the creature was already moving away from Mournhoof, at a pace that Sunset couldn’t help but be impressed by. The Night Guard were moving too, going for cover even as they opened fire, bullets shooting through the air. Sunset made sure to keep her shield up around her; one wild bullet could be the death of her.

The thing pounced on one of the soldiers, and she went down with a shout. Sunset seized the opportunity and sent a barrage of spells at the creature. One or two hit, and the thing whipped its head around to face Sunset.

Glowing purple eyes set in a stone-grey face glared at Sunset, and she had one moment to reflect.

Fuck.

With an unearthly screech, the creature leapt forward towards Sunset. The bullets of the guns seemed to bounce off its skin without effect.

Sunset tried to dodge, but she was too slow; the creature was already upon her. Claws dug into her side, and she let out a yelp.

The creature pushed her on the ground, and dug its claws further into her. Sunset slammed raw magical energy into its face, and it recoiled back, though not enough to pull its claws from Sunset’s body.

Then someone - one of the soldiers - dove upon the creature. The claws came free, making her gasp, as the soldier and the creature rolled on the ground.

Sunset got up on shaky legs and cast a quick healing spell to stop the bleeding. She’d need to recast it properly later, of course, but for now it ensured she wouldn’t pass out from blood loss, at least.

The soldier and creature were still scuffling on the floor, and four more soldiers were moving to help. Two were helping Mournhoof and the soldier that’d been pounced on by the creature, so that left only Sunset as not doing anything. And with five soldiers on the creature, surely that’d be enough?

Just then, there was a scream, and someone was flung away. Then the creature screeched again, and the soldiers who’d been trying to keep it down were knocked away. It rose from the floor, growling.

Sunset hit it with a semi-dark spell designed to shatter whatever it hit like a wine glass dropped from a three-story window, and the creature roared as its side exploded into tiny stone shards.

Sunset grimaced. ‘’Alright, then, you bastard. Let’s see how you like this.’’ And she shot a lightning bolt from her horn. The crack of thunder that followed was deafening, echoed by the crystal walls and drowning out the pained roar of the golem as it failed to dodge and was hit on its other side by the spell.

It charged forward then, but Sunset was ready this time, and sent forth another lightning bolt, which made it stop as it was hit straight in the face.

Gotcha, motherfucker.

‘’Shimmer, get a shield around it! Something that can contain an explosion!’’ Mournhoof shouted, the last word cut off as Sunset shot lightning again at the creature, only for it to dodge and the bolt to splash against the crystal walls without much effect.

‘’Okay!’’ she shouted back. Easier said than done.

She hit the thing with a spell that made it stagger, then saw a grenade being thrown from behind the creature, rolling under it. Immediately she cast the shield around the creature, and before it could break free (the shield would only hold the explosion, not the creature), the grenade exploded.

Sunset looked away but still maintained the shield, to contain the force of the explosion. After a few seconds, she looked back.

There was nothing left of the thing but pieces of stone, scattered around the floor. Sunset let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding in as she approached the remnants of the thing.

‘’What,’’ someone, Sunset didn’t see who, said, ‘’in Tartarus was that?’’

‘’A golem,’’ Sunset absently answered as she stared down at the stones.

‘’Shimmer!’’ Mournhoof’s voice called out. ‘’Get your flank over here!’’

Sunset hurriedly complied with that demand and made her way to Mournhoof, who was resting on a seat, attended by two of the soldiers. There was a bandage wrapped around her barrel, stained a light red in certain places.

‘’Fucker got me good, but I’ll live,’’ Mournhoof said. ‘’How about you?’’

‘’I cast a spell to stop the bleeding,’’ Sunset replied. ‘’I’ll cast a better spell later.’’

‘’Do it now,’’ Mournhoof ordered. ‘’And let Moonshine here take a look at it.’’

‘’It’ll be fine-’’

‘’Shimmer.’’

Sunset cast the spell, then allowed the medic to look her over. No shame in that, and she wasn’t a healer after all. Still, it looked like she’d done it well, as the medic declared she was good to go.

‘’So, what’s the plan?’’ Sunset asked as the medic moved on to the soldier that had been trashed by the golem.

‘’Go back topside,’’ Mournhoof said without hesitation. ‘’I’m not staying down here any longer than necessary.’’

‘’As you wish.’’ Sunset looked around the room. ‘’I’ll inform the Empress of this.’’

‘’We’ll do it together,’’ Mournhoof countered. ‘’After I visit an actual doctor, of course. Moonshine’s been known to be lacking.’’

‘’Screw you too, ma’am!’’ the stallion in question shouted back.

Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

Author's Notes:

Here we are again!

See here for my schedule for the coming year, including PbP.

Omake 2: Prison Break

12 December 1008

For an Empire which was devoted to the night, and especially given the fact that it was the middle of December, Jungle Trek was certain that the uncomfortably warm atmosphere was intentional to drive him insane.

That wasn’t the most annoying thing in his holding cell, of course. The constant pitter-patter of water droplets hitting the floor was fine to watch for the first week or so of his stay but had gotten old fast after that. Now, it was the only thing that broke the eternal silence that he remained in, barring the occasional visit by the Imperial Magician.

His ever-so-slight attraction to the unicorn had worn off fast by the third interrogation. He hadn’t spilled any important secrets just yet; it was probably the only reason he was kept alive, after all. The Disciples in the South-East had rarely given quarter, and he doubted these Lunarists were any different. Knowing that fact alone had helped him keep his trap shut, even if Sunset Shimmer was nothing if not persistent.

Perhaps the most annoying thing to him, however, was the lack of knowledge coming in. When the Lunar forces had come into the South-East and destroyed any semblance of non-partisan opposition, Jungle had quickly gone from talented general to the practical leader of both the natives who fought against the new regime and the remaining mercenaries who hadn’t jumped ship in the collapse. Doctor Caballeron, of course, could not lead from the front despite his objections; it was too dangerous, considering everything. His exact location was a tight secret shared between himself, former general Sweet Water, and the most trusted of the native chiefs.

Jungle desperately hoped that they could continue without him. Keeping cooperation between natives and mercenaries was no easy feat, and neither was keeping the latter from bailing out of Equestria itself or surrendering for hopes of leniency. But Sweet Water was competent… most of the time. Perhaps she had pulled them together after he had gotten captured; she might even be planning his rescue at this very moment.

Or she could have fled and let the resistance cells collapse into nothing. It was a roughly equal chance, all things considered.

Hoofsteps sounded outside the cell door, prompting Jungle Trek to get off his bed. The fifth bucket of cold water had finally gotten it into his skull that the last thing he should do when a guard or Celestia forbid Sunset Shimmer arrive was be in bed.

Sleeping on a cold and wet bed was not fun at all.

When the door opened, Jungle expected to see a Lunarist uniform behind it, whether it be the Imperial Magician or just a member of the Guard here to bring him his daily meal. Instead what he got was a ragged pony in a torn uniform, looking quite the worse for wear. He was breathing heavily, cuts and scratches evident everywhere from his torso to his hooves.

“...I’m guessing you aren’t here for an interrogation,” Jungle commented, waiting to see what would happen. This kind of trap didn’t seem like Sunset’s style, but you never knew.

The pony shook his head. “Nope. We’re, uh, organizing a prison break. Technically our main target was the IIS headquarters, but we figured that hitting two targets at once would give us more time before reinforcements arrive. Plus, Sunset’s compound relies more on secrecy than security, and once we got info that both the Imperial Magician and Nightmare Moon herself were going to be busy in Ponyville…”

“Yeah, I get it. Well, thanks for the save, I guess. Name’s Jungle Trek, formerly of Aztlan.” Jungle held my hoof out, which he shook weakly.

“Shining Beacon. Member of the Celestial Resistance, or at least what’s left of it.” He smiled weakly, perhaps as a distraction from the terrible situation they were both in. “We’re not doing so great anymore, especially after the IIS starting hitting us hard. Not down for the count yet, though!”

Jungle moved forward out of his cell, the pony getting out of the way to let him through. To his left was a solid concrete wall, and to his right stretched a long hallway, an intersection at the end of it. “Wow, the end cell. What an honor,” he commented.

The resistance member nodded. “I figured that you would be an important prisoner, being at the back, though I had hoped you would have been one of us. Still, uh…” he motioned towards the hallway. “Maybe we should get a move-on? We don’t have all evening, you know.”

“Oh, right.” The two of them started galloping down the hall, though Jungle noticed Shining stumbling once or twice. Whatever fights he had gotten into, it hadn’t let him go unpunished. He was half-tempted to help the injured pony along, but that would have slowed them both down, and the last thing they had was time to spare.

Down the hallways they went, the concrete walls giving no indication of where they were going. There might have been a sign or two that he missed, but it wouldn’t have mattered if there were. Since, you know, he’s illiterate. So instead, he put his faith in his newfound ally, letting Shining take the lead as they turned left and right and right again.

Soon, the sound of gunfire reached their ears, slowly getting louder and louder. Shining let out a curse before pulling out a bolt-action rifle Jungle didn’t even notice he had, with a design he didn’t recognize.

It was at times like these Jungle wished he had his old rifle back.

The next corner they rounded, the battle unfolded itself for them to see. Prisoners and the Celestial Resistance alike were fighting in the room ahead, both against the Lunar Guard that was armed and firing back. What was worrying was the fact that while they outnumbered the Lunarists, many of the prisoners he saw were unarmed, and the few ones that were seemed to be terrible shots.

The Guard, on the other hoof, was not.

Shining Beacon and Jungle Trek nodded at each other once before galloping into the fray, The former ran to the left and fired, dropping a thestral with a headshot, while the latter slid down behind some makeshift cover the prisoners had made. A green Earth Pony was sitting next to Jungle struggling to reload his rifle.

“You know how to use that thing?” he asked him. When he shook his head, Jungle grabbed it and the bullets he was holding. “Then let me borrow this for a second.” Like clockwork, he yanked the lever back, letting the spent shell fall to the ground, before pushing it back into place. Then he got up, took aim, and fired at the nearest Lunarist. They dropped, he got back down, and repeated the process.

It was like clockwork. Get up, fire, get down, reload. Get up, fire, get down, reload. Over and over, like a machine. It was instinctual at this point; he got up, ready to fire, only to see that the battle was already over. They had won.

Too many of his own lay dead. Others, wounded, a few crying out with pain. Jungle handed the rifle back to the Earth Pony he had taken it from, before trotting over to where Shining Beacon was standing.

“I had sent all the prisoners I found back here. We were supposed to keep this room secure and move as a group once we had gotten everypony, with few casualties.” He grimaced. “Looks like we underestimated how quickly they would get here, however.”

Jungle shrugged, though he still had the decency to avert his eyes from the fallen. “That’s just how it goes,” he said simply. “Sometimes you mess up, and ponies die. When you’re a leader like this, it’s just a part of how things are. What’s important is that we keep moving. More of them won’t be far behind.”

“I’ve already told the ponies who can to help carry out those who can’t. We seem to have enough uninjured ones to get everypony out… I just wish that it wasn’t because so many of them are dead.”

He was about to respond when Jungle noticed something extremely familiar in the corner of the room. “Excuse me, I need to check something.” Walking over, he saw an injured pegasus, a bullet wound in their left front leg. “Where’d you get that hat?”

The pony looked up. “This one? I found it in one of the rooms while we were getting out. Why, is it yours?”

Jungle answered by taking it off their head and putting it on his. “Yes, thank you. Now come on, we have to get out of here.” Pulling them up, he helped them over to the other end of the room, where everypony else was already filling out.

The sound of the stampede approaching was barely audible at first, but it quickly changed as the room almost felt like it was shaking. Now it was Jungle’s turn to let out a curse. “Buck, they’re already here. Shining, take this pegasus and get out of here with the rest of them! I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”

Shining looked as if he was insane. “What? No, we have to get you out of here! Come on, we can all make it if we-”

The Aztlanian responded by shoving the third pony towards him and picking up a rifle. “That wasn’t a request, now go! GO!” Shining Beacon still looked like he wanted to argue, but held his tongue and silently started half-pulling the pegasus further down the hall. Once he was sure they weren’t coming back, Jungle turned back towards the room they came from and aimed his rifle down the opposite hall, taking a deep breath.

It was only seconds before the guards came bursting in.

One immediately went down, adding yet another pony to Jungle’s kill count. “The prisoners are armed! Don’t let them escape!” one thestral yelled out as they took positions behind the cover Jungle was formerly behind.

And so the routine began again. Fire, duck, reload, repeat. The only difference was that these guards were much more experienced; only a few of his shots managed to hit their intended targets, and even fewer of them were lethal. It was clear that these were the elite guard now; the former ones now dead at his hooves were just the recruits.

The pivotal moment came only minutes later, when Jungle got up to fire once more, only for his gun to click empty. “Oh, bucking damn it!” he said, realizing he was finally out of ammo. The guards seemed to realize this too, as they began charging and firing a lot more recklessly than before. Jungle threw his gun at them before getting up on his hooves and running as fast as possible in the direction Shining had originally gone.

Around just a single corner, a metal door lay at the end of the hall. Desperately praying that it was finally the end of this cursed place, Jungle put on a final burst of speed, slamming the door open and closing it behind him right as gunfire began sounding and hitting the wall now behind him. He broke the lock behind him; hopefully, that would buy him some time.

Though, perhaps he wouldn’t need it. Jungle was finally outside, though where he was not quite sure. All he noticed was the setting sun in the far distance, and the non-descript compound he had left behind him. But where he was didn’t matter, when he was finally a free pony once again. A wanted fugitive, yes, but he was already used to that. He’d just have to lay low, keep quiet, and hope that this would all just blow over with time-

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused me?!”

Oh, great. Standing before him was none other than the one, the only Imperial Magician of the Lunar Empire, Sunset Shimmer. She was looking quite pissed off as well, stomping the ground with a hoof. Any chance of escape immediately went out the window, as with the last month in mind Jungle already knew there was only one outcome possible at this point.

“Well, you do have to admit it was a pretty great prison break, am I right?” he asked, completely and intentionally trying to annoy Sunset further. “If you make it into a movie, I’d totally be willing to act myself out.”

Sunset’s jaw clenched, and Jungle swore he saw steam come out of her ears. “The Empress is going to hear about this, and she is not going to be happy with me. If you didn’t have information I still needed, you would be dead right here and now. Instead, I guess I’m going to have to find more creative ways to get what I want.”

He scoffed as her horn lit up with magic. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. This is the part where you knock me out-”

And that was the exact moment that everything went black.

Author's Notes:

This sequel to the first Omake was, as it happens, not written by me but by the creater of Jungle Trek, Big Saij, who I relentlessly bullied persuaded into writing this. Because of that it doesn't follow the two-week schedule.

Anyway, thanks to Big Saij for writing this; go check him out, his fics are great too.

Chapter 27: Pay-Off 7

12 December 1008

After their spa ‘adventure’, as Rainbow had coined it, they made their way back to the hotel. However, instead of taking the car they went on hoof, up through the city. Their two guards followed behind them, silent as the grave.

People, of course, stopped whenever they saw, but relatively few had the courage to walk over to them for conversation. Those who did had little interesting to say, and by and far most were looking to simply get close to Flurry.

Rarity, with the aid of Rainbow and the guards, had managed to scare anyone who actually looked to be trying something with the filly,

‘’Auntie?’’

‘’Yes, darling?’’

‘’What’re we going to do at the hotel?’’

Rarity glanced down at the filly. ‘’What do you want to do?’’

‘’I dunno. I like the walking.’’

‘’Well, we’ve got a bit of that left yet,’’ Rarity noted. ‘’But if you get tired, just tell me, alright darling? I can always have Rainbow or one of the guards get the car.’’

‘’Will do, auntie.’’ Flurry nuzzled Rarity’s left foreleg quickly, then they continued walking.

Rainbow Falls, it had to be said, was a beautiful city. The traditional pegasus architecture she’d seen in Cloudsdale and other such settlements was mixed beautifully with the Crystallian style of building, creating a blend that was imposing and regal. Rarity liked it a great deal.

‘’Rainbow,’’ she asked, ‘’is there anything you wish to do?’’

‘’Yes,’’ Rainbow replied, and the tone immediately put Rarity on edge. Oh no.

Rainbow smirked, and Rarity was definitely not going to like this. ‘’So,’’ the pegasus said casually, ‘’remember that gap in the central square of each level?’’

‘’No.’’

‘’You don’t remember?’’ Rainbow faked ignorance quite well.

‘’No, full stop,’’ Rarity said decidedly. ‘’You’re not risking your neck doing that.’’

‘’Please!’’ Rainbow dismissed. ‘’I do more dangerous stunts in my sleep!’’

That was regretfully true, but Rarity still didn’t care one bit. ‘’You’re not going through that hole, and that’s final.’’

Rainbow watched her with narrowed eyes, then snorted. ‘’Fine.’’

Rarity gave a tight nod. ‘’Glad we worked that out.’’

Silence fell as they continued walking; Flurry seemed less cheerful, the guards were as stone-faced as ever, and neither Rarity not Rainbow felt the inclination to talk again. Well, Rarity certainly didn’t, and since Rainbow made no move to do so she assumed the feeling was mutual.

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

Lilac wasn’t sure which room was more luxurious: the one she was currently in or the residence she’d been given in the Crystal Palace. In the end it did not matter overly much; both were far more exuberant and wealthy than a drone could ever aspire to have, should ever aspire to have.

‘’So, what’s the plan?’’ Ocellus asked, having already sat down in a rich velvet chair.

‘’I have work,’’ Lilac replied, retrieving several folders from her saddlebags. ‘’Can you entertain yourself?’’

‘’I brought a couple of books,’’ Ocellus replied. ‘’I’ll probably finish them all before we’re back in Crystal City, though.’’

‘’And your schoolwork?’’

‘’Also brought it.’’

Lilac nodded. ‘’Finish that first, at least a part of it. Just because you’re not attending school now doesn’t mean you can slack off.’’

Ocellus rolled her eyes, but got her homework out of her bag anyway. ‘’Teachers would have my shell anyway if I tried that,’’ Lilac heard her mutter.

Well, as long as the work got done Lilac didn’t mind Ocellus’ commentary on it. And as long as she could work in peace herself, all was well.

There was a desk in the room, so Lilac sat herself down at it and got to work. The paperwork, she decided after a while, was not so much difficult as mind-numbingly boring, even by her standards. No wonder Rarity had left it for someone else.

But she was paid to do this, so she pushed aside her reluctance and continued the work. None of it appeared to be important or pressing, so she paced herself, taking breaks whenever she thought it appropriate.

‘’Auntie?’’

‘’Hmm?’’

‘’It’s noon,’’ Ocellus pointed out dryly.

Lilac looked at the clock, and indeed it was. Damn.

‘’You can head down to the restaurant if you want,’’ she said. ‘’Or have something brought here, with a room like this I’m sure it’s included in the package.’’

Ocellus snorted. ‘’I am not the only one in this room,’’ she pointed out. ‘’You need to eat as well.’’

Appear to eat, in any case.

‘’Very well,’’ Lilac sighed as she stood up. ‘’I’m due for a break again anyway.’’

‘’I was going to point that out if you’d refused to listen,’’ Ocellus remarked. ‘’Anyway, shall we go and eat in the restaurant? I’m feeling cooped up here.’’

‘’You can leave and do whatever, if you want,’’ Lilac informed her. ‘’I’m pretty sure you’ve done enough homework for the day, in any case.’’

‘’Maybe later, but thanks.’’ Ocellus gave Lilac a quick hug which the older ling-in-disguise returned gladly, then they made their way to the restaurant.

As they walked down the hallway, Lilac realised she’d felt that weird feeling again when Ocellus had hugged her. She didn’t know what it was or what it meant, but it was getting… not irritating, as she thought at first, but intriguing. Surely there was a reason for it?

This bears further research, she mused.

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

‘’And then we returned to the surface.’’

Her tale done, Sunset relaxed a little. Nightmare did not blame her in the slightest.

‘’I see,’’ she said at last. ‘’I am glad everyone got out of that alive. I will send a team down there to inspect the damage and assess the golem - or what remains of it - as soon as possible.’’

Twilight pushing the boundaries of magic was to be expected, but Nightmare had thought cutting off her access to friends and resources would have stymied her ability to act. Evidently, she had been wrong. Very wrong.

‘’Tell them to be careful,’’ Sunset warned. ‘’Twilight was probably still doing experiments when she escaped, and in any case most of the stuff I saw in there was a combination of expensive and deadly.’’

‘’There might be some blood and whatnot around as well,’’ Mournhoof added.

‘’They will be well aware of any risks,’’ Nightmare promised. ‘’As for you two, rest and recover.’’

‘’It’s just a scratch,’’ Sunset argued. ‘’The doc checked it. I do know how to cast a healing spell.’’

‘’Mhm,’’ Nightmare hummed noncommittally. ‘’I’m sure you do.’’

Sunset glared at her for a moment, before sighing. ‘’Fine.’’

‘’Go back to Manehattan,’’ Nightmare advised. ‘’At least for the night. Return in the morning.’’

‘’Are you joking!?’’ Sunset exclaimed. ‘’Wait, stupid question, you never joke. In any case, I am not leaving! There’s a castle full of magical knowledge and artefacts right here!’’

‘’Not to interrupt, ma’am,’’ Mournhoof spoke up, ‘’but I was under the impression the Imperial Magician was brought here because no one else was fit for the task?’’

‘’Yet I have little use of my Imperial Magician if she falls asleep while working,’’ Nightmare countered easily, ‘’and contrary to what you might believe I do have some knowledge of the magical arts. Rest assured that the castle will still be there when you return.’’

When Sunset didn’t reply, Nightmare raised an eyebrow. ‘’I can always have you sent there,’’ she suggested.

‘’We had this discussion already; you can’t send me anywhere.’’

‘’Mhm.’’

Nightmare simply held Sunset’s gaze for a long moment (or five), and then the younger mare capitulated. ‘’Argh!’’ she shouted. ‘’Fine then!’’

Nightmare allowed herself to smile as she gracefully inclined her head. ‘’Thank you.’’

If looks could kill she’d be dead and buried by now, but alas they could not (unless you happened to be a cockatrice).

With a sniff and a huff, Sunset turned and left the room, leaving Mournhoof and Nightmare alone.

‘’Anything else, ma’am?’’

‘’Take your rest as well, Captain’’ Nightmare ordered simply. ‘’And tell your soldiers to do the same. I know I ordered everyone to be on duty for now, but your platoon deserves their rest for now.’’

That they were unlikely to find Twilight was left unsaid.;

Mournhoof saluted. ‘’Yes, ma’am.’’

‘’Dismissed.’’

Author's Notes:

Hello again!

See here for my schedule for the coming year, including PbP, if you missed that in the last chapter. Today I've also updated my other longfics (except for Threads and Lines), so if you're in the mood for more horsewords do give those three a consideration.

Chapter 28: Pay-Off 8

12 December 1008

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes to see white. With a pained mumble, she closed them again. She was so tired, she could just fall asleep again. The bed - was it a bed? It had to be - was so soft and warm and cosy and good, all

‘’Sweetie?’’

Who was that? It was someone. Sweetie recognised the voice.

‘’Tired,’’ she muttered accusingly, and tried to fall asleep again.

‘’I can imagine,’’ the voice continued.

‘’G’away.’’

‘’I shall not, but I shall be silent, if it please you.’’

‘’Mmmfine…’’

And with that, Sweetie drifted off again.

Only to open her eyes again, now not so tired anymore.

She was in a weird, coloured realm. There were purple clouds in the sky, through which stars were visible, but no moon. Aside from the bed she was in, there was nothing to be seen but those strange clouds, and the bed itself was vague; Sweetie couldn’t see clearly what it looked like, for some reason.

Shaking her head and rubbing her eyes, Sweetie pondered what to do.

The bed dissolved, thus solving her issue. With a surprised squeak, she hit the soft ground. Clouds as well, but she did not fall through. Somehow.

What the…

Cautiously, Sweetie stood up and looked around. The surroundings had not changed, which meant she still had no idea where she was.

Revenge…

‘’Who was that? Hello?!’’

Betrayed…

Sweetie looked around frantically, trying to see where the voice was coming from, while also racking her brain to find out if she knew who the voice belonged to. It sounded familiar, but she just couldn’t place it!

Traitors…

‘’Who are you? Do you know where I am?’’

Left us… they left us…

‘’Who left you?’’

Fear…

Sweetie was certainly afraid of the source of that voice. It seemed to be all around her, so were the clouds speaking to her? That made no sense, but nothing made sense here, so it might very well be the case.

Slowly, Sweetie took a step forward, and then another one. After determining that she would not fall through the floor if she started moving around, she began to approach the cloud walls.

And in response, the walls moved backwards.

Of course they do.

After a few futile tries to reach the walls by hoof, Sweetie stopped and thought her best course of action.

Surrender…

She whipped her head back. That had not come from around her, but from behind her.

‘’Whoever is there, please come out!’’ she called out into the mists. ‘’I just want to talk!’’

No response. Damn.

After a few seconds of peering into the clouds, which achieved precisely nothing, Sweetie turned back around. ‘’Maybe this’ll work…’’ she muttered, before casting a Light spell and sending it forward, something she’d read about in a book once and then practised because it sounded interesting. All unicorns could create light, after all, but launching it required some more skill and practice.

The small orb of green light glowed brightly as it flew ahead of her… and vanished as soon as it passed through the clouds. The clouds reformed before Sweetie could blink, and nothing showed that she’d just sent her spell through them.

‘’Damnit,’’ she cursed softly. ‘’How did-’’

How did I get here?

With a gasp, she realised she couldn’t remember that. The last thing she recalled was walking into Twilight’s castle with the other Crusaders and Twinkle. Had something happened there? Sweetie couldn’t remember if it had, which probably meant it had. That was not a very comforting thought.

And were Applebloom, Scootaloo and Twinkle experiencing this as well?

Was she even still alive?

Sweetie certainly hoped so. If this was the afterlife, it was an incredibly shitty afterlife.

You could have done a better job, Caepasia.

If this was the afterlife, insulting the creator-goddess of all Ponykind who was most likely responsible for creating it probably wasn’t a very smart move, but Sweetie could care less right now, and she’d never been particularly religious anyway.

Darkness…

Something snapped in Sweetie. ‘’SHUT UP!’’ she shouted.

There was silence for a moment.

No.

The clouds in front of her broke apart, revealing Twilight Sparkle, looking like she hadn’t brushed herself in several days - scratch that, several weeks - and with madness in her eyes.

‘’Finally,’’ she breathed out.

‘’S-stay away!’’ Sweetie threatened, horn lighting up as memories of just what had happened suddenly came back to her. ‘’I’m not letting you mess with my mind again!’’

Twilight threw back her head and laughed. ‘’We’re already in your mind, Sweetie, don’t you realise that?’’

Well, fuck.

Sweetie took a step back. ‘’I’m not afraid of you!’’ she declared.

‘’You don’t have to be,’’ Twilight replied. ‘’I am not going to hurt you. I will just make you see the truth.’’

She slowly approached Sweetie, who found out the clouds weren’t folding back anymore when she felt her back press against them.

She cast a shield spell, but it wasn’t very strong, even Sweetie could tell that much. Twilight could probably blow right past it.

‘’A shield won’t keep me out,’’ Twilight drawled.

‘’But I will,’’ a new voice said, and then a dark blue orb of energy smashed into Twilight’s left side.

Nightmare Moon, of all ponies, strode forward. Behind her, the clouds evaporated, and the stars in the sky suddenly began to shine brighter.

‘’You,’’ Twilight growled as she turned to face the other alicorn.

‘’You are not even the real Twilight,’’ Nightmare Moon accused, horn glowing with magic. ‘’You are but a remnant of her magic. You are no threat to me.’’

‘’We’ll see about that.’’ Twilight’s horn lit up dark green, and then she leapt at Nightmare Moon.

Who sent a wave of fire outward, which caught the younger alicorn by surprise. With a pained shriek, Twilight fell to the ground.

Before she could recover, Nightmare hit the fallen mare with a barrage of spells that Sweetie could barely identify. Twilight hadn’t even the time to scream as she was practically erased by Nightmare’s barrage.

Thirty seconds later, nothing remained of Twilight.

Nightmare Moon, not looking winded in the slightest, turned towards Sweetie with an inscrutable look on her face. ‘’That is done,’’ she said succinctly. ‘’And this is not how I expected to meet you again, Sweetie Belle.’’

‘’Y-yeah,’’ Sweetie replied, still awed by what she’d just witnessed.

Nightmare gestured with her hoof after a moment of silence. ‘’Come. You have spent long enough entrapped by your own subconscious.’’

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

It seemed, to Rarity, that time had flown when they had arrived back at the hotel. She and Flurry had retired to the room, while Rainbow had disappeared and not reappeared yet. Flurry had, obviously, noticed something was off, but she didn’t talk about it, and Rarity didn’t either, so dinner was an unusually silent affair compared to the past few days.

And what days they have been.

Rarity sat on the balcony of their room, the door opened slightly as Flurry had requested she do before Rarity had put her to bed. One of the Sergeants, the mare, was inside watching the room, while the stallion was standing on the balcony, eyes on the skies.

Normally, Rarity might have initiated conversation with him, but she had so much to think about today that she could barely remember to drink her tea, much less talk with another person.

‘’Rares?’’

Sweet Caepasia-

‘’Commander,’’ the thestral saluted Rainbow Dash as she dropped down onto the balcony almost vertically.

‘’Sergeant,’’ Rainbow saluted back, before turning to Rarity. ‘’Rares-’’

‘’I,’’ Rarity interrupted her, having pondered what to say to Rainbow when she inevitably reappeared for the past hour or so, ‘’feel I need to apologise, Rainbow darling. I was unnecessarily crude to you this afternoon, and I should not have done so. Will you accept my apology?’’

Rainbow stared at her like she’d grown a second head for a moment. ‘’I… thanks, Rares. I’m sorry too, for what it’s worth.’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’Have a seat darling, and would you mind telling me what you did?’’

‘’I flew around the city,’’ Rainbow began as she sat down on a chair next to Rarity. ‘’It was… exhilarating. I needed that.’’

‘’Did you see anything interesting while doing so?’’

‘’Not really,’’ Rainbow replied. ‘’This place is great, sure, but we already saw the interesting bits.’’

That wasn’t true in the slightest, but Rarity didn’t care.

‘’And you?’’

‘’We stayed in the hotel,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’I talked with Lily about some stuff related to my work, and Flurry and I had dinner together. Where did you eat?’’

‘’Scored some food at a cafe in the second level.’’

‘’Was it good?’’

‘’Meh. I’ve had worse.’’

Silence fell, as Rarity didn’t know what to say and Rainbow evidently didn’t either. Rainbow Falls at night was certainly a sight to behold from so high up, even though it would soon be time to head indoors due to the cold.

‘’Hey,’’ Rainbow suddenly said. ‘’Weren’t we supposed to have a date today?’’

Rarity glanced at Rainbow. ‘’Yes, we were,’’ she agreed.

Rainbow met Rarity’s gaze. ‘’Well.’’ And she sighed. ‘’I messed that up, didn’t I?’’

‘’It’s not-’’

‘’I’ll make up for it,’’ Rainbow interrupted. ‘’And for this.’’

‘’Wh-’’

They were kissing. Rarity was kissing Rainbow, or Rainbow was kissing Rarity - and it didn’t matter, and it was not at all what Rarity had planned but it was so nice and -

Someone coughed.

Both mares’ heads snapped towards the source of the voice; the Sergeant. ‘’Permission to give you some privacy, ma’am, sir?’’

Rainbow’s glare could have melted steel. ‘’Go,’’ she hissed.

The thestral snapped off a salute with his wing, then darted inside with a smirk on his face.

Rarity got no chance to think about this, and didn’t regret that in the slightest.

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the late chapter, I was busy with school and couldn't finish this in time. Hope you enjoyed it anyway!

Cheers!

Edit: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/979100/a-short-break

Chapter 29: Awakening 1

13 December 1008

By the Stars, what did I do last night?

That was Rarity’s first thought. Her second thought was a realisation, namely the realisation that she was in bed, without even the faintest of clues as to how she’d got there.

Yawning in a manner that was rather undignified for someone of her status, she tried to recall any details of the past night…

‘’Morning, Rares!’’

‘’Stars!’’ Rarity exclaimed, shooting up in bed. ‘’Rainbow, what-’’

Rainbow was sitting next to her, grinning lazily. ‘’What what, Rares?’’

‘’What happened last night?’’

‘’Well, we were out on the balcony, and then we were kissing, and then-’’

It all came back to Rarity at that moment. The kissing on the balcony, being momentarily distracted by the guard, more kissing, and then-

‘’And you did this thing with your-’’

‘’That’s enough!’’ Rarity yelped, blushing up a storm. ‘’I quite remember now!’’

Rainbow smirked. ‘’I can see that,’’ she quipped, before spreading her wings. ‘’So, up for another round?’’

‘’Darling, it’s…’’ Rarity’s eyes searched and found the clock on the wall, ‘’almost eight in the morning!’’

‘’And we have nothing planned, right? Not for a while anyway.’’

‘’No, but Flurry will be here soon!’’

‘’Actually, she already came by, just a few minutes ago. I told her that she would have to wait at least an hour.’’ Rainbow eyed Rarity suggestively, and damn her if it wasn’t working. ‘’Plenty of time, wouldn’t you agree?’’

‘’I…’’

It was oh so very inviting, and only getting more so every moment as more and more of last night came back to her. She shuddered involuntarily as one particularly vivid experience drifted to the forefront of her mind.

‘’Is that a yes or a no?’’ Rainbow asked. If Rarity didn’t know better, she’d say Rainbow was enjoying this.

‘’Rainbow, we can’t just do this,’’ Rarity finally said. ‘’I enjoyed last night, make no mistake, but…’’ But what?

She gestured helplessly with her hoof. ‘’Do you know what I mean?’’

Rainbow watched her for a moment. ‘’I do,’’ she replied. ‘’And I guess you’re right… We’re not exactly in the position where we can just slip in and out of each other’s bed.’’

‘’Crudely put, but yes,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’And I don’t think either of us wants that either.’’

‘’Not with you, no,’’ Rainbow said. She moved a bit closer to Rarity, laying down next to her. ‘’I…’’

Nothing followed, and they were silent for a minute or so. Which suited Rarity just fine, as it gave her the minimal time required to fully start up her brain and think on what she was going to say next; both actions she desperately needed to perform so she could manoeuvre through this delicate situation without fucking anything up.

‘’I’ll just say it out loud,’’ Rainbow finally broke the silence. ‘’I think I’m falling in love with you.’’

‘’I… think I am as well, darling.’’

Saying it out loud felt… weird and right at the same time.

That was about all Rarity could realise before Rainbow was kissing her again, and everything derailed from there.

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

Sweetie’s eyes blinked open to see bright lights and an even brighter ceiling. Said ceiling dimmed a few seconds later to a more manageable shade of white.

She was laying in a bed; that was what she noticed next about her environment.

Then a black face appeared, diamond-shaped pupils looking down at her, obscuring the light.

‘’I trust everything is all right?’’ Nightmare Moon asked.

‘’Feels like it,’’ Sweetie replied before she even fully realised it. ‘’Is she gone?’’

Nightmare Moon nodded, before pulling her head back to the side of the bed. ‘’I have purged all traces of Twilight’s magic from you,’’ she confirmed. ‘’And you appear to be in fine health otherwise. If I were a medical professional, I’d pronounce you free to go.’’

‘’Well that’s reassuring.’’

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. ‘’You’re mouthier than I expected.’’

Sweetie held the alicorn’s gaze, despite her internal realisation that maybe speaking to the being who’d just saved her flank and who was now the empress of all Equestria wasn’t the brightest idea she’d ever had. But she’d said her words, and she wasn’t taking them back.

‘’Not to worry; I don’t mind,’’ Nightmare Moon said a moment later, before casting a critical look at the bed. ‘’If you are ready for it, I will have some food delivered. You have been knocked out for almost 24 hours, a fact I imagine your stomach will soon catch up to.’’

Sweetie didn’t really have a reply for that, so she just nodded.

‘’Your friends have already been awakened; they are in different rooms,’’ Nightmare Moon continued. ‘’If I am not mistaken, they are already eating; perhaps they are already finished, even. Once you’re done eating, I’d suggest you take a shower and then go and visit them. Assuming they haven’t visited you by that point, of course.’’

‘’And then what?’’

‘’I would like to speak with you all today, but not for a few hours,’’ Nightmare Moon replied. ‘’Agent Twinkle Flower awoke out of himself about an hour ago and informed me of what exactly had transpired, but I would like to hear your account of it as well, if only for posterity. Following that, I would like to talk further with you three, and especially with you, Sweetie.’’

‘’Me?’’

Belatedly, Sweetie recalled that Twinkle had originally been assigned to her because Nightmare Moon wanted to meet her in Crystal City.

‘’Indeed.’’

‘’Why?’’

Sweetie could think of a few reasons; most of them involved Rarity. Perhaps Nightmare Moon wanted to take her hostage? Use her as a bargaining chip to ensure Rarity stayed loyal. Or maybe she wanted to use Sweetie as a propaganda tool; the Crusaders were somewhat-known, especially in the Heartlands.

Nightmare Moon’s face was inscrutable, as silence filled the air. It dragged on for a while - there was no clock in sight, so Sweetie had no way of tracking the time beyond guessing, but it was at least a minute by her estimate - before the dark alicorn spoke again.

‘’In case you are unaware, the position of Imperial Magician is currently filled by one Sunset Shimmer, a former student of my sister's,’’ she said. ‘’However, there is also a need to fill the position of Imperial Magician in the Crystal Empire, who aside from performing the standard duties belonging to said title would also be responsible for the magical education of my niece. I have decided that Sunset will be reassigned to handle this task.’’

Sweetie had no idea where the fuck she was going with this, but interested and with nothing better to do, she continued listening regardless.

‘’Of course,’’ Nightmare Moon continued, ‘’That means the title of Imperial Magician of the Lunar Empire will become available. And, to my regret, there are no good candidates for the role. Equestria has barely any mages with both a great deal of power and an equally-great knowledge of magic left. So, I am forced to look for other options.’’

Nightmare Moon’s gaze, which had been wandering around the room, fell squarely upon Sweetie. ‘’Provided you agree, I would have you be trained to take up the title.’’

What.

Completely flabbergasted, Sweetie could barely keep her mouth from falling open. ‘’What?’’

‘’Allow me to explain my reasoning,’’ Nightmare Moon offered. Before Sweetie could reply to that, she went on: ‘’I have reviewed Luna’s memories of the times she met you, and I spoke about you with Rarity as well during the war. Both my own observations and hers agree that you have above-average magical potential, more perhaps than Rarity herself, who is no slouch in that department. Another factor, perhaps even more important to me than your power per se, is that you are untrained.’’

‘’How the Tartarus is that a benefit?’’

‘’There are many magical schools around Equestria,’’ Nightmare Moon replied, ‘’but they all teach magic per the law, and per established traditions and guidelines which have existed for centuries, barely updated throughout the years. There might be potential there, but I would have to spend months untraining the things learned there. You, on the other hoof, have barely had any training with magic beyond the basics. This will make teaching you much easier.’’

‘’Wait, wait, wait- you’re going to be teaching me?’’

‘’Not always, but yes. Of course, my priorities as a ruler come first, and so I will arrange for a tutor - or several - to take my place when I am busy. But still, I do plan to give the majority of your lessons myself.’’

Sweetie had no idea what to say, but before she would have to reply to the information Nightmare Moon had just dropped on her, there was a knock on the door.

‘’Enter!’’ Nightmare Moon called.

The door opened, and a Night Guard stepped in. ‘’Your Majesty, there is a communique from the Captain in Manehattan, regarding the prison riot last evening.’’

‘’Very well.’’ Nightmare Moon looked back at Sweetie. ‘’Food will arrive shortly. Find your friends afterwards, and think about what I said. We will speak more later today.’’

And she vanished into a starry mist, darting out of the room before Sweetie could catch more than a glimpse of her.

She sank back into the bed, thoroughly dazzled.

What in the name of Caepasia just happened?

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

Shrouded had happily retired after leaving the Commander and the Governess to their carnal activities, and was now enjoying breakfast in the rooms the Night Guard had been given in the hotel. They weren’t quite as luxurious as the rooms of the Governess and the Princess, but still a good deal better than the barracks.

There was nothing interesting in the newspaper, and so Shrouded had readily discarded it. Besides, even if there had been some actual news in the paper, he was too focused on savouring a breakfast of exemplary quality.

The door opened, and Darkheart entered, carrying a copy of the same newspaper Shrouded had laying on his table under his left wing and a cup of coffee in his right wing. ‘’Good morning, Shrouded.’’

‘’Good morning, sir,’’ Shrouded replied, looking up from his breakfast for a moment. ‘’Already eaten?’’

‘’Just got back from the dinner room,’’ Darkheart confirmed as he sat himself down at the table. ‘’Finished as quickly as possible. Too many rich people staring at me.’’

Shrouded could sympathise. ‘’You could have just ordered room service,’’ he pointed out regardless, because while he could sympathise he also wasn’t above pointing out the obvious when it suited him.

Darkheart made a noise that could charitably be interpreted as an affirmative grunt. ‘’Unlike some, I’m not a lazy slob.’’

‘’The room is just down the stairs,’’ Shrouded pointed out. ‘’One minute, tops.’’

‘’All the more reason to go there,’’ Darkheart shot back, and that was fair.

‘’Drink your coffee,’’ Shrouded retorted with a chuckle. ‘’You’re not yourself when you haven’t had one.’’

Darkheart made another unintelligible noise, before taking a large sip out of his mug. ‘’Well at least the coffee is good here.’’

‘’It costs 25 Bits,’’ Shrouded deadpanned, ‘’it had better be.’’

‘’Fair,’’ Darkheart chuckled. He took another sip. ‘’So, I hear that the Governess and the Commander finally got it on?’’

‘’Right in front of me,’’ Shrouded confirmed.

‘’Damn it all,’’ Darkheart grumbled. ‘’How much did you win?’’

Of course the other stallion would know about the betting pool. ‘’I’m not sure, truth be told,’’ Shrouded replied. ‘’Some of the staff in the Palace were also involved, if I remember correctly; I won’t know how much I’ve earned until we get back.’’

‘’Well, good on you,’’ Darkheart complemented. ‘’Now, I think I am going to get more coffee once I’ve finished this mug. You up for that as well, or are you going to laze about here all day?’’

‘’I’ll come along,’’ Shrouded replied, ‘’if only because I need to stretch my legs a little.’’

‘’L-a-z-y.’’

‘’I’m never going to live this down, am I?’’

‘’Not a chance in Tartarus.’’

Author's Notes:

I have finally returned!

My most sincere apologies for disappearance and lack of communication. My life has been incredibly hectic these past few months, but now things have finally settled down and I hope to get back to writing again. For now, this chapter exists, written in the past few hours. Do enjoy.

Chapter 30: Awakening 2

13 December 1008

‘’One day,’’ Sunset remarked, ‘’you’re going to have to teach me how you do that.’’

The look Nightmare Moon gave her was at the same time amused and exasperated.

‘’What?’’ Sunset defended herself. ‘’Don’t tell me the ability to turn into a cloud and fly around wherever you please doesn’t sound appealing!’’

‘’It is much less so when one can already fly,’’ Nightmare Moon observed. ‘’Now then, you had something for me?’’

Sunset drew her mind away from the mechanics of the alicorn’s cloud spell and refocused on the task at hoof. ‘’I do. I’ve been going through the castle now that it has been, ah, fully secured. In particular I’ve taken a look at Twilight’s research notes.’’

‘’And your conclusions?’’

‘’Well I can see why she was Celestia’s protégé for one,’’ Sunset deadpanned. ‘’I’ve rarely seen such skill at magic.’’

No need to tell her I barely understood some of these things.

‘’We already knew Twilight is a genius,’’ Nightmare Moon said dryly. ‘’What of it?’’

‘’Well, aside from being able to piece together how she made that mind control spell work,’’ Sunset replied, ‘’I discovered some research of a darker nature.’’

She lifted a thick stack of documents over from the table. ‘’She wasn’t just interested in mind-control, it seems.’’

With a raised eyebrow, Nightmare Moon accepted the documents and began to look through. Within seconds the raised eyebrow turned into a frown, which only deepened the more she read. Perfectly understandable, as Sunset had had much the same reaction upon discovering and reading the notes.

‘’This,’’ Nightmare Moon said, her voice cold as ice and authoritative like oft-imagined but rarely-heard, ‘’does not leave this room. Is that understood?’’

Sunset gave a brisk nod of compliance. ‘’Crystal clear.’’

‘’Good.’’ Nightmare deposited the documents on the table again. ‘’I am going to assign Guard patrols to try and catch her. Where do you think she is headed?’’

‘’Hard to say,’’ Sunset replied truthfully. ‘’I haven’t found any notes on plans yet, and her research is as chaotic as it is advanced. If there are any clues inside those notes, it’ll take me a few days - at least - to decipher them.’’

‘’One would think she would have written her plans down somewhere,’’ Nightmare Moon muttered with a scowl.

Sunset shrugged. ‘’She’s got a pretty good memory. And I wouldn’t leave my plans lying around either. Maybe she took them with her- speaking of, did anyone actually see her leave?’’

‘’No,’’ Nightmare Moon said with a shake of her head. ‘’I think she used a cloaking or invisibility spell and then teleported from the Everfree; my guards found some traces of a teleportation array in a room in the castle, but it’s too scrambled to be useful.’’

‘’Of course it is,’’ Sunset remarked, before realising something. ‘’Discord let Twilight get that close.’’

‘’I have been told he was… indisposed.’’

Before Sunset could inquire further about that, Nightmare Moon pressed on. ‘’Regardless, I don’t want to involve him if I can help it. He would probably be as much a curse as a blessing, and this is too important for him to mess up with one of his tricks or games.’’

‘’As you wish.’’ Discounting him based on those reasons without even consulting seemed… short-sighted, but then again Nightmare Moon had considerably more experience with Discord than Sunset did. Of course, that could very well be the reason for her short-sightedness in the matter, but perhaps she’d already spoken to Discord about this. ‘’What now?’’

‘’We will try to find her,’’ Nightmare Moon answered simply. ‘’My soldiers are looking for her, and they’ll also be assisting you in combing through Twilight’s notes and the castle.’’ She paused. ‘’Oh, and my commendations on dealing with that prison break. I’ve just received a communique from Captain Silverwing about it. All the prisoners have been moved to several more secure locations now, and security in and around Manehattan has been heightened.’’

‘’Good.’’

Nightmare Moon inclined her head. ‘’If there is nothing else, I must depart; I have other commitments elsewhere.’’

‘’Sure thing. You know where to find me.’’

‘’That I do.’’ And with those parting words, Nightmare Moon dissipated into a smoke-like cloud yet again, slipping away before Sunset had a chance to study it, or the magic behind it.

One day…

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

By the time they finally got out of their room, Flurry was nowhere to be found. A quick question to one of the guards revealed that Lily had come by with her niece and taken Flurry along for breakfast.

Rarity’s stomach rumbled at the thought alone. Of course, Rainbow snickered at the sound, and snickered again at the death glare Rarity threw her way.

‘’You’re insufferable sometimes,’’ Rarity growled.

‘’That’s not what you said last night,’’ Rainbow teased back, ‘’or just now.’’

‘’Oh shut up,’’ Rarity muttered. ‘’This is going to be awkward enough to explain to Flurry as it is.’’

‘’Will it really be?’’ Rainbow questioned, because if Rarity had a moment of quiet in her life it was bound to be interrupted by her. Honestly, it was a wonder she hadn’t sprouted any grey hairs yet from stress.

I’ll have to check for those later. One can never be too careful, after all.

With that thought lingering in her brain, Rarity did not deign to answer Rainbow’s question for a tad longer than socially acceptable. ‘’I suppose it will depend,’’ she finally said.

‘’Depend on what?’’

‘’On how we present the message, and ourselves, of course,’’ Rarity answered. For someone so obsessed with being the best, Rainbow had a remarkably poor grip on PR.

Rainbow shrugged. ‘’Eh. Just say it. I think she’ll like it.’’

‘’How well do you know her?’’

‘’Well enough that she calls me auntie,’’ Rainbow said proudly.

‘’That’s… Ugh, fair enough.’’

The rest of the rather short walk was conducted in silence, a silence that kept on existing even as the sounds of the guests of the hotel having their breakfast filled the air once they entered the dinner room.

With a quick glance around the room, Rarity immediately located Flurry and Lily. The two of them, plus Sugar Petal and a Night Guard, were seated at a table in the corner, a lavish breakfast spread before them on the aforementioned table.

‘’Good morning, darlings!’’ Rarity greeted. ‘’Have we all had a nice night of rest?’’

‘’Good morning auntie!’’ Flurry enthusiastically replied, slipping out of her chair to give Rarity a hug, which was both appreciated and affectionately returned. ‘’I slept very well!’’

‘’That is good to hear, darling,’’ Rarity said as she took a seat on an empty chair next to Flurry. ‘’And what about you, Lily, Sugar?’’

‘’The bed was very comfortable,’’ Lily said between bites of her bagel. ‘’Even though I stayed up later than I would have liked due to, well, paperwork, I still had a good rest.’’

‘’Excellent to hear,’’ Rarity said, ‘’though take care to not overly exhaust yourself on my behalf, darling.’’

‘’Don’t worry, Rarity,’’ Lily replied, ‘’I’ve got Sugar to keep me straight.’’

‘’Someone has to,’’ Sugar said semi-sardonically. ‘’And I slept like a rose tonight. The bed’s great.’’

Well, we are in one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels of an expensive and luxurious city; quality beds would be no less than necessary.

‘’Oh, that reminds me: Lily, would you and Sugar care to join us today for our journey to the city?’’

Author's Notes:

Here we go again!

No I do not know when next chapter is, if I did it would be out already. As for my other longfics: under construction.

I also realise this chapter is dummy short, however the ending just fit for me, so you will see more when I upload another chapter after the next solar eclipse.

Chapter 31: Awakening 3

13 December 1008

After consuming some rather nice and fulfilling food, Sweetie decided to make her way out of the bed and towards wherever Applebloom and Scootaloo were.

This had to be Ponyville Hospital; at least, Sweetie hoped so.

And there was a guard next to the door. Brilliant.

‘’Excuse me?’’ Sweetie asked. ‘’Do you know where my friends are located?’’

‘’Certainly, Miss,’’ the guard answered. ‘’Follow me, please.’’

Sweetie did just that, as the guard led her down the hallway, turning a corner and then another before coming to a halt in front of another door; which had two more guards standing next to it.

‘’Here we are, Miss.’’

‘’Thanks,’’ Sweetie said, before opening the door and stepping into the room.

‘’Sweetie!’’

Oh Cae-

Applebloom all-but-slammed into her in one of the most powerful hugs Sweetie had ever experienced from someone that wasn’t her sister. ‘’Thank Sun yer alright!’’ Applebloom cried out.

Before Sweetie could gather her breath to respond to that, it was violently ejected from her again by Scootaloo slamming into her other side. ‘’Don’t ever scare us like that again!’’

‘’Guys, you’re squishing me!’’ Sweetie managed to breathe out. ‘’I’m happy to see you too, but-’’

Spontaneously, both Applebloom and Scootaloo released their grip on her, and Sweetie promptly took a deep breath. ‘’Thanks.’’

‘’You’re welcome,’’ Scootaloo quipped. ‘’How’re you feeling?’’

‘’I’m doing okay. Which is pretty good when you consider Nightmare Moon had to throw Twilight out of my head.’’

Scootaloo grimaced. ‘’Yeah.’’

They all moved to sit down; looking around for the first time revealed to Sweetie that they were in a dining room of some sort, maybe a mess hall or other spot for communal eating the patients could use if they were capable? There were white-ish wooden benches and tables set out in rows, and a few other tables against the wall on which stood various types of food and drinks.

‘’Didya eat yet?’’ Applebloom asked once they were seated.

‘’I did,’’ Sweetie replied. ‘’So, how long have you two been awake? And do you know what happened inside the castle?’’

‘’Well, I woke up an hour ago,’’ Scootaloo said. ‘’Like with you, Nightmare Moon had to come and get that bitch out of my head. After that, she told me to get some food and wait while she went to you and Bloom.’’

‘’Same ‘ere,’’ Applebloom spoke up. ‘’Woke up and went to see Scoots, then we had some food together.’’

Sweetie nodded. ‘’You alright otherwise?’’

‘’I want to punch Twilight Sparkle really badly,’’ Scootaloo quipped, ‘’but otherwise I’m great!’’

Sweetie couldn’t help but snort at that, and neither could Applebloom. ‘’Mah siblings already came by,’’ she said a moment later. ‘’I think they’d ground me if Nightmare Moon hadn’t told them that they shouldn’t.’’

‘’She did that?’’ Sweetie raised an eyebrow.

‘’Yup. Sis didn’t look too happy, but they didn’t complain.’’

‘’Interesting…’’

‘’Anyway Sweetie, to answer your second question: after Twilight tried to cast her mind control on us, Twinkle shot her several times. We don’t know if any of the shots hit, but Twilight teleported away and Twinkle managed to get outside before collapsing. The Guards came in and got us to the hospital, and now all of Ponyville’s been swarming with soldiers for hours,’’ Scootaloo explained.

Sweetie took a moment to process all of that. ‘’We’re going to have to apologise to the people here, aren’t we?’’ she finally sighed.

‘’I doubt it,’’ a familiar male voice said from the doorway.

‘’Good day to you,’’ Twinkle said as he approached them. ‘’I caught the end of your conversation as I was entering the room. Looks like you’re all doing fine.’’

‘’Good to see ya again, Twinkle.’’ Applebloom was the first one to jump into the conversation. ‘’And thanks for getting us out of there.’’

‘’Think nothing of it,’’ Twinkle dismissed as he sat down. ‘’I was just doing my job. And even then I’ll probably get chewed out by my boss for this.’’ He smirked mirthlessly. ‘’Didn’t do a great job protecting you, did I?’’

‘’I’ve had worse protectors.’’

Twinkle looked as if he didn’t believe that for a second. ‘’Regardless,’’ he said, ‘’it’s done now. We can do little but live with the consequences of our actions, no?’’

Sweetie frowned. ‘’You got us out of there safely, didn’t you?’’

‘’I got myself out to get help,’’ Twinkle corrected, ‘’and I shouldn’t have let you go in there in the first place.’’ He sighed. ‘’It’s a failure on my part.’’

‘’But if we hadn’t gone in there, we wouldn’t know what Twilight was doing,’’ Sweetie argued.

‘’True enough,’’ Twinkle admitted after a moment. ‘’But still. It should have been the Lunar Guard who went in there, not us four.’’

‘’As you said, what’s done is done.’’ Sweetie pointed out.

Twinkle sighed. ‘’You’re right, I suppose. Still…’’ he trailed off.

‘’I’m supposed to be meeting with Nightmare Moon in a few hours,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’I’ll put in a good word for you.’’

‘’You don’t need to-’’

‘’I insist.’’

Twinkle watched her for a moment, then nodded. ‘’As you wish.’’

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

‘’So, where are we headed?’’

‘’For the life of me I cannot remember what was on our list for today,’’ Rarity admitted after a moment of awkward silence hung in the air.

‘’Well, how about we simply venture into the city and see what awaits us there?’’ Lilac suggested. ‘’Rainbow Falls surely has much more in stock for us.’’

‘’I’d hope so!’’ Rainbow cried out. ‘’This is a city full of Pegasi!’’

‘’And many other types of Ponies, darling, don’t forget that,’’ Rarity chided.

‘’Yes yes Rares, but we all know Pegasi are the best!’’

‘’I’m not starting this argument with you in the morning.’’

‘’So you admit I’m right?’’

‘’I-’’ Rarity cut herself off with a great sigh. ‘’I admit to nothing, Rainbow.’’

‘’Aunties,’’ Flurry suddenly spoke up, ‘’since Alicorns are made up of all the Ponies, doesn’t that make me the best?’’

This kid is brilliant.

Rarity and Rainbow both stared at the little foal while Ocellus made a half-choking noise that was so very obviously a cover for laughter; the guards weren’t much better off, though their amusement was in their eyes. Lilac, for her part, just smiled a little.

‘’I suppose so?’’ Rarity finally said, clearly unsure of her own answer.

‘’Yay!’’

The urge to chuckle - or worse, laugh - was oh so strong. But it was resisted all the same, with great effort. ‘’So, shall we?’’

‘’Let’s.’’

Cars were already waiting on them once they got outside; courtesy of a guard, perhaps? Or perhaps they had been waiting here all morning. Who knew?

‘’Where to, my ladies?’’ one of the chauffeurs asked.

‘’Somewhere interesting, darling, if you please,’’ Rarity requested. ‘’Perhaps somewhere in the lower levels, if you know of anywhere suitable?’’

‘’I can think of a few places, ma’am. But may I ask, what is your opinion on ice hockey?’’

‘’Ice hockey?’’

‘’Yes, the Rainbow Falls Soarers are playing the Rubrum Shippers in the afternoon. Match isn’t quite sold out yet last I heard, and I’m sure that you could get yourself tickets in any case.’’

‘’Forgive me, I am not overly familiar with this game,’’ Rarity said, voicing the thoughts of Lilac - and most of the party, if the looks she caught on their faces were any indication - for them. ‘’Could you explain some more about it, please?’’

‘’Sure thing!’’ the chauffeur said, clearly excited to talk about this subject. ‘’So, the game is played with six ponies a team, one of which is the goaltender. The other five have to use the bats - held in their mouths, even for Pegasi and Unicorns - and try to score as many goals as possible. Physical contact is not encouraged per se, but it is permitted.’’

‘’Sounds violent. I like it,’’ Rainbow spoke up. ‘’Gonna be an interesting game, you think?’’

‘’Eh, the Shippers got nothing on our guys,’’ the chauffeur said with typical local pride. ‘’We’re gonna crush them right and proper.’’

‘’I want to go!’’ Flurry declared.

‘’Are you sure, darling? I don’t know how long these games are-’’

‘’Three periods of twenty minutes, with overtime and breaks as well, so about one and a half hours to two hours.’’

‘’Very well.’’

‘’I want to go, auntie! It sounds fun!’’

‘’Rares, I kinda wanna go too…’’

‘’Alright then,’’ Rarity said after a moment, before turning back to the chauffeur. ‘’At what time is this game?’’

‘’Two in the afternoon.’’

‘’Then until then, we shall have to find ourselves something else to occupy the time with.’’

One of the other chauffeurs spoke then. ‘’Ma’am, there’s a couple of musicians down at the Summer Snows Hall who are playing at noon. Shouldn’t be more than an hour.’’

‘’Excellent, then that is where we will go!’’ Rarity declared. ‘’Go on then, darlings!’’

Lilac got into the car, thoroughly dazed. That conversation went far too fast.

‘’No patience, eh?’’ Ocellus whisper-quipped as she got in next to Lilac.

‘’Indeed,’’ Lilac softly confirmed.

Author's Notes:

Took me long enough, didn't it?

Chapter 32: Awakening 4

13 December 1008

Despite her wishes, Nightmare couldn’t fully commit to the search for Twilight. She still had a country to run, and her powerbase was too fragile to risk losing. So back to Manehattan she went, for a few hours. She still had that appointment with Sweetie, of course.

The country had not stood still while she went on a trip to Ponyville, obviously. Still, the pile of communiques, letters and reports on her desk - carefully sorted by her secretary in order of priority, of course - was more than a little disheartening to return too.

Nightmare sat herself down and began to work her way through the paperwork. The highest-priority pieces, and thus the first she got her hooves on, were reports informing her about the state of the prisoners that had tried to escape while she was away from Manehattan. They weren't sure yet, but Nightmare doubted it was a coincidence. Now they’d been placed in prisons across the Eastern Seaboard - including a high-security one that also held generals that had sided with Celestia, for one particularly rowdy Southeastern Earth Pony - so they shouldn’t be an issue anymore. She’d have to inform Sunset of the new locations of her little playthings, but that could wait.

‘’I think she’d resent that comment.’’

‘’Discord,’’ Nightmare greeted with an even tone, looking up to see the Draconequus lazily lounging in the air. ‘’What do you want?’’

‘’Nothing much, dear Moony,’’ Discord replied, sounding as unconcerned as ever. ‘’Can’t a Draconequus pop in every now and again to see his allies?’’

‘’We spoke yesterday,’’ Nightmare couldn’t help but point out.

‘’That we did,’’ Discord acknowledged. ‘’Do you know how long ago that was?’’

‘’Do I want to know?’’

‘’No, you don’t.’’

‘’How intelligent of you.’’

‘’One tries.’’

Nightmare sighed. ‘’Why are you here, Discord? I need to rule a country, if you hadn’t noticed.’’

‘’And I’m here to talk about that,’’ Discord said. ‘’Or well, close enough. You’re aware that Rarity’s touring the Crystal Empire with Flurry Heart?’’

Of course I know that. Does he really think that…

‘’You suspect something.’’

‘’Flurry Heart is Twilight’s last family aside from her parents,’’ Discord pointed out bluntly. ‘’You might want to look at the security around her.’’

Something cold took hold of Nightmare’s heart. ‘’If she tries-’’

‘’Calm down, tiger,’’ Discord said, holding his claw up. ‘’I’d go up there myself right now, but the Crystal Heart doesn’t like me very much and I’d rather not mess with that at the moment. If I tried to teleport there I’d get tossed into a snowheap.’’

Nightmare didn’t bother asking what he’d done that made the Heart dislike him; the list of things would probably be too long to finish in time. ‘’I’ll send a message north immediately.’’

‘’And then what?’’ Discord asked. ‘’I could be wrong, y’know. Maybe Twilight will go for her parents first, or maybe she’ll try and free Sunbutt. But if she is after Flurry…’’

She considered for a moment, then decided that she had very little to lose.

‘’Sunset found something amidst her notes,’’ Nightmare said. ‘’Twilight was working on several things at once and we can’t be sure yet if she finished any of her projects, but here’s the notes that concern me.’’ She retrieved the papers from her desk - secured behind a magical lock anyone but she would waste days on trying to open - and hoofed them over to Discord.

‘’What the fuck, Twilight.’’

Nightmare nodded. ‘’My reaction exactly.’’

Discord growled, an unnatural sound that sent every single one of her senses on edge at once. ‘’What will you do when you find her?’’

Truth be told, she didn’t know yet. ‘’Anyone else would be executed,’’ she replied instead of answering the question.

Discord nodded after a moment. ‘’Of course. How can I help?’’

‘’If you were to fight Twilight right now, who would win?’’ Nightmare asked back.

‘’Me,’’ Discord said after a long moment, ‘’probably. I can’t tell what she’s going to do if she’s sunk to this, but I’m not going to play fair either in this case.’’

‘’Fair enough. In that case, your assistance would be appreciated. Talk with Sunset, she’ll be heading the investigation, partially at least. Your skills will be best-used there. And contact me if there’s any development you feel needs my attention.’’

‘’I will, don’t you worry.’’ Discord said. ‘’We’ll catch Twilight, Moony-Moon. And when we do, she’ll have a lot of explaining to do.’’

If that isn’t true, I don’t know what is.

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

‘’Not feeling conversational?’’ Twinkle inquired.

Sweetie gave him a side-eyed glare. On the other side of the room, Applejack and Big Mac were conversing rapidly with Applebloom, while Scootaloo was speaking with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Sweetie could already guess the topic of both conversations: their encounter with Twilight.

‘’As you may have noticed,’’ she said icily, ‘’I have no one to talk too. And you don’t count.’’

‘’Hurtful.’’

‘’Bah.’’

Sweetie wasn’t feeling like having a conversation at the moment anyway, even if anyone suitable had been there to hold it with her. She was still stewing over her meeting with Nightmare, both the past and future one. After all, one doesn’t get offered to become an alicorn’s apprentice every day.

I’d be the new Twilight.

Urgh, Twilight… Sweetie wasn’t sure how to feel about her either. She was clearly insane, anyone with half a brain could tell that, but was that really her fault? With a few exceptions, she’d always seemed as sane as anyone in her position would be, given everything that’d happened to her. But then again, maybe those exceptions were just proof of what was truly hiding underneath…

No. They would have figured it out before if she was always this insane, right?

Right?

‘’Oh Moon,’’ she suddenly heard Twinkle whisper-curse next to her.

‘’What?’’

Twinkle nudged her to look over at the door, just in time to see it close behind an amber-coloured unicorn mare with a red and yellow mane, dressed in dark blue robes. ‘’Good afternoon,’’ she greeted the room at large, getting similar responses back, before she proceeded towards Sweetie and Twinkle.

‘’You’re Sunset Shimmer, right?’’ Sweetie asked as soon as she was in suitable range.

‘’That I am,’’ the mare confirmed. ‘’And you’re Sweetie Belle. A pleasure.’’

Sure. ‘’I’m guessing you want to talk about Twilight?’’

‘’Straight to the point, I see. But yes. The Empress has already told me most of it, but I’m curious if there’s anything she’s left out.’’

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. ‘’And how would I know what she did or didn’t tell you?’’

‘’That’s why I’m here,’’ Sunset replied, ‘’so I can get your story straight from the source. Not that I don’t trust our great Empress,’’ she added with a slightly-sarcastic drawl and a daring look at Twinkle, who looked decidedly nonplussed at her presence, ‘’but it’s good to confirm these things. Make sure no details got lost in translation, and all that.’’

Sweetie nodded. ‘’Of course.’’

‘’So, if you wouldn’t mind starting from the beginning…’’

‘’It was less than a day ago,’’ Twinkle cut in. ‘’Give her some time to process it, would you?’’

Sunset gave the stallion a dismissive look. ‘’Agent Twinkle Flower. Perhaps you would like to give your account, then? You were up before any of the mares, if I have my facts right.’’

‘’I was,’’ Twinkle confirmed, ‘’and I’ve already given my report to the Empress. It’s also been written down and sent off to headquarters. You can request a copy of it there.’’

Sunset scowled for a moment, before smiling. ‘’Very well then. I’ll do that. Until then, if you’re so opposed to your charge conversing with me about this topic, why don’t we pick a different one?’’

‘’Such as?’’ Twinkle asked dryly.

‘’Sweetie’s sister, perhaps?’’

‘’I haven’t had contact with Rarity since she became Governess,’’ Sweetie admitted. ‘’I was on my way towards Crystal City and stopped here for a few days.’’

‘’Well you’d have missed them, given that they’re touring the country,’’ Sunset mused aloud, ‘’but laudable initiative. I assume you two had a fight over her change in careers? Makes sense, I suppose.’’

How do you know so much?

‘’In any case,’’ Sunset said, ‘’I’ll be leaving then, since I have an investigation to help organise. But before I go, is there anything that you think Twilight might do now that’s she roaming through the nation?’’

That wasn’t a question Sweetie had really asked herself, given other matters. ‘’I’m not sure,’’ she said. ‘’Give me a moment to recall what she said.’’ It was hazy, partially because of what happened, partially because she didn’t want to remember it, but she managed. ‘’She was saying that all of her friends were traitors. That’s it.’’

Sunset looked around the room. ‘’If we assume she’s talking about the other Elements of Harmony, then we’ve got three here in Ponyville, but she wouldn’t try anything with Discord and so many soldiers here…’’

‘’But Governess Belle and Commander Dash are touring the Crystal Empire with only a small protection detail…’’ Twinkle trailed off.

‘’Oh stars,’’ Sweetie whispered.

Sunset’s reply was much less foal-friendly.

Author's Notes:

Two updates in one day?

We do that.

Chapter 33: Awakening 5

13 December 1008

The Summer Snows Hall was a medium-sized theatre on the third level of the city, reminiscent in size to Ponyville’s Town Hall. The chauffeurs parked their cars just before it, and the porter was polite enough to not stare too much at their party as it proceeded up the stairs into the building.

Once inside, it was immediately obvious where the entertainment was, as someone had clearly forgotten to close a door somewhere. The sounds of various instruments playing a song Rarity was completely unfamiliar with, accompanied by the voice of a stallion, echoed down the entrance hall.

‘’From the mountains north I came down to the plains,’’ was the sound that greeted them as they entered the theatre proper. On the podium, four stallions who all appeared to be in their thirties stood; one on a lute, one behind a set of hoof drums, one on a flute and one who was singing. ‘’Down to the plains, where I met my love.’’

The theatre was decently full, with plenty of variation in attendees too. A few older couples, some families and even some youngsters. How interesting.

They all took seats in the back at Rarity's indication. No need to disturb the performance by taking over the front row, after all. And it worked, since nobody seemed to notice their sudden appearance.

‘’Interesting performance,’’ Lilac remarked in a whisper next to her.

‘’It’s an intriguing look into the local culture,’’ Rarity replied in a similar tone. ‘’One I sorely need, I think.’’

‘’Mhm.’’

The song carried on; it was about a miner returning from the northern mines down to his village, located in the plains that made up the majority of the nation. A typical folk song, given the topic and the instruments. That the room was singing along to the refrain, if not the individual verses, was also a clue as to the truthfulness of that idea.

The song ended with a slightly-edited version of the refrain, which mentioned how much the miner would miss his sweetheart when he went back north again. Heartbreaking, truly.

That, however, was the cue for the rest of the group to start applauding, just a moment earlier than the rest of the theatre’s viewers. Of course, this got them a few looks, which turned into whispers, which turned into more looks.

‘’It’s the Princess!’’

‘’And the Governess!’’

Before they could be swarmed by interested citizens, the guards moved. It was quite a stunning piece of synchronised action too; before Rarity or Rainbow could even give the order they were in position around the chairs the rest of the group was sitting in, ready to keep anyone with ill intentions away.

‘’Good morning, everyone!’’ Rarity greeted as she stood up.

‘’Good morning!’’ many voices called back.

‘’How did you find the show, ma’am?’’ one of the actors asked from the stage.

‘’It was lovely!’’ Rarity replied. ‘’One of the best plays I’ve seen in a long time! Exemplary work, truly! My compliments!’’

The players all bowed. ‘’Thank you, ma’am! We are honoured by your generous words!’’

‘’Rarity’s real good at being generous,’’ Rainbow cut in, blase as ever. ‘’But you did put up a good show. I liked it.’’

‘’You are too kind, ma’am.’’

‘’Nonsense, darlings,’’ Rarity. ‘’You gave a spectacular performance and deserve all the compliments for it. I’m sure that-’’

The sound of rapidly-flapping wings made her break off her sentence as she turned towards the entrance of the theatre, just in time to see… a Night Guard?

The mare came to a halt before her, let through by the corridor of guards around the group .‘’Ma’am, apologies for interrupting, but I must request you return to the hotel immediately. The Empress wishes to have a conversation over telephone with you.’’

Rarity blinked. ‘’I see.’’

‘’What does she want?’’ Rainbow asked.

‘’I have no idea, ma’am,’’ the Night Guard replied.

Of course she didn’t. ‘’Very well, we’ll return immediately. The cars should still be parked in front of the theatre.’’

They were, and a quick word was all it took to get everyone moving back to the hotel again. Perhaps the drivers drove a little faster than legal, but that was not an issue as long as no one got heard. And so, one trip back later they were all standing in the reception hall, which held the telephone Nightmare Moon was calling from, guarded by two Night Guard.

‘’Here you go, ma’am,’’ one of the two said, before giving her the phone.

Rarity took it with a thankful nod, then positioned it just right. ‘’Hello?’’

‘’Rarity,’’ Nightmare Moon’s voice greeted, unmistakable even through the static of the phone. ‘’Good morning. How are you?’’

‘’I’m well, thank you. How are you?’’

There was a moment’s silence. ‘’Fine,’’ Nightmare replied. ‘’But listen closely. Twilight Sparkle has gone insane and escaped from her house arrest in Ponyville. She’s already hurt several people - including Spike and your sister and her friends. We don’t know what her plan is, but she might be heading for you. I need you to head back to Crystal City as soon as possible. You’ll be safest there. Do you understand?’’

Twilight. Twilight had escaped. Had attacked Spike, had attacked Sweetie? ‘’I…’’

‘’Rarity, do you understand me?’’

Deep breaths. ‘’Yes, your Majesty. I understand.’’

‘’Good.’’ It was hard to pick up on Nightmare’s emotions through the telephone, but she sounded agitated. ‘’I’ll be sending more of the Night Guard to Crystal City alongside normal soldiers. A complete investigation is being launched around the Empire, but until we’ve found her I want you and Flurry to stay in Crystal City.’’

‘’Of course, your Majesty. We’ll leave immediately.’’

‘’Excellent.’’ There was silence for a few moments. ‘’Could you give the telephone to Flurry? I wish to talk with her too.’’

‘’As you wish.’’ Rarity took the phone off her ear and turned towards Flurry. ‘’Flurry, could you come here?’’

‘’Okay!’’

Once the filly was before her, Rarity said: ‘’Alright, this is a telephone. Your aunt is on the other end of this telephone, and she wants to talk with you. Just hold it like so, with one end near your mouth and the other near your ear.’’

‘’Alright!’’

Gently, Rarity passed over control of the phone from her magic to Flurry’s, receiving a warm feeling as she did so. Stars, even at this young age she already eclipsed Rarity in power. ‘’Hi auntie!’’ Flurry said, perhaps a little too loudly, into the phone. A few seconds passed during which Nightmare presumably responded in kind and then said something, because Flurry nodded. ‘’Okay.’’

‘’Aww.’’

‘’Yes it’s been so much fun!’’

‘’Okay auntie.’’

‘’Will you still visit at Hearthswarming?’’

‘’Yay!’’

‘’Bye auntie!’’

Taking that as her cue, Rarity took the phone back from the foal. ‘’Was there anything else, your Majesty?’’

‘’Not at the moment, Rarity,’’ Nightmare replied. ‘’Take care of her. Whatever happens, don’t let Twilight get to her.’’

‘’Yes, your Majesty.’’

‘’Very well. I promised Flurry I would still visit on Hearthswarming Eve, but those plans might change. In any case, until we meet again.’’

‘’Goodbye, your Majesty.’’

No reply came.

Rarity placed the phone back on the rig and turned towards the group, which Flurry had already rejoined. ‘’Get ready to depart for Crystal City,’’ she said. ‘’Orders of the Empress.’’

‘’What?’’ Rainbow exclaimed. ‘’What the Tartarus happened?’’

I have no idea, darling. ‘’I’ll tell you in a moment. Captain Darkheart, please inform your soldiers to ready the train, and also send a courier to the mayor informing her of our sudden departure.’’

‘’Of course, ma’am.’’

‘’Thank you, Captain. Come on darlings, let’s head back to our rooms. We need to pack.’’

Author's Notes:

I live again.

For the moment, anyway. I do plan to finish this as well as Rising Sun, Mending Heart by this summer, for what it's worth.

Omake 3: Shatterpoint

Jungle Trek awoke in a cell. Again. Really, this was getting old.

‘’Urgh…’’ he groaned as his opening eyes were exposed to a dazzlingly bright light, whilst his body protested against every movement he attempted to make. He closed his eyes again, and breathed in. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In.

He sat up. Out.

He could sit up, at least. That was something. With his head now bent towards the floor, he could open his eyes and see something else than a poor imitation of the Last Gate of Ponykind.

He was on the floor, a cold but dry floor. Not even a bed for him? How terrible.

Before he could look up and around the cell - which would no doubt be bare and grey - there was a very loud pounding on the door. His poor head.

Three ‘knocks’ - more like artillery shells being fired than polite knocks, to his headache-addled brain - later, the door opened, and a tall shadow loomed over him.

‘’Good afternoon,’’ a familiar voice said. ‘’You're finally awake.’’

Jungle looked up, one hoof above his eyes to block the ceiling light, and saw his captor standing there, looking down at him with obvious distaste. ‘’Still alive too, I see.’’

‘’Sort of…’’ Jungle mumbled.

If Sunset heard that, she didn’t comment on it. ‘’I need you,’’ she said instead, ‘’to answer some questions for me.’’

‘’Did you not already try this?’’

‘’If you do not answer them in a manner that I find satisfactory,’’ Sunset continued, uncaring of his interruption, ‘’then I shall be forced to use more aggressive methods. Such as the following.’’

Jungle’s head exploded with pain. FUCK!

After a moment, the pain vanished as suddenly as it had come. ‘’That was one of the less harmful methods,’’ Sunset said in a chipper voice. ‘’So, would you like to comply now?’’

‘’What,’’ Jungle began, ‘’do you want to know?’’

‘’A few little things,’’ Sunset replied sweetly. ‘’Nothing big. Just tell me where Cabelleron is hiding, and where he got his money, and I’ll get you some decent food and a better cell.’’

Tempting offer. Really.

‘’I don’t know where he is.’’

That wasn’t a lie, not really. He knew where Cabelleron could have gone; but he had no idea if he was at any of those places, or somewhere else entirely. Stars, he didn’t even know how the war was going. If it was still going on at all. It mightn’t even be.

‘’You said that before.’’

‘’And since I’ve not had any contact with the outside world at all, why do you think that has changed?’’

Sunset seemed to consider that for a moment, before shrugging. ‘’Your lack of cooperation has been noted.’’

Fuck.

‘’Alright, alright!’’

‘’Yes?’’

‘’I… I might know about a few places,’’ Jungle admitted. ‘’Down in Aztlan. But I don’t know if he’s using them right now.’’

‘’That’s good enough.’’

It wouldn’t be. Not for long. ‘’As for his money…’’ Jungle paused for a moment, collected his thoughts. What could he say?

He was already damned now. He’d finally broken, though at least he could say that he had resisted taking the easy way out by yielding at the first inquisition. Still, the physical torture wasn’t something he would subject himself to, for any cause. Certainly not for the good doctor.

Oh well. In for a bit, out for a diamond, no?

‘’We sold artefacts,’’ he began. ‘’Stuff we got from ruins and temples all across the Southeast. They went for massive sums to the right people. The doctor also led some expeditions funded by Canterlot nobility, or took specific people out into the jungles. We also extorted some of the local tribes.’’

‘’And that’s it?’’

No, no it wasn’t. ‘’When the war broke out,’’ Jungle continued, ‘’Cabelleron started meeting with some shady figures. I don’t know who they were, or why they were there, but money was never an issue afterwards. We never saw them either.’’

‘’Mysterious donors?’’

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’And you don’t know anything else about them.’’

‘’Nope.’’

‘’Sounds believable.’’

‘’I know, right?’’

‘’Not at all. But…’’ Sunset sighed. ‘’We’ve interrogated one other pony from your little group of insurgents. He said something about shady individuals too, but we discarded it. Only, now you are saying the same things, and I know you haven’t been in contact with him. So either you all agreed on a story to tell us, or you’re telling the truth.’’

‘’For the record, it is the truth,’’ Jungle offered, making sure to put as much honesty as possible into his voice.

‘’Then it seems I have someone else to investigate,’’ Sunset concluded with a sigh. ‘’Now. Next question. What did you have to do with the attempted prison break?’’

Jungle took a breath. This was going to be difficult. ‘’It just happened,’’ he said. ‘’A stallion opened the door, threw me a rifle and told me we were breaking out. Was I supposed to stay in the cell?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Well, I didn’t.’’

‘’I’m aware. And this just… happened?’’

‘’Well I certainly didn’t know this stallion.’’

‘’And I only have your word for it?’’

‘’I refuse to believe you haven’t captured others and asked them the same questions.’’

‘’You were the only survivor.’’

Jungle blinked. ‘’Really?’’

‘’Yes. The IIS and the Guard weren’t very merciful.’’ Sunset sounded… annoyed. ‘’It was a bitch to clear out all the blood, I must say.’’

Jungle gulped. That was what she cared about? ‘’I’m sure,’’ he chuckled nervously. ‘’Anyway, that’s all I’ve got.’’

‘’Hm? Ah yes.’’ Sunset smiled at him, and Jungle felt his hairs stand on edge in reaction. ‘’Thank you for your assistance. I’ll have some food sent up to you.’’ With that said, she turned around and walked out of the room, the door closing behind her.

Jungle sagged back against the wall. What had he done?

At least there would be food.

Hopefully it was good food too. He could really go for a hayburger right about now, or a dandelion sandwich, or or or…

When his meal consisted of stale bread and cold water, it was all he could do to not pout at the door in disappointment.

Author's Notes:

Surprise!

Chapter 34: Awakening 6

13 December 1008

Sweetie could pack remarkably quickly. When she put her mind to it.

She had to put her mind to it, because if she didn’t focus on something, her thoughts would wander back to what they’d discovered.

Anything but that.

Within an hour, Sunset had arranged for the three of them tickets on the first train northwards; good tickets too, with comfortable seats and privacy. And Sweetie had, with a great deal of skill and no small amount of persuasion, convinced Applebloom and Scootaloo to stay behind in Ponyville.

It had taken considerably more shouting than her head had appreciated, but she had managed it, and that was the important part.

Sweetie had one side of the cabin all to herself; Twinkle was on the other side by the window, and next to him was Sunset, her face buried in a book that looked like it belonged in a museum, not on a bumpy train ride.

‘’We have to stop over at Canterlot,’’ Sunset suddenly said without looking up from her book, breaking the silence that had taken hold of the cabin. ‘’Then the train runs straight to Crystal City from there; it only stops at Bales, Whinnyapolis and some place called Mi Amore in the Empire.’’

‘’You’re coming all the way with us?’’ Sweetie asked.

‘’I would be remiss if I didn’t.’’

‘’Didn’t you have an investigation to lead?’’ Twinkle inquired, carefully watching Sunset like she was some kind of caged animal.

Sunset made a dismissive gesture with her hoof. ‘’Someone else can take that over from me. We already know where Twilight is likely to head next; and if she doesn’t do that and attacks Ponyville instead, we’ll know too.’’ With that said, she turned back to her book.

Twinkle shook his head, clearly not in agreement with Sunset or her decisions; and sure, they weren’t the ones Sweetie would have taken, perhaps, but they made sense.

And who was she to judge, really?

One day, I’ll be in her position, a voice in her head whispered. If Nightmare Moon has her way, I’ll be the Imperial Magician. That’s so weird.

Her conversation with the Alicorn came to mind, the words the mare had spoken dancing through her brain. Why me? She explained it, and I still don’t understand it! I’m not that powerful or smart! Rarity is the smart one! And we’re just a lineage of normal unicorns, no royal blood or powerful mages in our ancestry!

Sweetie sighed, before reaching for the water bottle by her side and drinking from it. The refreshing cold of the water brought some clarity to her tired mind, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

‘’How far until Canterlot?’’ she asked no one in particular.

‘’Cannot be more than a few hours,’’ Twinkle remarked. ‘’This train isn’t stopping often.’’

‘’It’s a good two hours yet, I think,’’ Sunset added. ‘’We’ve only been here for half an hour.’’

She slumped over in her seat, despite herself. Thankfully, neither of her two companions called her out on it.

I don’t have to do it. I could refuse.

Yeah, I could.

She wouldn’t listen to it, of course, but I could.

But then what? I’ve got no plans anyway, besides making sure Rarity is safe. I might as well pick up on this chance.

And become a traitor to Equestria? To Princess Celestia?

Celestia lost the war. Nightmare Moon isn’t a terrible ruler, and Twilight isn’t an alternative anymore. That leaves no other option besides her. And maybe, maybe being with me could help get Luna back in charge?

Don’t be ridiculous, I barely know her.

Few who know her at all are still alive and not sworn to serve her.

Sweetie mulled over that thought as time passed on, the Sun continuing its journey throughout the sky as it had for well over a millennia, still held up by the power of an alicorn as Equestria had always known it to be.

The bearer changes, Sweetie realised, but the light doesn’t.

‘’Penny for your thoughts?’’

Startled, Sweetie looked away from the window to see Sunset was staring at her, teal eyes gleaming with some inner knowledge Sweetie couldn’t begin to guess at. ‘’Uhh… just thinking.’’

‘’Mhm,’’ Sunset said with a nod. ‘’You’ve got a lot to think about.’’

‘’Sunset…’’ Twinkle said warningly.

‘’Be silent, little colt,’’ she snapped at him without bothering to turn her head. ‘’The IIS has no place nor business interfering with my affairs. If you have complaints, take them up with the Empress if you feel so inclined. I will tolerate your presence on this venture, but you will be a silent observer and do as I say or I will toss you out at the next station.’’

Then, without breaking stride, she turned her attention back to Sweetie. ‘’I do not know what Nightmare Moon told you, or what you saw when she rescued you from Twilight, but I know that I see potential in you. Whichever way this current situation ends, I’m going to be in the Crystal Empire for the foreseeable future, and the Empress has indicated a… distaste, for the majority of possible replacements in my position.’’

‘’Nightmare Moon already spoke to me about this,’’ Sweetie cut in before Sunset could continue. ‘’She wants to take me on as her apprentice.’’

Sunset blinked, and then laughed. ‘’Of course she does! Never does anything by halves, does she? Well, in that case I suppose my proposal of an apprenticeship is unnecessary. Damnit, she keeps stealing my thunder. You’ll get used to it too, I think.’’

Still smiling, she turned her eyes back to her book. Sweetie, in turn, turned her eyes back out the window, pointedly ignoring Twinkle’s gaze.

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

Shrouded Night was decidedly not paid enough for this.

Sure, direct orders from the Empress were direct orders and he’d be a traitor if he disobeyed those, but within the privacy of his own mind he could note that maybe, just maybe, this was not the world’s greatest idea.

They’d just settled in, really, and it was a good thing that they had already planned to not stay for more than a few days at each location; otherwise it would have been considerably more of a pain to clear everything out.

He cast a final, forlorn look at the hotel chamber he’d occupied together with Evening and Misty; it was far more comfortable than the barracks in the Crystal Palace or the bunks on the train. It was, most likely, the most comfortable posting in terms of sleeping area that Shrouded had ever had and would ever have.

‘’Terrible to leave behind, isn’t it,’’ Misty said beside him.

‘’You make it sound like we’re abandoning a home.’’

‘’Has this not been our home for the past days?’’

Shrouded’s response was to flick at her helmet with his wing. ‘’Come on,’’ he said. ‘’Let’s get going.’’

‘’Sir yes sir,’’ Misty muttered under her breath, but she stepped away and he closed the door without further comment.

Their way through the hotel was unimpeded; they came across a few other Night Guard who they acknowledged with a nod, and then they came into the reception area, where their charges were gathered with their possessions; and there too was Captain Darkheart.

‘’He looks exceedingly displeased with everything around him,’’ Shrouded noted.

Misty giggle-snorted. ‘’The feeling is understandable.’’

‘’So it is,’’ he acknowledged with a nod.

‘’Alright!’’ Darkheart snapped a moment later. ‘’Night Guard listen up! We are moving down to the train station and taking the train back to Crystal City. These are orders from Her Majesty, if you hadn’t heard. We believe there might be hostiles who intend to harm the Crown Princess and Governess; obviously this cannot stand. We’re going to get them safe and sound into the Crystal Palace, and once there we’ll see what else the situation desires of us. Am I clear?’’

‘’Yes sir!’’ they all chorused back.

‘’Good.’’ Captain Darkheart turned to face the Governess and Commander, between whom stood the Princess. ‘’Anything to add, ma’ams?’’

‘’No, thank you Captain,’’ the Governess said. ‘’Let us get moving then.’’

‘’Certainly, ma’am. On the move!’’

And they were off.

Author's Notes:

I return again.

Next chapter tomorrow, if my luck holds. Goal is to finish the story before its two-year anniversary, so I have 1.5 months yet.

Wish me luck.

Chapter 35: Awakening 7

13 December 1008

Once again, they were on board a train headed to a city in the Crystal Empire. This time, however, Lilac was already familiar with the city they were heading towards, thankfully.

She was writing a report on the state of Rainbow Falls; she'd gathered a good deal of information even though their stay had been cut short, and by the time they arrived she would be ready to present her work to Rarity.

Ocellus was sprawled over a couch, reading from a book that Lilac did not recognise. ‘’What do you have there?’’

‘’Imperial History, Volume One,’’ Ocellus replied. ‘’It’s required reading for my History class. The book’s as boring as it is dense.’’

‘’What chapter are you on now?’’ I might have to steal that book, truth be told.

‘’It’s talking about Emperor Amoriac the second. Apparently he fought off, and I quote ‘many brazen attacks on the settlements established in the west under the reign of his grandfather, Emperor Amoriac the first.’ This was in… 354 BLB.’’

‘’Ancient history, then.’’

Ocellus shrugged. ‘’Apparently. Doesn’t really interest me though, truth be told.’’

Lilac thought back to some of her own history courses, long ago. ‘’Perhaps this Amoriac fought Changelings too, then. I read once that our hives were further south and east once.’’

‘’Really? Huh, interesting…’’

There was a knock on the door. ‘’Come in!’’

Captain Darkheart.

‘’Good day, ma’am,’’ the stallion greeted. ‘’I would ask you some questions, if you’re not busy.’’

‘’Certainly not, Captain. Please, have a seat. Sugar, make room for the Captain.’’

Darkheart sat down on the couch as Ocellus retreated to one side of it, still immersed in her book. ‘’Ma’am, I’m here because I’ve a few questions I want to ask that I haven’t got around to yet.’’ The Thestral gave a very charming smile. ‘’Question one is the following; tell me about yourself. What brings two Changelings to the Crystal Empire.’’

Shit.

‘’Changelings? I don’t kno-’’

‘’The Governess informed me of your particular nature already,’’ Darkheart cut in, ‘’and I have already gotten the basics of your story from her, but I need details.’’

‘’Such as?’’

‘’Anything you wish to tell me, but I am particularly interested in any knowledge you have of military or industrial efforts.’’ Darkheart’s eyes gleamed in the light. ‘’I was stationed in Canterlot during Chrysalis’ invasion; I saw what Changelings can do.’’

For a moment, Lilac was intensely aware they were in a train filled with soldiers loyal to their Empress above anyone else, and that the Captain was probably skilled enough to kill both of them on his own.

‘’So, of course, you understand that I have professional and personal interest both in these matters,’’ Darkheart continued. ‘’Now, tell me everything.’’

Lilac didn’t immediately speak; instead she considered. Considered what to say, considered how to say it, and then said: ‘’Of course. Shall I start at the beginning?’’

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

Flurry’s tired form was slumped against Rainbow’s side, and that was just about the only thing keeping her from shouting at Rarity.

She settled for a mighty scowl instead.

Rarity, for her part, was determinedly looking out of the window, avoiding Rainbow’s gaze as she had been doing ever since she’d announced they were leaving for Crystal City immediately.

‘’Are you going to keep staring out of that window?’’

No response.

‘’Rares.’’

No response.

‘’Rarity…’’

No. fucking. Response.

Rainbow bit back a swearing tirade that would have definitely woken up the child by her side. Instead, she reached out with her wings and flicked one of them at Rarity’s face.

That finally got a reaction from her. ‘’Don’t do that!’’ she hissed, without turning to face Rainbow.

‘’Then don’t ignore me.’’

‘’I’m not ignoring you.’’

‘’Well you are, unless you happen to have become sporadically deaf.’’

Rarity let out an aggravated sigh. ‘’What do you want me to say, Rainbow?’’

‘’Tell me what Nightmare Moon said!’’

‘’Not so loud, you’ll wake Flurry up,’’ Rarity snapped at her. ‘’And I already told you all of it. Thrice.’’

‘’Tell me again.’’

‘’Hearing it again will not change the message.’’

‘’I don’t believe it,’’ Rainbow stated. ‘’I refuse to.’’ Twilight couldn’t, wouldn’t, do those things. It was impossible. Twilight Sparkle hurting anyone, let alone her own brother? Or Sweetie Belle? No, something had to have been misunderstood.

‘’And I,’’ Rarity snarled, ‘’do not care.’’ She finally - finally! - turned to face Rainbow, and she was crying. ‘’’How do you think I feel?

Fuck.

‘’Shit Rares, I’m sorry-’’

Rarity slip-stumbled into Rainbow’s grasp, and instinctively the pegasus wrapped her wings around the unicorn, joined seconds later by her legs. ‘’There there, Rares.’’

Rarity began to cry in earnest against her neck, and it was all Rainbow could do to hold her, whisper sweet nothings in her ear, and make sure that Flurry’s well-deserved rest wasn’t too disturbed.

Eventually, after some time - Rainbow had no way to tell how long - Rarity pulled away. ‘’Oh, I’m sorry darling, it’s just-’’

‘’Shh,’’ Rainbow shushed, before acting on instinct and pressing a quick kiss to Rarity’s forehead. ‘’It’s alright. I’m sorry for irritating you. I shouldn’t have done it.’’

Rarity stared at her, mouth slightly open, for a few seconds, before gently kissing Rainbow back. She minded far less than she might have thought she did.

|-x-X-x-|

The Sun - Her Sun, it would always be Her Sun - shone down harshly. There was no more calm, no more beauty, no more peace in it, only uncaring heat. Her Princess would have hated it, would have hated everything about this world.

‘’My Princess,’’ one of the Ponies assembled before her spoke up, ‘’we have come as you have commanded. What are your orders?’’

‘’There have been complications,’’ Twilight Sparkle said, and it was all she could do to contain her rage. She should never have been discovered. She wasn’t ready yet! ‘’We must accelerate our plans. Sunderer, come forward.’’

All of her followers had forsaken their old names when they had become hers; now they would lead the restoration of the true Equestria. Their actions now would topple the Nightmare regime, and bring back the Equestria lost to them by the actions of Lunarists and traitors.

Sunderer was a Unicorn mare, a tall one at that. She bowed her head deeply as she stood before Twilight. ‘’What is thy bidding, my Princess?’’

‘’You,’’ Twilight declared, casting her voice around the darkened room, ‘’shall lead our forces in their first glorious assault. Make for the Crystal City and await my signal. Your task will be to ensure that the defences around the Crystal Palace are lowered, and its guards drawn away. I do not care how you do it, or what damages you cause, as long as the Palace and those in it remain unharmed. My niece is also to not be harmed under any circumstances. Am I clear?’’

‘’I shall fulfil this task or perish trying, my Princess,’’ Sunderer said, head still bowed.

‘’Dismissed.’’

Sunderer retreated into the crowd.

‘’Shatterer, come forward.’’

Shatterer was a Pegasi stallion, average by any metric. He, too, bowed deeply. ‘’What is thy bidding, my Princess?’’

‘’You,’’ Twilight declared, ‘’shall lead an attack on Manehattan. I have heard that there was a prison break-out attempt there recently; make it look like you are part of a similar group. Cause as much damage as you can, and do not let yourself be captured. That goes for Sunderer too.’’

She gazed over the assembled group. ‘’You shall assist these two as best you can. The attacks are to take place in two days.’’

‘’As you will it, so shall it be, my Princess,’’ Shatterer said. ‘’Manehattan shall fear us.’’

‘’You do well, Shatterer. For the Sun!’’

‘’FOR THE SUN!’’ the assembly chanted back.

Twilight let go of the spell, and slipped out of the Dream World.

The forest clearing she was sitting in was fully under the Sun at this hour; sweat soaked through her coat and mane as a result of this.

Nightmare Moon would never notice her, of course. For someone who called herself the Mistress of Dreams, she was remarkably blind to the on-goings of her domain. But of course, that only served to aid Twilight’s actions, so she didn’t mind overly.

The alicorn turned her head up and glared into the Sun, ignoring the stinging feeling in her eyes. ‘’Do not fear, my Princess,’’ she said softly. ‘’You shall be rescued, and all shall be well. As long as you endure, Equestria endures. I know you are suffering, but know that I am coming to save you.’’

Author's Notes:

New chapter!

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Chapter 36: Awakening 8

13 December 1008

They’d switched trains at Canterlot, and now they sped across the plains of the southern Great Basin as the afternoon turned to the evening. Sunset had long since finished her book on the finer points of soul magic - one of many books she’d collected from the Royal Canterlot Archives months earlier - but she kept pretending she was still reading it. It was decidedly more fun than staring out the window, or attempting to converse with her two companions.

Suddenly, Twinkle stood up. ‘’I’m going to the toilet,’’ he announced, and then he was gone.

Finally, some peace.

Sunset waited for a few more seconds after the door had closed behind the stallion, and then she put her book down. ‘’So.’’

Sweetie’s eyes snapped towards her. ‘’What?’’

‘’Why you?’’

Sweetie looked at, brow furrowed, before shaking her head. ‘’I don’t know.’’

‘’Come now,’’ Sunset said, ‘’surely she told you her reasons? Or you suspect them, at the very least. Nightmare Moon is many things, but she is not someone who acts without cause.’’

‘’Maybe,’’ Sweetie agreed, ‘’but she only told me that I was powerful magically - which I guess is true? She also told me that since I haven’t really had any proper magical education, she would have an easier time teaching me?’’

Sunset considered that. ‘’I don’t fully agree, but I can see her logic. And of course, being able to train you herself has its advantages. Where she’d find the time though, I have no idea,’’

‘’I don’t know either.’’ Sweetie sighed. ‘’I don’t know anything, that’s the problem.’’

‘’If Nightmare Moon wants you as her apprentice, she sees something in you. As do I.’’

‘’You said earlier that you were going to offer me an apprenticeship. Why?’’

‘’Because I think I see the same things that she sees. You have potential, Sweetie, more than you realise. You’re young, you’re smart and you’ve got power, you just don’t know how to use it properly. I recognise that from someone else.’’

‘’Who?’’

Sunset smiled. ‘’She was a unicorn too, but she didn’t have friends or family, like you do. So when Princess Celestia took her in, she did her very best to please her. And when that didn’t work…’’

‘’You see yourself in me?’’

‘’I was not aware my history with Celestia was public knowledge.’’

‘’It was a guess.’’

‘’I’m sure. But yes, I do see myself in you. And I think that you could be like me, though I do pray you do not end up making the same mistakes I did. I paid for mine, I hope you shall never have to do the same.’’

‘’What sort of mistakes?’’

‘’The kind of mistakes you can’t fix with a song and dance recital.’’

Sweetie considered that, then nodded slowly. ‘’Alright. So, any tips?’’

Sunset grinned.

|-x-X-x-|

The train rushed onwards through the landscape. It would be far more interesting if Shrouded hadn’t already seen most of said landscape before. As it stood, he watched it pass by mostly because off-shift he had nothing better to do.

Besides him, Misty yawned. ‘’Boring, isn’t it?’’

‘’Just a tad,’’ Shrouded agreed. ‘’At least there’s drinks.’’ The train’s catering had been ever so kind to provide them a whole bottle of chilled mango juice, and they had been enjoying it for over an hour.

‘’At least there’s drinks,’’ Misty echoed, before taking a long sip from her glass. ‘’Good drinks too.’’

‘’Now I know where the budget went.’’

Misty snorted. ‘’Must have cost a fortune to import mangos here.’’

‘’Aren’t there financial issues in this nation?’’

‘’Eh, who cares. We’re still getting paid, no one’s rioting, and we’ve got mighty fine mango juice here. Things could be worse.’’

True that.

Shrouded tipped his head in acknowledgement, then set about consuming his own drink. It was still delicious.

‘’So, what do we do once we get back to Crystal City?’’ he asked after a few minutes of content silence.

‘’Get on duty again,’’ Misty replied between sips of her drink, ‘’and make sure no one gets into the Palace.’’

‘’I love work.’’

‘’Hey, you volunteered for it.’’

‘’I volunteered for action and to serve the Empress.’’

‘’And you are doing just that.’’

‘’I’m not getting any action.’’

‘’You can get that tonight.’’

‘’I’ll take you up on that,’’ Shrouded said, and then someone opened the door.

‘’Good day,’’ Captain Darkheart greeted as he strode in. ‘’I’ve just come back from a most enlightening conversation with the Governess’ secretary. How have things been here?’’

‘’We have mango juice,’’ was all Shrouded needed to say to answer that question.

Darkheart’s eyes narrowed. ‘’Give.’’

Shrouded handed over the bottle. ‘’Here you go.’’

‘’Much obliged.’’ Darkheart took a swig straight from the bottle and let out a content sigh immediately after swallowing. ‘’Just what I needed.’’

‘’Isn’t it?’’ Misty remarked. ‘’Anyhoo, how long until we reach Crystal City?’’

‘’It’ll be late at night. Close to midnight, probably,’’ Darkheart answered, before taking another swig. ‘’This is really good. I want two.’’

‘’Go to the bar. It’s three cabins down.’’

‘’I will do that, I think. I need alcohol too, for a day like this. Pray you never get promoted to Captain.’’

‘’I’m perfectly happy as a Sergeant, thank you,’’ Shrouded remarked dryly. ‘’The pay’s adequate, the job is not too boring, and I get to watch you do all the boring work.’’

‘’I can and will demote you.’’

‘’That will just give me more time to watch you.’’

‘’You are insufferable.’’

‘’You’re both idiots,’’ Misty spoke up, before snagging Shrouded’s glass and draining it of juice. ‘’Case in point.’’

‘’I was drinking that!’’ Shrouded exclaimed.

‘’You were, then I was, and now there is nothing to drink.’’ Misty’s grin was shit-eating.

‘’Urgh. Why do I put up with you two.’’

Darkheart chuckled. ‘’The pay is good, or so I hear.’’

The pillow that went soaring towards his head was, in Shrouded’s opinion, a deserved punishment.

The answer he got to that, however - several pillows at his head - were not deserved. Not deserved at all.

Author's Notes:

Short, I know, but I had school to work on.

Chapter 37: Awakenings 9

13 December 1008

By the time the train pulled into the station at Crystal City, it was almost midnight. Dinner had been very much an informal affair, not at all organised in any sort of central manner, but still it had been quite tasty.

On Rarity’s back, Flurry stirred. She had fallen asleep hours ago without difficulty, and even when being moved from her bed to Rarity’s back it hadn’t looked like she would suddenly wake up.

Poor filly. She’s dead tired, probably.

A Tight Ship was waiting for them at the station, together with an escort of Night Guard. ‘’My lady,’’ he greeted her with a demure nod. ‘’We received your message. The Palace has been readied for your return.’’

‘’Thank you, Tight Ship. I apologise for the late warning, but I informed you as quick as I could.’’

‘’It is no problem at all. How is the Princess?’’

‘’Asleep, but well.’’

‘’Very good.’’ Tight Ship cleared his throat, then continued: ‘’I imagine you are all quite tired. Come, let us return to the Palace!’’

‘’Let’s,’’ Rarity agreed, and the assembled party set off. As they walked through the city, she had to suppress the urge to yawn more than once; she was tired too, but she couldn’t show it.

Rainbow fell in next to her. ‘’Sharing a bed tonight?’’ she whispered.

‘’Sure,’’ Rarity answered after a moment. ‘’Flurry will like it, at least. But I’m tired too.’’

‘’Of course, of course,’’ Rainbow agreed with a soft chuckle. ‘’It might surprise you, but I am tired too.’’

‘’I thought you couldn’t get tired?’’

‘’That might be exaggerated.’’

‘’Is it?’’

‘’Shush you.’’ Rainbow’s wing swatted lightly against the back of her head. ‘’Or you won’t get anything at all, any day.’’

‘’A threat I’m sure you’re willing to follow up on,’’ Rarity quipped, even with the blush she could feel creeping up on her cheeks.

‘’Heh.’’ Rainbow chuckled. ‘’Anyway, I’m gonna talk with Darkheart for a moment. Don’t go to bed without me.’’

‘’Yes ma’am.’’

Rainbow chuckled again, and then she was off. Rarity let out a sigh. Her friend was irrevocably charming, when she wanted to be, and she was self-aware enough to know that she was falling for the pegasus. Caepasia help her.

I cannot send her away… but I can’t let her become more important than the nation, either. I am a ruler, and a ruler must be responsible. The Crystallians looks to me to protect and govern them, and by the Sun and Moon I will do that, if it is the last thing I do.

The Crystal Palace was shining dimly in the moonlight, its many windows casting out the light from inside into the wide open world. It was visible from the moment they stepped out of the station into the city proper, and throughout their journey it only got closer and closer, a massive tower that loomed over them all.

Just before they reached the Palace Square, Rarity paused for a moment to look up at it. It was beautiful, the epitome of Crystallian architecture and a demonstration of the skill and might the ancient Crystal Empire had commanded. And now she sat as its regent, whilst its future ruler was sound asleep on her back.

‘’It keeps being impressive, even after so many years,’’ Tight Ship suddenly remarked. ‘’Now come. December nights aren’t made for being outside in, even when it isn’t snowing.’’

And so the party made its way into the Palace again.

|-x-X-x-|

13 December 1008

‘’Sunset Shimmer, curse you,’’ Nightmare muttered to herself as her eyes scanned over the notice that had been delivered to her just now, sourced from Ponyville.

She could stop Sunset if she wanted to, of course. Have the Night Guard in Canterlot inform her that her presence was desired in the investigation, not heading north to Crystal City. But she wasn’t going to.

Leaving aside the fact that Sunset would be supremely annoyed with her for the act, her logic for heading north was sound; and whilst Nightmare was tied down to Manehattan without emergencies to draw her away, Sunset had no such restrictions. If she went to Crystal City ahead of Nightmare, she could hold off a possible attack by Twilight for long enough that Flurry and Rarity should be able to get away.

So, she flicked the message away with a push from her telekinesis, and turned her attention back to the many other matters that required her attention.

Perhaps, she mused as she looked over a report on the reduction of resistance activity on the northeastern Eastern Seaboard, there is some wisdom in restoring the Parliament. Celestia did well to delegate some of her less important tasks to them, and I cannot run this nation on my own, but I will not make her mistakes. This Parliament should be nothing but an advisory organ, incapable of making any decisions without explicit approval from me.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea.

Nightmare reached for a pen and an empty piece of paper, and quickly planned out a conceptual new Parliament, which she then shelved for later; there were more pressing matters she had to attend to, such as the… Navy budget?

The costs of the Civil War and subsequent rebuilding efforts have heavily strained the economy and treasury, and the vast majority of funds have gone to the army and reconstruction. However, the ships of the Imperial Lunar Navy, formerly the Royal Equestrian Navy, still form one of the largest and greatest fleets in the world. With the inclusion of Chiropterra, New Mareland and Puerto Caballo in our domains, we now have domains on all three continents. It is therefore inconceivable that our fleet is forced to languish in port, unfunded. A consistent and targeted funding campaign is necessary-

Nightmare stopped reading the document there, and instead let out a long, suffering sigh. There were a million things to keep track of, and she had only so many hours in a day, so many issues she could focus on at once.

A secretary, then? And later a Parliament. I will have to delegate some issues, but I must be careful. I cannot allow my power to slacken, or I shall end up like Celestia, a prisoner of my own making.

There was a knock on the door. ‘’Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from General Selenite, about Stalliongradian troop movements on the borders.’’

‘’Enter.’’

A unicorn mare of the Night Guard entered, dutifully bowing her head before placing the document on her desk. ‘’Here you go, Your Majesty.’’

‘’Thank you, Staff Sergeant. You may return to your stations.’’

‘’Yes, ma’am.’’ Another bow, and the mare was gone.

Nightmare tried to remember when she inaugurated a Unicorn mare into the Night Guard. Ah, right. That must have been Fleur de Vaillance. One of those Prench noble daughters. I remember now.

Perhaps, long ago, she had campaigned with the mare’s ancestors. Prance had been an ally at times of ancient Equestria, and some of their nobility had even come to her aid during the First Equestrian Civil War. And of course, Prance had readily joined her side in the Second Equestrian Civil War. Perhaps she ought to visit the city. Horseleans was said to be a lovely place, after all, especially in winter.

Perhaps later, when things had died down.

With that thought in her mind, Nightmare turned herself to Selenite’s report, and from then her work did not cease until far past midnight.

Author's Notes:

So ends the 13th of December!

Chapter 38: Changes 1

14 December 1008

Morning came, in Rarity's honest opinion, far too early. But it came anyway, and she woke up in a comfortably warm bed - her own bed - with Rainbow on the other side and Flurry in between them.

Rainbow's eyes opened a moment after Rarity's. ‘’Good morning,’’ she whispered.

‘’Good morning,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’What time is it?’’

‘’A little past nine,’’ was the answer she got back. ‘’No one's been up to see us yet, so you can go back to sleep if you want.’’

‘’You haven't done that either.’’

‘’I was waiting for you to wake up, so I could tell you.’’

‘’Thank you, darling. I appreciate it.’’ Rarity leaned over Flurry and gave Rainbow a chaste kiss on the cheek, setting the Pegasus’ face aflame. ‘’Shall we see if Flurry wants to wake up?’’

Rainbow nodded, and so Rarity bent down and gently stroked the filly's mane. ‘’Flurry, darling, it's time to wake up.’’

It took a few tries, but soon enough Flurry was awake, and quite hungry too. ‘’Can we go have breakfast?’’ she asked, and there was nothing Rarity could do against those pleading eyes.

Breakfast, today, was pancakes served with maple syrup; a true Crystallian staple, apparently originating from the west of the country. The cities of Quebuck and Whinnypeg both claimed to have invented it first, so Rarity was told by one of the staff members serving the food. In order to not show favouritism, the Palace apparently had contracts with suppliers from both cities. It was delicious, and that was all that mattered to her, really.

‘’I like these pancakes!’’ Flurry said, her mouth full.

‘’Don’t talk when there's food in your mouth, darling,’’ Rarity reprimanded gently. ‘’But yes, they are quite good.’’

‘’They’re awesome!’’ Rainbow put in from her seat.

‘’Yeah!’’

Rarity couldn't help but chuckle at that. ‘’Perhaps we might eat them more often, but not too often, of course!’’

‘’Of course, Rares,’’ Rainbow agreed with a grin that told Rarity exactly how much she believed in moderating her own sugar intake.

Rarity just shook her head and took a sip of her orange juice. It was, as usual, delicious.

Suddenly, the door burst open. ‘’Ma’am,’’ a Night Guard she didn't recognise got out between breaths, ‘’there's been an attack at Princesses Plaza!’’

‘’What!?’’

‘’A bomb went off, and there’s shooters. The Captain is heading there now with the Guard.’’

Rainbow was already out of her seat. ‘’Give me a minute and I’ll be there.’’

‘’Rainbow!’’

‘’I’m a Shadowbolt,’’ Rainbow snapped at her. ‘’I’m not going to sit around here and wait!’’

‘’You can’t just head into a fight!’’

‘’It’s my duty, Rarity.’’ Before she could even formulate a proper response to that nonsense, Rainbow had darted over to her and pressed a long kiss to her muzzle. Then she and the guard were gone, and Rarity was left alone with Flurry.

‘’What’s happening?’’ the filly asked.

‘’I don’t know, darling,’’ Rarity answered, ‘’but I'm sure we’re safe here.’’

‘’Will Rainbow be alright?’’

Goddess, I hope so.

‘’She’ll be fine.’’

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

It took Rainbow all of five minutes to slip into her uniform, get her weapons and be on her way towards Princesses Plaza, together with a cadre of Night Guard led by Captain Darkheart.

‘’What do we know about them?’’ she asked as they flew over the streets.

‘’There’s maybe a dozen, maybe more, of them,’’ Darkheart answered. ‘’Small arms and rifles, and at least two bombs. That’s all I have.’’

‘’Ponies?’’

‘’Yes.’’

Rainbow swore. Darkheart didn’t respond; he was clearly struggling to talk and keep up with her breakneck speed at the same time, but Rainbow wasn’t going to slow down.

She only did so when they were almost at the Plaza, touching down just before it, where crowds were fleeing out of the Plaza, being guided by Crystal Guards and policeponies.

‘’Forward!’’ Rainbow ordered. ‘’Watch your fire! There might still be civilians in the Plaza!’’

‘’Copy that!’’

Rainbow readied her own rifle, and pushed through the crowds onto the Plaza.

There was smoke rising from a fair few places; stalls that had caught fire after the explosion? Ponies were on the ground, some moving and some not- Rainbow turned away from those and focused on where the crowds were fleeing from.

She sighted a stallion in normal clothes with a rifle- aimed- and hit his face. He went down with a muffled cry. ‘’Over there! One down!’’

The soldiers behind her spread out, opening fire and calling out whenever they spotted one of the terrorists. But she heard other cries too; at least three of their own fell down, and behind her there had to be wounded civilians who were dying. She ground her teeth and dove for cover moments before an enemy shot took her wing off, ducking behind a cart that had been thrown over.

Fuck me sideways.

‘’For the Princess!’’ a rough voice shouted. ‘’To me, ye loyal sons and dau-’’ His speech cut off, presumably because a sensible person put a bullet in him. Lovely.

Rainbow took a breath, and then peeked her head out. Sighted, aimed and fired. She ducked back and heard a cry of pain a moment later.

‘’Bomb!’’

That was the last word she heard before the explosion.

|-x-X-x-|

Something shattered in the hallway outside.

‘’What was that!?’’

Someone screamed.

‘’Flurry, come here.’’ Rarity backed away into a corner of the room, eyes fixed on the door. Flurry was behind and under her. ‘’Stay behind me, and don’t make a sound. Okay?’’

‘’Okay, auntie.’’

Rarity nodded, and focused on the door.

Another scream, gunfire, a shout, and then the door exploded outwards, shattering into countless of crystal shards- Rarity had to look away and shield her eyes, and when she looked back-

‘’Hello, Rarity,’’ Twilight Sparkle said as she strode into the room. Her horn was glowing ominously purple, in a dark shade that Rarity had never seen before, and there was blood splattered over her entire body, but it was her eyes that made Rarity freeze. There was a spark in them that had never been there before.

‘’Twilight.’’

‘’Is that my niece I see behind you? Come out of the corner, please.’’

‘’I don’t think so, Twilight. The Empress-’’

‘’Do not mention her!’’ Twilight snarled, and there was madness in her tone. Caepasia help her. ‘’She is nothing. Now come, Rarity, I can be sensible. Flurry sweetheart, please come out. It's me, your auntie Twilight.’’

‘’Auntie Twilight?’’

‘’Flurry-’’

‘’Silence, Rarity. Give me my niece.’’

Rarity grit her teeth and met the alicorn’s eyes. ‘’No.’’

Twilight paused for a moment, and then she cocked her head, staring at Rarity as if she was some wild animal she had never seen before. ‘’No?’’

The next thing Rarity knew, she was flying across the room- into the wall.

‘’Apologies, dear niece, but she was being quite obstinate. Now, come over here, please. It's been such a long time.’’

Flurry, no!

Her mouth wouldn’t move.

‘’Auntie Twilight, you look weird.’’

‘’It's temporary, sweetheart.’’

‘’What did you do to Auntie Rarity?’’

A pause. ‘’Nothing she won’t heal from. Now come. We have places to be.’’

‘’But-’’

There was a familiar popping sound, and then Rarity was finally able to open her eyes- and Twilight and Flurry were gone, leaving a wrecked room behind.

Author's Notes:

Tum-tum-tum!

Chapter 39: Changes 2

14 December 1008

There had been a disturbance near the harbour, or so she had been informed.

Then there had been an explosion.

Now Nightmare was standing before the rubble, having already doused the fires that had sprung up and rescued those who had been trapped under the debris from the destroyed buildings.

‘’Corporal,’’ she called out to the nearest Night Guard, who was keeping a respectful distance from her, ‘’ensure that the wounded get the best possible care as soon as possible. Contact my own doctor, if you must. Are there any other places that have been attacked like this?’’

‘’I will make sure of it, ma’am,’’ the Night Guard responded with a salute. ‘’And I do not think that anywhere else has been attacked, but I am not certain.’’

‘’Thank you. Dismissed.’’

Nightmare turned her attention back to the remnants of a warehouse. Whilst it was located in a fairly public part of the harbour, there was nothing about the warehouse that made it stick out from the dozens of other warehouses in the harbour. No reason for the attackers, whoever they were, to target this particular one. She’d already asked if that was the case.

Maybe there is something here that we do not know about.

If there had been, it would be near-impossible to discover now. The explosion had been as destructive as it had been powerful; any evidence left had most likely been erased by it. Of course they would still look for any clues, but it was a fool’s hope.

‘’Your Majesty!’’

She turned around to see another Night Guard galloping towards her. ‘’There’s shooters on Bridleway!’’

‘’Any bombs?’’

‘’Not yet, ma’am, but-’’

‘’Very well then,’’ Nightmare growled. ‘’We shall see how these upstarts act when faced with their Empress.’’ She focused for a moment, calling her magic to her command and the image of Bridleway into her mind, and then the world flashed and she and her guards stood on the street.

Ponies were shouting and screaming, cars and bodies were everywhere, and gunshots pierced through the cacophony of sounds that the aforementioned created. Nightmare took in the situation in the blink of an eye, shield already springing forth from her horn; policeponies and some of her Guard had already engaged the attackers, who appeared to be on the south end of the street, taking up positions behind trucks and cars that looked to have been deliberately placed in a defensive formation.

‘’Make sure the civilians get out,’’ Nightmare instructed her guards. ‘’Keep them safe. I shall deal with this rabble.’’

‘’Ma’am, due respect-’’

‘’Do as I instruct!’’ she snapped, and her soldiers - loyal to the end - obeyed, scattering into the crowds, taking command of the panicking citizens. Nightmare strode through the crowds, Ponies scattering out of her way, while drawing on more and more of her power. The results were gradual, but noticeable; the shadows on the walls lengthened, despite it being early in the afternoon, and the clouds began to darken and slowly move to block out the Sun.

By the time she was halfway to the impromptu fortress these despicable rebels had set up, she looked twice her size to anyone else looking at her. Nightmare knew this, and did not care.

She stopped, and took a breath.

‘’Cease this foolishness at once!’’ she thundered, magic enhancing the effect of the Royal Canterlot Voice so that it carried across all of Bridleway and its adjacent streets, cutting through gunfire, screams and stampeding hooves.

She leapt into the air in a single, graceful move, wings spread wide. ‘’Surrender thyselves, and We might consider sparing thine unworthy lives.’’

The only reply she got, after a few seconds of silence, was bullets which bounced off her shield.

‘’So be it.’’

Shadows slipped out of her wings, and then she dove onto the vehicle fortress, more like a storm than a mare. She tore through the rebels and their measly defence, ignoring their puny attempts at harming her with their guns and weak spells, smashing them into the street, their own comrades or vehicles and even buildings. Some would die, she did not care, as long as some survived. She had seen the bodies on the street, stallions and mares and colts and fillies- innocents shot dead by these despicable accursed terrorists-

When her fury subsided, she was standing in the middle of a wrecked street with the bodies of the terrorists around her; some moved, some did not. A distance away were her Guards and the police, and behind them was a crowd of civilians, all staring at her with fear and reverence in their eyes.

Then someone began to cheer. She did not see who it was, it was impossible to know in this crowd, but the cheer was taken up easily by the crowd, and soon everyone in the street, even her Guards, were cheering. Cheering for her.

That’s not fear in their eyes. That’s gratitude.

Nightmare forced herself to smile. At least she would get something good out of this disaster.

Perhaps a speech.

She spread her wings again, ignoring the stains of blood on them, and leapt up into the sky. ‘’Citizens of Manehattan!’’ She did not use the Royal Canterlot Voice again, but it was similar enough that it mattered little. ‘’Your proud city, the capital of my Empire, has been attacked by these vile terrorists! I know not for what they claim to fight, what cause they would use to justify these evil acts, but I know this: theirs is no righteous cause! There is no good, no justice and no harmony in attacks such as these, cruelly and unexpectedly enacted upon you! Know that I shall do my utmost best to ensure those guilty for this crime are rightfully punished, and that whichever goals or cause they fight for is exterminated down to its deepest roots!’’

She paused for a moment, to let her words sink into the crowd. ‘’There was another attack just before this one, a bombing of a warehouse in the harbour. There too Ponies died, and for no good reason other than the will of these criminals. If these two events are connected, we shall discover this too. And now, I must thank those soldiers of my Guard and the beings of the Manehattan Police Department, for without their timely aid I would have arrived to a far greater carnage. Rest assured that all those who committed acts of valour today shall be justly bestowed with rewards.’’

Another pause, this one more to catch her breath. ‘’Now, please, I must ask that you make room for the doctors, firefighters and police to do their work. Too many have already died today, but there are those who may yet be saved if they receive aid in time. Go now, and may the Stars be with you.’’

Spontaneous clapping and cheering broke out as she finished her speech, and by the time she touched the ground again it had risen into a thunderous applause. This was what Celestia had never gotten, and what Luna had always dreamed of; and now Nightmare had it, and it felt perfect.

Her Guard formed up around her again, and she departed the scene soon after, just after the terrorists had been taken away to the prisons or the morgue; government work waited for no one, and her actions just now had likely only increased that workload. She really needed that damn secretary.

When she stepped into her chambers, however, there was a nervous-looking Night Guard waiting on her. ‘’Your Majesty, we have received ill news from Crystal City.’’

Nightmare’s heart stilled. ‘’Go on.’’

‘’Princess Flurry Heart has been foalnapped.’’

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

‘’Princess Flurry Heart has been foalnapped.’’

That was the first thing Rainbow heard upon returning to the Crystal Palace. Her first response was to punch a wall and swear; her second response was to swear again and then ask how Rarity was.

As it turned out, Rarity was in the Palace’s medical wing, being checked over for any wounds. Apparently Twilight had flung her into a wall, or at least that was what it had looked like when the Night Guard had stormed into the room, moments too late to catch Twilight.

The mare was unconscious, but aside from that she was, by the doctors’ accounts, not wounded beyond some scrapes and bruises; nothing serious. Caepasia be praised, Rarity would wake up soon.

Rainbow turned away from the mare to see Lilac and Darkheart waiting in the doorway. Darkheart had a grim look on his face - Rainbow knew there had to be Guard casualties today - and Lilac looked extremely concerned and worried.

‘’We,’’ Rainbow said after a few seconds of silence, ‘’need to plan.’’

Lilac nodded. ‘’That we do. I’ve instructed Tight Ship to make sure the staff doesn’t talk, but there’s no way we can keep this quiet. Before the evening falls, people will know.’’

‘’My soldiers are combing through the city; the roads and railways are secured,’’ Darkheart continued.

‘’Casualties?’’

Darkheart and Lilac shared a glance, and then it was Darkheart who spoke. ‘’I’ve lost seven Night Guard, and I’m told a similar number of Crystal Guard and policeponies have died. As for civilians…’’ He hesitated. ‘’We haven’t cleared all the rubble yet, and there are still some in critical condition in the hospital, but at least thirty-four civilians have died today.’’

Rainbow let out a breath. ‘’Fuck.’’

‘’Almost a hundred are in hospitals around the city, with fifteen in critical condition last I checked,’’ Lilac picked up where Darkheart left off. ‘’Most of Princesses Plaza is destroyed, and the same goes for the parts of the Palace that Twilight Sparkle went through. It will take months to repair the damage.’’

‘’If those in critical condition don’t make it,’’ Rainbow said softly, more to herself than to the others, ‘’almost fifty Ponies will have died today.’’

And for what?

‘’What do we know about the attackers?’’

‘’We’ve captured no one,’’ Darkheart said with obvious distaste. ‘’They all either died or killed themselves when they realised they were about to be captured.’’

‘’Sundamnit.’’

‘’No identifying marks on their bodies either. We can guess that they are allies of Twilight, though how she got them - and how they got guns and explosives - I do not claim to know. We’re operating blindly.’’

Rainbow had to really, really resist the urge to bury her face in her hooves. ‘’I will hold a speech in a few hours,’’ she finally decided. ‘’Tell the populace what has happened, and assure them that we are doing their best.’’

‘’Is that wise?’’

‘’Perhaps not, but I’m pretty sure that with Rarity unconscious and Flurry gone, I’m the highest-ranking person left in the Empire.’’ And wasn’t that a thought. When the adrenaline of combat had fully worn off, she’d probably swear a whole lot more at that. ‘’So we need to sit together to make a speech, and we need to inform the Empress of what has just happened, and then we need to start finding ways to discover where Twilight took Flurry.’’

She could confront her emotions about that later. When others couldn’t see her.

‘’That sounds like a plan,’’ Lilac said, nodding along. ‘’I’ll make sure the speech is ready.’’

‘’And I’ll start the search,’’ Darkheart pitched in. ‘’After I’ve laid my soldiers to rest.’’

‘’Go.’’ Rainbow dismissed them both with a wave of her hoof, and then turned back to watch Rarity’s unconscious form, serene in her rest.

‘’Wake up soon, Rares,’’ she whispered, before pressing a soft kiss just under her horn. ‘’I can’t do this on my own. Don’t leave me hanging.’’

She received no response.

Author's Notes:

Longer than usual. The Nightmare part really wanted itself to be long, and I obliged.

Chapter 40: Changes 3

14 December 1008

When Rarity awoke, the first thing she noticed was a throbbing headache; the second thing she noticed was that she was in a bed, and the third thing she noticed was Rainbow sitting by the side of said bed.

‘’Rarity?’’

‘’Not so loud, Rainbow,’’ Rarity chastised. ‘’And why-’’ Then the memories flooded back in.

‘’What happened?’’

Rainbow let out a long, long sigh. ‘’The attack was a diversion, we think. Once most of the Guard had been drawn away, Twilight attacked the Palace on her own. In total almost fifty Ponies are dead, not counting the attackers and wounded who are in critical condition. Flurry is gone, we don’t know where. The city is on lockdown and we’re scouring it for any clues that could help us.’’

She’d failed. She’d had two jobs, just two, and she had failed both of them. Trembling, Rarity bowed her head. ‘’Go on.’’

‘’There has also been an attack on Manehattan, at roughly the same time as the one here,’’ Rainbow continued. ‘’Nightmare Moon stopped that one, but there were still casualties. We informed her of Flurry’s foalnapping as soon as possible, and her response was that she would come here as soon as possible. A later telegraph informed us she plans to take a plane.’’

‘’Good. That’s… good.’’

Nightmare Moon would know what to do. She’d dismiss Rarity, of course, and probably imprison her, but if she claimed that sending the Guard to Princesses Plaza had been her idea… then Rainbow and the others would not fall under the Empress’ scrutiny. They’d be alright.

Yes, Rarity could deal with that.

‘’Rainbow,’’ she said, ‘’you must do something for me, when the Empress arrives.’’

‘’Sure. Whaddya need?’’

‘’When she asks what happened, tell her I ordered you and Darkheart to go to Princesses Plaza with the Night Guard.’’

Rainbow’s eyes widened, and then narrowed again. ‘’Rares, this is not your fault.’’

‘’But the Empress must believe it is,’’ Rarity argued. ‘’I am ultimately responsible, and I failed her in the two tasks she gave me. It is me who should be punish-’’

Rainbow cut her off by all-but-leaping onto the bed and giving her a very long, very nice kiss. It was enough to temporarily distract her from the oncoming storm of rage that she was sure to experience, and when their muzzles finally separated she was left panting.

‘’You,’’ Rainbow growled possessively as she sprawled herself out over the bed and Rarity’s body, ‘’aren’t going to be blamed for this any more than I am going to be. If the Empress wants to yell at both of us, sure, I’ll accept that. But we did our jobs, and judging by the fact Twilight tossed you into a wall I’m guessing you tried to keep her from taking Flurry. If Nightmare Moon’s not happy with that, she’ll have to face me.’’

Rarity let out a shuddering breath as Rainbow finished her tirade. ‘’Darling…’’

‘’Shush, Rares,’’ Rainbow whispered, before slipping down to lie next to her on the bed. ‘’Make some room.’’

‘’I need to-’’

‘’Rest, you need to rest. Lilac and Darkheart have the Empire under control for the moment. I’ve just come back from a speech to the populace, and I’m yours for as long as you need me.’’

The Pegasus was warm and soft and everything Rarity wanted right now. So she did not protest, did not comment, and allowed Rainbow to hold her as she fought back her tears.

|-x-X-x-|

Twilight had not had the time to set up a proper base of operations, so she had been forced to use a war-damaged factory that no one had as of yet bothered to repair. It was no place to care for a child, alicorn or not, but for the moment it would suffice.

‘’Where are we?’’

‘’We, my dear niece, are in a safe place,’’ Twilight replied as she picked the filly up in her magic and placed her on her back. ‘’Come. I will show you around. It is no place to stay for long, but I’m afraid I have nothing better to offer you.’’

The filly cautiously rested against her neck, her soft coat brushing against Twilight’s own. She would need to brush it, at least before She returned.

‘’This was a factory before the Nightmare attacked the city,’’ she explained as she strode down the desolated hallway, her horn providing the only light needed. ‘’It has not been repaired since. One of my loyal followers marked it as a safe place to use, and so use it I have.’’

‘’Your followers?’’

‘’Who do you think attacked Princesses Plaza? I admit that the plan was quickly-made, but it sufficed in drawing the attention away. It was necessary to rescue you.’’

‘’Rescue me?’’

‘’My dear Flurry, you did not seriously think I would leave you in the clutches of the Nightmare and her followers? You are my family, and I will do whatever I need to do to make sure you are safe.’’

‘’But I was safe! I was with Auntie Rarity and Auntie Rainbow and lots of guards!’’

Twilight frowned. The filly was obviously too young to fully comprehend the situation. Regrettable, but understandable. ‘’They do not have your best interests at heart. They don’t care for you, Flurry, not really. I do not claim to know what plans the Nightmare has for you, but I know that they can be nothing good, for such a twisted creature can only cause evil.’’

‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’They want to use you.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’But don’t worry about that,’’ Twilight continued as she entered the main room she was using; it had once been an office. Now it contained books, a bedroll, food for a few days and of course the ritual circle. Once again, she grabbed Flurry with her magic and put her down on the floor.

‘’We will have to stay here for a day or two, so I deem. They do not know of this place, but if we leave now we will be noticed no matter what measures I take to conceal us. I have prepared a bed for you,’’ she pointed at a second, smaller bedroll, ‘’and there is food and water if you want it. When I am certain we are no longer in acute danger, we shall leave for the mansion of one of my followers in the Unicorn Valley.’’

Flurry was silent for a long moment, looking very introspective. ‘’And then what?’’

Truth be told, Twilight had only the makings of a plan in her mind. ‘’I am not yet fully certain,’’ she chose to say. ‘’But we will be safe there, I know that much.’’

Flurry nodded, and silence fell between them. Twilight studied her niece. She looked well, a bit larger than she remembered from their last meeting but well-fed and unharmed. Good.

‘’But what about Rarity? You threw her into a wall!’’

Of all the things to ask.

‘’She’ll survive,’’ Twilight said dismissively. ‘’Now, Flurry, there is work I must do. Please, entertain yourself.’’ Four tomes flew out of the collection of books she’d brought with her and were placed on the ground before the filly. ‘’These are yours.’’

And Twilight turned away. She had the return of the Princess to plan.

Author's Notes:

Twilight's insanity continues.

Chapter 41: Changes 4

14 December 1008

Her first instinct had been to fly to Crystal City herself. That was obviously neither smart nor feasible, especially with the attacks that had happened in Manehattan today, so it had taken her hours longer than she had liked before she could get onto the plane. And then the plane trip had taken agonisingly long too, even though it was by and far the fastest way to travel to Crystal City.

And now she was there, for the first time since defeating Sombra for the third and final time.

The plane shuddered as it touched the ground and came to a halt. Nightmare had to hold herself back from leaping out of the vehicle as soon as the doors opened; it was not made for Alicorns. She would have to arrange for a proper plane to travel in, one that fit her. But that could wait for later.

Waiting just off the airstrip was a delegation of Crystal Ponies and Night Guard, with at its head Rainbow Dash. The delegation bowed as she descended from the plane, followed by her own Night Guard, the few she had chosen to take along.

‘’Your Majesty,’’ Rainbow Dash greeted her as she approached, raising her head - and there was a defiant spark in them, as if she was daring Nightmare to make a comment on the day’s events. ‘’Welcome to the Crystal Empire.’’

‘’Thank you, Commander Dash,’’ she replied with a nod. ‘’Tell me something: how did you let my niece get foalnapped?’’

Rainbow straightened herself, and looked Nightmare dead in the eye. ‘’The bombing at Princesses Plaza had me draw away the majority of the Night Guard and Crystal Guard in the Palace. Twilight Sparkle then tore through the Palace, killing several Guards and taking the Princess. Governess Belle attempted to stop her, and was kicked into a wall for her troubles. She has since awakened from her unconsciousness, and is awaiting you in the Palace; she is not in a state to travel right now.’’

Nightmare considered that information, so succinctly delivered by someone who had once been one of her most dangerous enemies; it was nothing she did not already know, but it was good to confirm the truth from someone who was sure to know it. She would ask Rarity for a more detailed report, of course, and Rainbow too, but for the moment this would suffice.

‘’Thank you, Commander Dash,’’ she said. ‘’We will discuss this further in the Palace, together with the Governess. How are her wounds?’’

‘’She has minor bruises, but nothing serious or life-threatening,’’ was Rainbow’s response. ‘’Within a few days she’ll be back in order, or that’s what the doctors said.’’

Nightmare nodded. ‘’Excellent. Come. Let us head to the Palace.’’

There were cars waiting on them; always bloody cars. They were good vehicles, but like the plane they were always too small for her.

This is why Celestia preferred that carriage.

Nevertheless, she fit into the car designated for her and Rainbow, and they rode through the city in silence. Her appearance here was still a secret, so no crowds were gathered in the streets to welcome her; there were, in fact, almost no crowds period, just a few brave Ponies moving about under the watchful eye of police and Guard - Crystal and Night - patrols.

‘’The city is under martial law,’’ Rainbow explained. ‘’We’ve been busy identifying the attackers and going through their houses, if they lived here. Across the nation similar operations are taking place as we learn more and more.’’

‘’Have you discovered anything?’’

Rainbow scowled. ‘’Some spare rifles, disguises, and ammunition. No plans, codes or anything else to use as a guideline for finding the culprits.’’

‘’Pity.’’

‘’Ain’t that the truth.’’

Silence fell between them again, and Nightmare adjusted her seating in order to accommodate her neck. She sighed. ‘’Tell me, Rainbow Dash; why do you think Twilight Sparkle took my niece?’’

Rainbow met her eyes again, and this time the determination of the airstrip was mixed in with doubt and grief. ‘’I don’t know,’’ she said, ‘’but from what I understand, Twilight is no longer herself.’’

‘’She is not possessed,’’ Nightmare said, ‘’or I have seen no proof of it, in any case. Whatever has happened to her-’’

‘’You,’’ Rainbow cut in, ‘’are what happened to her. You and your civil war. It drove her mad in the most literal sense of that term. And now she’s taking it out.’’

‘’Are you saying that I am the reason behind Twilight’s actions?’’

‘’Twilight views you as the mare who tore apart Equestria and killed her mentor.’’

Nightmare stilled. ‘’I did not kill Celestia.’’

Rainbow blinked. ‘’You didn’t?’’

Nightmare shook her head. ‘’She is locked up in the Sun. Perhaps not as securely as the Elements imprisoned me, but she will not be able to leave for the next century.’’

‘’Huh.’’ Rainbow looked introspective. ‘’You should have said that to Twilight.’’

‘’And risk her trying to break her out?’’

‘’As if our current situation is much better.’’

Nightmare sighed. ‘’I admit, I could have talked with Twilight. But there was no time, she did not wish to see me, and I… had no wish to talk with her either.’’

‘’Look where it got us.’’

Nightmare did not bother to respond to that.

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

At Whinnyapolis, they had stopped for a few minutes; Twinkle had gotten out of the cabin onto the station to stretch his legs, and Sweetie had gone for a quick break to the toilet before returning to the cabin. Sunset had done neither.

Sweetie had sat back in her spot, taking out a book she’d loaned from Sunset hours before; it was called A Flight through Madness, and it told of Discord’s Reign before the Princesses had used the Elements of Harmony to seal him away. It was an interesting topic, if written somewhat boringly.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Twinkle stormed in. ‘’Read this.’’

A newspaper was pushed into Sweetie’s face.

TERRORIST ATTACKS IN MANEHATTAN AND CRYSTAL CITY! PRINCESS FLURRY HEART FOALNAPPED!

Sunset swore violently and colourfully. Sweetie, for her part, let herself lean back against the couch and breathe. In, out. In, out. In, out. Like a mantra, she repeated it to herself until she was calm enough that she could force herself to continue reading it.

She scanned the text, reading its contents without absorbing them as she searched through for it a mention of Rarity. Surely she had to be involved somewhere?

There!

Whilst trying to prevent the assailant from foalnapping the Princess, Governess Rarity Belle was lightly wounded. The most recent report from the Crystal Palace is that she was knocked unconscious but is expected to wake up soon.

She sighed in relief. Rarity was alright. Wounded, sure, but alive and alright.

‘’It has to be Twilight.’’

‘’Agreed,’’ Sunset said without looking away from her copy of the newspaper. ‘’They don’t mention her here, of course they don’t, but there’s very few people who could have broken into the Crystal Palace on their own. My question is: how did she organise this?’’

‘’Do you think she did?’’ Sweetie asked.

‘’Of course she did,’’ Sunset replied with a tone that indicated she thought it was blindingly obvious. ‘’But how, I have no idea.’’

‘’There’s plenty of anti-Lunarist Ponies,’’ Twinkle pointed out.

‘’Of course, but something like this takes the right type of Ponies, and a lot of planning and logistics. They had rifles and almost half a dozen bombs between them, or that’s what I’m getting from this article.’’

‘’Hm, true.’’ Twinkle looked considering, before shaking his head. ‘’There is nothing we can do about it now. All we can do is head north and offer our assistance there. We’re clearly too late, but still.’’

‘’I agree,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’And if nothing else, I plan to patch up my relationship with Rarity. That should take at least one problem off her back.’’

Sunset nodded. ‘’You do that, and I’ll try to see if I can’t find some trace of whatever magics Twilight used to get into the Palace.’’

‘’And I’ll be running interference with the authorities, I assume?’’ Twinkle added with a smirk.

‘’You’re supposed to follow after us and carry whatever we don’t feel like carrying,’’ Sunset shot back.

Sweetie sighed. Most of the journey was already behind them, but from the sounds of it this was shaping up to be the hardest bit by far. How enjoyable.

It could be worse. I could be stuck with Pinkie.

Author's Notes:

In today's chapter, Rainbow acts quite insightfully!

Chapter 42: Changes 5

14 December 1008

Rarity had never been afraid of an approaching car before. But a car that contained Nightmare Moon…

Beside her were Darkheart on the left and Lilac on the right. If they were as uneasy as her, they did not show it; of course, Darkheart was a Captain of the Night Guard and Lilac was a Changeling, so Rarity shouldn’t be so surprised at their ability to appear unbothered.

Once the cars had come to a halt, Nightmare Moon was the first to be out of them, before the porter had even opened the door. She was just like Rarity remembered her: tall, dark and impressive.

‘’Your Majesty.’’ She bowed low, ignoring the pangs of pain from her bruises.

‘’Governess Belle. How are your injuries?’’

‘’They are healing, your Majesty.’’

‘’Good.’’ Nightmare Moon swept past her. ‘’Captain Darkheart.’’

‘’Your Majesty.’’ The stallion saluted.

Nightmare Moon nodded, and then turned her gaze on Lilac. ‘’And you are?’’

‘’Lily Merrimare, your Majesty. I’m the Governess’ secretary.’’

‘’Very well.’’ The Alicorn turned her gaze back on Rarity. ‘’We have much to discuss, Governess Belle. Where might we do so?’’

‘’There is a lounge room nearby that we may use.’’

‘’Lead us to it.’’

Rarity obeyed her command immediately, and soon enough they were in the room. It was sizeable and comfortable, more than large enough to fit their entire party.

‘’This conversation shall be held with just the Governess, Commander Dash and myself,’’ Nightmare Moon announced. ‘’You may wait for us outside or elsewhere in the Palace. We will send it to you if needed. Dismissed.’’

What?

Rarity resisted the urge to gulp. Alone with the Empress…

Rainbow would be there.

It would have to suffice.

Rarity took a seat on the couch; the Empress picked a simple but elegant chair, and Rainbow settled next to Rarity.

The door closed.

‘’So.’’

Nightmare Moon’s eyes found Rarity’s, and she couldn’t look away even if she wanted to. ‘’How did this happen?’’

So Rarity told her. Told her what had happened that morning, all that she could remember. The breakfast, the news of the explosion, the attack, Twilight… All of it. Nightmare Moon listened, and thankfully did not interrupt. By the time she was finished, Rarity felt like she was close to crying just from having to relive it all again.

Rainbow seemingly didn’t miss that, and the wing she draped over Rarity’s back was one of the most comforting things she could have experienced in that moment. She was just so, so tired.

Nightmare Moon sighed. ‘’Thank you, Rarity, for telling me this. I needed to make sure that my information was correct. I do not blame you for this; I doubt the full complement of the Night Guard stationed here would have been able to hold off Twilight Sparkle. You did the best you could.’’

She rose from her chair. ‘’When night falls, I shall attempt to find Flurry via her dreams. It is possible that Twilight might be obscuring these dreams, but in that case I shall at least have a general sense of direction to follow. I need there to be a force ready to go the moment I have a location; we cannot let Flurry stay in the grasp of Twilight Sparkle any longer. Once Flurry is safe, we shall further discuss the future.’’

‘’Understood, your Majesty.’’

‘’Excellent.’’

That’s not the word I’d use.

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

Crystal City was beautiful, especially in the orange-golden light of dusk that coated it as the train pulled into the station. The blockade on transport had been lifted just in time for their train to not be disrupted too much, thankfully. And now they were here.

Sweetie took a deep breath of the cold northern area and suppressed a shiver. ‘’So, to the Palace?’’

‘’To the Palace,’’ Sunset confirmed. ‘’We just need to find… there.’’

One quick conversation with two members of the Night Guard later, and they were in a police car, headed for the Palace. It was a tad cramped, with all three of them in the back, but they made it work. Somewhat.

‘’So, what will you do when we get there?’’

‘’Talk with Rarity,’’ was Sweetie’s response. ‘’If she’s awake yet.’’

‘’Fair enough.’’

Before long, they were pulling into the Palace’s car park. Surprisingly, there were already a fair few cars present, guarded by Night Guard?

‘’Wait,’’ Sunset muttered as they got out of the car, ‘’I recognise these. They were in Ponyville. How… is the Empress here?’’

‘’... huh,’’ Twinkle said after a few seconds of silence. ‘’That… yeah. That makes sense.’’

‘’It does, but I’m still surprised.’’

Sweetie didn’t say anything. She had nothing to add, and everything to prepare for.

They were led into the Palace - a stunning building that she would have paid far more attention to were it not for the circumstances - by two of the Night Guard, who kept a very close eye on them. Sensible, of course, but just a little bit off-putting. ‘’The Empress is in here,’’ one of them said as they approached a door guarded by four more Night Guards. ‘’Imperial Magician Sunset Shimmer, IIS Agent Twinkle Flower and Miss Sweetie Belle, here to see the Empress.’’

One of the guards at the door nodded, and then slipped into the room after giving a quick knock; she returned a moment later. ‘’They can come in.’’

The mare held the door open, revealing an elaborately-designed room filled with all manner of extravagant furniture and decorations. None of that mattered though.

‘’Sweetie!’’

Before she could even get a good look at Rarity, the mare in question had gotten up from the couch and galloped straight into her, almost tackling her to the ground in a hug. ‘’Oh darling,’’ Rarity breathed into her ear as they all-but-fell on the floor. ‘’It’s so good to see you.’’

‘’It’s so good to see you too,’’ Sweetie replied as she hugged her sister back. She smelled the same as she always did, and it reminded her of home and comfort and easier times and everything the world wasn’t right now.

But maybe it could be again, for a moment.

|-x-X-x-|

Twilight wasn’t a great cook, she could admit that, but she knew how to make some things. Dinner for tonight was bread and a simple soup, nothing special but hopefully enough to feed herself and Flurry.

‘’What are you making, auntie?’’

‘’Soup,’’ she replied, ‘’and some bread. Not great, I know, but it is unfortunately the best we have. It’ll be ready soon.’’

‘’Yay!’’ the filly cheered. ‘’I’m hungry.’’

‘’Just a little more time.’’

‘’Okay.’’ The filly sat down on her bedroll again. ‘’This is kinda soft. Not as soft as my bed though.’’

‘’We’ll have to make do, I’m afraid.’’

‘’Okay.’’

Twilight turned her mind back to the dinner, and not long after it was ready to be served. Two bowls of soup and some bread; what a meal.

Still, it was nutritious, and Flurry seemed to like it, so it wasn’t completely terrible. When they got to the mansion of her followers, she could have all the quality food she could ever need. Until then, they’d have to get by.

‘’So, Flurry,’’ Twilight began, ‘’I have a question, if you don’t mind.’’

‘’Sure!’’

‘’How did you get out of the Crystal Empire?’’

‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’When Sombra attacked,’’ Twilight explained, ‘’you were in the Empire, right? How’d you get out?’’

Flurry’s face scrunched up in thought. ‘’Uhh… I don’t know.’’

‘’You don’t know?’’ Twilight raised an eyebrow.

‘’Yeah. One moment I was with…’’ Flurry trailed off, suddenly looking very sad. ‘’Anyway, it was like poof! And then I was with Auntie Tia.’’

That wasn’t the right answer. She had to know. Twilight had to know. She couldn’t just not know!

‘’Are you sure you don’t know anything about it?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Hm.’’

There were ways to block memories. They were rare, but if anyone knew such dark magic, it would be Nightmare Moon. And she would definitely be interested in that information. Yes, that made sense. Nightmare Moon had altered the memory so Flurry couldn’t remember it.

‘’Flurry,’’ Twilight began, ‘’maybe I can help you remember. There’s a spell I can cast.’’

‘’What does it do?’’

‘’I can use it to look at your memories and try to find the memory of you escaping Sombra,’’ Twilight explained. ‘’I’m going to do that now.’’

‘’Wait-’’

But the spell was already cast. Flurry went down to the floor, almost falling face-first into the bowl of soup, and then Twilight’s world darkened for a moment.

I’m sorry, Flurry. But it’s necessary.

Author's Notes:

Just four more chapters to go after this one! Don't worry, they'll be long ones.

Chapter 43: Changes 6

14 December 1008

Dinner was, with such a large party, a bit of an affair. Nightmare headed the table, of course, and to her left and right were Rarity and Sunset respectively. Sweetie Belle had demanded to be seated next to her sister, and Rainbow had taken place next to Sunset. Lily Merrimare, Twinkle Flower and Captain Darkheart rounded out the group, leaving one seat sadly empty.

After dinner had arrived, Nightmare took an opportunity to speak once the servants bringing it were gone. ‘’Before we begin,’’ she said, ‘’I will take a moment to state a few things. For one, it is imperative that Flurry be found as soon as possible. To that end I will enter the Dream World once dinner is finished. Twilight Sparkle can do many things, but she cannot hide my niece’s presence from me there.’’

‘’So why are we waiting?’’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘’Because such an effort will take time, concentration, and ask much of my energy. The Dream World is… extensive. I will not find Flurry instantly. And I will need to prepare. Hence the food.’’

‘’Fair enough.’’

‘’Once I have found Flurry, I shall awaken and direct our forces to her location. Sunset, Rainbow, Lancer, be ready at a moment’s notice.’’

‘’Of course, your majesty,’’ Sunset agreed.

‘’Sure, but who the Tartarus is Lancer?’’

‘’That would be me, Commander Dash,’’ Captain Darkheart spoke up. His eyes met Nightmare’s. ‘’We shall be ready, your majesty.’’

‘’Good,’’ Nightmare said as Rainbow continued to stare at Darkheart, apparently completely surprised. ‘’Make sure you have vehicles ready too. She could be out of the city by now. I will accompany you once I have risen again.’’

Rarity cleared her throat. ‘’Your majesty, I do not wish to sound disrespectful, but you said yourself that this process would be taxing. Are you sure you will be able to join Rainbow and the Guard?’’

Nightmare levelled her gaze at Rarity. ‘’Twilight Sparkle is my responsibility, and so is my niece. I will be ready.’’

That left no room for argument, and with no other questions and nothing else for her to say, Nightmare ordered the dinner to commence.

It was, she was sure, a great dinner. The cooks of the Crystal Empire were surely skilled. But she was so occupied with her own mind that by the time dinner ended, she could barely recall what she’d eaten, much less what it had tasted like.

If it had been truly terrible, surely I would have noticed.

‘’I shall head to my sleeping quarters,’’ she informed the group. ‘’See to it that you are ready. Get rest, if you need it, but do not think I shall be long.’’

‘’Of course. Good luck, your majesty.’’ Rarity bowed her head - Nightmare gave a nod back in return.

Their real conversation could wait for later, when Flurry was safe.

The rest of the party left with similar wishes, until only Sunset remained behind in the room.

‘’Did you wish to say something, Sunset?’’

The younger mare snorted. ‘’Nothing you don’t already know. Just figured I’d stay behind for you, see if there’s any last-minute instructions.’’

‘’There shall not be,’’ Nightmare declared after a moment’s hesitation. ‘’Make yourself ready to retrieve my niece.’’

‘’There’s not much I need to get ready,’’ Sunset pointed out with a shrug. ‘’Can’t really go anywhere without my horn.’’

‘’Tempest Shadow would disagree.’’

Sunset barked out a startled laugh. ‘’That’s cold.’’

Nightmare didn’t bother responding. ‘’Go,’’ she ordered instead.

Sunset tipped her head. ‘’As you wish. Good luck.’’ Then her horn flared, and in a flash of turquoise she was gone.

Now alone, Nightmare made her way out of the room and towards her quarters, retracing her steps from past visits through the hallways and up the stairs until she arrived before the opulent double doors. Two of her guards stood watch before it, and she passed them by with a nod. They already had their instructions on who to let in and who to not let in.

The room she was staying in - rooms, more accurately said - was opulent, and very comfortable if she remembered her past visits correctly. She didn’t care, however. Nightmare simply laid herself down on the bed, closed her eyes, and slipped into the Dream World.

The Dream World was impossibly vast. Nightmare, in fact, wasn’t quite sure how vast it was, or if it even had an end. It was, after all, a realm connected but not parallel to the physical world.

But she knew what to look for. She knew her niece, despite the short time they had actually spent together, and she would find her. In the physical world, she was not all-powerful, despite what some might claim; but here, she was as close to omnipotence as was possible to achieve.

She began to travel through the realm, on the search for her target. The hour was early; not many were yet asleep, and though physical distance meant little in the Dream World some elements of it carried over.

Hang on, Flurry. I’m coming for you.

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

It had been hours, and Nightmare had not woken up.

Sunset was not a patient mare by nature.

These two facts were the primary reasons that she was busy flipping through a book she’d gotten out of the Palace’s library. She couldn’t even call it skimming, what she was doing; the only reason she was even holding the book was so she could do something, instead of waiting.

She sighed, before looking around and seeing what others could possibly be doing to pass the time.

Rainbow and the Thestral captain, she knew, had gone out earlier to speak with their soldiers. That left them with Sweetie and her sister, her sister’s secretary and Twinkle. Sweetie and Rarity were engaged in quiet conversation on one side of the table - too quiet for Sunset to hear, and it wasn’t her business anyway. She had absolutely no idea what Rarity’s secretary was doing, or why she wasn’t working, but that also wasn’t her business. And Twinkle was reading something.

‘’What’re you reading?’’ she asked him.

It took him a moment to respond. ‘’Oh, uhh… the Commentaries on the Mythic Dawn, volume three.’’

‘’I never read those. Any good?’’

‘’If you like pseudo-scientific, pseudo-religious theories on how life came to be, sure,’’ Twinkle said drolly. ‘’The author is overly pretentious, but there is some interesting stuff beneath all of the inane rambling.’’

‘’I met the Camareran heir in Canterlot once,’’ Sunset offered. ‘’I kicked him in the face.’’

‘’I bet he took that well.’’

‘’Got grounded for a week. Worth it.’’

‘’Who grounded you?’’

‘’Celestia. I was her student, at the time.’’

Twinkle nodded. ‘’Of course, of course. I’d forgotten that.’’

‘’Not something I advertise.’’

‘’I can imagine. What were you reading?’’

‘’I have no idea,’’ Sunset deadpanned. ‘’I just grabbed a book off the shelves. Let’s see.’’ She turned the cover over. ‘’Huh. Our Brightest Hour. I remember this one, it’s about Celestia declaring war on the Griffonian Empire after news came back of the Riverlands Crusades. Pretty sure I showed it to her once.’’

Twinkle raised his eyebrows. ‘’Would that even have worked?’’

‘’No, it would not have,’’ Rarity’s secretary suddenly spoke up. ‘’Equestria was at that time not prepared for a war. Though it did have a distinct naval advantage, the Empire would have had more soldiers and more resources at its disposal, even with its noble structure. And Grover II would not have stopped until he had burned down Canterlot.’’

Sunset didn’t disagree with the assessment - though she didn’t fully agree either - but she had not expected a secretary, of all people, to deliver such a well-reasoned argument. ‘’Do you think?’’ she mused. ‘’The Royal Guard still did stuff, back then. Monster hunting and the like.’’

‘’Monster hunting is not the same as fighting a war,’’ the secretary - wasn’t her name Merrimare or something? - pointed out. ‘’And the Royal Guard would still be outnumbered by the Reichsarmee, and inexperienced at fighting Griffons.’’

‘’True,’’ Twinkle jumped in, ‘’but as you said, Equestria had a naval advantage. And it is not like, if Celestia was going to war, she would not be preparing for it. And don’t forget that the Empire is also fighting with the Riverlands still.’’

The secretary hummed. ‘’You are right. I’m not saying that the Griffonian Empire would win, mind you. But it would not be an easy war.’’

‘’I think the book explores that,’’ Sunset remarked. ‘’But I haven’t read it in ages, so I’m not sure. I think it follows some Equestrian conscript campaigning in Wingbardy, and ends when he dies in Karthin.’’

‘’I’ll give it a read once you’re finished, I think,’’ the secretary said.

Sunset passed the book to her. ‘’You can have it.’’

‘’Thanks,’’ the mare said as she took the book. ‘’I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself. My name is Lily Merrimare.’’

‘’Sunset Shimmer.’’

‘’I’m Twinkle Flower. Pleasure to meet you.’’

‘’Likewise.’’

‘’Lily?’’ Rarity suddenly called out. ‘’Could you go and ask someone to retrieve some of the documents on my desk? The ones marked with my Cutie Mark.’’

‘’Of course, Rarity.’’

‘’Thank you, darling.’’

Sunset would admit some curiosity as to what was in those documents, but she wasn’t quite interested enough to try and find out what they actually said. Probably just some boring papers that Rarity couldn’t justify delaying working on any longer.

‘’Ask someone to check on the Empress too.’’

Rarity scoffed. ‘’Darling, if there was any news we would know.’’

Sunset met her gaze. ‘’I would know it sooner. I can’t stand this waiting.’’

‘’Neither can I,’’ Rarity said, ‘’but you must have patience.’’

‘’It’s been hours.’’

‘’The Empress said it would take time.’’

‘’I know that.’’

At that moment, the door opened and a Night Guard sprinted in. ‘’The Empress is awake!’’

Well, there we go.

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

It had taken her far longer than she would have liked, but finally, she had found it: Twilight Sparkle’s hiding place.

She did not know how the other alicorn had managed it, but she had made some sort of hidden pocket within the Dream World, where Nightmare was unable to see her and her dreams - and Flurry and her dreams, presumably.

But though Twilight was undoubtedly powerful and skilled at magic, this was Nightmare’s domain, and here she was the master. With a grin, she tore away the spells that had kept the space hidden from her sight, and then leapt into the opened area.

‘’Twilight Sparkle!’’ she intoned as she strode forward. ‘’Show thyself!’’

From the darkness around her - no darkness of her own, but of the space she had entered - a purple light spread. It originated from Twilight’s horn, but Nightmare could recall what her magic had looked like: it had been purple too, but not like this. Now it was darker, and where it had once looked smooth and refined now it was jagged.

‘’You have fallen far, oh student of Celestia,’’ Nightmare taunted as she came to a halt. ‘’What would she say now, if she saw you here? Playing with dark magic, mind-controlling your own friends.’’

‘’Nightmare Moon,’’ Twilight growled; in her mouth the name sounded like a curse. ‘’You did this. You came and ruined everything. Equestria was fine until you came along. Everyone was friends with each other.’’

Nightmare laughed. ‘’You have always been blind, ever a failure of unicorns to see beyond their own horns. Equestria was not fine,’’ she snarled the last word. ‘’Thestrals were mistreated, insulted, excluded. And not just that. Celestia was blind to the failures of her rule. Stalliongrad, the rise of Changelingia, Sombra. All things she failed to foresee.’’

‘’And yet you were the one to destroy her,’’ Twilight countered. ‘’It was you who rose up. You who brought war to Equestria. It was you who brought Sombra back.’’

Nightmare blinked. ‘’I had nothing to do with that.’’

‘’Didn’t you?’’ There was an unnerving void in Twilight’s eyes. ‘’I tried to figure it out, afterwards. I needed to know how he came back. There wasn’t much, but there was a trail, and I followed it. It led me to mysterious clubs, funded by anonymous donors. Donors that weren’t so anonymous after I broke their weak little minds and left them blubbering on the floors. Donors that were agents of the Nightmare’s Hoof.’’

Fuck.

‘’If what you say is true,’’ Nightmare said in a low voice, ‘’then I had no knowledge of it.’’

‘’You expect me to believe that?’’

‘’I fought Sombra before, I would not wish him back.’’

‘’And yet it was your Chiropterrans that enabled his few deranged followers to bring him back. It was your uprising that allowed for Cadence’s defences to be distracted, so that he could easily appear and overwhelm the Empire. And because of you, they’re dead.’’

‘’I did not want them to die. I wanted to talk with Cadence, explain to her why I was right. I would never have hurt them.’’

‘’LIAR!’’ Twilight screamed, and her mane caught fire. Green flames. Fucking hell. ‘’You knew! You knew he would appear! That is why you only saved Flurry, and then removed her memories of it!’’

‘’I had nothing to do with her rescue.’’ Though I am glad every day that she is alive.

‘’Then why can’t she remember it?’’ Twilight’s voice had gone down a register again. ‘’I searched in her mind for hours. The memories were not there. When I found them, I found them trapped under a layer of alicorn magic, impossible even for me to remove. Who else but you could have placed that barrier?’’

Nightmare had no answer for that. ‘’Show me this barrier,’’ she said instead.

‘’Flurry is my niece. You will never see her again, Nightmare Moon,’’ Twilight simply declared, before taking a breath. ‘’Nightmare Moon, for your crimes against the Principality of Equestria - including, but not limited to, the banishment of Princess Celestia, high treason, and armed insurrection - I, Princess Regnant Twilight Sparkle, hereby sentence you to summary execution.’’

The light from the tip of her horn shot towards Nightmare, and she had only a second to dodge, ducking quickly to the left. Before she could regain her balance, Twilight was already hammering her with a barrage of spells, all of them deadly and reeking of dark magic.

‘’Very well,’’ she declared, rising to the challenge with a shield that caught all of Twilight’s attacks. ‘’I am done with you, Twilight Sparkle. Now die.’’

The torrent of magic she sent forward wasn’t a spell; it was raw magic, given shape by her will to destroy this insolent alicorn, who had tried to harm so much of her work. She was done. No more chances.

Twilight was almost caught by the attack, but managed to leap aside in the nick of time - and then Nightmare tackled her to the ground, forehooves pushing down into the other mare’s face.

In return, she got a kick in the stomach and a bite in the leg - then Twilight knocked her away with a blast of wind. Before either of them had gotten up, Nightmare already cast her next spell, sending spears of moonlight towards Twilight, who retaliated with her own projectiles. Some caught each other and exploded mid-air, but most were dodged.

Urgh.

Nightmare spread her wings, then dive-bombed Twilight again. This time she got a kick in the face, but she gave a kick in the side in return. Darkness curled around her, but it resisted her will; Twilight was contesting her magic, the little fucker. If it wasn't a fight, she'd be impressed.

Nightmare slammed her head into Twilight’s side, drawing blood with her horn. The next thing she knew, she felt Twilight draw the equivalent of a magical razor across her left wing. She snarled through the pain and called lightning to her horn, before slamming it into the other mare. And then Twilight threw what looked like three different curses stitched together at her. Only one of them hit - glancing blow - but she felt the mess of little cuts appear on her side instantly, each of them stinging with pain.

She let out a snarl that was half anger, half pain, before summoning up a wave of shadows and throwing it at Twilight. All-encompassing as the wave was, she was caught and slammed down by it. Quickly, while she had an angle, Nightmare shot a tracking spell at Twilight. It wouldn’t stick in the real world, of course, but if she fled out of this space of hers…

‘’I’m done with you.’’

Twilight rose, eyes glowing.

Oh shi-

‘’GO AWAY!’’

With that scream, the world exploded into nothing but light.

Nightmare’s eyes snapped open. She was back in the real world. Her entire body ached and hurt, and her magic was exhausted.

‘’Guards!’’

Author's Notes:

We should be done this month. Let me know how you liked the fight scene.

Chapter 44: Changes 7

14 December 1008

‘’We duelled,’’ Nightmare said, as if the wounds on her body didn’t make that blindingly obvious. ‘’She is strong. She is somewhere in the city.’’

Aside from the group she’d dined with, there was already a doctor seeing to her wounds. They stung like Tartarus, but she’d live.

The doctor looked up from dressing the wounds on her side. ‘’Your majesty,’’ he said in a clear, soft voice, ‘’you are badly hurt, and in no condition to go out. Going after another alicorn in your state would, frankly speaking, be suicide.’’

‘’I don’t care!’’ she hissed. ‘’My niece must be saved.’’

‘’Your majesty,’’ Rarity spoke up from the side of the bed. ‘’With all due respect, we cannot risk losing you to Twilight. I have faith that Rainbow and Captain Darkheart can retrieve Flurry.’’

Fuck. She didn’t want to send them out. She didn’t even know where to send them. And they were horribly outmatched against Twilight.

But she would also be wounded. Nightmare had no idea how her wounds had carried over from the Dream World into the real world - that shouldn’t have been possible - but if it had happened to her, logically it should have happened to Twilight as well.

Wait.

Her horn lit up green.

‘’The tracking spell still works.’’

‘’Great,’’ Sunset said after a moment, before casting a diagnostic spell at it. A moment later, her horn lit up green too. ‘’I copied it over. We can find Twilight.’’

‘’Go,’’ Nightmare ordered. ‘’Save my niece.’’

Sunset hesitated. ‘’You’re not coming?’’

‘’It is unhealthy in the extreme for the Empress to do anything strenuous right now,’’ the doctor snapped.

Sunset shot him a glare, but Nightmare nodded. ‘’Very well. Go. Find her.’’

‘’As you wish.’’

And with that said, Sunset, Darkheart and Rainbow practically galloped out of the room.

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

The column of trucks they were using was headed by a police car, sirens blaring, to make sure people got out of the way. All of the trucks were filled with Night Guard, weapons at the ready.

Sunset, due to being the guide, had the privilege of sitting in the aforementioned police car. There was no time for conversation; all she did was give the driver next to her instructions on which directions they had to go.

Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic on the streets at this hour; rush hour had passed, and by now most had surely returned home, enjoying their dinners and evenings.

Perhaps she should have eaten more too. She hadn’t been hungry then, but now…

Focus. ‘’Take a right here,’’ Sunset instructed. Obediently, the driver took a right - and in the mirror, Sunset saw the rest of the column follow suit.

As they drove on, Sunset spotted a snowflake slowly falling down. Then another, and another, and another, and within minutes it was softly snowing.

‘’About as bad as it can get, inside the Heart,’’ the driver remarked. ‘’Thank Amore for small mercies.’’

Sunset didn’t bother to respond to that. In fact, she didn’t say anything except for a few more directions until they finally reached their destination. ‘’This is it.’’

‘’Alright.’’

Sunset got out of the car as soon as it came to a halt, watching the building across the street. It looked abandoned, and that plus its location on the edge of town was probably the reason Twilight was using it as her hideout. Sunset might have done the same.

‘’Alright, listen up!’’ Darkheart called out as the soldiers assembled around him. ‘’You all know what’s at stake here. We have two goals: rescuing Princess Flurry Heart and detaining Twilight Sparkle. The Princess takes priority. Twilight Sparkle is highly dangerous, be on your guard. We have no intel on what is inside the building.’’

‘’I will keep Twilight occupied,’’ Sunset spoke up. ‘’

‘’Surround the building,’’ Darkheart instructed. ‘’Keep an eye on the exits, make sure she doesn’t get out. If you see her…’’

‘’Shoot her,’’ Sunset supplied. All eyes turned to her. ‘’We cannot risk her escaping. Try to take her alive if possible, but if not…’’ She let her sentence trail off.

‘’And be careful,’’ Darkheart added a moment later. ‘’Do not harm Princess Flurry Heart.’’

‘’The Empress shall be supremely displeased if you do.’’

‘’Me too,’’ Rainbow growled.

Protective much?

‘’Copy that,’’ one of the Night Guard said. ‘’Watch the exits, alive but shoot-to-kill is allowed, do not harm the Princess. Should be easy.’’

‘’Should being the key word there,’’ another Guard chimed in. ‘’Don’t worry, sir. We’ve got this.’’

‘’Good. Take positions.’’ It took a moment, but then they were ready, and so Darkheart bucked the door in. ‘’On me!’’

They headed in.

|-x-X-x-|

Those fools!

They had dared to come here, to try and steal her niece away from her! Damn Nightmare Moon and all her servants to the depths of Tartarus!

‘’Auntie, what’s that noise?’’

Twilight shook her head as she rose from the floor. ‘’Don’t worry about that, Flurry. I’ll deal with it.’’

‘’But-’’

‘’Stay here,’’ Twilight instructed. ‘’I’ll be back soon.’’

She was already out of the room before Flurry could respond, trotting down the hallway. The sting of her wounds from the fight with the Nightmare made the short walk more arduous than it should be.

Damn that devil and her dark magic.

The idiots attacking her hideout were Night Guards. Nightmare’s loyal hounds, but no match for her. However, their two companions could prove irritating.

Twilight leapt into the room, horn aglow already.

‘’Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash.’’

With a flick of her horn, everyone except for Sunset and Rainbow flew back into the wall. She would deal with those two herself.

‘’I’ll deal with you two alone.’’

Sunset gritted her teeth. ‘’Alright then. Let’s finish this.’’

Rainbow didn’t have a witty quip, instead she just opened fire at Twilight. She got maybe five shots out, all of which bounced off Twilight’s shield spell, before the alicorn tore the rifle from her grasp and tossed it aside.

With a snarl, Rainbow charged forward through the air.

Twilight dodged the attack, but Rainbow turned mid-air and hit her anyway, landing a kick right under her right wing. Twilight snarled and with a simple telekinesis spell, she grabbed Rainbow and tossed her towards the wall.

Only for her spell to break as she had to redirect her attention to Sunset, shielding just in time to catch the half-dozen energy bolts headed for her.

Sunset didn’t let up, however. Her next attack was a torrent of flame that tore through the shield and almost scorched her face off, but Twilight simply grabbed the spell and threw it back at Sunset.

‘’A Unicorn and a Pegasi,’’ she said as Sunset leapt out of the path of her countered spell. ‘’Is this the best Nightmare Moon can send to me? A reject and a traitor.’’

‘’I’ll show you traitor!’’

That was the only warning she had before Rainbow’s hind legs landed against the back of her head with force. Pain seared through her head as Rainbow’s assault on her back continued, a series of kicks and bites at such speeds that even her own Alicorn speed struggled to keep up.

She tried to tear Rainbow off with magic, but at that moment Sunset attacked again, throwing a spear of light forwards that would hurt.

Twilight leapt back, spreading her wings and ramming her backside straight into the wall. The spear flew past and shot a hole through the wall it was heading towards. After a moment, she pushed away from the wall, spinning in the air to get a look at Rainbow.

The Pegasus fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Twilight took that moment and leapt at Sunset.

Sunset was a powerful mage, for sure, but she did not have Twilight’s power or Rainbow’s speed. She tried to shield, but Twilight was faster, landing a kick straight in her jaw and another on her right foreleg. Sunset’s horn lit up with a spell, but Twilight kicked her again, with such force that she flew into a wall as well.

This time, she was ready for Rainbow’s attack, turning just in time to hit the Pegasus before she could reach Twilight. The force she put behind this kick knocked Rainbow into the floor.

‘’Pitiful,’’ Twilight snarled, looming over her traitorous friend. ‘’You disappoint me, Rainbow.’’

‘’Good,’’ the Pegasus spat back.

Twilight shook her head. ‘’You’ll regret this,’’ was all the warning she gave, before grabbing Rainbow’s wings with her telekinesis and bending them until she heard bones break.

Rainbow let out a pained cry, and then a whimper.

Twilight pushed the mare on her back, and then pressed her legs against her ribcage. ‘’You should have never betrayed Equestria, Rainbow.’’

‘’Fuck you!’’

The insult did not even faze her.

A groan from the other side of the room. The Night Guard were all still out cold, so that meant only one thing. Twilight spun her head to where Sunset was slowly trying to rise from the floor again.

Without a word, she sent a blast of magic at the Unicorn that threw her through the wall, then turned her head back to Rainbow. ‘’I,’’ she said as she glared down at her former friend, ‘’will make you suffer. All that I have felt shall be done doubly onto you, until I am satisfied that you understand the cost of betrayal. You will die, Rainbow Dash, but it shall not be quick.’’

And she slammed both of her forehooves straight into Rainbow’s ribcage, breaking the bones with a delightful crunch.

Someone screamed.

That was the last thing Twilight heard before the world exploded.

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

When Shrouded came to, he awoke to a scene of carnage. The room they were was practically destroyed, with holes and cracks everywhere he could see. Around him, his fellow Night Guard were waking up as well.

Shrouded was the first to rise, quickly surveying the situation. No Twilight Sparkle. Commander Dash on the floor, looking heavily wounded. A pony-shaped hole in the wall - someone had been thrown through it? And Princess Flurry Heart on the floor in a doorway.

He checked himself for injuries, and only then did his brain catch up to the fact that he was sparkling. Like a Crystal Pony. ‘’What the Tartarus?’’

‘’Shrouded.’’ That was the Captain. ‘’Report.’’

‘’Twilight Sparkle is gone, sir. Commander Dash looks wounded. It looks like someone was thrown through a wall there. The Princess is in the doorway.’’

‘’Thank you.’’

Darkheart, Shrouded noted, was sparkling too. All of them were sparkling, and their manes looked different too. ‘’What’s with the sparkling?’’

Darkheart paused, halfway through the room. ‘’I don’t know,’’ he answered after a moment, ‘’but considering that the Crystal Ponies do just fine like this, I’m not going to question it. We have bigger fish to fry. Shrouded, Misty, secure the Princess and get her outside. Blade, you up?’’

‘’Working on it, sir!’’

‘’Get up. Commander Dash has multiple broken bones.’’

‘’Getting up.’’

A groan sounded from the hole in the wall, and then Sunset Shimmer appeared, looking incredibly dishevelled even with a sparkling appearance. ‘’Where’s Twilight?’’

‘’Gone when we woke up. The Princess is over there.’’

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. ‘’She’s gone.’’

‘’Who?’’

‘’Twilight.’’

‘’How do you know?’’

‘’The crystal effect,’’ Sunset explained. ‘’It can only have appeared due to the Crystal Heart pulsing its magic. It’s been documented to do that, but never without cause. And the last thing I heard before everything went white was Flurry screaming.’’

‘’And you think that triggered the Heart?’’

Sunset shrugged. ‘’It’s a theory. But it’s the only explanation I have for us being crystally and for Twilight being gone. Considering what happened to Sombra when it was activated, it’s possible the magic of the Heart destroyed her.’’

Shrouded was not going to think about being somewhat complicit in the death of an Alicorn. Even Twilight Sparkle. Instead, he and Misty headed over to the Princess and gently lifted her off the floor. She was breathing, and appeared unharmed, if a little dirty. Good.

‘’Get her to the Palace,’’ Darkheart instructed. ‘’We’ll clean up here.’’

‘’I’ll stay here too,’’ Sunset spoke up. ‘’Might I borrow some of your soldiers? I’m going to check if Twilight’s left any surprises behind.’’

‘’Of course.’’

‘’Great.’’

Author's Notes:

Only two chapters left!

Chapter 45: Changes 8

14 December 1008

News had arrived shortly after the Heart’s magical burst that Flurry Heart had been rescued and was on her way to the Palace. It had also revealed the following facts that caused Rarity no small number of thoughts: one, that Rainbow was grievously wounded with multiple broken bones; and two, that Twilight Sparkle was gone.

Given what had happened to Sombra when the Heart triggered and how far Twilight had gone, it was safe to assume that she was dead.

The full realisation, surely, would sink in later. For now, she could focus on Flurry Heart’s arrival and let that drive away the creeping sense of sadness, guilt, relief, horror and so many other emotions she couldn’t even name if she tried to.

Two trucks arrived before the Palace; awaiting them alongside Rarity were Nightmare Moon, Twinkle Sprinkle and Sweetie Belle, as well as the doctor. Lilac, unable to transform back into her normal Pony disguise, had stayed inside the Palace. That could be solved later.

From one of the trucks emerged a pair of familiar Night Guard - if memory served her right, those two were the ones who had guarded them in Rainbow Falls - and on the back of one of them was Flurry Heart.

‘’Your majesty, madams, sir,’’ the stallion greeted. ‘’The Princess is unharmed, but exhausted. Commander Dash is being moved to a hospital to treat her wounds. Magician Shimmer and Captain Darkheart are cleaning up the factory that Twilight Sparkle was using as hideout.’’

‘’Well done, soldier. Any casualties?’’ Nightmare Moon inquired.

‘’A few soldiers were lightly wounded, but aside from Commander Dash no one has more than a few bruises, ma’am.’’

‘’Very well.’’

Nightmare Moon’s horn leapt alight, carrying Flurry off the mare’s back and through the air onto the older Alicorn’s own back. ‘’You are dismissed.’’

The soldiers saluted and then moved away, but Rarity cared little for that; her gaze was focused on the sleeping filly. ‘’She looks fine,’’ she said, so softly that it was almost a whisper.

‘’Thankfully,’’ Nightmare Moon agreed, ‘’though I shall still have her checked by the doctor. Now, back inside.’’

Without waiting for a response, she spun around and began to walk away, forcing Rarity and the others to speed up if they wanted to maintain pace with Nightmare Moon’s great steps.

The trip back into the Palace and towards a suitable location for the doctor to examine Flurry was done in silence. The suitable location, it turned out, was the same room that Nightmare Moon had stayed in just now.

‘’Check her for any injuries,’’ Nightmare Moon ordered the doctor as she placed Flurry into the bed. ‘’Then issue your conclusion and depart.’’ She glanced at Lilac, Sweetie and Twinkle. ‘’You may also depart. Only Rarity and myself will stay.’’

‘’As you wish, your majesty,’’ Twinkle replied before bowing. Sweetie just gave a short nod, and Lilac also bowed.

Rarity quickly stepped over to Sweetie and gave the younger mare a hug. ‘’We’ll talk in the morning, darling. There should be enough rooms in this palace for all of you.’’

‘’Be careful, Rarity,’’ Sweetie replied as she returned the hug. ‘’You just got out of bed yourself.’’

‘’I will be, Sweetie.’’

‘’Good. Good night, Rarity.’’

‘’Good night, Sweetie.’’

Those words said, Rarity stepped away from her sister and turned back to the bed. The doctor was still looking over Flurry, and Nightmare Moon had settled in beside the bed. Even when on the floor, she still cast an image of regality and authority that Rarity was certain she could never match.

‘’Rarity,’’ the Alicorn called out, as if she could hear her inner thoughts, ‘’come sit with me.’’

‘’Of course.’’ A few steps later, she settled on the ground before Nightmare Moon, the crystal floor pleasantly warm to her coat.

‘’In the morning,’’ Nightmare Moon began, ‘’Flurry shall hopefully be awake. I plan to speak to the nation - not just the Crystal Empire - and inform them of the events of the past few days.’’

‘’Will you tell them what Twilight did?’’

Nightmare Moon’s mouth drew into a thin line. ‘’That is where I am uncertain. We cannot conceal her involvement forever, no matter what we try. But few will believe that Princess Twilight went insane and tried to kill her best friends.’’

‘’She didn’t try to kill me,’’ Rarity said before she could stop herself. ‘’If she had tried, I wouldn’t be here.’’

Nightmare Moon tilted her head. ‘’Perhaps. It remains a fact that she assaulted you, your sister, Rainbow Dash and her own adopted brother, as well as countless other innocent Ponies. Were she not gone, I would have placed her on trial. I still might.’’

‘’An Alicorn on trial?’’

‘’Unprecedented, but deserved. I am not a petty tyrant bent on domination, Rarity. You should know this already.’’

‘’Do the people know?’’

‘’That is the question I am asking myself.’’ Nightmare Moon sighed. ‘’If this news is published, there shall be uproar. Many shall denounce it as lies.’’

‘’But if you cover it up, it will leak out and make you look no better.’’

‘’Exactly.’’

I don’t know what she wants. I don’t know what I want. I don’t know.

‘’Are you going to sack me?’’

Nightmare Moon blinked. ‘’What?’’

‘’I failed at my job of protecting Flurry. Until a few days ago, I wasn’t even really speaking to her. The country is still in shambles. And now this. I have been nothing but a disappointment, and what good I have done - if anything - has been overshadowed by all of my mistakes.’’

It was the truth, or the start of it, but before Rarity could continue Nightmare Moon placed her hoof against Rarity’s muzzle. ‘’Rarity, you have not failed. I do not think anyone could have kept Flurry safe from Twilight, and you did better than most, I would say. As for your governance, I have heard only good things from all my sources, and do not presume to think that you can control all the information that reaches my ears.’’

Rarity opened her mouth to protest, but Nightmare Moon continued before she could speak. ‘’When I chose you to assist in the campaign for Thestral rights, I did not know we would end up here. But while I have many regrets, few of them involve you; you have been as true a friend and ally as anyone could have asked for.’’

For a moment, the black coat and diamond pupils of Nightmare Moon seemed to shift back into the blue coat and round pupils of the Princess Luna who Rarity had campaigned with, and she smiled softly at her. ‘’I am glad to have had you on my side since the beginning, and I do not see any reason to punish you for anything. Be at peace, my friend.’’

Then the Nightmare’s appearance returned, but the smile remained. ‘’Now, I think you should head to bed. I will think about what to do with Twilight Sparkle.’’

Rarity tried to answer, but the words would not come. ‘’Thank you,’’ she finally said, a tear rolling over her cheek.

‘’You are welcome.’’

Rarity rose a moment later. ‘’Good night, my Empress.’’

‘’Good night, Rarity.’’

|-x-X-x-|

14 December 1008

‘’Apologies for making you wait,’’ was the first thing Nightmare said to the doctor after the door closed behind Rarity.

The doctor simply smiled and shook his head. ‘’It is no problem, ma’am.’’

‘’The diagnosis?’’

‘’The Princess appears to be physically fine, though she is tired and could use a bath or shower. I have not found any signs of magical exhaustion or other causes for alarm, so she should wake up in the morning. Perhaps the early afternoon at the latest.’’

Nightmare let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding in. ‘’Good. That’s good. Thank you. Is there anything else I should know?’’

‘’Not about the Princess,’’ the doctor answered, ‘’but, if I might be so bold, I would advise you to rest as well. Your wounds will heal better if you are resting, and you have done much today.’’

Nightmare inclined her head in acknowledgement. ‘’I shall have my rest, doctor. Thank you. You are dismissed.’’

‘’Certainly, ma’am. Good night.’’

‘’Good night,’’ she returned.

The doctor gathered up his items and left, but Nightmare’s gaze had already settled on Flurry and would not move away from it. Now she could finally look at her niece properly for the first time in months.

She looked… healthy. A bit bigger than what Nightmare remembered, but that was to be expected. She did look a little bit dirty, but that was - indeed, like the doctor had said - nothing a shower or a bath couldn’t fix.

At four years old, Flurry had experienced so much already. It hurt Nightmare’s heart to see her like this, and to remember her in the first days after Tall Tale. How cruel was the world, that one so young would experience such terrible things?

And yet, none of it appeared to have broken her spirit. Perhaps it was a quality of youth, that they had so much of their life left that it would dull the memory of such horrible events later in life. Especially in Flurry’s case.

During Cadence’s pregnancy, Celestia had worried that the child would not be a true Alicorn, or even an Alicorn at all. The realisation that one was destined to outlive their own child was horrifying, she had said, and Nightmare could only agree. It was why they had never taken children, or indeed permanent partners.

Would Flurry be faced with the same troubles in her life? Would she pick a partner only to watch them march towards death while she stood by, unable to join in? It was the curse of Alicornity, or at least a part of it. Nightmare had coped with it through warfare, until that had led her into banishment; Celestia had coped with it through distancing herself, until she grew so out of touch that it became too easy to topple her reign. Twilight and Cadence would never have had to cope with it.

Two years ago, there were five Alicorns. Now, only two.

Nightmare sighed, and gently pushed a stray hair out of Flurry’s closed eyes with her telekinesis. I can never replace Cadence, or even Twilight, she reflected. But I am the only other Alicorn left, and I shall not - I cannot - allow her to make the same mistakes that I made.

She thought back to her conversation with Rarity, and how she had let show - for just a moment - Luna’s appearance. But she was no longer Luna. Luna had failed to become anything more than a warlord. Nightmare had taken her place, but she had fallen anyway; and then banishment, and Luna had returned. But while that Luna was not any longer a warlord, she had still failed at being a Princess. It was only when Nightmare returned again, and took the position of Empress, that she achieved her full potential.

Celestia was the Princess. She always was. I was the warrior, and now I am the Empress. Twilight was the Apprentice, and then the Princess, and then the enemy. Cadence was a Princess and then became a mother.

What is Flurry, and what shall she be?

That question, she realised, could not be answered now. No matter what she mused about, in the bed before her was still just a filly. A traumatised filly with powers that surpassed all but the mightiest Ponies, but a filly all the same.

Nightmare sighed again. ‘’I am sorry, my dear,’’ she said softly. ‘’I cannot be your mother. I can only be your aunt, and even then I am not able to spend my time with you properly. I would care for you as my own child if I could, but I cannot. Whenever you realise that, please forgive me for it.’’

She almost turned away from the bed, but at that moment she recalled her last conversation with Twilight.

The memory block.

Before she could stop herself, her horn was already glowing with a spell designed to find such blocks; but she found nothing. Strange. Twilight had gone mad, yes, but she would not have come up with all of that without some cause.

Determined, Nightmare switched over to another spell, a more powerful version of the first one. No results again. She growled, and tried a different technique: instead of trying to find blockers, she simply sought for a space where memory seemed to be absent.

That did the trick. That a piece was missing was quickly found, but where it was and what it contained was not so easily discovered.

When she did discover it, she swore. It was indeed Alicorn magic, like Twilight had said, but it was not from Nightmare at all; it was from Celestia, cleverly disguised.

What did she hope to achieve by this? Why would Celestia block Flurry’s memories?

The block was battered - Twilight’s work no doubt - but it had held strong. But where Twilight’s skill and ingenuity had failed her, Nightmare was able to do the trick with experience.

After all, she had taught the technique to Celestia after discovering it. It was meant for fighting nightmares, but it worked for ‘normal’ memories as well.

Carefully, Nightmare removed the block, disentangling the memory from the strands of magic that chained it. Then, once it was free from its containment, she looked into it.

She saw a throne room - the throne room, here in the Crystal Palace. Flurry was sat on Cadence’s lap, who herself sat on the throne, and Shining stood by its side. Before them was a single Pony. Everything besides that was quite unfocused and blurry.

Starlight Glimmer.

‘’Princess Mi Amore, Prince-Consort Sparkle, thank you for receiving me.’’

‘’You are always welcome here, Starlight.’’ Cadence answered with a warm smile. ‘’What can we do for you?’’

‘’Join Princess Celestia in fighting Nightmare Moon.’’

Shining Armour let out a low chuckle. ‘’At least you’re honest about it.’’

‘’I have told her,’’ Cadence said more formally, ‘’that I cannot justify our entry into the war on either side. We will accept refugees who come here, but both sides are not just. Thus, I cannot in good conscience assist either side.’’

‘’Nightmare Moon is leading a violent insurrection against the rightful Princess!’’

‘’Princess Luna is also a rightful Princess,’’ Cadence simply answered, ‘’no matter what she calls herself. Though I condemn her violent actions, I cannot disagree with her cause of equality for Thestrals.’’

The conversation might have continued there, except that the ground shook. ‘’Mummy, what was that?’’ Flurry asked.

Oh no.

The whole world turned extremely blurry, and it seemed to Nightmare that even without the block Flurry would remember very little of this part. All she could discern was shouts, screams, gun- and spellfire and then suddenly there was Starlight Glimmer, soot-stricken and bloodied, standing over Flurry.

‘’Yield,’’ the voice of Sombra called out, ‘’and I may spare your life.’’

‘’And serve as a slave in your armies?’’

‘’From what I have heard, you were little better once. It would be a fitting ending.’’

‘’Fuck you!’’ Starlight spat out, before her horn disappeared into a corona of turquoise light. Instantly, the darkness - only now noticed by Nightmare - leapt at her, but it seemed to recoil from her magic wherever she turned her horn.

‘’I have killed an Alicorn today already,’’ Sombra said. ‘’You stand no chance.’’

Nightmare knew, from witness reports, that Cadence and Shining had been tortured for days after Sombra’s appearance. But Flurry didn’t know that, and the older alicorn could feel her niece shaking in fear and confusion.

‘’Maybe not,’’ Starlight admitted, ‘’but you’ll be damned if you think I’ll let you kill another Alicorn!’’

The world turned white, and for a fleeting second Nightmare experienced weightlessness, then she - and Flurry - were on the floor in the middle of a well-decorated room.

‘’Flurry?’’ a far too familiar voice questioned.

That was everything Nightmare needed to know. She stepped out of the memory.

Stars above.

Flurry appeared to be completely untouched by Nightmare’s intrusion, still sleeping soundly. A small mercy, at least.

Nightmare let out a long sigh, then reached out and placed a soft kiss under Flurry’s horn. ‘’Sleep well, my niece.’’

With those parting words, she settled back onto the floor. She would rest here tonight. It was the least she could do.

Author's Notes:

This is the last chapter before the epilogue, which will be uploaded tomorrow. It's also one of my favourite chapters already. Apologies for the long wait, but it's finally time to finish this project of 2.5 years.

See you tomorrow.

Edit: unfortunately the epilogue is delayed, but it shall be uploaded by the 26th at the latest. My apologies.

Chapter 46: Ending

31 December 1008

Hearthswarming Eve was a new experience to Lilac, but so far she couldn’t complain about it. There were good drinks, good food and great company.

Like the mare by her side.

‘’I hadn’t ever expected to attend a Hearthswarming Eve party together with the Empress,’’ Long Winter commented. ‘’But I can’t complain, can I?’’

‘’I hadn’t ever expected to attend a Hearthswarming party at all,’’ Lilac couldn’t resist pointing out.

‘’And how are you finding it so far?’’ her partner inquired.

Lilac took a moment to consider that question. ‘’Enjoyable,’’ she answered. ‘’The dinner was excellent. So too is the company.’’

Long pressed a quick nuzzle to her cheek. ‘’Charmer.’’

‘’Charmable.’’

‘’Hush you.’’

‘’You are both sickening,’’ Ocellus remarked as she approached them. ‘’Sickeningly in love. I’m getting nausea just from watching you two.’’

Lilac gave her niece a cool stare. ‘’There’s plenty to look at here besides us, isn’t there?’’

‘’Sure,’’ Ocellus agreed with a shrug, ‘’but you’re so prominent that I can’t help but look anyway.’’

That was patently untrue, but perhaps a Pony might agree with Ocellus’ assessment. After all, seeing a Changeling was rare enough, but Lilac was unique now even amongst Changelings.

She still wasn’t used to it herself, but it appeared that the new appearance she’d gained after the Crystal Heart’s burst was here to stay, sans the sparkling crystal effect. While she could still transform like any ordinary Changeling, she’d decided to discard her disguise after the Empress herself had authorised their presence in the Crystal Empire - indirectly pardoning her of any charges people might have pressed against her.

Most Crystal Ponies had taken to it surprisingly well; apparently, if you survived the Crystal Heart’s pulse, you were fine to stay. Lilac wasn’t sure the system was sustainable, but she also wasn’t going to complain.

‘’Ocellus, dear, how are you finding the party?’’ Long asked, snapping Lilac out of her impromptu train of thought.

The younger Changeling shrugged again. ‘’Meh. It’s fine. Not a lot of people my age.’’

Lilac frowned. ‘’If you’re not enjoying it, you can leave anytime. I won’t mind.’’

‘’No, it’s alright. Thanks. I’ll be fine.’’

‘’If you say so…’’

‘’Yeah. I’m gonna talk to some of those guards. Bye!’’

Before either Lilac or Long could reply, Ocellus had already turned around and headed away from them.

‘’Still not used to her new look,’’ Long said. ‘’It’s nice, I mean, but still.’’

‘’I know what you mean.’’

Ocellus had been affected by the Crystal Heart just like Lilac had been, but in her case her chitin had turned a pale shade of blue and her neck fin and wings had turned amaranth red. It suited her, but just like Lilac’s appearance, it took some adjusting to.

‘’Are we sure she’s still alright at her school?’’ Long wondered.

‘’I think so, yes,’’ Lilac answered after a moment of thought, ‘’but we could always ask her. But not tonight. Tonight’s a party, or so I am told.’’

‘’Indeed it is!’’ Long agreed, as she pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face. ‘’Shall we dance when the next song comes on?’’

‘’I’d love to.’’

Even though I’ve got no clue how Ponies dance.

With that thought in her head, she spent the remaining minutes observing the Ponies that were dancing; it was going to be hard to imitate them, and she was sure to make some mistakes, but Long would know this was her first time.

Everything would be fine.

And isn’t that a great feeling? The idea that everything will be fine? Of course, everything is a rather large term, but I can say that everything will be fine for tonight, at least.

Of course, Chrysalis has probably heard from her spies what’s happened here. Maybe she knows about us too.

That was probably her greatest worry, she reflected. Chrysalis.

What had happened to Ocellus and herself was, as far as anyone knew, unprecedented. She was doing research in the records of the Palace with the assistance of Long and a few people that Tight Ship had been able to find, but nothing they had found indicated that this had ever happened before. It was known that Changelings had lived in the western parts of the Empire once, but never had it been reported that they were present within Crystal City whenever the Heart pulsed.

But Lilac refused to believe that she was the first. The first of what, she wasn’t sure of either, but she was the first of something to be sure.

‘’Hey,’’ Long prodded her side, ‘’that’s our queue, sweetheart.’’

‘’Oh, right.’’

Long laughed as she led them onto the dance floor. The sound was as lovely as ever. ‘’I get that you’re busy,’’ she said as the musicians began the first part of the new song, one which Lilac didn’t recognise, ‘’believe me, I do. But these evenings will be wasted if you spend them thinking only of the work you do.’’

‘’And what if I said that I was thinking of you?’’

‘’Now that is certainly not a waste,’’ Long agreed, ‘’but I am right here. And I’m not going anywhere.’’

‘’Good.’’ Lilac leaned in and pressed her muzzle against Long’s for a few seconds, before breaking away as the chorus - or so it sounded - kicked in. ‘’Then let’s dance.’’

‘’Let’s!’’

At least for tonight, the worries could wait.

|-x-X-x-|

31 December 1008

‘’So how are you enjoying the party, Miss Shimmer?’’

Sunset gave Tight Ship a polite smile in response. ‘’It’s quite excellent. Much better than the last one I attended.’’

‘’Which would have been?’’

‘’In Canterlot, quite long ago.’’

‘’When you were still…’’

‘’Yes, indeed.’’

The stallion nodded. ‘’I see. Well, I’m afraid I must be off. The work doesn’t end, you understand.’’

‘’Of course. Enjoy your evening.’’

‘’You as well.’’

Sunset sipped from her drink as she watched the Chamberlain disappear into the crowd again, no doubt on his way to prevent some issue from cropping up and ruining the celebrations. A commendable task, and not one she’d ever be good at, most likely.

With the drink held in her magic, she too made her way through the partygoers, heading for one of the windows of the grand ballroom they were in. It was located quite high up in the Palace, so the view of the city was - supposedly - pretty good.

Once she had reached the nearest window, she looked out of it.

Crystal City was an imposing sight in the winter evening darkness, countless lights spreading as far as the eye could see across the ground. The largest city in the world, reportedly larger in population than Manehattan and Canterlot put together. Sunset wasn’t sure she believed it, but she couldn’t dispute that Crystal City was one of the biggest cities she’d ever visited.

And now it was her home.

The joys of teaching an Alicorn are soon to be mine. Joy.

There was a measure of irony to the whole situation, but Sunset found little amusement in it. While teaching Flurry Heart was sure to be a challenge, and one she looked forward to, it would cut heavily into her own time for research.

‘’Enjoying the view?’’

‘’Captain Darkheart,’’ she acknowledged the stallion without turning to face him. ‘’How’s the security looking?’’

‘’As great as can be,’’ he replied as he stopped beside her. ‘’Between the police, the local Night Guard and the Empress’ own, we’ve got enough soldiers to stop a small army. And no threats that we know of.’’

‘’Aren’t the unknown threats the most dangerous?’’

‘’Perhaps,’’ Darkheart agreed, ‘’but even an unexpected enemy will not find an easy way into the Palace tonight, let me assure you.’’

‘’Mhm.’’ Sunset finally turned to face him. ‘’Was there something you needed of me, Captain?’’

‘’Nothing serious. I was just curious about how the process of moving from Manehattan was going.’’

Whyever are you interested in that?

Darkheart lowered his voice and continued: ‘’I’ve been informed there might be need to transport several individuals here.’’

Ah.

‘’There’s not.’’ Sunset took a sip from her drink - a rather delightful red wine, apparently from Vinovia - and then shook her head. ‘’Those individuals will be redistributed throughout the Eastern Seaboard and Heartlands. I have neither the time nor the need for them anymore, with my new tasks.’’

‘’Fair enough.’’ Darkheart paused. ‘’The Empress has instructed me to inform you that facilities are available here, should you have need of them for whatever reason. However, I personally think that the Governess will not approve.’’

‘’So don’t tell her.’’

‘’That is also what the Empress told me. I don’t intend on informing her unless I have no choice.’’

‘’Good.’’ Sunset downed the rest of the glass, relishing in the wine’s taste. ‘’I’m already going to be dealing with her enough as it is; no doubt she will sit in on some of my lessons to the Princess.’’

‘’She is the Governess’ ward by Her Majesty’s decree. It’d make sense.’’

‘’Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’’

Darkheart smiled. ‘’Indeed not.’’

Sunset met his gaze. ‘’I was under the assumption that Nightmare cared for the Governess. What changed?’’

If he took offence to her irreverence, he didn’t show it. ‘’Nothing has, as far as I know. I shan’t attempt to imagine what the Empress’ reasons for her actions are, but I am bound to follow them.’’

‘’Such a loyal soldier.’’

‘’That is my duty, yes. I believe the job description mentions it.’’

‘’I’m sure it does.’’

Darkheart chuckled. ‘’You are an interesting person, Miss Shimmer. I look forward to working more with you.’’

‘’As do I, Captain Darkheart.’’

‘’In that case, shall I get you another glass of that wine? You seem to be enjoying it.’’

Sunset narrowed her eyes at the Thestral. ‘’Are you flirting with me, Captain?’’

Darkheart gave her a fanged smile. ‘’I’ll be back with those drinks,’’ he said instead of answering, slipping away before Sunset could formulate a response to that and grabbing her empty glass from her telekinesis as he did so.

With a huff, she watched him go, then turned back to the window.

Stallions. Honestly.

She might have drunk a little, but she wasn’t anywhere near drunk enough to consider anything like that seriously. And Thestrals weren’t her type.

But that could be left unsaid. She’d take the drink, and then just disappear.

‘’Here you go.’’

‘’Fucking Tartarus!’’ she exclaimed. ‘’You could have given me a warning first!’’

Darkheart, two glasses held in his wings, chuckled again. ‘’I couldn’t resist the opportunity.’’

‘’I should be used to this,’’ Sunset muttered to herself as she took one of the glasses in her magic. ‘’I grew up around Thestrals. Always trying to spook me.’’

‘’I’d like to think I’m more stealthy than your average Pony, Thestral or no.’’

‘’Evidently.’’

Darkheart cleverly hid his grin behind his drink - or tried to, anyway. ‘’So, what I also wanted to ask: when do you start teaching the Princess?’’

‘’Tomorrow.’’

‘’Anything planned in specific?’’

‘’I’ll need to gauge her power and ability first. Then I can work out a plan. I’ve been reading up on teaching methods, so I should be good.’’

‘’You haven’t had an apprentice before?’’

‘’I left Celestia when I was still one myself, and I didn’t get an opportunity to teach whilst I was away.’’ I couldn’t do very much with magic at all, but he doesn’t need to know that.

Her time between leaving Celestia and reappearing a few years ago was still a secret known only to a few, and Sunset was quite intent to keep it that way. Nobody, not even Nightmare Moon, needed to know all of the details of that time. Sunset would take that information to the grave.

‘’I see.’’ Darkheart took a sip from his own drink and hummed contently. ‘’A good beverage. I approve.’’

‘’How did you know which one I had?’’

‘’I guessed. It helps that there are only a few red wines available tonight.’’

‘’Mhm.’’

‘’So, just magical knowledge for the Princess then?’’

‘’Others can handle etiquette or politics or what have you. My expertise is magic, and I do it damn well. That’s all I need to teach her.’’

Darkheart opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment there was a shriek.

‘’DISCORD!’’

‘’Well, there’s someone who’s better at it than you, at least,’’ Darkheart quipped.

‘’Oh shut up.’’

|-x-X-x-|

31 December 1008

‘’Oh dear,’’ Rarity said. ‘’Whatever has he done now?’’

‘’I’ll go check,’’ Rainbow offered. ‘’Fluttershy’s probably already dealing with it, but she might need a helping hoof.’’

‘’And yours is the best, of course,’’ Rarity said drolly, rolling her eyes.

Rainbow winked at her. ‘’You know it, Rares. Be right back.’’ She pressed a quick kiss to the other mare’s cheek and then sped away, Rarity’s ‘’Good luck, darling!’’ echoing behind her.

Discord doesn’t like it here, but he’s been good for days now. Whatever’s happened?’’

Rainbow cut a path through the crowds, arriving in the centre of the room to see a sulking Discord being scolded by Fluttershy, while the Ponies around them were carefully keeping their distance.

‘’Flutters,’’ Rainbow spoke up as she stepped into the empty space, ‘’what’s happened here?’’

‘’Oh, Rainbow! Don’t worry, it’s nothing important. Discord just got a little bit upset when I mentioned I didn’t really like my drink and then he started threatening the waiters and so I had to tell him not to do that.’’

‘’And you’re doing that now?’’

‘’I am,’’ Fluttershy confirmed. ‘’Everything’s fine, Rainbow. You can go back to Rarity. I can deal with this.’’

Rainbow watched her for a moment, judging. Surely Nightmare Moon was doing the same across the room.. Then she nodded. ‘’Alright, but call me if you need anything, okay?’’

‘’I will, Rainbow.’’

‘’Good.’’ Rainbow let her eyes linger on Discord for a moment, then turned around.

‘’It was nothing serious, I hope?’’ Rarity inquired when Rainbow joined her again.

Rainbow shook her head. ‘’Just Discord being Discord. Fluttershy got it already.’’

Rarity smiled gracefully. ‘’They’re a good pair.’’

‘’Yeah. So are we.’’

‘’Never did I deny that, darling.’’

Rainbow knew that. They’d had plenty of conversations ever since Rarity had been cleared by the doctors, and they knew where they stood with each other. As far as Rainbow was concerned, they were in a good place.

‘’You’re lovely tonight,’’ she said to Rarity. ‘’The dress is great.’’

‘’Thank you, Rainbow darling! It makes me glad to hear you say so. Do you like your outfit as well?’’

Rainbow shrugged. Where Rarity wore a - very pretty - silver and deep blue dress, she was dressed fittingly in the dress uniform of a Shadowbolt officer. It was similar enough to the old Wonderbolt dress uniform she’d worn sometimes, and it fit well and wasn’t ugly. Sure, it wasn’t as nice as some of the dresses that Rarity had made for her, but that couldn’t be helped.

‘’You had no hoof in this one, but yes,’’ she answered. ‘’It’s pretty good.’’

‘’Is it cool?’’

‘’Because I’m wearing it.’’

Rarity chuckled. ‘’I could design you a better version, if you want.’’

‘’Then you’d have to get all of the other Shadowbolts to agree as well.’’

‘’Or I just ask the Empress,’’ Rarity dryly pointed out. ‘’But yes, I see your point. Perhaps another time.’’

‘’Sure.’’

Comfortable silence nestled in the space between them, as they watched the party. It had been a bit of a hassle to organise, with the Empress herself and so many other important guests - mostly from the Empire, but a few from Equestria - in attendance, but Rainbow had seen Rarity, Lily - or Lilac, now - and Tight Ship work together to arrange it into one of the best Hearthswarming Eve parties she’d ever seen.

But it wasn’t perfect.

‘’Something’s missing,’’ she said softly to Rarity.

‘’I agree,’’ Rarity answered, and there was something in her tone that made it sound like she already knew what that was. ‘’It’s…’’

‘’What?’’

I’m not patient enough for this,

‘’Darling, think of who we’re missing.’’

Pinkie was with her family, and so was Applejack. But they had exchanged cards and letters and sent gifts, and Rainbow knew she’d see them soon. Rarity was here, and so were Flurry and Fluttershy and Discord, and there were precious few others she really cared about enough to miss them at a party.

Oh.

‘’Fuck,’’ she muttered under her breath.

‘’Language,’’ Rarity chided half-heartedly. ‘’Have you figured it out, then?’’

‘’Twilight.’’

Rarity’s nod was all the confirmation she needed. ‘’Fuck,’’ Rainbow muttered again. Twilight was gone. Dead. Never coming back.

She had been there, and two weeks later it still felt unreal. Sometimes, there had been a hope that it was nothing but a bad dream. But then Rainbow woke up, sweating, next to a sleeping Rarity, and she knew it was no dream. Good or bad, it was reality.

‘’I think Fluttershy knows it too,’’ Rarity remarked. ‘’I know I do. Pinkie and Applejack as well, though less. I think. I don’t know.’’

‘’Neither do I,’’ Rainbow admitted, though it wasn’t much of an admission - it was a topic none of them had discussed over letters. They knew Twilight was gone, by now the whole country did after Nightmare Moon had given a very edited version of her escape and madness to the press, but they would discuss it when they saw each other in person.

‘’Does it feel real to you?’’

‘’Sometimes it doesn’t. I never thought I’d outlive Twilight. Or that I’d be dating you.’’

‘’Yes, indeed…’’ Rarity trailed off, looking at something - Rainbow wasn’t sure even she herself knew what she was looking at. ‘’It’s…

‘’I know.’’ She had lost comrades before, and she knew some of Rarity’s friends and assistants from the campaign hadn’t survived the war either. But this was different. There hadn’t even been a funeral. Not a real one, anyway. ‘’It’s not your fault.’’

‘’We should have visited.’’

‘’And end up like the Crusaders?’’

Rarity winced. ‘’That’s not what would have happened!’’

‘’She broke five of my bones, Rarity,’’ Rainbow hissed. ‘’She tried to mind-control your sister and her own brother. She was gone the moment Nightmare Moon won against Celestia.’’

‘’I don’t believe it.’’

Rainbow met Rarity’s eyes. ‘’I don’t like it either, but we can’t do anything about it. What we can do is keep on living.’’

Before Rarity could respond to that, Rainbow leaned in and gave her a firm, nice kiss. Rarity instantly relaxed the moment their muzzles touched, and Rainbow relished in their contact.

How have I lived without this?

Someone cleared their throat next to them. Rarity’s cheeks turned to flame and she pulled away, damn her.

‘’Ah, Sweetie! Did you want something?’’

Despite herself, Rainbow couldn’t help but wince a little. Yeah alright, that’d be uncomfortable.

Sweetie, to her credit, seemed to be more amused than anything. ‘’Can I talk to you, Rarity?’’

‘’Anytime, darling.’’

‘’In private, please,’’ Sweetie added after glancing apologetically at Rainbow.

‘’I’ll take the hint,’’ she said. ‘’Love you, Rares. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’’

She stole another kiss before Rarity could refuse, then walked away with a stupid grin on her face.

Whatever Sweetie needed, she’d have her time. And then Rainbow would return, and they could continue.

|-x-X-x-|

31 December 1008

Guard duty on Hearthswarming Eve was not usually a favoured task, but Shrouded didn’t really mind doing it. While the celebrations were always nice, he had few people to celebrate with aside from his comrades, and most of those were on duty as well, or on leave with their own families.

Plus, they were posted inside the Crystal Palace tonight. Anyone that tried to get in would have to fight their way through dozens of other guards first, and the worst Shrouded expected to deal with tonight was Ponies who could not reign in themselves. Nothing out of the ordinary.

‘’Relaxing evening, is it not?’’ Misty commented besides him.

‘’You mean, aside from the mess Discord just caused?’’

‘’I’m told this is tame for him. He could have turned half the crowd into rubber ducks.’’

‘’Point,’’ Shrouded conceded. ‘’Anything else happen tonight?’’

‘’I thought I saw Darkheart chatting it up with Sunset Shimmer,’’ Misty informed him with a glint in her eyes. ‘’He got her a drink too.’’

‘’Well damn. You think…’’

‘’Who knows?’’

‘’Bring it up after debrief tonight and you’ll get a pot going in no time.’’

‘’I already mentioned it to Evening when I passed by.’’

Of course you did. ‘’How much is the pot at now?’’

Misty hummed. ‘’Fifteen bits say that they’ll wake up together in the morning.’’

Shrouded grinned. ‘’I’ll take that bet.’’

‘’Lovely. Just mention it to Evening then when you can.’’

‘’I’ll be sure to do so.’’

‘’Mr Night!’’

Shrouded’s gaze was drawn to a familiar pair of foals emerging from the crowds. ‘’Swift Hoof, Star Glitter! Haven’t seen you two in a while! How are you?’’

The two kids were both smiling brightly. ‘’We’re doing great, thanks! What about you?’’ Swift Hoof asked.

‘’I’m having the time of my life here.’’

‘’Are you working now?’’

‘’Yes, I am.’’

‘’Who is that?’’

‘’This is Misty, my coworker.’’

Misty smiled. ‘’Hi there. Nice to meet you.’’

‘’Nice to meet you too!’’ the foals said almost in unison.

‘’Are your other friends here too?’’ Shrouded asked. ‘’Or your parents?’’

Star Glitter nodded excitedly. ‘’All of us are here, Flurry invited us! And yeah, my parents are here too, and Swift’s too!’’

‘’That’s nice. Do you like the party?’’

‘’There’s a lot of people, and music and lights! Of course I like it!’’

Misty chuckled next to him, and Shrouded could admit, in the safety of his own mind, that perhaps his question was a little silly. But that didn’t matter; he enjoyed the conversation, certainly more than he’d enjoyed the rest of the evening outside of being next to Misty.

‘’Are you going to be staying up late?’’ Swift Hoof asked next, and how many questions could two children have?

‘’We are on duty until an hour after midnight,’’ was Shrouded’s answer. ‘’So, yes.’’

‘’That's late!? How late is that?’’

‘’What time do you go to bed?’’

‘’Six in the evening.’’

Kids, Shrouded reminded himself. ‘’Well, then I’ll be going to bed seven hours later than you normally would.’’

‘’Wow,’’ Swift Hoof breathed, clearly amazed. ‘’Do you decide that yourself?’’

‘’Not when I’m working, but otherwise yes.’’

‘’But you’re a Thestral, right?’’ Star Glitter jumped in. ‘’You don’t sleep at night.’’

‘’Not always, no. But most of us that live with other Ponies try to sleep in the night.’’

He wasn’t going to tell kids why they had been all but forced to do that for decades. That was in the past, and tonight was supposed to be fun, and they were children.

‘’Do you like mangoes?’’ Swift Hoof suddenly asked. ‘’’Cause I saw some, I think.’’

‘’How do you know what mangoes are?’’ Misty asked before Shrouded could.

‘’We have them sometimes. I heard that Thestrals liked them.’’

Shrouded considered. If there were indeed mangoes, he’d be surprised if whoever had been stationed closest to them hadn’t already secured them all. But it never hurt to check, and he could really go for a mango - if not for now, then for later.

‘’I do, at least,’’ he confirmed with a nod. ‘’If you could get some for Misty and myself, that’d be great.’’

‘’Alright! Bye!’’ And the kids were off without anything more than that, leaving Shrouded to blink.

‘’They’re fast,’’ Misty observed. ‘’But nice, I think.’’

‘’They are nice, yes.’’

‘’Yeah. Those the ones you had dinner with?’’

‘’Star Glitter and her parents were the ones.’’

‘’Mhm.’’ Misty smirked. ‘’Got a soft spot for children I never knew about?’’

A quiet smack with his wing - nearly unnoticeable by any other guests - was all the answer Shrouded gave to that.

Misty cackled. ‘’I knew it!’’

‘’Oh hush you.’’

‘’Sure, sure. Still though…’’

Shrouded sighed as Misty’s cackles faded into quiet snickers. He didn’t see what was so funny, but Misty, for all that he knew her well, was still an enigma sometimes. One he wasn’t interested in figuring out, now.

When the kids came back with mangoes, just like they’d said, he was more than happy for the distraction - and for the actual food, of course. ‘’Thank you very much,’’ he said to them as he took not one but three mangoes from Swift.

‘’You’re welcome!’’

They’re nice kids.

Perhaps he’d want kids one day. Maybe. He hadn’t ever really thought about it.

‘’I like them.’’ Misty whispered to him as the kids babbled on about mangoes and how they’d found them. ‘’They’re good kids.’’

Shrouded didn’t disagree. ‘’Would you…’’

‘’We’re not at that stage yet,’’ Misty answered his unspoken question. ‘’Perhaps later?’’

‘’Later,’’ he affirmed.

‘’Good.’’ Misty pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then turned her attention back to the foals. After scanning around for anything he should act on, and finding nothing, Shrouded joined her. After all, he might be on duty tonight, but it was Hearthswarming Eve too, and he’d like to enter the new year with some fun instead of solemn duty.

|-x-X-x-|

31 December 1008

‘’Another letter from Spike?’’ was, of course, the first thing Rarity asked.

‘’No,’’ Sweetie replied with a shake of her head. ‘’He already sent one yesterday, remember? And in any case, that has nothing to do with this. I just wanted to talk.’’

‘’Then why did Rainbow have to leave?’’

‘’Because I wanted to talk to you about the Empress’ offer.’’

They’d danced around that topic in the past two weeks, and Sweetie honestly wasn’t sure how much of it was a conscious effort. They had certainly talked a lot with each other, but not about that.

Rarity’s eyes widened in recognition. ‘’It hasn’t been withdrawn, has it?’’

‘’No,’’ Sweetie answered, ‘’but she’d like an answer before she leaves for Manehattan tomorrow.’’

Or so Nightmare Moon had told her earlier tonight. Given the nature of the party, she hadn’t mentioned the apprenticeship per se, just asked if she had made up a response to her offer yet. Sweetie had told her that she hadn’t, and the Alicorn had seemed oddly content with that.

Perhaps Flurry being next to her helped.

Rarity nodded. ‘’What is the problem then? You don’t want to accept?’’

‘’I don’t know, that’s the problem,’’ she answered. ‘’Should I go? Should I stay here?’’

‘’You can stay here as long as you want,’’ Rarity answered immediately, ‘’but I think you should go with the Empress.’’

‘’Do you really believe I can be her student?’’

‘’Yes.’’

Rarity sounded so convinced. Sweetie knew it wasn’t an act - she knew her sister well enough to see through it if it would be - but she still didn’t feel like she was confident in her own abilities.

‘’How?’’ she asked. ‘’I’m not as powerful as Twilight or Sunset, and I’m not as smart either.’’

‘’Maybe, maybe not, but those aren’t the questions you should be asking, darling. You should be asking yourself if you want to do this.’’

And I know I want to. Or a part of me does. But what if I become evil? What if I can’t do it? What if I fail? What if I’m too weak and Nightmare Moon sees I’m useless and she has me punished? Or worse, my family?

What if-

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Rarity’s forelegs wrapped around her neck in a hug. ‘’Hey,’’ she whispered into her ear, ‘’you can do it, alright? Whatever you want to do, you can do it. Your time spent with the Crusaders proved that to me.’’

Sweetie barely registered that she was trembling, and only slowly responded to Rarity’s hug by hugging her back. ‘’That was different.’’

‘’Was it?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’I’m sure Scootaloo and Apple Bloom would be happy to join you in Manehattan, if you asked them.’’

‘’They’ve got their own stuff to worry about that.’’

‘’And that ‘stuff’, as you so elegantly put it, includes you, I believe. And what about that Twinkle Flower? He’s not too shabby either.’’

‘’Rarity!’’ she hissed.

‘’Did I strike a nerve?’’ Rarity pulled out of the hug a little to meet her face to face. ‘’The point is, Sweetie, that you can choose whatever you want to, and your friends - and me - shall support you. Mum and Dad too.’’

‘’So if I wanted to emigrate to New Mareland…’’

Rarity sighed. ‘’Yes, if you wanted to. We’d miss you, of course, but you’re an adult now, much as it makes me feel like an old hag. I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to, and I don’t.’’

‘’Thanks.’’

How fittingly heartwarming.

‘’I do think that becoming the Empress’ student will be good for you,’’ Rarity said after a short silence, ‘’but if it is not what you want to do right now, then don’t do it. It doesn’t look like she’ll be too upset with you.’’

‘’Are you certain?’’

‘’Of course not. But I highly doubt she’ll force you or throw you in jail. Maybe once I would have believed that, but…’’ Rarity paused, then continued in a far softer voice: ‘’I think that underneath the interior, there’s still the same Pony in there that I ran a months-long political campaign with. I don’t know if there ever was anything else besides Luna - or Nightmare Moon, whichever you prefer - in that mind and body, but I highly doubt there is now.’’

‘’How do you know?’’

‘’When we were talking, the night Flurry was rescued, I saw Luna’s eyes and colours for a second,’’ Rarity answered. ‘’It was but a fleeting moment, but I don’t think it was an accident. And this Nightmare Moon is far different than the one I faced in the Everfree Castle. I trust her.’’

‘’I don’t.’’

And that was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? Trust. Did she trust Nightmare Moon to be a good teacher, to be a good ruler, to be a good person?

‘’And I don’t think you should need to, yet,’’ Rarity said. ‘’Which doesn’t mean she is untrustworthy, but you’re not convinced yet. That is understandable. But if you do not try…’’

‘’Then what?’’

‘’Then you can stay here anyway, or go back to Ponyville, or go and do whatever it is you wish.’’ Rarity smiled gracefully. ‘’But I think you’ll be better off in Manehattan.’’

‘’You’re biased.’’

‘’I am, yes. Ask Rainbow if you are not convinced.’’

‘’Maybe I will.’’ Definitely, if I can get her before the party ends.

But she was already aware of what her choice would be tomorrow. She just needed confirmation. ‘’Thanks, Rarity. For everything.’’

‘’Anytime, darling. Whatever you need, you can come to me. That’s what sisters are for.’’

They hugged again. She’d missed this.

And with her mind already made up, more or less, she now had only a short time left before they’d go their separate ways again. If Rarity noticed how tight Sweetie’s hug was, she didn’t comment on it.

Sweetie breathed, and peace settled in her mind.

|-x-X-x-|

31 December 1008

The best thing about this party, Nightmare had surmised before it had even begun, would be Flurry. Her niece had insisted on accompanying her tonight, and Nightmare had been more than happy to agree.

So far, her early conclusion hadn’t been disproven; between the awed Ponies, pointlessly-courteous nobles and boring conversations, Flurry was a ray of sunshine. And despite the late hour, she was still full of energy, practically bouncing up and down the floor. The presence of her friends, invited by Rarity, surely helped, but Nightmare was glad to see the filly still stuck to her for the most part.

‘’Are you enjoying the party, Flurry?’’

‘’Yeah!’’ the filly chirped. ‘’It’s really fun! I get to stay up late!’’

‘’That you do,’’ Nightmare affirmed with a genuine smile. ‘’Do you need something to drink, or to eat?’’

‘’No, thanks!’’ And then the filly broke out into what seemed like random giggles. ‘’Auntie, look at that Pony over there!’’

Nightmare followed Flurry’s gaze to a stallion clad in a suit that looked more like a lamphead than any type of functional clothing.

‘’He looks funny!’’

‘’It is an interesting outfit,’’ she remarked dryly. ‘’Do you wish to go and talk to him?’’ She didn’t recognise him, but he was a Crystal Pony, so that wasn’t hard to imagine. As a matter of fact the Ponies she didn’t know far outnumbered the ones she did know at this party. It was to be expected, of course, but it didn’t make casual conversation any easier.

‘’No, I just think he looks funny!’’

Children. So easily enjoyed by the littlest of things.

Though it is a very strange outfit.

‘’As you wish.’’

Nightmare looked down at the filly, analysing her. Her mane was braided and decorated with a jewelled headband; she also wore a simple yellow and blue dress that contrasted well with her coat and mane. Any traces of her short captivity by Twilight Sparkle had long since vanished.

As if she could sense her, Flurry’s eyes shot up to meet hers. ‘’What are you looking at, Auntie?’’

‘’You, little star,’’ Nightmare answered. ‘’You and your beautiful dress.’’

‘’I really like it, Auntie Rarity made it sooooo pretty!’’

‘’Indeed she did.’’

The ‘Auntie’ title that had been attached to Rarity and Rainbow’s names had taken a little getting used to, but Nightmare couldn’t hold it against the foal. Try as she might, she could not raise her, and since that task had fallen to Rarity - and now Rainbow as well - it only made sense that they would get titles to fit their status.

And with all but one of her aunts gone, and her only uncle still in the hospital…

‘’Do you want something nice to look at?’’

Flurry’s eyes widened. ‘’Something nice? Like what?’’

‘’Do you want it?’’

‘’Yes!’’

‘’Excellent. Watch.’’

With a simple spell, Nightmare conjured a thick wisp of mist out of the air, and with some thinking shaped it into something that looked like a Pony. Then, with another spell, she gave it an order to prance around Flurry through the air, and watched happily as it did so.

‘’Wow!’’ the filly breathed as she spun around, following the conjuration. ‘’That’s really cool!’’

‘’I am glad to hear you like it, little star.’’

‘’Can you teach me how to do that?’’

Nightmare opened her mouth to say no, but paused. Unicorns couldn’t learn the spell, but Alicorns could. Something to do with them carrying elements of all Ponykind in them, Starswirl had said after she had shown him the spell.

But it was still advanced work, beyond the filly’s capabilities for now. ‘’It is not an easy spell,’’ she said, ‘’but in the future you may learn it.’’

‘’When? In the summer?’’

‘’In a few years.’’

‘’Aww…’’

Nightmare, after seeing the sadness creeping onto the child’s face, amended her statement: ‘’If Sunset tells me that you are progressing well with your magic by the summer, perhaps we can try. But you’ll have to follow her lessons very carefully.’’

‘’I will!’’ Flurry said, and there was no doubt in Nightmare’s mind that she would.

Doubt did exist over whether or not she would have her own apprentice by then. If Sweetie Belle disagreed, there were other options, but none were as convenient and suited for the task as Sweetie Belle was.

And yet I cannot force her. That would achieve nothing.

It can only be hoped that she agrees to come.

If she did, then her plans could advance as intended and without delay. If not… well, she would not be outplayed, but it would be a setback. A setback she didn’t want to but could afford to face.

Nightmare suppressed the urge to sigh. Time would tell, and all she could do was wait.

‘’Auntie, can we go to Auntie Rarity now?’’

‘’Of course.’’

Perhaps a conversation with Rarity was not the worst idea either.

|-x-X-x-|

31 December 1008

Sweetie had just walked away from her when Rarity spotted Nightmare Moon and Flurry coming through the crowd. To be more precise, she saw Nightmare Moon and guesstimated correctly that Flurry would be with, a guess confirmed when they both emerged from the crowd.

‘’Hi Auntie!’’ Flurry greeted, before trotting over to give her a big hug which she happily returned.

‘’Hello hello darling! How are you enjoying the evening?’’

‘’It’s great! Auntie Luna showed me a living Pony of mist! It was so cool!’’

I should have mentioned that to Sweetie. Flurry still gets to call her Luna.

Rarity’s eyes met Nightmare Moon’s, and the Alicorn inclined her head. ‘’A spell made by me. Only Alicorns can use it.’’

‘’I see.’’

‘’I have said I’ll try to teach it to her by summer if she has progressed well in her magical studies,’’ Nightmare Moon continued. ‘’I am certain that shall happen, no?’’

‘’Of course, Auntie!’’ Flurry confirmed with a bright nod.

‘’Excellent.’’

‘’That’s great to hear,’’ Rarity smilingly said. ‘’I’m sure you’ll be able to manage the spell once it’s summertime.’’

‘’Yeah!’’ Flurry exclaimed. ‘’Oh, Auntie Rarity, can I get on your back?’’

‘’Are you tired, darling?’’

‘’A little.’’

‘’Alright then,’’ Rarity agreed.

‘’Yay!’’ With a few quick flaps of her wings, Flurry was on Rarity’s back, nestling in against her coat. The filly’s weight was comfortable, like always.

‘’She’s going to fall asleep soon,’’ Nightmare Moon remarked. ‘’Perhaps she should head to her bed?’’

‘’She’ll be fine like this for a little while,’’ Rarity answered. ‘’Was there something you needed of me, Empress?’’

The Alicorn shook her head. ‘’There is not. Flurry simply wished to see you.’’

‘’Of course.’’

‘’However,’’ Nightmare Moon continued, ‘’since the opportunity is there, I would ask if Sweetie has spoken to you about my offer?’’

Rarity considered her answer for a moment. ‘’She has,’’ she eventually decided to answer. ‘’She isn’t sure of her choice yet.’’

Nightmare Moon nodded. ‘’No change then. Very well.’’

‘’It is her choice,’’ Rarity couldn’t help pointing out.

Nightmare Moon’s gaze met hers. ‘’So it is,’’ she affirmed. ‘’I would not impose on that.’’

‘’But you want her to agree.’’

‘’I would not offer otherwise.’’

Of course you wouldn’t. It all makes sense, Rarity. Nightmare isn’t an illogical person.

But that means she has a reason for her choice. Not just choosing Sweetie, but wanting to choose an apprentice at all.

‘’What happened?’’

‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’Why take an apprentice?’’

Public relations, to stir up better memories of Twilight Sparkle? A wish to keep an eye on magically-powerful individuals? Presenting a mirror to Celestia?

‘’Because I need a new Imperial Magician, with Sunset Shimmer stationed here to teach Flurry.’’

‘’So appoint a random archmage from CSGU or any of the other universities. There’s plenty that don’t like Celestia.’’ Now that she had asked herself the question, Rarity was burning for an answer.

Nightmare Moon shook her head. ‘’They cannot fulfil the role I need them to fill.’’

‘’And what role would that be?’’

‘’The role of someone who is knowledgeable in magic, has an open mind, and serves me willingly. Knowledge in magic is easy to obtain, even if most of Equestria’s mages are tainted by centuries of Celestial doctrine. Finding willing and trustworthy candidates is difficult, but not impossible; there’s dozens of Chiropterrans who would do it in a heartbeat. My issue lies in the aspect of the open mind,’’ Nightmare Moon explained. ‘’Most mages, Equestrian or Chiropterran, are from rich families that could afford to send them to universities in Canterlot and Fillydelphia. They have no perspective on the world that isn’t horribly skewed.’’

That… made more sense than Rarity would have liked. ‘’And Sweetie fits all of these criteria?’’

‘’You know her better than me,’’ Nightmare dryly pointed out. ‘’Would you say she does?’’

Yes, she does.

‘’Yes,’’ Rarity agreed after seconds of silence. ‘’Yes, she does fit into all of those criteria.’’

‘’Then there is your answer.’’

The answer made sense. Everything made sense. But there was more, she felt it in her bones. Nightmare Moon wouldn’t tell her, but she had something. What it was, she had no idea, but it existed.

‘’If Sweetie gets hurt…’’

Nightmare Moon chuckled. ‘’What do you take me for? I do not hurt my students. And Sweetie is known to me. I didn’t send an IIS agent to escort her to Crystal City just because I wanted her to become my apprentice. I would call her a friend.’’

‘’I’m not sure she agrees.’’

Nightmare Moon gave a regal shrug. ‘’Such is her right. I selected you as Governess of the Crystal Empire, and caretaker of Flurry, for much the same reasons.’’

‘’Really?’’

‘’Of course, I made sure you were competent. But that was never in doubt. And you are loyal to me, if not as fanatically as the Chiropterrans or the Tzinacatlians, and to Flurry. And you are not close-minded, far from it. A generous soul can hardly afford to be.’’

Nightmare Moon smiled. ‘’Running an empire is no easy business, Rarity. Once, I tried to do it alone, and for my attempt I was banished for a millennium. When I returned, I was raving mad and in no state to rule even a wardrobe. But now, I am wiser. I have learned much, from you more than most. Many lessons that a younger me would have not appreciated, foolish as I was.’’

‘’I…’’ She wasn’t sure how to answer that, really. It was so much to take in.

‘’The wrong mare in the right place can make all the difference, Rarity.’’

‘’You are right,’’ Rarity agreed after a moment. ‘’Thank you. For your honesty. For everything.’’

The Alicorn tipped her head. ‘’It is I who should be thanking you. For everything.’’

At that moment, Rainbow and Sweetie came wandering back into their little space, having fallen into easy conversation which Nightmare joined after a few moments of silence.

Rarity smiled as she felt Flurry shift a little, clearly asleep, on her back. This was where she belonged now.

The world wasn’t fixed, but it was a little less broken.

Author's Notes:

And so, two and a half years later, here we are. The end of Piece by Piece!

But not the end of this series. The Right Place, I've termed it, since it seemed fitting. I have several ideas for sequel stories, most obvious of which is of course Sweetie's training with Nightmare Moon in Manehattan, but also other stories that have been created by this wild ride of a fic.

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Scribbly, Draco, ShiningBeacon, Baron and the many, many others who read this fic and talked about it with me. Or indeed, everyone who read this fic and liked it: thank you for reading it. I would not have continued if it had not been so well-received. As I said in the very first chapter, none of this was planned at all.

Around New Year's Eve, I'll upload a blog detailling my schedule for 2024. For the remnant of 2023, I plan to finish off Rising Sun, Mending Heart with the fifth and last chapter and I plan to write a one-shot that'll close out Jungle Trek's arc from PbP, since there was no room in the fic left for a fourth Omake to finish his story.

If you have ideas, comments, suggestions, reviews or anything to say at all, please leave a comment! I'll happily take the time to respond to you. You can, of course, also find me on Discord via my User Page.

Thank you all, and I wish you all the best in your life; as well as a happy holidays, and a beautiful 2024!