The fall of Mareitania: Operation FreeMare

Chapters

2. Breaking in is easy
3. Breaking out is (slightly) harder
4. The worst place ever
5. The more you know
6. The waiting game
7. Moving on slowly
8. Just over the horizon
9. Casually seeking Fleur
10. Unexpected Consequences pt 1
11. Unexpected consequences pt 2
12. Guilt.
13. Whiplash blues
14. Party hard! pt 1
15. Party hard! pt 2
16. Party hard! pt 3
18. Story cave
19. Twilight's adventures underground
20. Nowhere's perfect
21. Into the bayou
22. Lost and Found
23. Power struggle
24. Friend or foe?
25. Grisly experiments in alicorn anatomy
26. Poor decisions for noble reasons
27. Hard work holidays
28. Best laid plans
29. Freedom flighters
30. In the business of freedom
31. New recruits
32. Drowning your troubles
33. A pretty dress for a pretty mare
34. Caverndown or bust
35. Caverndown is bust
36. The show must go on
37. Whiplashes leave their marks
38. Clean things make me suspicious
39. Rotten smells
40. Five thousand cats, two mice
41. A pony's gotta do what a pony's gotta do
42. The depths of many things
43. The more you wish you never knew
44. Strangely simple solutions
45. Make or break
46. Into the breach
47. Fallen
48. Those left behind
49. Hotel Gallopfornia
50. Dying is easy. Coming back? Also strangely easy.
51. In memoriam
52. A roll in the Hayfield
53. Playing together nicely
54. Nibbles for freedom
55. Minor distractions
56. New developments
57. Oh what a lovely rebellion
58. Questionably sane science
59. Once more with feeling
60. Ironhoof
61. Incoming
62. It's all secrets and lies with these equines
63. Does it even matter?
64. A walk in the dark
65. Famous last words
66. You can only fail so hard
67. Full repercussions
68. Crime and punishment
69. Fighting lightening with love
70. Marephy's law
71. La liberté pour la Prance
72. Sticks and stones will break my bones, so words really aren't the issue right now
73. Tricks up her sleeve
74. A slice of wartime life
75. Oracle of a sort
76. We're not singing the failure song just yet
77. King of the hill
78. Steam power, and how to apply it
79. Why is it never simple?
80. Scandalous behavior
81. On the march
82. Bring hell to your doorstep
83. Light, dark, and vast shades of grey
84. Bad places
85. Happy times
86. Full circle
87. Walk softly
88. Or carry a big stick
89. Unhappy family reunion
90. Say sweet farewell
91. Epilogue
91.5 The bits I forgot.
The end of an era
1. Barely even a concept
17. The littlest jailbreak

2. Breaking in is easy

Those two days had gone by awfully quick and Twilight found herself waiting anxiously at the train station in Vanhoover, wishing at least one of her friends had been there to support her. After sitting there for a short eternity, enjoying the most persistent drizzle ever, her silent reverie was broken by the arrival of a pegasus chariot, bearing both princesses, another unicorn and a miserable looking earth pony.

"Apologies about our lateness Twilight," Celestia said as she nuzzled her; "But miss Octavia was rather reluctant to leave without her instrument." She indicated the earth pony, who looked up enough to catch Twilight's eye and give a weak smile.

"These ponies are the ones joining me on my mission?"

"Oh yes," Celestia pointed a wing at the tall white and pink maned unicorn; "This you may recognise as the model Fleur De Lis. She is a native of Mareitania, from the region of Prance."

Twilight quizzically looked at Fleur who smiled and said "Charmed."

"And this," Celestia continued; "is Miss Octavia Philharmonica, although her friends call her Tavi."

"Begging your pardon Princess- Princesses, but only one of my friends calls me that. I prefer to be called Octavia."

Twilight smiled at Octavia before whispering out the side of her mouth "Could I have a word with you and Luna. In private." Disappearing around the corner of the station, Twilight checked they were out of hearing range of Fleur and Octavia before exploding. "A model and a musician!? What am I meant to do with them? Use them as a distraction while I tear the Duchy down from behind?"

Celestia looked sideways at her sister before answering Twilight’s concerns. "Twilight, Fleur is a native of Mareitania and has a lot of knowledge that may prove to be invaluable. She's the reason we know as much as we do. Octavia on the other hoof is an earth pony, which will prove helpful in a country dominated by them. Don't doubt them Twilight, they may well surprise you."

"Besides," Luna interrupted; "you have one more companion who may prove useful. She is a skilled magic user and hails from Neigh Orleans, herself having some knowledge of the country. I just wish she weren't so late."

"Another unicorn in a country where unicorns are second class citizens? You sure about that?"

Luna raised an eyebrow at Twilight. "Do you not have faith in us to choose adequate companions for you?"

"That line might have worked if I weren't a princess myself. One of these 'companions' you have picked can't even keep time! How am I supp-"

"I'm here! I'm here! Trixie is here!"

"Oh no..." Twilight stood frozen as the pale blue unicorn ran up to them. She waited as Trixie fought to regain her breath and waited further as Trixie nearly fainted from light-headedness'.

"I apologize for being so late. I was in my hotel room trying to decide what was important to pack and I couldn't, so I ended up taking longer than I thought and when I found I had missed my carriage to the station I had to hoof it the entire way and Vanhoover is a lot bigger than I gave it credit for."

Celestia gave a kind look to Trixie, "It's quite alright Trixie. The others are waiting on the platform if you wouldn't mind waiting with them while we talk with Twilight."

"Oh, of course princesses." Trixie bowed and departed for the platform, but not before giving a big smile to Twilight, who just about managed to not grimace in return.

"Trixie. Why Trixie?" Twilight asked, giving Luna a flat look.

"We hath heard she is most skilled in many schools of magic. She will be a boon to your efforts."

"She's a braggart and a phoney. You have more magical talent in your plo- left hoof than she has in her entire body!"

"Oh."

"And she tried to take over Ponyville using a dark magic amulet!"

"Which one?"

"What?"

"Which amulet Twilight?"

"The...uh, the alicorn amulet."

"Then I'm sure she learned her lesson."

"Well...yes, yes she did! But that's not the point." Twilight sighed, "A princess, a model, a musician and an egotist! Sounds like the start of a bad joke..."

Celestia wrapped a wing around Twilight. "Or the start of a great story."

"Hmmph, maybe. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with them? I should have my friends with me."

"Tell me Twilight, what would you do with an apple farmer, a freelance vetinarian, a party planner, a seamstress, a weather pony and a baby dragon; that you wouldn't do with these three in this situation?"

Twilight looked down, avoiding Celestia's gaze. "That's not fair."

"Just as I think you're not being fair to these ponies. Give them a chance Twilight."

"Fine."

Celestia gave Twilight another hug with her wing before heading back to the platform, her sister and a grouchy Twilight in tow. "I'd like to thank you all for agreeing to carry out this task. While I realise that you all have different reasons for doing it, some of them perhaps less altruistic than others (Twilight looked at Trixie in shock. Trixie however, looked like she could explode from pride); I just want you to know I am very proud of you for trying. Princess Twilight is leading this mission, so if you have any questions you should address them to her. Good luck my little ponies."

Twilight was about to head over to her new companions, when a dark wing stopped her. "A moment Twilight, if you would." Leading Twilight to one side, Luna turned to face Twilight before summoning a small, dark stone from the ether. Upon the stone was a glowing green rune in the shape of what sort of looked like a stylised tongue coming out of a mouth. "This is a speaker stone. It will allow you communicate with a partner stone over great distances. To make it work all you must do is apply a magical spark. If you need advice, help or even a rescue just give us a shout; me or my sister will have its partner on one of us at all times. Do not hesitate to use it." Slipping the stone into Twilight's saddle bag she led Twilight back to where the others were waiting.

Sitting a small distance from the others, Twilight looked to Celestia and asked "So, how are we to get to Mareitania?"

"By train of course."

"But I thought there was no train line there?"

"There is, but since it’s not a passenger line nopony really knows about it. I had it constructed some time ago to facilitate trade."

"If it’s not a passenger train, how are we to get in?"

Celestia pointed to a large box lying on its side, with the lid off. "In there. Since nopony is allowed into or out of the country, you must smuggle yourself in as cargo."

"Oh this plan gets better all the time."

"Once inside the country, you'll be taken off the train and transferred to carts before being taken to the city of Stalliongrad. Once there it’s up to you to break yourself out and begin your task."

Twilight got up and was about to head into the crate when Celestia stopped her. "You may want to drink this first." Celestia was holding up a bottle containing a milky blue liquid.

Twilight took it in her magic and gingerly sniffed it. "What is it?"

"Well the journey to Mareitania is quite long, and your crate doesn't exactly have plumbing. The potion suppresses your...uh, biological needs for roughly twenty four hours. Hopefully you'll be well within Mareitania by then."

"Right." Twilight downed her potion, as did the others; hugged the princesses farewell and got herself locked in a crate. All in the name of freedom.

"I'm probably being silly, but Trixie would like to know; did they put air holes in this box?"

"Um."

-0-0-0-

The four ponies now sat in a circle in the crate as it carried out its journey to Maretania. The only sound was the click-clack of the rails since none of the ponies seemed willing to talk to the others. To Twilights' left was Fleur, who seemed to have an unwarranted interest in looking at the floor. Across from her was Octavia who looked miserable and kept making small motions with her hooves that looked like she was playing a tiny cello. Trixie on the other hoof looked very excited and kept smiling at the others. She also kept looking at Twilights' wings every ten seconds as if checking they were still there.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight grabbed her biggest imaginary hammer and prepared to break some ice.

"So...I guess we should make some introductions since we're going to be working together for some time. Why don't we start with who we are, why we're doing this and what skills we can bring to the mission."

She gestured at Fleur who sighed quietly before speaking; "Well I am Fleur de Lis, although you can call me Fleur since my full name is a bit of a mouthful. I agreed to come on this mission since Maretania is my home country, and when I left I promised myself I would come back some day, and the chance to come back and help liberate Maretania was too great a chance to pass up. That's also why Celestia asked me to come. I probably know more about Maretania than most since I was already fairly old when I left, and she felt my knowledge would be valuable." She shrugged lightly. "As for practical skills I'm not sure what to say, I'm no great magic user or anything like that," she shrugged; "if looking pretty can be made into a practical skill though..." She shrugged again.

Trixie gave Fleur a critical look through most of that speech before triumphantly exclaiming "Aha! You can't be the real Fleur de Lis! She has a foreign...ish accent!"

The abnormally tall, beautiful and unique looking unicorn giggled into her hoof. "The accent’s just for show. I've lived in Equestria for almost fourteen years now and speak the language perfectly well." She tossed her mane and gave Trixie a smoldering look. "As a model it never hurts to be a little exotic," she said before winking and going back to normal; "I just didn't see the point of using it with you girls since you're bound to find out how phoney it is when you hear a proper Mareitanian accent."

Twilight clapped her hooves; "Excellent! Your turn." She said looking at the morose earth pony opposite her, while also ignoring Trixie's huff of disappointment.

Octavia traced a few circles with her hoof before speaking. "My name is Octavia Philharmonica, which is even more of a mouthful than Fleurs' name. I prefer to be called Octavia though, and not Tavi or Octi or any other variant you can come up with. My talent lies in music and I can play most any stringed instrument, though my true love is the cello," Octavia sighed deeply; "which I was forced to leave behind."

She lapsed into silence until Twilight encouraged her to go on. "The reason I'm coming is that Celestia asked me to, saying she needed an earth pony familiar with the ways of upper class society without being encumbered by them; which Vinyl nicely translated as 'she needs a posh earth pony that isn't a stuck up noble.'"

"You told someone about the mission! It’s supposed to be a secret!"

"I know and I'm sorry, but trying to keep a secret from Vinyl is next to impossible. I told her I was going away for a few months to work and told her I would be out of touch the entire time. She just kept smirking at me and telling me I was lying to the point I either had to tell her, or kill her and hide the body! But she won't tell anypony, she's not like that." Twilight nodded gently, after her experiences with Pinkie she could appreciate that.

"Trixie can't believe you're coming just because Celestia asked you to."

"Well, there was some not insignificant remuneration involved. Musicians don't usually have a guaranteed income and the amount she offered was more than I could earn in quite some time playing the cello."

Twilight looked sideways at Trixie before looking back at Octavia. "So you're the one doing this for money?" Octavia nodded. "Oh."

"You thought Celestia meant Trixie didn't you?" Trixie asked with a pout.

"Sorry."

"Oh don't be," said Fleur to Twilights' surprise; "we're all getting paid something, lost earnings and all that. Trixie's just trying to wind you up."

Twilight gave Trixie a cool look before going back to Octavia and asking what helpful skills she possessed.

"Apart from playing music I'm also a bit of an actor, albeit an amateur one; I am quite good at improvisation though which may have its uses. I'll try my best to not disappoint you princess."

Where did that come from? Twilight thought to herself. "You don't have to call me princess, or your majesty or anything like that. Just call me Twilight. In fact calling me anything but Twilight may jeopardise the mission, so definitely just call me Twilight." This raised a few smiles.

"Trixie's turn! Trixie's turn!" Trixie waited until she was sure she had their undivided attention before throwing her legs into the air; "I am the GREAT and POWERFUL Trix-ack!" Trixie yelped as a purple glow smacked the end of her horn. "What was that for?" she asked as rubbed her now aching horn.

"You were about to set off fireworks weren't you?"

Trixie suddenly looked coy. "Maaaybe..."

"In the small enclosed box?"

"It is quite small isn't it." agreed Trixie who suddenly felt it was too small by far.

"We're also trying to smuggle ourselves into a country where unicorn magic is practically non-existent. A country where magical firework displays are probably capable of getting a pony into an awful lot of trouble."

"You're talking awfully slow Twilight."

Twilight sighed. "Just don't do it again, ok?"

"Oh very well." She cleared her throat; "My name is Trixie Lulamoon, and I am a magician extraordinaire!" Ignoring Twilight's eyeroll Trixie continued; "The reason I am doing this is a tale of woe that goes back many years, to when I was but a young filly escaping Maretania." She looked at the others sceptical expressions. "Ok, dramatics aside, it is actually a tale of woe. My parents wanted to escape with my aunt, uncle and their children; but the guards caught wind of the escape attempt and caught most of us save me, my aunt and her two children. Those of us that did escape made it to Equestria, where I was raised by my aunt in Manehatten. I don't really remember much of the escape as I was very young, but I do remember my parents. My aunty said that if they were alive they'd probably be back in Neigh Orleans and I was hoping that during our mission we might be able to locate them. If it interferes with the mission, then it can wait...but, y'know."

Twilight placed a reassuring hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "I can't promise we'll find them, but I can promise we'll try." she said to the nodded agreement of the other two. Trixie gave them a shaky smile in return.

Things fell silent for a bit until Fleur smirked and gave Trixie a sly look. "Soooo...what does the great and powerful Trixie bring to the table?"

"What doesn't she bring! The Great and Powerful Trixie is a master magician, capable of defeating even the most deadly creatures with her amazing skills! I could tell you about the time I defeated an ursa major-" Trixie looked at Twilight who was clearing her throat very noisily. "You ok Twilight? I'll have to admit that first aid is an area my skill is perhaps...lacking...a bit."

Twilight stopped clearing her throat and instead asked what practical skills Trixie had. She then facehoofed as soon as Trixie looked away.

"Well the thing that The Great and Powerful Trixie is best at is illusions." To make her point she lit her horn and made a magical copy of herself that sat next to her and mimicked everything she did. "They can't talk and they aren't corporeal, which is something I've been working on but can't quite get right. Yet. But they are rather convincing to look at." Even Twilight had to admit to being impressed.

"So I guess that concludes introductions so I think we sh-"

Trixie waved a hoof in Twilight's face. "Ah ah! What about you princess? You don't get out of this."

"Oh, right. You all seemed to know who I am so I didn't really think it was necessary."

"It’s probably not, but you're still going to do it. Trixie demands it."

"Ugh, fine. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am a princess of Equestria, not that it’s some secret or something. Why I'm doing this is...well, because Celestia asked me to if I'm honest. But this mission is important and I'm glad to help. As for practical skills...well...I am pretty good at magic and I can fly which I'm sure is going to come in handy at some point." Twilight laughed nervously, she always was bad at saying how good she is.

Trixie just looked disappointed. "How about the fact you're a freaking alicorn! Stop being so modest Twilight."

"Speaking of," said Fleur, who seemed rather happy to be interrupting Trixie; "surely ponies are going to notice the wings in Mareitania?"

Twilight's horn glowed briefly as she cast a spell that made her wings fade out of sight, making her look like a regular unicorn. "Luna taught me a spell that makes my wings invisible. They’re still there Trixie," she said since Trixie had started to prod her in the side; "I just have to keep them folded all the time and hope no one catches on."

"So no inappropriate wing-boners?"

"Trixie!"

"What? It’s not like it’s a secret or something, everypony knows they happen."

Twilight growled and rubbed the bridge of her nose, as Fleur and Octavia failed to hide their amusement. "Right, ignoring that I guess we should talk about the mission, not that there should be much to discuss since we've all been briefed on this."

Trixie held up a hoof. "And what if certain ponies, naming no names, failed to turn up to the briefing in time?"

Twilight grit her teeth as she spoke. "Then I would hope that certain pony read the dossier they were given."

"Right, right. And if that certain pony got as far as reading the exciting sounding title of Operation: FreeMare, but got no further?"

Twilight looked to the other two who seemed to have a sudden yet engrossing interest in their hooves. Taking a calming breath she looked back to Trixie. "You're telling me you don't know what we're doing here?"

"With a name like FreeMare I assumed it was some kind of rescue mission."

Twilight groaned and buried her head in her legs, leaving one of the other two to sort this out. After a quick game of rock paper scissors, which they drew, Octavia swallowed and just got it over with. "Miss Lulamoon, operation freemare is a mission to tear down the government of Mareitania, thus freeing it."

"Oh." Trixie frowned in concentration for a bit. "Oh! Operation freemare! Free-mare, as in Mareitania. Now I get it. Good name."

Twilight peeked from between her forelegs. "That's it? That's your reaction? Wow. You're a lot calmer than I was when the princesses told me."

"Pfft, I tear down governments on a weekly basis. This should be nothing." Her eye twitched, but thankfully the others were too busy looking at her rictus grin to notice.

Taking another breath, Twilight explained the mission. It didn't take long.

"That's it?" Trixie exclaimed, "There's no master plan? No great scheme with possible shenanigans? Kinda underwhelming there."

"Yep. First step is the journey there which, by my count, is going to be at least another eight hours. And that's just the train."

"In that case, Trixie brought playing cards if it helps pass the time."

Twilight gave Trixie a stare so level you could have built things on it. "You were late because you couldn't decide what was important enough to pack. Yet you brought playing cards."

"What? I'm a magician! What'd you expect from me? So, everyone know go fish? I'll deal."

"Blackjack's far better..." Twilight grumbled to herself.

-0-0-0-

"Are we there yet?"

"For the hundredth time Trixie, NO!"

Twilight wished she had packed some headache pills.

-0-0-0-

The crate lurched as the train came to a shuddering halt.

"Does that mean we can get out of this fresh air forsaken crate now?"

"No, now we get transferred to carts and taken to Stalliongrad."

"Aww-eep!" Trixie yelped as the crate was lifted up and swung around, sending its occupants flying; before being put down with a heavy thud. "Clearly these ponies don't know the meaning of fragile." Trixie said from somewhere from beneath Fleur.

"Probably can't read." Fleur muttered as she tried to disentangle herself from the others.

"How much longer now?" Trixie asked once she shoved a stunned Octavia off her rear.

"About seven hours now to Stalliongrad according to what Celestia said."

"Oh for ponies sake, worst travel method ever!"

3. Breaking out is (slightly) harder

Twilight peeked out of the hole she had poked in the side of the crate. So far all she had seen was an awful lot of snow, which was unhelpful, especially since none of them had brought any winter clothes; even Trixie had the foresight to leave her hat and cape behind in Equestria.

She sighted and looked back into the crate where the others were discussing the merits of alfalfa and how it would be great if it didn't taste so awful. That wasn't a particularly helpful topic, not least because she quite liked alfalfa; so she went back to looking through her peephole just in time to see them pass a wall and move into a street.

"Guys! I think we're here!"

"Ugh, finally! Trixie has the worst case of hoof cramp ever!"

"Quite," agreed Fleur; "I didn't think being trapped in a box for this long would make me miss stretching so much."

Twilight ignored their grumblings as she watched the world outside. The cart they were in seemed to be pulling into some kind of stockyard judging by the crane and piles of other crates. She waved the others into silence and tensed herself as she watched the crane turn to them and pick them up.

Her joy at the prospect of getting out of the crate was short lived as the crane placed the crate on the ground with the opening shoved up against a wall. Sitting down with a thud she uttered a curse word and rested her head gently against the side of the crate.

"What? What is it?" Trixie asked as Octavia nudged Twilight aside so she could look outside.

"They put the door against a wall. We can't get out." Twilight mumbled, dumbstruck at the thought of being defeated by a crate so soon into their mission.

"Wha-aargh!" Fleur shouted as she looked up too quickly and jammed her horn into the top of the crate.

"This isn't fair! This sooo isn't fair!" groaned Trixie as she lay on the floor clutching her head in her hooves. "Can a pony develop claustrophobia? I only ask because I think I've suddenly got it."

There was a crack as Fleur yanked her horn free. "Surely there must be a way out of this box? We can't just stay stuck in here!"

"Maybe there is..." Octavia mumbled, before she was sent flying by Fleur and Trixie who fought each other to look out of the hole. Shaking her head she moved to Twilight, who was sat like a puppet with its strings cut. "Twilight? You can teleport can't you?"

"Well...yes, I can, but I don't want to get caught using that kind of magic."

"You won't. There's some kind of hut just across the yard that you could teleport us behind. That way hopefully we won't be seen teleporting."

Twilight got up and telekinetically lifted aside Trixie, who had been doing her best to claw her way through the hole; and focused on the hut across the yard. "Ok, I think I can make that, but I don't think I should send us all at once." She looked at Fleur who was lay down whimpering, and Trixie who was trotting on the spot declaring that the box, despite being a worthy adversary, could not defeat her. "Octavia, you're the most level headed right now, I'll teleport you across so you can check it’s clear for the rest of us."

"And if it’s not, run and hope for the best?"

"Yeah, something...like...that..." Twilight closed her eyes and tried to visualise behind the hut. Thankfully it isn't that precise a science and a moment later Octavia vanished in a purple flash. Looking out the hole she watched as Octavia looked around the sides of the hut before waving back. "Ok guys, hold still so I can port us." Neither of them were listening so Twilight ported them and clamped a telekinetic sheath over their mouths in case they freaked at the sudden change of surroundings.

"That was rude." Trixie said once Twilight had released them. Ignoring Twilights groan of annoyance she looked around the side of the hut at the crate. "Told you I'd beat you some day you accursed conveyance!" she said while shaking a hoof.

At the other end of the hut Octavia was showing Twilight their next obstacle, namely the yard full of crates being pony-handled by a large number of burly looking earth pony and a few unicorn stallions. "Not exactly a place where you typically find ponies like us."

"Yeah, we do kind of stand out." Twilight muttered as she kept looking. She looked at the wall topped with barbed wire, clearly climbing up some crates and jumping over wasn't an option.

"Well ladies, if we stand out we may as well stand out." Fleur said with a smirk. "I say we just walk out like we own this place. Or rather Octavia walks out likes she owns this place, and we follow her looking like she owns us too."

"Trixie deems that plan so dumb it might just work."

Twilight didn't like the sound of the plan but turned to Octavia and gave a small smile. "Your choice Octavia." Taking a deep breath Octavia looked around the side of the hut before looking back and nodding. Raising her head, she trotted out with the others close behind. To give a bad idea credit they made it quite far before a big earth pony stallion with a bristling moustache stopped them.

"And what do you think you are doing here hmm? This is no place for such pretty mares." He loomed over them, making even the unusually tall Fleur feel small, except for Trixie, who was looking around and not really paying attention.

Twilight was about to plead for forgiveness when Octavia stepped forward and did her best to look the stallion in the eye. "And who do you think you are to stop us? I ought to speak to your supervisor."

"I am the supervisor. That's why I want to know what you are doing in my yard."

Thinking quickly Octavia answered. "If you must know this unicorn behind me is one of my hoof maids and she was trying to escape." She gestured to the pony behind her, who just so happened to be Twilight. "My husband spoke most harshly to the poor girl and demanded she leave before he had her thrown into prison. Apparently the daft girl translated that into leaving the country."

The stallion just looked sceptical. "Uh-huh. And who are you exactly?"

"I am Lady Belladonna Hoofage, and these are my hoof maidens Fleur, Twilight and Trixie." Fleur and Twilight both bowed subserviently; Trixie however, continued to look around like she was sightseeing. "You'll have to excuse the blue one, she's a bit dim."

"Am not!" Trixie protested before being crushed by the scornful looks of the other three. "I mean, yes, yes I am."

The stallion looked even less convinced than before. "Look, your ladyship, I don't care why you're here. If you want to get out, go. Just leave the white one behind as payment and you can have her back in say...two or three days." He walked behind Fleur and gave her a light smack on her flank. Fleur for her part just looked queasy.

"I beg your pardon!?" shouted Octavia; "I shall do no such thing! Come along ladies, we are leaving!"

The stallion trotted in front of them to block their way. "You came into my yard and now you expect to just leave without paying the toll? Just do as I ask and nopony need get hurt.”

Octavia was about to protest further when a white hoof on her shoulder interrupted her. "It's ok mistress, if this gentlestallion will follow me I'll give him a little something to remember us by." Smiling at the stallion, she turned and headed to the hut with the stallion close behind her.

The others were shocked enough to not really know what to do, and stood unmoving until Trixie said "She's not really going to do that is she? I mean...I mean...that's just nasty!"

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." muttered Twilight, who was feeling ill just thinking about it.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait long until a muffled shout came from the hut right before a flustered looking Fleur trotted out at a brisk pace and carried on past them, slowing down enough to gesture for them to follow. Twilight was about to ask what happened when a roar of rage and pain emanated from behind them.

"Run!" shouted Twilight. "What did you do?" she panted after she had caught up to Fleur.

"Two hooves in the sweet spot, works every time. Told you I'd give him something to remember us by." She smiled weakly before returning her focus to running.

They dodged and weaved their way through the stockyard, doing their best to avoid being accidentally crushed or captured. They finally made it to exit where another stallion was trying to shut the gate, trapping them. Grabbing a small crate in her magic, Trixie launched it at the stallions head, smashing the crate and knocking him out cold. They flew through the gates and turned right, heading deeper into the city. Noticing another cart full of crates by the side of the road, Twilight wrenched it over with her magic, spilling its contents across the road behind them and hopefully deterring their pursuers.

Turning another corner and heading up an alleyway, they stopped when they could no longer hear anyone following them. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Twilight looked at Trixie for a moment before yelling in her face; "You threw a crate at his head!? You could have killed him!"

"I needed to stop him! You know what they would have done to us if they had caught us!"

"You could have done something else! Like blocked the gate or something!"

"Trixie wasn't taking any chances."

Twilight was about to yell at her further when Octavia interposed herself between them. "Princess, please stop. Trixie just reacted to the situation, and I agree with her that stopping was more important than the ethicality of how she stopped him."

"Ugh, fine. And don’t call me princess" She instead turned her attention to Fleur, trying to come up with the best way of asking what she wanted to ask. Thankfully Fleur came to her rescue.

"If you want to know if that sort of thing happens a lot, then the answer is yes. He wouldn't have laid a hoof on Octavia just in case what she said was true, but us unicorns, we wouldn't have been so lucky."

"But...but that's horrible!"

"Welcome to Mareitania, population: not very nice. Besides stopping that sort of thing is kind of part of why we're here." Fleur shrugged. "You're going to see some unpleasant things while you're here Twilight, that was just a taster."

All of them lapsed into silence. "Well," Octavia asked; "what now?"

Twilight was about to ask Fleur, hoping she would have an idea when, instead, Trixie shivered and said "Trixie thinks we should find some way of not freezing to death."

Twilight nodded, "We need to get some clothes and probably some food before anything else."

"But how?" Octavia asked; "We don't have any money."

Trixie looked accusingly at Twilight, who looked to Fleur. Standing up, Fleur started to head up the alley. "I think we can fix that." she said as she walked.

-0-0-0-

Fleur had led them to a large square packed with market stalls, ponies hawking their wares and even more ponies buying them. "Welcome to the completely not world famous Stalliongrad market." she said with a flourish.

The others looked around keenly before Trixie, in her usual form, started to complain. "How is this any use to us? We don't have any money, remember."

"Oh I know, and I intend to rectify that. You girls look around for a bit; I'll meet you in half an hour or so." As Fleur trotted off Twilight couldn't help but notice she was looking at ponies rather than the stalls.

"I wonder what she's doing?" Twilight said to no one in particular.

Trixie snorted. "I know you must have led a sheltered life as the princesses precious prized pupil, living out of the royal coffers; but some of us have had survive by doing what is necessary."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, but Trixie ignored her, instead choosing to go ahead and look around the market.

"What Trixie means to say is that some ponies have to get by through dishonest means, largely through lack of choice. Fleur's gone pickpocketing Twilight."

"Oh. Great. Well I suppose it’s better than what I was thinking she was doing."

"Don't worry Twilight, Fleur's a good pony. She'll only steal off those who can easily afford it. She won't make anypony suffer for our benefit."

"I hope not. We didn't come here to make things worse." They walked together for a short while, taking in the sights, before Octavia spoke up again.

"You ought to apologise to Trixie."

"What? Why?"

"We were in a desperate situation and Trixie only did what she thought was right and necessary, to help and protect us."

"I know, but did she have to whack that poor colt around the head to do so? There were other ways."

"Yes, but that was the most guaranteed way. I don't know about you, but me and my backside are quite grateful she did it. She certainly didn't deserve you yelling at her for trying to help her friends."

Twilight said nothing for a bit, thinking about what Octavia said about friends. "I guess you're right. I doubt she'll listen to me now, but yes, I'll apologise when I can."

"Good. Now how about we have a look around, see if we can find what we need."

Twilight gave a mock bow. "Lead on my lady Belladonna."

-0-0-0-

Half an hour had passed and a jubilant looking Fleur eventually re-joined the others brandishing a small collection of coin purses. Still got it!" she said with a wink. "It’s not a huge amount but it should be enough to get us some winter cloaks and a bite to eat."

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "So I guess being pretty isn't just your only skill?"

Fleur shrugged. "I'm also good at keeping secrets."

Twilight took one of the purses and lifted a coin out, giving it a critical look. It was hexagonal, with the old earth pony coat of arms stamped on one side, and a profile of a rather corpulent pony stamped on the other. "What are these even called anyway?"

"Those are called Mareitanian marcs, usually just called marcs. Don't ask me why they're called that, they just are."

Trixie stamped a hoof to get their attention. "As interesting as the currency is, how about we use some to get some clothes. I found a stall whose owner rates making money above us being unicorns and he had the cutest purple cloak there."

They followed Trixie to the stall, which was run by a cheerful pale blue earth pony stallion. Trixie picked her cloak out straight away, paying for it and quickly wrapping it around herself. The others took their time to pick what they wanted, although Twilight took less time since she was far less picky; choosing a burgundy cloak trimmed with white. Leaving Fleur and Octavia to try on the various cloaks they had picked out, Twilight went and sat next to Trixie, who raised her nose in the air at Twilights' approach.

"Look, Trixie...I...I want to apologise for before..."

"Trixie is listening." Trixie said, looking at Twilight out of the corner of her eye.

"Right, well...I know you were just trying to help and I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"Go on."

"And I'm thankful that we got away because of what you did. I guess I'm just shocked that you did it. I could never react like that to a pony, even if they wanted to hurt me like they had wanted to. But...but you were right, so...I guess what I should say is I'm sorry."

"Apology rejected, kiss my hoof and say it like you mean it." Trixie said, holding a mud covered hoof in front of Twilight's face.

"I...uh...I...d-don't...uh..." Twilight spluttered, unable to think of what to say.

Trixie's serious facade soon cracked and she grinned at the flustered unicorn beside her. "Relax Twilight, I'm just teasing you. I mean, you could kiss it if you want," she said, flicking some mud off her hoof; "but you'd probably catch something. And I'm sorry too, about what I said about you being the princess’s spoilt pupil. That was unfair."

"Actually you weren't far off; I have spent most of my life being sheltered from the everyday realities of life. This place just makes that more obvious. I get the feeling I'm going to learn some hard lessons before this is over."

Saying nothing, Trixie nudged her hip against Twilight's before looking back to where Fleur and Octavia were negotiating their purchases; Fleur looking elegant in a black cloak with white trim, and Octavia looking surprisingly adorable in a dark grey cloak with a black fur trim, especially since she had the hood up as well. "What?" she asked defensively when she noticed Trixie and Twilight staring at her.

Twilight was about to say she looked nice when Trixie launched herself towards Octavia, grabbed her around the neck and smushed their faces together. "You look soooo cute! Trixie could just gobble you up!"

"I would prefer you didn't." Octavia said as she tried to push Trixie off her, asking what they should do next once she had.

"Now," Fleur answered, "we get something to eat, and while we're doing that I have a little pop quiz for you." As she led the way to the food stalls she started asking questions. "What do you notice about the stalls?"

After looking around the nearest stalls Octavia hazarded a guess. "They're all run by earth ponies?"

"Correct, although unicorns can run their own businesses, that is mostly in the poorer, southern parts of the country. Any unicorn trying to set up here would probably be hounded out."

"But surely these stall owners could employ unicorns?" Octavia asked as she weaved her way around a mare and a stallion having a full on argument over the price of something.

"They could, and many do behind the scenes, but to have a unicorn working the stall would be looked down upon. Now what do you notice about the customers around here?"

There was a moments silence before Trixie said "Their mostly earth ponies too."

"Yep, Stalliongrad is almost exclusively earth ponies. There are some unicorns here, but most live in the south where there's a far smaller chance of freezing to death through poor housing and inadequate clothing."

"Inadequate clothing? But we got clothing just fine."

"Those marcs I acquired all came from wealthy earth pony merchants, and all together probably made us the richest unicorns here. Most of the unicorns here are probably wearing hoof-me-downs and rags they found in the garbage."

"That's disgusting!"

Fleur looked back at Trixie. "Given the choice between wearing that sort of thing and freezing to death, you can call me Fleur, the prettiest rag wearing hobo in Stalliongrad."

They walked on in silence to the food stalls, where they attempted to buy lunch. Eventually they found a stall selling greasy hayburgers that would serve them, and the food was prepared in front of them so there was a good chance the cook hadn't spat in the burgers. Sitting away from the other customers they ate their lunch and Fleur asked her final question.

"What haven't you seen here?"

"What? What kind of question is that? Trixie isn't exactly in the habit of noticing things that aren't there."

"At least try to answer the question." Fleur chided.

"Oh very well, there's a distinct lack of good manners around here, that's for certain."

"And decent cooking..." Octavia added as she prodded her burger.

"Nice weather? I mean its freezing! How can anypony actually want to live here?"

"Friendly faces?" Octavia said as she noticed some of the looks she was getting for willingly sitting with unicorns.

"Pegasi." said Twilight quietly.

"Bingo. Not a single pegasus anywhere, not that that's unusual. For Mareitania anyway."

"Where are they?"

"As soon as we finish lunch I'll show you." she said with a pained look in her eyes.

-0-0-0-

Fleur had led them on a meandering path through the city, to let the others have a decent look at what the city is like. So far Twilight had decided she didn't like it; sure many of the buildings were bright and colourful, and if she was ignorant of what the city was like then this would be an amazing place to look around. Instead all she could see was the misery that underlined everything. For every wealthy earth pony she saw, she knew there were dozens of poor earth ponies and unicorns. For every decadent home she saw, she saw a dozen ramshackle hovels where ponies struggled to survive. The whole city was one big lie.

All of that was nothing compared to what she saw next. Fleur had led them to an abandoned looking building overlooking a walled compound, and was taking them to the roof.

"I hope you're ready for this." Fleur said forlornly. "Even the well-off ponies in this city look at this place with shame."

Twilight could see why. The compound wasn't just walled, but had iron bars running from wall to wall, creating a giant cage. Within that cage were several dilapidated huts, around which walked dozens of miserable looking pegasi wearing collars and wing binders.

Twilight stood there feeling an unusual, yet justified, rage boiling up within her. She looked away, trying to see how the others were reacting. Octavia was sat looking horrified, with her hooves over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Trixie stood still, her mouth opening and closing as words escaped her. Fleur sat behind them, her back to the compound and her head hanging low, and Twilight really couldn't blame her.

She tried to ask why anypony would do this, but the words caught in her throat. Swallowing hard, she tried again. "W-why would...why would anypony do this? The pegasi did nothing to deserve this!"

Fleur raised her head, but didn't look round to answer. "The princesses told you about them needing the pegasi to control the weather? And about the wing clippings so they can't fly for long and can't escape." Fleur's voice cracked.

"Yes."

"Well it’s worse than that. This is where they keep the pegasi when they're not working, in these squalid labour camps. They bind their wings so they can't cause trouble and those collars they're wearing are designed to temporarily paralyze them if they move a certain distance way from a certain point. I don't know how it works though."

Twilight was so angry she could explode. She had been angry before but never like this; she wanted nothing more than to march down there and tear that place apart. What Octavia said next only made it worse.

"There are children in there." she squeaked.

Twilight's rage overflowed. "We are going down there and stopping this. Right now!" she said between gritted teeth, to the agreement of Trixie and Octavia.

Fleur jumped up and spun to face them. "You can't!" she hissed. "If you try to break them out they'll just be recaptured because the collar will activate! And where will you take them? There's no safe haven for them in this country where they won't be found. And if they are found they'll be killed or worse."

"Worse?" Trixie scoffed, "What could be worse than death?"

Fleur pushed her aside and scanned the compound for a moment before pointing at a teal mare that was rocking back and forth while hugging herself. "That's what."

"Why is an earth pony in there?"

"That's not an earth pony Trixie."

"What do you mean that's not an ea- Oh. Oh no, oh Celestia no." Trixie's eyes widened in horror.

"Yep. Any pegasus that defies them gets their wings cut off. And a pegasus that can't fly is useless to them, so they stop giving them rations. If that pony wants to live they have to work to get food off the guards through...other means. Most choose to just starve to death. That mare down there probably refused a guards’ advances, and now look at her."

Octavia looked sadly at Fleur. "How do you know all this?"

Fleur stared at the compound a while longer before turning away and answering. "I spent months in Stalliongrad before I made my escape to Equestria, and this building is where I holed up. Most days I would come up here just hoping to see a pegasus fight back and escape, like the pegasus warriors of old I had heard of in the stories; until one day, when I saw them cu-, cu-...do that thing to a stallion. I've never heard anypony scream like that and after, I couldn't bring myself to come back here." A tear ran down her cheek as the others moved in to hug her. "A week later I made my escape. I want to tear this place down too, but we can't, not yet. Someday though, we will. And when we do, I'm going to sit here and I'm going to watch those pegasus fly free."

4. The worst place ever

Twilight sat on the floor, staring at the speaker stone Luna had given her. They had been here two days now and she still hadn't contacted Celestia to let her know they were safe. Part of her didn't want to, partly because they hadn't achieved much apart from dwelling in the abandoned building by the pegasus compound; and mostly because Celestia hadn't told her the whole story with the pegasus and Twilight was a little bit ticked off about that.

There was a snort across the room causing Twilight to look round at the source which happened to be Octavia. The day before she'd had a bucket of freezing water dumped over her for being 'a filthy horn lover.' As they were in the city center and surrounded by ponies at the time, Twilight had been unable to cast a spell to dry her. Octavia herself had insisted Twilight not dry her until they were safe in their den. Unfortunately, in the cold weather, she had quickly caught a chill and was now doing her best to sleep it off.

Twilight sighed and went back to staring at the stone in front of her. Deciding to just get it over with she charged her horn and pressed its tip against the green rune adorning the stone. The rune absorbed the energy and changed to a bright vibrant white. Not knowing what to do next she continued to lie down, and waited.

Thankfully she didn't have to wait long until Celestia's voice emanated from the stone. "Twilight? Twilight, can you hear me?" Her voice had a strange echo like quality as it came from the stone.

"Yes I can hear you."

"Thank goodness. Are you all ok? I was beginning to get worried something had happened."

"We're all fine Celestia. Well...mostly. Octavia had a bucket of water thrown over her yesterday for being a 'filthy horn lover', and she's come down with something. I'm hoping she'll get better soon, because we can't really move on until she's well enough to travel."

"Oh dear," said Celestia with something approaching motherly concern; "I do hope she gets better soon. I'm guessing that since you can't travel that you're still in Stalliongrad?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. This place is horrible. Now there's something I wa-"

"I agree Twilight, I think you ought to head east towards Prance. You may find the weather to be more pleasing at least."

"Yeah, that's what Fleur said. I really need to ask you somet-"

"And how is Fleur? And Trixie for that matter?"

"They're fine, and Fleur is rather full of surprises; they're out gathering stuff for our trip when Octavia's better. Can you plea-"

"I'm glad their ok then. I'd hate to imagine what would happen if you were all taken ill. I'd pro-"

"Celestia!" Twilight yelled, her patience wearing thin. "Why didn't you tell me about the pegasi living in that labour camp as well as how they're treated?"

There was a static rattle from the stone, which Twilight guessed was a sigh. "Fleur's shown you the camps then?"

"Why? Wasn't she meant to?" Twilight asked angrily; "And what do you mean camps?"

"Yes she was meant to, in fact, I asked her to. And I mean camps as in there are many more than just one. There's a camp in most population areas in Mareitania, after all the weather needs managing all over the country."

"Ok, fine. But why didn't you tell me?"

There was another static rattle as Celestia sighed again. "Twilight. I wanted to tell you but I was worried that it would poison your view of the ponies in Mareitania. Most ponies there are fundamentally good, doing their best to get by in the situation their given. I was afraid that telling you about the camps before you found that out would make it seem like the ponies of Maretania are all complicit in the treatment of pegasi, which simply isn't true."

Twilight went silent as she digested that bit of information. She couldn't deny that she could see Celestia's point, but it still irked her. "Ok, I can understand that, but if I'm to do this I'm going to need all the facts. From here on no more secrets."

"Of course Twilight, thank you. I'll be honest with you now though when I say that my knowledge of the country is limited by what ponies from there tell me, so if there's something you think I should have told you, it's possible I didn't know myself."

"Yeah, that's fair. I guess I'll...uh, hold on a mo." Twilight twitched an ear at the sound of hooves rapidly approaching. They were quickly followed by a yelp as Fleur ran into the room and tripped over Octavia's rear legs. Barely managing to catch herself, she took a moment to breath before yelling "Trixie's been arrested!"

Twilight jumped up. "What!? When?"

"About twenty minutes ago I think." Fleur replied between breaths. "I ran straight here soon as it happened."

Twilight stood still as she tried to think. "Right, Celestia, I gotta go."

"Yes, you do. Get Trixie back safe Twilight."

"Will do. I'll contact you soon." Twilight watched as the rune faded back to green before turning back to where Fleur was helping Octavia to rouse herself. "Fleur? Do you know where they would take her?"

"Well, yeah. They'd take her to the guard headquarters which is in the city center."

Twilight nodded. "Take us there."

-0-0-0-

The journey to the guard’s headquarters was rather more sedate that Fleur's journey to the hideout. Mostly this was because of Octavia not being able to keep up if they went too fast. Twilight figured that Trixie probably wasn't going anywhere so the speed of the journey didn't matter too much.

Since they had the time Twilight had Fleur explain to them just what has happened. Apparently Fleur and Trixie had gone back to the market in the hopes of getting more supplies for their trip. Fleur had asked Trixie to create a distraction while she relieved some of the merchants of their financial burden, a task the showmare had taken to with relish.

Trixie had started by wowing the crowd with some card tricks and had moved onto juggling fruit with her hooves (which Twilight had to admit was impressive, most unicorns didn't have the hoof-eye coordination for that sort of thing); when an earth pony mare had launched a tomato at Trixie. Trixie caught the tomato in her magic and threw it back at the mare, splattering it across her face, which the crowd found amusing but the mare less so.

Fleur was working her way through the crowd when the mare had returned five minutes later, with a guard in tow, demanding that he arrest Trixie for casting malicious magic on her. Naturally the bias against unicorns prevailed and she was arrested without any questions being asked. After that Fleur ran back to the hideout as fast as she could.

Fleur's explanation had taken most of the journey to tell and a couple minutes later the three ponies were in a street adjacent to the guard’s headquarters. Twilight studied the building as she thought; the building was quite low, roofed with a dome and had stairs leading up to a columned entrance which overlooked a square courtyard. All in all the building looked grey, boring and horribly secure. One piece of decoration Twilight was glad to see was the bored looking guard sat outside next to a noticeboard.

"Octavia, do you think you're up to talking to that guard, see if you find out what's going to happening with Trixie?"

Octavia sniffed and nodded. "He might just tell me to go away though. I wouldn't want to talk to somepony with this much snot dripping out of their face."

"Oh...right, hold still a moment please." Twilight closed her eyes and focused her magic, while trying to ignore the sensations she was receiving through her magic as she cleaned out the gunk from Octavia's nose. Flicking the ball of grossness she had in her magic down the street, she opened her eyes to a very freaked out expression on Octavia's face.

"You could've bloody told me what you were going to do!"

"Sorry. Do you feel better though?"

Octavia breathed deeply, sending her into a fit of coughs. "As long as I don't do that again, yes, thank you." she said once she recovered.

"Good. Go talk to the guard; see what you can find out."

Octavia plodded over to the guard, feeling like her legs were made of lead. "Excuse me sir," she said whilst trying to disguise how ill she felt, she couldn't help but notice the guard look a little grossed out;

I really must look as bad as I feel she thought to herself. "I believe you had a unicorn brought here earlier, pale blue with a silver mane and tail, and likes to refer to herself in the third person a lot?"

The guard cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, we did. What's it to you though?"

Clearly this guard hadn't read the Canterlot guide to good manners. "Well, you see, she's in my employ and I was hoping that you could see fit to release her if I promise to keep her out of trouble."

"No can do ma'am. She's been charged with casting malicious magic on a member of the public. There's no way she'll be released now before her sentence is carried out."

"Sentence? What sentence?"

The guard tapped the noticeboard next to him, where a number of scraps of paper had been pinned, including one about Trixie. "Since she's been caught using magic on a member of the public," Octavia could almost hear him mean to say earth pony; "she is to be publicly dehorned tomorrow morning."

Octavia managed to keep her cool as he said that, mostly because she was expecting him to say she was to be executed or something similar. At least dehorning was something she could walk away from. "What?" she said, doing her best to sound outraged rather that horrified. "You can't do that! She'll be useless to me after that! And how was that so fast? She's barely been here an hour!"

The guard shrugged."Fixed penalties for unicorns. And it’s not my problem she can't work ma'am. There are plenty of other unicorns out there, you'll have no problem finding another."

"Ugh, fine. Could you at least arrange to have her effects returned to me, since they are my property."

The guard stretched his neck towards her, scrutinizing her. "Just where exactly you from miss?"

"Neigh Orleans." she replied, saying one of the other two place names she knew of in Mareitania that wasn't Stalliongrad. "Why?"

The guard leaned back into previous look of nonchalance. "No reason, I just don't hear a lot of ponies talk fancy like you do. Guess you ain't used to the weather up here either, seeing how ill you look. Go on in and talk to be pony at the desk, he'll see to you getting your stuff back."

Octavia thanked the guard for his assistance and headed in, wishing for all the world that she could be curled up in her nice soft bed back in Canterlot.

-0-0-0-

Twilight had watched all of that exchange from the street entrance, doing her best to look like she wasn't doing anything wrong. The only thing that took her attention away from Octavia was the occasional banging coming from the raised platform that was located on the opposite side of the square the guard headquarters was facing.

She couldn't tell exactly what the ponies on the platform were doing; they appeared to be erecting some kind of smaller structure on the platform. The fact that they were erecting it in front of a gallows just made the hollow feeling in her stomach ten times worse. She was still staring at the work ponies when Fleur poked her in the side, indicating that Octavia was coming back, laden with Trixie's cloak and saddlebags. "So? Where is she?" Twilight asked as she relieved Octavia of her burden.

"Locked up tight. She's...uh...she's to be…publicly dehorned tomorrow morning. She'll be released after that."

"What!? They can't do that? That's horrible!"

Fleur sighed wearily and nodded gently. "This is the fixed penalty thing isn't it? Damn I hate this country."

Twilight really didn't want to ask, but did anyway. "H-how will they dehorn her."

Fleur pointed to the platform across the square. "Do you know what a guillotine is?"

Twilight nodded. "I've read about them."

Fleur gestured at the platform. "If that's what I think it is, it’s like a guillotine, but designed to remove a pony’s horn rather than their entire head. Then they press a hot iron to the stump to stop the bleeding. I wouldn't be surprised if it’s actually a poor attempt to stop the horn growing back though."

Twilight now felt really sick. "We have to save her." Fleur snorted and looked away.

"Not that I'm saying we shouldn't rescue her, but that place is a fortress." Octavia said timorously.

"And the cells are magic proof." added Fleur. "Not to mention we're supposed to be keeping a low profile. Daring rescue missions aren't exactly low profile."

"Doesn't matter." Twilight said with an air of determination. "If they do that wrong they could kill her, and frankly I have no desire to see anypony die."

"Then how? How Twilight?" Fleur threw her forelegs into the air in exasperation. Twilight just looked at the floor.

"We could always interfere tomorrow morning." Octavia suggested. "If Twilight can use her magic to stop the guillotine and we fight off the guards, perhaps we could get her out?"

Twilight looked at Fleur. "It could work. If we do it quick we could grab her and run before they even know what hit them."

Fleur rolled her eyes dismissively. "This place will be full of ponies watching the dehorning, as well full of guards. Think we can fight them all off? Especially since Octavia would struggle to fight off a kitten right now."

Twilight stomped angrily. "Fleur, you came here to free this country right? Why does it seem like your giving up already? If you don't want to help us save Trixie, fine, but don't expect us to not try." Twilight turned and started to head off when a hoof on her shoulder stopped her.

"You're right, I am letting this place defeat me. Seems you can take the mare out of Mareitania, but you can't take Mareitania out of the mare. I'll help, but we'll need to come up with a solid plan."

-0-0-0-

Trixie shivered, but not from the cold. She didn't know what was happening and it wasn't very nice sitting here in her cell, waiting. Some guard ponies had already come in and put her in shackles and had placed a black, metallic cap over most of her horn, which inhibited her magic, and had then left without saying a word.

Points for Equestria, Trixie thought; there you can take over an entire town using a dark magic amulet and barely get a slap on the fetlock. Here I get arrested for throwing a tomato.

Trixie groaned and pressed her back to one of the corners of the cell. Trixie wasn't the most patient of ponies at the best of times, and she had been in here for what seemed like days. Finding a small piece of stone, she lifted a shackled hoof as high as she could and spent a minute or two scratching a mark into the wall, the first line of a tally. If the cell had been better lit she would have seen the cell was full of similar marks, very few of them going above one.

A few minutes later hoofsteps approached her cell door, followed by some jangling and a clank as her cell was unlocked and opened, allowing a couple of guards to enter. "Miss Lulamoon, come with us.

Trixie swallowed and got up, shuffling out of the cell as fast as her manacled limbs would allow. The guards, one in front and one behind, led her up through the guardhouse in complete silence. Trixie wanted them to say something but from the way the rear guard shoved her every time she slowed down she didn't think it'd be a friendly conversation. The only sound she got out of them was a laugh, when they took her to the front door and she asked if they were going to let her go.

She was not prepared for what she saw when they opened the doors and shoved her out hard enough that she fell to her knees. The entire square was full of ponies, all of them jeering and booing, with a few throwing tomatoes for good measure.

The guards hauled her back onto her hooves and led her on a path through the crowd which continued to boo and jeer and throw various food items at her. There were also one or two comments about her parentage that would have made her raise an eyebrow if she weren't too busy being concerned with other things. Mostly the gallows.

"You're going to hang me!?" she screamed in a panic. The guard in front of her chuckled.

"Oh no, you don't have to worry. We ain't gonna kill ya." Trixie sighed in relief. "We're gonna dehorn ya."

"What!?" Trixie turned and tried to run, but the guard behind her quickly grabbed her and set her on her previous path. "You can't do that!"

"Can and am, missy." the guard replied as he led her up the stairs onto the platform, where a big grey stallion wearing a black hood stood waiting next to some kind of contraption. There was also another pony, a skinny, ratty looking brown stallion that definitely had some kind of rodent in his heritage if Trixie was any judge. He was holding a scroll that he unfurled and read.

"Miss Trixie Lulamoon, you stand accused of using magic in a malicious manner against a citizen of Mareitania. The puni-"

He was interrupted by a pale green earth pony mare, which Trixie recognised as the pony she threw that tomato at. "She cursed me she did! Hexed me! I can feel meself withering away because of that witches dark magic!" She stopped her tirade when a guard stepped forward and pushed her back into the crowd.

"Trixie only threw a tomato at you!"

The pony reading the scroll cleared his throat before continuing. " Miss Primberry, this is the third unicorn you've accused of cursing you, and you're still here. Now, as I was saying, the punishment for which is to have your horn removed, so that you might learn from this to never cast magic on another. Is there anything you might say in your defence?"

"Trixie was framed! It wasn't me! It was my evil twin!"

The ratty stallion rolled his eyes and nodded at his hooded companion, who grabbed Trixie and pushed her onto the bench of the contraption, Trixie screaming and struggling all the while; and stuck her horn through a board with a hole in attached to the upright part, her nose sticking through a gap between the upright and the bench. He then proceeded to strap her down before whispering his own peculiar brand of encouragement to her.

"Make sure you don't try and cast a spell when it 'appens, the magic feedback from the inhibitor will blow yer brains out the back of yer 'ead."

Had Trixie been in a calmer and more thoughtful frame of mind she might have said such a thing was nonsense. As it was all she think about was her imminent dehorning and all her focus was spent on screaming and crying, which was mostly blocked by the cheering of the crowd.

Out of the corner of her eye Trixie could see the ratty stallion raise his hoof, causing the crowd to fall silent. She closed her eyes, a few tears escaping as she did, and clenched her teeth and waited...

And waited...

-0-0-0-

Twilight rested against the chimney of the building whose roof she currently occupied. As a scientist and a scholar she had no issue with waiting usually, but the idea of sitting up here, waiting for a bunch of ponies to turn up to cut the horn off an innocent unicorn like it was a spectator sport just rubbed her in all the wrong ways.

She looked down at the square, and mentally went over what she was supposed to do when the dehorning happened. Having done that she went back to waiting.

"Ugh. Rainbow Dash must be wearing off on me."

Eventually ponies began to trickle into the square, amongst which Fleur should be lurking somewhere. Twilight spent a few minutes trying to track her down and eventually spotted her to her right, standing with her hood up by the leg of the platform. Confident that Fleur would perform her part of the plan Twilight looked over to the opposite side of the square where a weary looking Octavia caught her eye and gave a small wave, before picking up all their saddlebags and heading off. Because of her poor health Octavia wasn't taking part. Instead she was to take their belongings and wait by the eastern gate out of Stalliongrad, since the plan was to rapidly depart the city once they had saved Trixie.

Finally Twilight noticed a bit of commotion by the doors of the guardhouse to her left and was guiltily relieved that the guards were finally leading Trixie out for her sentence, although she was less pleased at the way the guards pushed the shackled Trixie around, and at the way the crowd jeered and booed. Not everyone joined in though, although most were jeering there many other ponies, earth ponies and unicorns alike; that wore expressions varying from malicious glee, to sadness and resignation.

Putting that out of her mind Twilight looked back to the proceedings. There was a small brown stallion reading something that she couldn't hear, not that she needed to hear it to know what it was probably about. She watched as a pale green mare came forward as he spoke, gesturing wildly, and continued to watch as a guard shoved her back into the crowd.

Finally the moment she had been waiting for arrived as Trixie was strapped into the guillotine. They had planned to stop the dehorning at the last possible moment to cause the most confusion for the guards and onlookers, hopefully giving them a better chance at getting away. "Remember Twilight," she said to herself; "telekinesis only."

As the small stallion raised his hoof, the hooded stallion prepared to pull a rope attached to the guillotine. A guard standing nearby pulled a glowing iron out of a brazier next to them, and Twilight hastily wrapped a scarf around her mouth and nose before reaching out with her magical senses, hoping she didn't mess this up.

The stallions hoof fell and there was a gasp from the crowd as the blade fell an inch or two before stopping. Twilight was able to make out the hooded stallion saying something about the blade being stuck, and smirked as her telekinetic glow spread over the blade and onto the upright. When it had covered the whole of the upright, she wrenched downward, breaking it in half before tearing the blade free and ramming it into the wood of the platform until only the ring the rope was attached to was visible.

As that was happening, Fleur was looking over the edge of the platform, with her horn aglow, as she tried to detach the key ring from one of the guards, and also his knife. She then waited for part two of the plan.

Once the guillotine was destroyed to her extreme satisfaction, Twilight jumped off the roof of the building she was on, into the street next to it, catching herself in her magic before she landed. Grabbing the pile of cobblestones she had spent the previous evening acquiring, she charged out into the square and towards the platform, largely unnoticed by the guards and the spectators who were all milling around in confusion.

Clambering onto the platform she launched her first stone at the nearest guard who yelped and staggered sideways until he fell off the platform with a thump. Just because Trixie would had no issues with launching projectiles at ponies heads doesn’t mean she could. She launched more stones at the guards, keeping them distracted from Fleur, who jumped up onto the platform at the back and set about cutting Trixie off the bench using the knife she had acquired.

"You girls have no idea how glad I am to see you!" Trixie exclaimed once she was free, relief dripping off every syllable. She lit her horn and picked the small stallion up and threw him off the platform at the pale green mare. "It was only a bloody tomato!"

The three ponies gathered into a circle as Twilight fended off the guards with the stones, apparently alicorn level telekinesis could throw stones really hard judging by the pained and nervous looks the guards wore. "Twilight! I think it’s time we got out of here!" Fleur shouted once she had finished un-shackling Trixie.

Twilight nodded and launched the remainder of the stones at the guards before picking them up bodily and throwing them off the platform. She then started ripping boards off the platform itself, moving them so they created an arrowhead shaped wall, about as tall as she was. "Get ready to run Trixie!" she shouted before jumping forward off the platform and running into the crowd, Fleur and Trixie close on her heels.

Using all her not inconsiderable strength, she plowed through the crowd, using the wall to push anypony aside. She veered towards the right, to where Octavia had been earlier, and as soon they were through the crowd and into the street she dumped the wall, and put all her efforts into running for the east gate and to freedom.

-0-0-0-

Funnily enough, to Twilight's adrenaline addled brain, the escape through the city was remarkably easy, in complete contrast to the effort it had taken to get to escaping.

"I guess we must be going faster than the news of our attack is!" she panted between breaths.

"We'd have been caught long ago if they had pegasi on the force!" Fleur shouted back; "I guess they really didn't think that racial inequality thing through very well!"

"As good as it is their bigotry has helped, Trixie doesn't think they're that far behind!" Trixie flinched as a whistle sounded uncomfortably close to them. "See!"

"Right! This way!" Twilight shouted, running left into an alleyway, before pulling over the stack of boxes and debris she had spent some time stacking the night before. "Octavia's in an old storeroom near the east gate! Once we're there we'll grab our stuff and leave Stalliongrad." Twilight explained to Trixie as they ran. "We can't stay on the run in the city!"

"But what about my stuff? I'll freeze out there!"

"We have your stuff. Octavia got it back."

"Oh. Ok!"

It wasn't much longer until they came to the storeroom that Twilight mentioned, a groggy looking Octavia peering out of the doorway. "Wow Octavia, you look terrible."

"Good to see you too Trixie. I'd hug you but I doubt you want what I got." She passed Trixie her cloak. "I avoided using it as a hanky. You're welcome."

"Come to Trixie my sweet, sexy little cloak." Trixie said as she wrapped it around herself, placing her saddlebags on top.

Octavia hauled herself to her hooves. "I guess it's time to go then?"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, you don't have to come though. You could always stay here until you're better. The guards aren't after you."

"Going with you sounds a lot better than hanging around in this awful city any longer. That and I'd have no money or anything." Octavia shrugged, "I'll be fine." she said, a blob of snot taking its opportunity to escape her nose.

Twilight looked like she was going to argue, but Fleur stopped her, saying "We need to go now. If the guards guess where we're going they might shut the gate. Then we'd be in real trouble."

"Ok, fine. Try to keep up Octavia. In fact..." Twilight lifted Octavia's bags and placed them over her own; "Right, let’s go."

Twilight peeked around the edge of the doorway and waved the others out once she saw it was clear. It only took a minute to run to the gate, and Twilight was worried to see Octavia looking out of breath already; but they were too late. The guards had closed the gate and were in process of barring it.

"Wait...that's it? They just bar it? Ooh...such a big scary lock Fleur, we’ll never get through that." Trixie teased.

"Oh shut up. It's not like I've been here in the last decade to remember this stuff."

Twilight shushed them and waited as the guards finished barring the gate, and waited further to see if any of them left. Most did, splitting into teams to go in three different directions, unfortunately one of which just happened to be towards them. Thinking quickly she cast a want it, need it spell on the first thing she found, which so happened to be a rusty tin can, and floated it in front of the two guards who quickly became enraptured by it. Waving it back and forth a couple times she then threw it down the street behind her and away from the gate, the two hapless guards eagerly chasing after it.

"Hey, why don't you do that to a giant bomb and stick it in the middle of wherever the Duke and Duchess live? That'd be cool, right?"

"No Trixie, that would not be cool, especially if you got affected by the spell as well. Besides, it’s a safe version I developed. Only works on a few ponies at a time and wears off after a few hours. I learnt my lesson about the full strength version, trust me."

Twilight and the others snuck closer to the gate, until they were about a stone’s throw away. Twilight went to find another object to cast the want it, need it spell on, when a pink glow appeared next to her. A moment later four illusions of themselves ran past the guards, drawing them off.

"Hey you! Get back here!"

They waited a few seconds for the guards to run off. "About time Trixie got to do that."

"Bravo," Fleur congratulated her; "now I really think we ought to get out of here."

"Agreed." said Twilight as she lifted the bar out of its place and pushed the gates open. "Stalliongrad is the worst."

"Yep." the others agreed as they ran out of the gate and into countryside, not stopping until Stalliongrad was completely out of sight.

5. The more you know

Octavia thought about walking. Not something she often thought about, but right now, putting one hoof in front of the other seemed to require most of her ability. Step. Step. Step. Step.

Can you do one step at a time when you have four hooves. She tried to find out but she couldn't really feel her hooves enough to make sure. Are my hooves still there? She looked down. Yep. Two hooves in front, four in back...wait a moment...nope, she had counted the front ones again. Silly thing to do.

Comforted that she had the right number of hooves, she went back to stepping and stepping and stepping and stepping and suddenly her chin hurt. Oh, she'd fallen over, that's why. She tried to get back up but her horribly confused hooves couldn't decide how. The others seem to be getting really far away now. She tried to call to them but her throat was too packed with sandpaper, all she could manage was a feeble squeak.

That's funny...now everything's going dark. She was pretty sure that everything was white a moment ago, because of all the snow falling. Ah, snow. Snow sure was comfortable. She felt like she could sleep and sleep and sleep. It'd be easier if she didn't feel so hot and if weird voices didn't keep shouting her name at her.

Stupid voices, couldn't they see she needed to sleep. She'd feel better if she slept.

-0-0-0-

"Octavia! Octavia!" Twilight yelled as she cradled Octavia, Fleur and Trixie standing next to her wearing equally worried faces. "Octavia!"

"Twilight!," Fleur yelled; "we need to get her to shelter!"

"Where!? Where is there any shelter near here?"

Fleur rifled through Twilight's saddlebags until she pulled out a hoof drawn map of Mareitania that Twilight had made from the big map back in Canterlot. Studying it for minute she floated it in front of Twilight, using her magic to highlight a spot. "There, Hoof-Ridge. It’s a small village if I remember, but we should be able to find shelter there."

Trixie took the map and traced a hoof over it, looking around for landmarks with which to compare. "This map…is rubbish. If we are where I think we are, we might not get there for two or three hours. I really don't think we should keep her out in this."

"We have no other choice." Fleur stamped a hoof. "I don't know about you but my wilderness survival skills aren't that great." Trixie huffed but said nothing.

Twilight stood up and took off her cloak, placing it over Octavia, before hoisting the pony up onto her back, using her still invisible wings to balance her. She then started walking.

"Twilight?" Trixie asked, "Where are you going? And won't you freeze?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm part pegasus and pegasi are good with cold. Besides she'll keep me warm. As for where I'm going, I figured we could stay here and argue, or move and argue. I'm going for Hoof-Ridge; it's my fault she's here so I'm not going to stop until I get her help."

"Your fault?" Fleur asked with a frown, "How is this your fault? She insisted on coming."

"And I should have insisted she stay in Stalliongrad until she was better!" Twilight shouted.

"That was a terrible idea though. I wouldn't want to be left behind and neither would you!" Fleur shouted back.

"I don't care! I should hav-!"

"Girls!" Trixie shouted over both of them. "Walk and argue, remember! We'll go for Hoof-Ridge, but the first cottage, hovel or whatever we see, we're begging for help. Ok!" Neither said anything, but started to walk in silence.

-0-0-0-

Twilight concentrated on walking, not least because Octavia might fall off if she wasn't careful, and mostly because it stopped her from thinking about her overwhelming sense of guilt and that she was pretty sure she could feel Octavia slipping away with every passing minute.

They must have been walking for at least an hour by her reckoning, and the sky was starting to darken. At least the snow stopped, she thought bitterly to herself. Twilight was seriously beginning to regret coming on this mission, within three days of being on it Trixie had almost gotten herself dehorned and Octavia was dying before her eyes.

She had never felt so helpless. She couldn't fly because she wasn't confident enough to fly in this kind of weather, especially with a passenger; and the wind chill might make Octavia worse. Add to that the fact that getting caught flying by a local would be the worst thing that could happen right now and flying became a complete non option. She couldn't use magic that freely either and her attempts at warming Octavia up with spells had resulted in Octavia trying to wriggle off her, moaning about being too hot.

So Twilight walked, and hoped it might take her to where she needed to go. They had left the open plains that surrounded Stalliongrad and the surroundings started to become hillier and forested, not particularly helpful but at least the trees cut the wind down. It was also because of the trees that within twenty minutes or so of entering the forest, Trixie cocked an ear and asked "Can you hear that?"

Both Twilight and Fleur looked around, trying to discern just what Trixie had heard. Eventually she heard it, a rhythmic thudding sound coming from up ahead, and said so. They trotted on, hoping they had found signs of civilization and after a couple of minutes Fleur pointed out into the forest to where she spotted a small yellow glow, as would come from a lantern or something similar.

Dashing off the path, the three ponies struggled through the barrel deep snow drifts towards the glow. Having almost dropped Octavia twice because of hidden depths in the snow they eventually came to a small clearing where there were two earth ponies, a stallion that was chopping wood and a colt that was loading it into the cart they had with them.

Suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous, Twilight swallowed and approached the wood cutter. "Excuse me sir? Our friend is sick and we desperately need to get her help."

"Pfeh, unicorns." said the stallion in a deep, accented rumble, before taking his axe up in his forehooves and rearing back to take swing at a block of wood.

Twilight pulled back Octavia's hood so the stallion might get a better look at her. "She's not a unicorn! Please, I'm begging you!"

The stallion took another swing before resting on his axe and studying her coolly for a moment before groaning and looking over his shoulder to the colt. "Sprig, take the purple one and her friend to Grammaw."

The young brown and pine green colt bounded forward and waved to Twilight. "Ok pa, this way miss." Twilight started to follow him when the stallion shouted at them to stop.

"I said the purple one could go. You two stay here."

"What? Why?" Trixie asked indignantly.

"If the boy is going I'll need you two to stay here and load the cart."

"But-"

"No buts! I'm behind as it is."

"But-"

"Trixie," Twilight said as kindly as she could; "he's helping us, so I think it's only fair that we help him."

"Well it’s ok for you to say that, you're not the one loading the cart..." Trixie grumbled.

"Oh stop whining." Fleur said giving Trixie a nudge. "You'll take us to this 'Grammaw's house after, right sir?" she asked the stallion, getting a single nod in reply. "See, no worries. You go on Twilight, we'll be fine."

Twilight gave Fleur a grateful smile and continued on after the colt, who seemed to take great pleasure in running on as far as he could then stopping and waiting for her to catch up. Once he got bored of that he started to run circles around her, making her feel very unbalanced. As a precaution she started to hold Octavia on with her wings and hoped the colt didn't notice the way the cloaks moved around the invisible appendages.

After a long while, lights came into view above the tree line, which was because Hoof-Ridge was built on a hoof shaped ridge that rose above the forest. It might have seemed an impractical design, but to someone from Canterlot, this was nothing. Twilight followed the colt up the path to the village and found that the ridge had a plateau on the top, allowing room for a row of wood and stone cabins to be built both sides of the road.

The colt led her through the village and stopped at what appeared to be an apothecary, judging by all the bundles of herbs and collections of vials she could see through the window. The colt banged on the door and yelled "Grammaw! Got somepony needs yer 'elp!"

There was a moment or two of nothing, except some kind of low key grumbling coming from inside, before the door opened to a rotund and wizened grey mare. "Well come on then, get in 'ere and lets me 'ave a look."

Twilight entered and set Octavia gently on the floor where the old mare set about poking and prodding her, tutting all the while. "Looks like somepony's been out playing with the windigos when theys shoulda been in bed. Sprig, there's wood out the back if you could get a fire going in the spare room,"

"Yes Grammaw!"

"and you girl, you picks yer friend up and gets her up stairs, firs' door on the left. Gets those cloaks off'f 'er and wrap her in some blankets from under the bed."

Twilight watched for a moment as the old mare bustled about, checking the various vials she had spread about, muttering a chorus of nopes, maybes and expletives. "What did you mean she's been 'out playing with the windigos?'"

The mare continued to bustle about looking for stuff as she answered. "It's an expression girl, means she's been out in the cold too long. Now di'nt I tell you to get her upstairs! Oh, and put her by the fireplace when you get there!"

Twilight picked up Octavia and took her to the room indicated to her, entering and placing her on a rug alongside the fireplace before taking the cloaks off her and wrapping her in the blankets she found under the bed. She was joined a minute later by Sprig, who was carrying a bundle of wood on his back. Twilight watched as he tried to get a fire going, and had to mentally slap herself when she almost cast a spell to light it. The colt was clearly struggling to get the fire going, so Twilight tapped him on the shoulder.

"Why don't you go and get some more firewood while I get the fire going." She took the flint off him with her magic and made a show of using it.

"Oh, uh...ok miss." the colt muttered before leaving. Twilight could hear him mumbling as he trotted down the stairs; "I'll light the fire she says. Bloody unicorn doesn't even know how to use a flint."

Rolling her eyes and listening out to make sure nopony was coming, she focused on the wood in the fireplace and cast a fire spell. Within minutes she had a decent fire roaring away, and couldn't help but smirk at Sprig's expression when he came back. As an afterthought she rummaged through her saddlebags and withdrew a couple of marcs, passing them to the colt.

"Thanks for your help Sprig. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't found you or your father. I know it’s not much but, still, thank you."

Sprig took the coins and slipped them into a pocket in the jacket he was wearing. "Uh, thanks miss, 'appy to 'elp." Just then Grammaw entered the room, balancing on her rear a bowl of something that steamed and smelled vaguely herby.

"Nice work getting the fire going Sprig. Now how 'bout you get on home to your mother before she starts a-worrying about ya."

"Aww, ok Grammaw. Bye miss!" He gave Twilight a cheerful wave then left.

Grammaw chuckled. "Nice lad, bit of a soft spot for pretty faces. Might have to keep an eye on him when he gets older." She frowned, "Might have to have a word with his pa too, about that hatin' unicorns rubbish he tries to fill that boys head with. Now you go wait downstairs while I see to your friend here."

"Is she going to be ok?"

"Dunno, but she ain't gonna be any better for you hanging around here twitterpating me when I'm trying ta work. Go on, git!"

Twilight was going to protest, but one look at Grammaw’s face was enough to let her know that hanging around might be bad for her health. Dragging her hooves the entire way she went downstairs and pulled herself onto the sofa, and waited.

-0-0-0-

Thud thud thud!

Twilight jolted awake at the sound of a heavy hoof banging on door.

"Get the door would ya deary?"

"Yeek!" Twilight squealed and leapt off the sofa at the voice that came from right next to her. She looked round to Grammaw who was sat in a scruffy looking armchair, smoking a pipe and was giving her a very pointed look.

"The door?"

"Right, sorry." Rubbing sleep out of eyes she went to the door and opened it, permitting her a close up view of the woodcutter’s face, a face that swiftly morphed into a frown. Behind him were a chilly looking Fleur and a very grim faced Trixie, who narrowed her eyes on seeing Twilight.

"Making yourself at home I see..." he muttered before clearing his throat and saying in a louder voice "I've brought your friends as I said I would, now, where is Sprig."

Twilight was about to answer when Grammaw's voices floated over from where she sat. "Sprig's gone home already Stump. Now quit dirtying my doorway and get yerself going too. And by going, I mean home, not the pub!"

Stump sighed heavily and moved off, quickly disappearing from Twilight's sight in the falling snow. Waving Fleur and Trixie in, Twilight shut the door and turned around to find Trixie's face shoved up against her own.

"Next time, you get to do the hard labour with the unicorn hating racist!" she hissed between her teeth.

Fleur on the other hoof, trotted over to Grammaw and curtsied. "I hope it’s ok that we've come here."

Grammaw waved a hoof at her languidly. "Naw, its fine. Sprig told me I should be expecting some more guests." she said before giving Twilight another look.

Twilight rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, feeling abashed. "Uh...right, sorry. This is Fleur,"

"Charmed." Fleur said as she curtsied again;

"And the angry blue one is Trixie."

Trixie paused in the middle of wrestling her cloak off to stick her tongue out at Twilight and to mutter a "Hi." to Grammaw.

"Fleur, Trixie, this is...um, I don't think you've actually told me your name."

"Just call me Grammaw, everypony else does, dunno why though, it’s not like I even has kids, let alone grandkids. If yer hungry there's a pot of soup on the stove in the kitchen, and bread rolls in the warmer, just help yerself."

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Trixie shouted in glee, running for a few steps before turning back and asking "Where's the kitchen?" Grammaw nodded to a door across the room. "Thank you!" Trixie trotted off singing "Food food, food food food, warm warm yum yum food!" Fleur followed her, but quietly and at a more sedate pace.

"Bit of an odd one that one."

"Yeeaaaahhhh...you could say that." Twilight replied before joining Fleur and Trixie in the kitchen. "Are you guys ok? He didn't try anything...y'know...funny?"

"Oooohhhhh noooo, we're fiiine." Trixie replied sarcastically; "It was like the most fun Trixie has ever had, being forced to chop wood and load it onto a cart in the freezing snow while a petty little racist stands there criticising everything about us and calling us every name under the sun. Next time, to make it fair, I'll fall asleep in front of a fire, and you can have all the fun."

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep; I didn’t even know I had until somepony knocked on the door. It wasn’t that bad was it?”

Fleur nudged Twilight with her hip. "We were fine, really. He'd have had to chop our horns off before he was interested so we were probably pretty safe with him. I mean, I know he had an axe and all, but then the blood and the screaming might have put him off."

Trixie rubbed her horn with a hoof. "Too soon Fleur, waaayy too soon."

"Huh? Oh...right, the whole dehorning thing. Sorry. Anyway, how many miles did you carry Octavia? I think Twilight deserved a little break."

Trixie pouted in response but said nothing more, apparently dropping the issue. Taking another bite of the roll she was holding, she swallowed and said "Speaking of, how is Octavia? She didn't look so good last time I saw her, y'know."

"I uh...I don't know. Grammaw sent me downstairs and I must have fallen asleep soon after that." She poured herself a bowl of soup and grabbed a bread roll. "Come on back out the living room and we can ask Grammaw." Trixie did so, topping up her bowl and grabbing another roll before she went, all the while grumbling about various things. Twilight was pretty sure she heard her name mentioned a few times.

They reconvened in the living room where Trixie proceeded to eat her soup as noisily as possible, Fleur ate hers as daintily as possible, and Twilight asked the question that would be on their lips if they weren't busy eating. "How's Octa-"

"Ah ah!" Grammaw said, waving a hoof as if to shoo them off. She then pressed her hooves to her temples, "I predict you're gonna ask how yer friend upstairs is doing."

"Wow." Trixie deadpanned, "However did you know we were going to ask such a thing? I am genuinely shocked and surprised."

Grammaw tapped her head with a hoof. "With my amazingly mystical cosmic powers, that's how. That and I heard you talking in the kitchen, which incidentally also happens to be the way I found out the name of yer friend upstairs." she finished, giving Twilight yet another look.

"Sorry."

"Anyway, yer friends gonna be just fine, soon as she rides out that fever of hers. Until then all we can do is keep her warm an' hydrated. I've given her something to boost her strength with a lil somethin' extra to help her sleep. Alls that's left now is to wait an' hope. Oh, an' just so you know, I'd ignore anything she says 'til she's better, feverish ponies tend to say the darndest things."

"Not that I want to sound ungrateful or anything," Trixie said as she crossed her hooves and gave Grammaw a sceptical look; "but how do you know anything about medicine?"

"Because I'm a little old lady, and it's the job of little old ladies to be smarter than the rest of ya, that's why. Besides I've been doing this since I was a lil one, and I've seen plenty of ponies with fevers worse than yer friends."

"Well," Fleur said as she gave Trixie a dirty look; "I for one, am grateful you're helping us. I don't know what we'd do if you hadn't." Fleur frowned for a moment, "Speaking of, why are you helping us and giving us food and shelter? Unicorns aren't really all that popular around these parts."

"I could tell ya to go sleep in the basement if it makes ya feel better?"

"Well...uh, no it wouldn't. I just thought that Stump's attitude towards unicorns was the trend around here."

"Pfooey, Stump's just an ass. Pay him no mind, although I hav'ta admit his hatin' on unicorns ain't uncommon in these parts."

"But not you?"

"Nope. I'm old an' crotchety and far too busy hatin' everypony to spend extra effort hatin' those with horns an' wings." She chuckled cheerfully, "Besides, who knows when a unicorn owin' you a favour might come in handy."

-0-0-0-

After that the conversation had changed into whatever they felt like talking about, and Twilight couldn't help but feel a lot better about things than she had in days. Even Trixie was pleasant enough company once she let her intellect do the talking, rather than her ego. They had talked for hours, with the only interruption being one of them occasionally disappearing upstairs to check on Octavia and throw more wood on the fire. Eventually though, the time of day and their exertions caught up with them, made obvious when Trixie had yawned so hard she almost fell over.

Rubbing an eye she asked "Where are we sleeping tonight? If you don't mind me asking."

"You an' Fleur can sleep in the bed in Octavia's room. Might be a bit cozy," she said, giving Trixie a saucy wink; "but it’s a whole lot better than sleeping on the floor. Unless o' course, you actually want to sleep in the basement? Might be a mite chilly."

"Nope, bed is good. Dibs on the right hoof side."

Fleur sighed and rolled her eyes. "Trixie, I cannot express how much I don't care. I just want sleep."

"While yer in there, keep an eye on Octavia an' keep the fire going. Or jus' heat the room some other way, I'm sure Octavia won't mind." She chuckled at Trixie's horrified expression. "Relax, I'm just teasing." She sniffed, "Mostly."

Rather than expose themselves to more comments, the two ponies muttered a 'goodnight' and trotted upstairs, with Trixie pushing Fleur aside to make sure she went first. This left Twilight in the company of Grammaw, who was giving Twilight a long, cool stare.

"So...uh, what was with the...uh, bedroom talk?"

Grammaw grinned dirtily, "Oh nothing much, I just reckon some fun in the bedroom would do wonders for the ego-stick Trixie has shoved up her plot."

"I see." Twilight fidgeted and nervously tapped the edges of her hooves together. "And where might I be sleeping?" She was answered by Grammaw nodding at the sofa. "Oh! Ok." Twilight said, sounding a lot more relieved than she intended.

"You could share with me, if ya want to, but I ain't exactly good company in the bedroom anymore since I tend to fart a lot an' snore really loud."

"Nope! Sofa's fine. Absolutely fine. No problems with the sofa at all." Twilight fidgeted some more. "Sooo...goodnight?"

"Not just yet. There's somethin' I want to talk to you about, and I didn't want to talk about it with others around in case it's a secret."

"Oh...uh, sure. What's up?"

"You're one of them ain't ya? One o' them winged unicorns?"

Twilight spluttered in surprise. "I-I don't...I...uh...I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have wings." She subconsciously wiggled her wings in some effort to disprove their existence.

"Heh, you're an awful liar Twilight, an' just 'cause you made them invisible don't mean they ain't there. In fact, them being invisible just makes them more obvious to me since I ain't exactly lookin' with me eyes."

"What? How?"

Grammaw looked Twilight in the eye. "What I'm about to tell you is a secret, so don't you go blabbing your mouth off none." Grammaw raised a hoof to her forehead and brushed her hair aside, revealing a small vertical scar right where a unicorns horn would be. "That's right," she said as she took in Twilight's slack jawed expression; "I'm technically a unicorn."

"B-but...but how?"

"For that to make sense I'm gonna have to tell you the whole story, so sit down an' listen up. My ma an' pa were high-born ponies, nobles, an' in the court of Mareitania one of the biggest scandals possible was to have a unicorn as a child, which does tend to happen from time to time. So when I was born my folks were horrified, almost broke them apart since my pa accused my ma of cheating. Anyway they arranged to have my horn removed when I was just a few weeks old, root and all, so it never grew back. Naturally this kinda upset me when I found out years later, so I ran away and eventually ended up here."

"Don't you miss it? Your horn that is."

"Can't miss what I don't remember having, although I swear I can sometimes feel it, like ghost leg thingy or whatever it’s called."

"Phantom limb syndrome?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Anyway, the point is that a unicorns magic has to manifest somehow. If you has a horn then it manifests through that in the normal way. But if you don't, it can do some strange things, apparently there was one pony I heard of that could levitate, another that could manifest magic through shoutin'. Me, well I can sense magic, and see it in others. I could see the spell that was hidin' yer wings, and see the magic inside you, which I can tell you is a sight to behold. Most unicorns have a bit of an aura around them, focused mostly on their horns; but you, you're the center of a swirling maelstrom of magic energy, both beautiful and terrifying. Yet there's somethin' about it...some kind of...harmony, I guess you'd call it. Absolutely amazing."

Twilight closed her eyes, debating whether she should trust this pony with her secret. She supposed that Grammaw could have done something about her having wings, but so far all she had done is help. Maybe Twilight owed her this. "I guess that explains why you don't hate unicorns."

"Nope, it'd be pretty silly to hate what I am. I mean ponies hating ponies is pretty silly anyway, but that'd be extra silly."

"I'm going to trust you with this since you could have told the guards and got me arrested at any time-"

"Actually we don't got any guards here. Instead I'd have rounded up a posse and had you lynched. Besides I trusted you with my secret."

"Right...so since you didn't...do that, I'm going to trust you." She focused and cancelled the invisibility spell on her wings before spreading them, eliciting a low whistle from Grammaw.

Grammaw sat back and puffed on her pipe a few times. "I'll be, a genuine pegacorn."

"Actually we're called alicorns."

"Alicorns huh? Y'know, it’s been almost four hundred years since one o' your kind has been seen in Mareitania."

"What, really? How is that possible?"

"It aint exactly like your kind is common y'know."

"What? No, I mean how has anypony seen one in Mareitania at all?"

"Oh, I get ya. Now ya have to understand that this is all word of mouth stuff so it may be subject to flavour. Now then, 'bout four hundred years ago there was this big rebellion or civil war or whatever you wanna call it. Equalists against the Duchy. The Equalists started out as a unicorn thing, which got bigger when they busted the pegasi outta their prisons. Lot of earth ponies joined 'em too, the poor ones anyway. Word is that they were led by an alicorn. Now this is where things get a lil tricky since nopony seems to agree on what she looked like or what her name was, all they can agree on is that she was kinda tall an' probably white. Me myself, I reckon it was the goddess Celestia-"

"But that's impossible! It couldn't have been her!"

"Don't see why not. The Goddess Celestia ain't ever been seen in Mareitania before the rebellion, an' hasn't been seen since."

"What happened to Celes- to the alicorn?"

"Ah, well. The Duke an' Duchess at the time weren't no thickies, but they were cruel. They started rounding up ponies from everywhere and started killing them, saying that the killing wouldn't stop until she surrendered. I don't know why this didn't just give more ponies a reason to fight even harder, but the stories say that she surrendered herself within the hour, unwilling to let so many die. They took her to High Rock keep and she ain't been seen ever since."

"High Rock keep? Where's that?"

Grammaw raised an eyebrow. "Y'know, asking questions like that might give a pony reason to think you're not from round here. High Rock keep is where the Duke and Duchess rule from. Used to be the unicorns capital of Unicornia, back in the old days 'til they gave it up."

Twilight fell into silence, her eyes twitching back and forth as she thought. Celestia couldn't have possibly been the pony leading that rebellion, otherwise she probably would have told her. Probably being the operative word, Celestia did have an over fondness for secrets. One thing was for certain, she needed to talk to her, and soon.

"Is there somewhere I could find out more about this? Like a library or something?"

"A library? Hah! No such thing. The Duke an' Duchess don't like the common pony knowing too much in case it gives them ideas like 'why do we let these inbred bastards treat us like crap?' An' even if there were libraries in Mareitania, you wouldn't find anything about the rebellion in it. All talk and writings on the rebellion was banned, in case it incited more rebellion. It only survives as stories, passed down from generation to generation. If there was anything written down about it, it'd be in the keep, where nopony can get it."

"But surely there must be records of it somewhere besides High Rock keep?"

Grammaw hummed and hawed for a bit before speaking again. "There might be one place, but it’s as much a story as what you're trying to find out about. There's a legend that in the caverns there's some kind of dog like people. Now these dog people have something there called the long story, or somethin' like that, an' it's meant to be like the history of time or somewhat. Apparently these dogs are a studious bunch and take great pains to record everything that happens around them, which I find odd since they live underground and probably don't see much of what goes on aboveground. Anyway if that place is real, what you want would probably be written down there."

Twilight sighed, chasing down a story with another story doesn't sound like a good method of research. But if push came to shove it might be all she had. "What caverns might those be if I happen be near them?"

"'What caverns' she says, the caverns! Famously explored by some feller with a beard."

That got Twilight's attention. "Starswirl the Bearded! They must be the Caverns of Mareitania!"

"Or as we in Mareitania call them, the caverns. You know, if you're gonna travel around this country all incognito like, then you really had better learn some place names and stuff. Might make you a lot less obvious."

Twilight lowered her head in defeat. "I know, I know. All this sneaking and lying and...and...stuff, doesn't come naturally to me. Please don't tell anyone, I'm begging you."

"Ah don't worry about me, your ole Grammaw's as tight lipped as they get, which made me popular with the stallions back in the day I can tell you." she said, chuckling as Twilight shuddered. "Tell me, where do all you prudes come from and why you all here?"

"We've come from Equestria an-"

"Equestria!? Its real!?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Of course it’s real. You do trade with us, a little bit anyway."

"Well blow me down. An alicorn from Equestria... No pony would believe me even if I told 'em! So why you here? You here to cast the evil duchy down? To bring freedom and justice to all?"

"I don't know about that. We're just doing a little fact finding."

Grammaw slumped, making Twilight feel a little guilty about lying. "Well that's a crying shame. ’Bout time somepony came and set this place right."

"Someday maybe."

"Yeah..." Grammaw suddenly yawned and finished looking like she was a week past her bedtime. "You've certainly given a mare a lot to think about, that's for sure. I can assure you your secrets safe with me. Anyway I'm off to bed. G'night."

"Goodnight Grammaw." Twilight waited as Grammaw headed upstairs and didn't move until she heard her bedroom door shut. Soon as it did she deflated and rested her head on the arm of the sofa. "I am so stupid. I can fight armies of changelings and deal with chaos spirits but can't lie to an old lady. At least I didn't tell her I'm a princess too; who knows what she might have thought of that." She looked over to where her saddlebags were stashed, thinking that she ought to talk to Celestia. Floating the speaker stone out of her bag, she held it between her hooves and was about to activate it when she remembered what time of day it was.

"Celestia's probably in bed and I bet Luna knows even less about it than I do. Figures." Sighing irritably she put the stone back in her bag, recast her wings invisibility spell, and rolled over, trying to get comfy. "A country without libraries... I think I now officially hate this place."

6. The waiting game

Twilight awoke with a snort, sending various items falling off her in all directions. Blinking a few times, she raised her head to see Trixie pouting at her.

"You just cost me twenty bits. I hope you're happy."

"What? How?"

Fleur giggled as she trotted towards Twilight, carrying a tray in her magic. "Trixie bet me she could stack more than ten items on you before you woke up. She only got to seven."

"Oh. I'm glad me sleeping is so amusing to you."

"We got to get our kicks somewhere." Fleur said cheerfully as she passed the tray to Twilight. "Nothing fancy, just bread and jam."

"Thanks." Twilight said before digging in. As she sat there Fleur started to tidy up around the house, which seemed to perplex Trixie.

"Why are you cleaning? This isn't your house."

"Clearly you have never lived on the good graces of others Trixie."

"And you have?"

"Sure. I may have spent most of my young life living on the streets, but once I got to Equestria that didn't really work. I ended up travelling around a lot before being taken in by a nice couple in Manehatten, where I was talent spotted to be a model by Prim Hemline. But until that happened I did my best to not abuse their generosity, just as I don't want to abuse the generosity of Grammaw who took us in, took care of Octavia, gave us somewhere to sleep and fed us for no benefit to herself at all."

"Ok ok, sheesh."

Twilight swallowed hurriedly, almost choking as she did so. "Where is Grammaw?" she managed to say once she had recovered, helped by Trixie enthusiastically smacking her on the back.

"Out." Fleur replied, "Said something about 'confronting the rumours that pillock Stump has probably spread.'"

"Ooooo...I hope that means what she says it means."

"And what does that mean?" Trixie asked, arching an eyebrow.

"It means she knows I'm an alicorn,"

"What!?" Trixie and Fleur shouted in unison.

"and she knows we're from Equestria,"

"What!?"

"and that we're on some kind of mission, thankfully I managed to hide what kind of mission from her."

"Twilight!" Fleur cried, exasperated; "Just what were you two talking about last night!?"

"I'm sorry ok! It started out that she knew I had wings, you'll have to ask her yourselves how, but she knew. She then went on to say that the last alicorn seen in Mareitania was four hundred years ago, leading some big rebellion."

"That can't be true," Fleur said with a frown; "when I heard the stories I was told it was Celestia that led the rebellion, but obviously that wasn't true. I thought the entire thing was just made up after I went to Equestria and found out Celestia is a princess there. That's why I never bothered to tell anypony."

Twilight nodded. "Grammaw thought it was Celestia too, and I didn't do anything to correct her."

"Trixie has no idea what you’re talking about..."

"Oh...right."

-0-0-0-

"Huh." was Trixie's reaction once they finished recounting the story to her. "Trixie is confused though, how could a white alicorn that looked suspiciously like Celestia have led this rebellion if the white alicorn that actually is Celestia has never set hoof in Mareitania."

"Exactly." Twilight agreed. "That's what I was trying to find out. I asked Grammaw if there was some kind of written history about it, but apparently the Duke at the time banned all writings on it. If it is written down it's in High Rock Keep, which is when Grammaw got suspicious of me because I had no idea what that was."

"It's where the rulers live, even Trixie knows that."

"Well I didn't, ok? Anyway, Grammaw said the only other place it might be recorded is in 'the caverns.'" she said with hoof quotes; "How was I supposed to know that by 'the caverns' she meant the caverns of Maretania?"

Fleur facehooved. "Twilight, places in countries are rarely named after the country their in."

"I know. I'm no good at this secrets and lies thing, and acting like I know something when I don't is totally alien to me. I mean I'm trying, but this really isn't something I'm used to. Anyway, Grammaw said that in the caverns there's some kind of dog people, by which I guess she means diamond dogs; and that they keep a record of everything that they call the long story."

"Oh. That." Fleur shook her head. "I wouldn't pay any attention to something like that. The long story is just that, a story. Our time would be better spent on things that definitely exist."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not saying we should rush off to the caverns, but should we happen to be near them it might be worth having a look."

"Ok, I suppose so. But what are we going to do in the meantime?"

"Wait until Octavia's better mostly. Right now though I'm going to go check on her, then have a little talk with Celestia."

-0-0-0-

Twilight cracked open the door to Octavia's room and looked down at where Octavia lay sprawled in front of the fire, and was faintly surprised to see Octavia looking back at her.

"You're pretty. A big pretty princess." Octavia said, looking like she was proud of herself for saying so.

"That's...well...thank you Octavia, but you know you're not meant to talk about that."

"A pretty pretty princess, with wings! Pretty pretty wings..."

"Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

"Thirsty."

"Okey dokey..." She spotted a pitcher of water and a glass on the bedside table and set about filling the glass before she spent a few moments thinking about how she was going to do this. In the end she picked Octavia up so that she was leaning back in the crook of her leg, doing her best to not squirm at the fact that Octavia was dripping with sweat.

Holding the glass to Octavia's mouth with her magic she let her drink until the glass was empty, and was about to put her down when Octavia mumbled "More." So she repeated the process just for Octavia to ask for more again. Repeating the process a third time, she was relieved when Octavia didn't say more, and that she was able to put her down.

"Twilight?"

"Yes Octavia?" Twilight said, fully expecting to get a thank you or another comment about being a pretty princess.

"I need to pee."

"For crying out loud..." She looked under the bed where a chamber pot was waiting for just such an occasion, and pulled it out, giving it a cursory glance because she'd rather not think about what she was about to do.

"This is so wrong."

-0-0-0-

Twilight pushed the chamber pot back under the bed, where she hoped she could never have to see it again. She sat down next to Octavia and was about to ask if there was anything else she needed when she noticed Octavia had fallen asleep again. A strange feeling came over her then, a feeling that she could only describe as parental concern, and she felt oddly compelled to stroke Octavia's mane. "Is this how Celestia feels all the time?"

Shaking the feeling off she clambered onto the bed and teleported the speaker stone up from her bags downstairs before pressing her horn to it and activating it.

"Hello? Twilight? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Princ- Celestia."

"And Trixie?"

"Trixie's fine too."

"Oh thank goodness, I've been worrying since we last talked."

"Sorry, I would have got in contact sooner but we've been a little busy, what with the breakout and escaping Stalliongrad and Octavia falling ill and all that."

"Falling ill? You mean she got worse?"

"Yeah, we had to leave Stalliongrad in a hurry as you probably know, and she insisted on coming with us. She collapsed and we had to get her somewhere safe. Long story short we carried her to the village of Hoof-Ridge where we've taken shelter with an elderly mare who's taking care of her."

"I see. This mission doesn't seem to be getting off to a good start. I hope she gets better soon."

Twilight sighed and shook her head, forgetting that Celestia couldn't see her. "I know what you mean, but we're not giving up. Actually there's something I want to ask you."

"Of course Twilight, anything."

"Did you happen to lead a rebellion here in Mareitania about four hundred years ago?"

"I- what?"

"Did you lead a rebel-"

"No no, I understood you Twilight. It's just that question was a bit surprising. I can assure you I have never led a rebellion anywhere, let alone somewhere I have’t even been. Where did you even get that ridiculous notion?"

"Grammaw, the mare we're staying with, said that there was a rebellion led by a big white alicorn about four hundred years ago. She thought it was you but I thought it best to ask you and make sure it wasn't you before I put my hoof in my mouth even more than I already have."

"Put your hoof in your- Twilight, is there something you should tell me?"

"Grammaw knows I'm an alicorn."

"What? How? Did you tell her?"

"No, she guessed. She can sense magic in others and apparently alicorns make a bit more of an impression than unicorns. She confronted me about it, and she is a hard lady to keep secrets from."

"Oh Twilight... Did you tell her anything else?"

"She figured out we're not around here since she kept talking about places that a proper Mareitanian would know about. But she has promised to keep it a secret and shared a secret of her own with me so I do believe she's being genuine."

"You need to be more careful Twilight. You can't risk exposing your secret in case the wrong ponies find out."

"I know, and I will be, but you know how bad I am at lying."

"I always thought it was one of your more endearing qualities." Twilight could hear the affection in her voice as she said that. "Do you have anything else you wish to ask me? If so make it quick since I'm in court with a large collection of ponies watching me talk to a rock."

"Do you know of anything or anyone that could fit Grammaw's description of the pony that led the rebellion."

"Only one, but she's from stories that were old when I was just a child. The Lady of the North."

"Who's that?"

"I'm not sure, she has many descriptions and all of them are different, except for being a big white alicorn. Some of them call her a goddess, others call her the first alicorn. There are others that say she birthed the sun and the moon. I'm not sure whether they meant me and my sister, or the actual sun and moon when they say that, since one of those is preposterous and the other simply untrue; Princess Platinum was our mother."

"She was? Really?"

"Yes, and I know you'll have questions about that, but I'm afraid they're going to have to wait because I really must be going. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help Twilight."

"You've told me all I needed to know for now Celestia. I'll be in touch soon. Bye." There was a fizzle from the stone as the spell ended. "Princess Platinum was their mother..." she said quietly to herself; "How about that."

-0-0-0-

"The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know...do you have any fours?"

"Nope. Go fish."

When Twilight went back downstairs she found that Fleur and Trixie were playing go fish, a past time that she had no wish to join in on. "Got any news?" Fleur asked her once she had robbed Trixie of all her queens.

"Other than Celestia didn't lead the rebellion, no, not really. She said the only other individual that matched that already vague description is someone called the Lady of the North. Do you know anything about her?"

"The Lady? She's like a religious icon to a lot of ponies around here. Like zebras and others from foreign countries treat Celestia like a goddess and the living avatar of the sun, ponies in Mareitania treat the Lady like that. Always thought it was a bit silly myself."

"Is that all you know?"

"Pretty much; the stories used to say she was our protector, and that she kept eternal vigil from the horrors in the north. That is until she disappeared. Shortly after that, apparently the windigos came and the exodus happened."

"Trixie is getting pretty sick of vague and unhelpful stories. All I want is somepony to say 'go there and it'll all make sense.' All this stuff about rebellions, ladies and long stories doesn't help us do what we came to do."

Twilight wanted to argue, but Trixie couldn't have been more right, which irked her for some reason. "You're right. Once Octavia's better we'll pack up and head to Prance like we planned, and get to doing what we're supposed to be doing. Anything else is just a distraction."

"Nothing wrong with the occasional distraction Twilight." Fleur said without taking her eyes off her cards; "If we happen to be near something that one of us wants to look at I see nothing wrong with doing so."

"I know, I just feel like all we've done so far is get into trouble and run away a lot. It'd be nice to feel like we're making progress."

"It’s not even been a week yet. Give it time."

Twilight took a cleansing breath and was about to say something when there was a muffled thump and some cursing from the front door. She got up and opened the door to see Grammaw lying spread-eagle on the ground. "Well don't just stand there gawking, help me up!"

Twilight picked her up in her magic and floated her inside. "Are you hurt?"

"Naw I'm fine, just some dang fool hooligans chucked some water outside my door. Happens everytime I helps a unicorn, and yet, when they come to my door needing help its always 'oooh Grammaw, I don't feel well,' or 'help me Grammaw, I was careless at work and chopped me leg off with an axe.' Ungrateful bastards."

The three ponies shared a look. "And what about those rumours?" Fleur asked.

"Just the usual stuff; Grammaw's a filthy unicorn lover and she's been bewitched to do their bidding, while at the same time demanding payment in blood for helping you, 'cause I'm a witch and witches apparently do that sort of thing." She spat into the fireplace, "A pox on the lot of them, 'cept they'd probably expect me to fix 'em up after."

"And Stump?"

"Him? He went to the pub, got pissed, fell on some ice, broke his leg and got frost bite on his privates 'cause he lay down in the snow too long. What'd ya think took me so long this morning?"

"Really?" they all asked in unison.

"Naw, but it'd be nice if it did, the bastard. Di'nt spread no nasty rumours, which is a pleasant change; guess you girls musta made a good impression. Anyhoo, one of you go get me something hot to drink." Fleur did so, being the most courteous of them, as Grammaw made herself comfy in her armchair.

Twilight pulled herself up onto the sofa near Grammaw while Trixie looked through Fleur's cards and groaned. "Grammaw, what do you know about the Lady of the North?"

"That old story? Nothin' but a load of old hokum. You pay no nevermind to what anypony says about her, she disappeared centuries upon centuries ago, and she ain't coming back."

"Oh, so you're not one of those who pray to her?"

"Pray to her? What for? I could pray for deliverance like some folk, but they're never very specific 'bout where they're being delivered from and too. "B'sides, open worship of her is against the law, since prayin' t' somethin' with wings an' a horn don't work well with the idea of earth pony superiority. Thanks." she said to Fleur, who passed her and the rest of them a mug of something hot and steaming. "Now I don't want to hear no more talk about this, it’s my 'ouse an' I don't need no Lady to deliver me from it."

"But you called Celestia a goddess last night."

"That's 'cause she's real. I can believe in things that are real."

Trixie clasped her hooves under her chin. "It’s talk like this that makes me understand why Princess Luna did what she did a thousand years ago. Where's the love for Luna?"

"Who's Luna?"

-0-0-0-

The rest of the day passed largely without incident. It had taken them a while to explain who Luna was, although they may have omitted that Luna was Celestia's sister; and may have left Grammaw with the impression that Luna was the sole ruler of Equestria. And that she definitely wasn't the reason the sun disappeared for a while a couple of years ago, despite her being in charge of the moon. Overall they might as well have said that she was Celestia's immortal pet cat for all the difference it made to Grammaw. Twilight had threatened to throw Trixie off the roof if she mentioned Princess Cadence as well.

After that they spent most of the day doing very little, apart from the hour they spent hiding upstairs while Grammaw had tea with an elderly stallion, which had left the three ponies wishing they could bleach their brains because of the amount of smutty jokes and rampant flirting that was going on.

After that they sat around some more, with Grammaw offering to teach them strip poker; a game where everypony wins as far as she was concerned. They declined her offer to teach them, the least reason of which being that they weren’t wearing clothes.

Finally the evening came around, with a whole day spent doing nothing which made Twilight feel restless for some reason. Normally she solved most of her problems in a day or two, and sitting around here was making her feel like a bit of a failure. She also missed her friends.

Just as she was about to start wallowing in abject misery, there was a creak from the door to Octavia's room followed by steady hoof steps on the stairs. All of them watched the stairs with rapt attention, rather than get up and help, which means they were unable to do anything as Octavia got to the fifth step from the bottom and tripped on the blanket she had wrapped around herself.

"Ow." she said once she had gracelessly slid to the floor, her rear still resting on the stairs.

Jumping into action, by means of not moving a muscle but rather using her magic; Twilight picked Octavia up and floated her over to the sofa and sat her next to herself. "Are you okay?"

"By dose hurts a bid now." Octavia said before rubbing it with a hoof, causing it to create a rather disconcerting crunching sound. "Just ab I was darting to feel bedder."

"Better? Already? That was quick."

"That's earth pony constitution for ya, nothing like it." said Grammaw before she bustled over and placed the front of a hoof on Octavia's forehead. "Temperatures still a lil high, but give it another twenty four hours an' you'll be right as rain."

Twilight lit her horn and a glow encompassed Octavia's nose, making her yelp in pain. When the glow faded Octavia sniffed and said in a more normal sounding voice "You really need to tell ponies when you're going to do stuff like that Twilight."

"Sorry, did it help though?"

"My nose no longer hurts and I no longer sound quite so ridiculous, so yes, it did. Thank you. Also, I'm sorry about this morning, I-"

"Don't mention it."

"But I-"

"Really. Don't mention it."

"Oookay then. So...who's the nice mare? And what's happened while I've been out of it?"

-0-0-0-

"So you've sat here doing nothing, while at the same time have managed to give away most of our secrets. Wow. Bravo ladies."

Trixie harrumphed indignantly. "That's some cheek coming from somepony who spent a day and a half just lying on a floor. Do you even remember getting here? Because I do, and I had to spend four hours in the snow, loading firewood into a cart for it to happen."

Fleur shushed Trixie, who proceeded to fold her legs and go into a sulk. "Ignore her Octavia. Yes we haven't done much because our options were very limited until you got better. Frankly dragging a feverish and delirious pony around in the snow isn't a very good idea."

"Granted, but you could've...I don't know...done some fact finding or something?"

"Not a lot of facts to find in a tiny village in the middle of a forest."

"Village in the middle of a forest? You mean we're not in Prance? Huh, I must have been truly out of it to miss that."

Twilight glanced at Trixie who had gone from sulking to pouting at the wall before pulling the map out of her bag and passing it to Octavia, taking care to highlight where they were. "We're about quarter of the way to Prance, we think, and it’s going to take us a couple of days walking to get there. Add to that the time it's going to take 'til you're one hundred percent and...well...we're in no rush, let’s put it that way."

"Actually," Grammaw chimed in; "ya might not have to walk it. The traders caravan comes in tomorrow and ya might be able t' barter passage on it. Least until Octavia's well enough to walk."

"But what about the whole 'almost everypony hates unicorns' thing," huffed Trixie; "he might take one look at us and decide to...I don't know...something bad anyway."

"Not everypony hates unicorn," Grammaw chided; "besides you're only bartering passage fer Octavia so she don't have to walk, an' she's an earth pony so no problem there. The rest of ya will have to hoof it, but lots o' travellers walk with the trade caravans fer the protection."

"Protection?" Trixie piped up, alarmed. "As in guards? Because that might not be such a good idea."

"Why? You not in trouble are ya?"

"Not significantly no," said Fleur; "we might have run into a little...inconvenience...in Stalliongrad and they might be interested in asking us a few questions."

"Yeah," muttered Trixie; "like where we would like them to shove our horns once they cut them off..."

Twilight and Fleur looked to their own horns, which were considerably bigger than Trixie's. "I think we have more reason to worry about that than you." commented Fleur.

"Are you saying my horn's small?" No one answered but they all gave small, almost imperceptible nods.

"A little dehorning never hurt nopony," Grammaw said with a sniff; "at least nopony who had to do it anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Trixie cried before Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof and shook her head very meaningfully.

"I wouldn't worry about it anyway," Grammaw continued, as if Trixie hadn't said anything; "law enforcement is pretty lazy and doesn't really move outside its jurisdiction, not less you've murdered a buncha earth ponies. Murder a dozen unicorns and they're liable to shake you by the hoof. Anyway what I'm saying is that news of you being wanted prob'ly ain't left Stalliongrad, so as long as ya don't go back there, yer fine."

"You mean I'm not going to be grabbed and dehorned soon as I enter Prance?" Trixie said as she wore a relieved looking grin.

"They might, but not fer the reason ya think. They might just not like the look of ya."

"What!?"

"Heh heh! Don't worry yerself none, I'm just teasing!"

"What kind of sick country is this where the inhabitants make jokes about mutilation and dismemberment?"

"The kind of country where it’s been going on fer centuries and its either laugh or cry. In any case, Prance is pretty laid back compared to Stalliongrad, you'll be fine. Now I'm going to bed, I wanna get up early fer the traders and t' make sure they ain't going to just rob ya fer the fun of it."

"Goodnight." the others chimed.

"I'm going to bed too." Trixie said once Grammaw had departed. "This could be my last chance to sleep in an actual bed for a while and Trixie doesn’t intend to waste it."

"Ok, but you're sharing it with Octavia tonight. I think she should get at least one night in a bed." said Fleur.

"Eww, she's all ill and roasty. And sweaty. Most definitely sweaty."

"Aww, I didn't know you liked cuddling up with me so much Trixie. We can do it again some other time."

"Octavia's fine. Come on Octavia, we're going to bed."

"Oh...ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Octavia, goodnight snugglebunny."

"Shut up Fleur."

There was silence as Trixie and Octavia headed upstairs. "I like Trixie; she's so much fun to tease." Fleur said once they were gone.

"But you don't like her that much right...I mean you weren't being serious?" Twilight asked, demonstrating her obliviousness to emotion.

"Why? You jealous?" Fleur said with a wink, before giggling at Twilights' flustered look. "You girls are too easy. No I don't like you, Trixie or Octavia in that way, so you don't need to worry."

"Saving yourself for Fancypants?"

"Actually Fancypants and I aren't dating, it’s all a publicity stunt."

"A publicity stunt? Really? Why would you pretend to go out then?"

"Because from a business point of view we look good together, Canterlots richest philanthropist and its hottest model. It'd be a match made in heaven if he wasn't a closet homosexual and if I had any interest in him in that way. Don't get me wrong, we've been friends for several years and I do care for him a lot, but it’s not love, not even close."

"Oh. I see. So are you allowed to see other ponies or are you..."

"Celibate? Oh no, he has his lover that he sees in secret and as for me, I'm currently between stallions. Unofficial stallions anyway."

"Oh, ok. Well I guess we should...uh, go to bed or something..." Twilight said, not feeling particularly comfortable with where this conversation might go.

"Wow Twilight, you really know how to give a girl an invitation. Too bad I'm not that type of girl."

"What!? No! I mean we should go to bed. To sleep! We should go to bed to...uh...sleep. Yes, sleep." Fleur leaned toward Twilight and looked her straight in the eye, her own eyes half lidded.

"Twilight..." she said in a voice that would make anyone go weak at the knees and stand to attention at the same time (if applicable).

"Yes Fleur?" Twilight said in a voice that had more cracks in than a broken mirror.

Fleur said nothing but leaned in a little closer, before suddenly darting in the rest of the way and licking Twilight on the end of her nose. "Goodnight Twilight!" she said gleefully before extinguishing the lamps with her magic and making herself comfortable on the sofa.

Twilight pressed a hoof to her nose, stunned by the sudden change of pace. "G-goodnight Fleur." she squeaked before trying to make herself comfy.

"Twilight?"

"Y-yes Fleur?"

"If you tell anypony Fancypants’ is gay, I'll kill you."

"Right."

"And if you tell anypony it was me that told you, I'll make it slow and painful."

"Gotcha."

"Oh, and Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"No touching yourself in the night, I don't want to hear it and you might accidentally kick me."

"...!"

"Goodnight Twilight."

7. Moving on slowly

Twilight stretched and fluttered her eyelids open, promptly panicking at the giant yellowy white blob that consumed most of her vision. Quickly pulling it off and inspecting it, it turned out to be a piece of paper that had been stabbed onto her horn. She pulled it off and read what it said.

Must been having good dreams because you kicked me a lot. Breakfast is at 8 - Fleur X.

"Urrrgh...I really don't know how to deal with this." She crumpled the paper up and threw it in the fire before turning her attention to the sound of singing coming from the kitchen.

"Winter wrap up, winter wrap up! Let’s finish our holiday cheer! Winter wrap up, winter wrap up! For tomorrow spring is here, tomorrow spring is here!"

Twilight looked out of the window where a light sprinkling of snow was falling. Clearly somepony's feeling ironic today, she thought as she dragged herself off the sofa and headed into the kitchen where Fleur was making pancakes, singing, and dancing, all at the same time. "You seem awfully cheerful for somepony who was up half the night being kicked."

Fleur didn't even stop dancing as she answered Twilight. "I know right? It's weird but I just can't help it. I think I'm just happy to be getting back on the road at last. I don't suppose you could go wake the others up? I don't want them to miss breakfast. Oh, and Grammaw's already gone, so no need to wake her up."

Twilight nodded and exited the kitchen, heading upstairs to the room Octavia and Trixie were sharing. She knocked gently and waited a few seconds for a response off one of them before entering, just in case. When she entered she was met by the patient look of Octavia, who lay there as unmoving as a stone as Trixie draped herself over her, snoring like the friendship express.

"Turns out Fleur wasn't joking, she is a snuggler. Please help me." she pleaded, giving Twilight her best puppy eyes.

Twilight couldn't help but grin as she used her magic to prise Trixie's legs from around Octavia, making sure to be careful so as to not wake her. She kept grinning as she and Octavia headed back down to the kitchen where she rummaged around looking for two reasonably sized pans. The grin she wore as she headed back upstairs would have been worthy of several notable villains.

She leaned on the side of the bed and positioned the pans over Trixie's head, in the position for the most optimal of rude wake up calls, and bashed them together, repeatedly and vigorously.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!

"WAAH!" Trixie screamed as she thrashed about in panic, doing her best to cover her ears.

"GOOD MORNING TRIXIE!" Twilight shouted just to add to the confusion.

"Stop stop stop!" Trixie cried, thrashing one leg at the pans as the other moved from covering one ear to wrapping over her head and covering both ears. Twilight stopped and stood there waiting as Trixie recovered from her ordeal. "Twilight! Why would you do that?"

"That? That was because I thought you needed to wake up.”

“Because I needed to wa- Twilight! You could have just poked me or spoke to me or something!”

“Oh I know that, but you got to factor in what you did to me yesterday morning.”

"Oh yeah...that."

"A third and additional idea is that it's time to get up since Fleur's made breakfast and we have stuff to do, and I’ve practiced on waking sleepy baby dragons so my methods might be a bit much for waking the average pony."

Trixie pulled the cover over her head, “Can’t you just bring breakfast up to me?” she whined.

“No. Get up.”

Trixie grumbled as she rolled out of bed and followed Twilight down to the kitchen, although her tone quickly changed when Fleur danced over to her and dropped a plate covered in pancakes in front of her. She took a deep breath and dived in, gorging until she had to come up for air. "When did you become such a good cook Fleur? I really don't think it’s a skill you'd pick up living rough."

"Wow Trixie; that was so nicely phrased I might just have to ignore you out of sheer amazement despite the fact it was technically a compliment." Fleur gave Trixie a dirty look whilst Trixie had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. "If you must know, I learnt while I was living in Manehatten and pancakes happen to be something I excel at."

Octavia cleared her throat, hoping to give the impression that Trixie should shut up before Trixie got the snot kicked out of her. "I know this is probably obvious to everypony else, but what exactly are we going to do when we get to Prance? I'm only asking because we seem to have this overarching goal of getting to Prance without having mentioned our goals once we get there." She looked expectantly at Twilight, who looked hopefully at Fleur, who ignored Trixie and looked back at the other two with something approaching incredulity.

"I don't... I don't know." Twilight admitted, taking care to dodge the small spray of pancake that came from Trixie as she said that. "Celestia and Fleur have said we should all go to Prance, but haven't said what we'll do once we get there. I was hoping you'd have an idea Fleur."

"Me? I was just saying that we ought to go to Prance because it’s the nearest city to Stalliongrad. Stalliongrad of course being a Luna damned hell hole."

Silence descended on the table, except for Trixie who was masticating furiously. She swallowed and was about to yell at somepony when they heard the front door open.

"You lot in here?" yelled Grammaw.

"We're in the kitchen Grammaw." Fleur replied at a more reasonable volume. Grammaw came into the kitchen looking like she had caught a foal with their hoof in the cookie jar.

"You know how you said you might have been in a spot of bother with the guards back in Stalliongrad?" she asked, giving them all a beady eye. "Would ya mind elaboratin' on that a lil bit?"

"What!? Why!?" shouted Trixie in a panic, "Don't tell me the guards are here! They're gonna dehorn me aren't they!? I don't wanna be dehor-hor-hor-horned!"

"Aww quit yer bellyaching girl, the guards ain't here and you ain't getting dehorned. I only asked 'cause some of the traders were telling a rather fantastical tale about how a blue unicorn was saved from dehornin' by the valiant actions of two other heroic unicorns that swooped in, fought off fifty guards and made off with the mare. At least I'm assuming it was made off with the mare, making out with the mare just don't make a lick of sense."

There was an awkward silence in the room that was broken when Trixie muttered something that sounded a lot like "Oh fuck me with a wire brush," which earned her some funny and disgusted looks which she either missed or ignored. "I have to say though, fifty guards? That's a bit over the top, there were seven or eight at the most."

"So yer not denyin' it?"

"Why should we?"

"Because we're trying to remain incognito?" said Fleur, who had to restrain herself from smacking Trixie around the back of the head. "Or maybe because Twilight might have incurred their displeasure by tearing their guillotine into itty bitty chunks? Or perhaps because we actually might be in legitimate trouble for pulling such a stunt?"

"Oh, right. Grammaw? What are the odds now on us getting into Prance and not instantly being arrested?"

"Accordin' to the traders the guards seem to think you're still in Stalliongrad, so I'm willing to bet news ain't gone that far. Besides you're the only one with a description, that of you being a blue unicorn, and those ain't 'xactly uncommon. Your mysterious rescuers are just that, and as for Octavia I'd give good odds they wouldn't even look at her twice."

"See Fleur, we'll be fine."

"You know Trixie, I used to think pairs of short planks were pretty thick. Then I met you and now they look positively scholarly." Fleur emitted a short, irritable sigh. "There goes my good mood."

Trixie was about to protest when Twilight shoved an entire pancake in her mouth. "Enough Trixie. Grammaw, I'm sorry we lied to you about that, but we really didn't think ponies should know. I bet those traders are already calling for a witch hunt on unicorns."

"Not at all." Grammaw said, taking in their expressions of surprise; "Folks around here might not have the greatest of love fer unicorns, but they do like it when folk stand up fer the little ponies;"

Trixie folded her legs with a huff, "Trixie's not little...she's just...petit."

"You ain't wanted criminals, you're folk heroes!" This didn't get the reaction she was expecting. It didn't get much reaction at all. At first anyway.

"Trixie?"

"Yes Fleur?"

"Room on that brush for two?"

"You're joking right? This is great! We should totally do more stuff like this, and I totally volunteer Twilight to be the damsel in distress; maybe somepony might even write a folk ballad about us! Think about it, the Great and Powerful Trixie and her Boon Companions taking on the bad guys wherever we go. Ooh, Octavia should definitely get in on writing the ballad; just make sure it’s folksy, with lots of banjos and stuff.

"I'm a classically trained cellist, not some rustic fiddler with more teeth than brain cells and more jugs of moonshine than either. If you want that sort of thing you should talk to my cousin Fiddly Faddle; that would very much be her thing.”

Fleur arched an eyebrow, "Wow Octavia, even for a Canterlot pony that was pretty offensive." she said.

"What's being a Canterlot pony got to do with it Fleur? I don't like country music and composing a ‘folk ballad’ is completely out of the question."

Twilight shook her head as the other three fell into a petty argument. It was only when Grammaw nudged her in the side that she was able to tear herself away.

"Do ponies from Equestria argue about silly things a lot?"

"In Equestria some ponies take their music very, very seriously. I mean, as a nation we are prone to spontaneously burst into synchronized musical numbers at any time.” She sighed and looked Grammaw squarely in the eye; “Do you really think we can get away with travelling freely?"

Grammaw scratched her chin as she thought, dislodging a few loose hairs. "Hmmm... You, Fleur an' Octavia can probably get away with it. Until you're in Prance and you know a bit more, Trixie is the risky one, especially since she wouldn't know subtlety if it snuck up behind her and lovingly whispered 'surprise' in her ear. However, I may have a solution, an' it warms my old heart to know that Trixie is probably gonna hate it with a passion."

-0-0-0-

"No! Absolutely not! I refuse and you can't make me!" An half hour had passed since Grammaw had explained her plan to Twilight, and had gone down to the basement to begin preparations for it; that left Twilight with the unenviable task of joining in with the petty argument whilst not trying to snigger.

When Grammaw had reemerged from the basement it hadn't taken much convincing to get the others to all go down there if it meant Trixie had a chance to not get them all arrested. Of course it had backfired soon enough because Trixie had indeed hated the idea.

"Come on Trixie, it’s not permanent and severely reduces the chances of you being shortened by three inches."

"Trixie's horn is bigger than that! And there is no way I am letting you dye Trixie's coat black, I'd rather be dehorned!"

"It won't dye yer coat black, more like a dark grey like Octavia's; in fact you could pass fer sisters since yer eyes are practically the same colour." said Grammaw as she stirred an old tin bath filled with a smelly black substance.

"Well that's just as ba-" Trixie managed to catch herself, giving a guilty look to Octavia, who gave a cool look back. "Well it’s not that bad, but my mane and tail will get dyed too, and my cutie mark; I'll look like an all grey, blank flank weirdo!"

"Actually Trixie, no you won’t. I'm going to use my magic so your mane, tail and cutie mark won't get dyed. It’s just the blue we're changing."

“Oh well, that’s great! Hey, since we all have purple eyes why don’t we all dye our coats and look like and big family of sisters!”

"What do you think Octavia?" said Fleur, who was sat next to Octavia in front of the stairs that led back upstairs, surreptitiously blocking Trixie's exit. She was also sporting a rather malicious grin. "Do you think she'll look better grey, or without a horn?"

"I don't know Fleur," replied Octavia, who quickly caught on to what Fleur was doing, and who also was now grinning maliciously; "personally I'd be horrified to share a coat colour with a unicorn that has such a stumpy little horn. Maybe she would be better off without it..."

"My horn is not stumpy! And I am not dying my coat! Let’s just go back upstairs and think of a new plan." She made to leave but was stopped when a purple glow stuck her hooves to the floor.

"Trixie," said Twilight, who was suddenly a lot more serious; "if you get arrested, we all get arrested with me and Fleur getting dehorned right alongside you. I'm sorry to do this but I'm not giving you a choice." Suddenly she picked Trixie up in her magic and held over the tin bath. "You might want to close your eyes and hold your breath."

"Twilig-!" Twilight dunked her into the bath with a splash, sending a wave of charcoal coloured liquid slopping over the edge. She held her under for a few seconds before letting her back up for a breath and pushing her under again, trying to get an even dye. This went on for many minutes, to the accompaniment of a stream of swear words and threats of violence from Trixie. Eventually she lifted Trixie out and set her of the floor where she stood dripping and shivering, though if it was from cold or sheer rage Twilight couldn't tell.

Once enough liquid had dripped off Twilight used a spell to dry her, figuring that Grammaw couldn't give a damn about her using magic at this point. Once she was done she was left looking at a very convincing dark grey unicorn, with a silvery mane and tail, and a blue magic wand cutie mark.

"Trixie, I'm sorry I had to do that." said Twilight, unable to look Trixie in the eye. "It was for your own good."

Trixie lowered her head dangerously, "Go to hell. All of you." she spat before pushing past Octavia and Fleur and going upstairs, leaving the others in a very awkward silence which made it easier to hear the occasional sob from Trixie.

Fleur scuffed a hoof on the floor; "That suddenly got a lot less fun very quickly." she said before nudging Octavia. "Let’s go pack our things, I think it’s time we went."

Twilight watched them go before sitting down with a thump and hanging her head. "I shouldn't have done that. I should have convinced her that it was the best and only way to avoid being caught."

Twilight felt a hoof press on her shoulder. "She'll forgive you in time, hopefully once you give her this." Grammaw said before passing Twilight a pouch of white powder.

"What is it?"

"It’s a little something I cooked up to wash dye out of me fur when I've got some on me. A few minutes of scrubbing in a tub with that stuff and she'll be back to her mostly blue self. It should start to wear off in a couple of weeks anyway, 'specially if she gets rained on a lot. Now get yerself upstairs and packed, I think it’s long past time you three were on the move."

-0-0-0-

The four ponies had packed their things and were now heading, with a miserable Trixie trailing several meters behind them; through Hoof-Ridge to where the traders were set up outside the village in a clearing in forest, opposite to the way they had arrived. It also gave them the first opportunity to look around the village, which was odd since they had been there best part of three days.

Twilight was surprised, the village was wider than she had first thought; her hasty trudge through the snow in the dark with a desperately ill Octavia on her back hadn't been the best time for sightseeing. Rather than one row of houses on either side of a road, there were two or three rows running parallel, the plateau being wider than she had first suspected.

There was also life happening, with ponies going to and fro from shops and houses, laughing and joking and just appearing to be happy with their lot. The only downside was what Fleur had first pointed out to her in Stalliongrad; the villages inhabitants was exclusively earth ponies, several of which were giving her and her companions the stink-eye.

"Weird isn't it," Fleur whispered to her; "it’s like they've never seen a unicorn before, and yet instantly decided they're not to be trusted." Twilight couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"I find it weird that their looking at me like that too," Octavia whispered in her other ear; "'an earth pony willingly associating with unicorns? How awful!'" she said mockingly.

Thankfully they soon descended into where the traders had set up, and were led by Grammaw to a cart that appeared to be selling all sorts of miscellaneous junk, from spice racks to slightly used horseshoes. It was run by a peachy-orangey coloured earth pony stallion with brown hair and a rusty spoon cutie mark who was introduced to them as Bric. Shortly afterwards they were introduced to his brother Brac, identical in every way except the rusty spoon faced the other way around, there was a goatee on his chin and a horn on his forehead.

"How do folks! Grammaw tells us you're looking for a means of transportation to the wonderful paradise that is Prance!" said Bric.

"And that you're willing to pay good money to get it!" added Brac.

Twilight looked at the others, hoping to gauge their feelings on the matter. Fleur nodded towards the brothers and Octavia smiled hopelessly at her. Trixie scowled at her and pawed the ground, which showed her feelings on matters quite adequately. She swallowed and looked back to the brothers who were wearing their best money making grins. "Actually it’s only the one pony," she said, stepping aside so they could see Octavia; "she's been ill lately and isn't really fit enough yet to walk the entire distance."

"And yet what a lovely vision of a pony she is!" said Bric, lifting Octavia's hoof and kissing it. "For the pleasure of transporting such a mare we will do it for the modest price of one hundred marcs."

"You're joking right?" said Trixie with a dangerous tone of voice; "you're going to charge one hundred marcs just so she can sit on your cart while you're pulling it to a place you were going to go anyway? That's daylight robbery!"

Twilight tried to place a hoof on Trixie's shoulder to reassure her, but Trixie shied away, giving Twilight a menacing look. "Trixie, I'm sure these ponies aren't going to rob anypony."

"Indeed not!" said Brac, "That's why it’s a hundred marcs. Protection for your possessions from bandits,"

"Thieves," added Bric;

"And overzealous traders who might get a funny idea about the legitimacy of ponies owning things which they could sell to other ponies,"

"For a very reasonable price."

Trixie gave the two ponies a flat look, "You're talking about yourselves aren't you. You're charging us a hundred marcs so you don't rob us yourselves. I'm pretty sure if we could afford that then we'd be an even more tempting target for you."

Twilight was about to say something in agreement with Trixie about the price when a small sack of coins flew over her head and landed in the snow with a thump, spilling a few coins. "One hundred and twenty marcs if we get to share your fire at night." said Fleur from behind her.

Bric and Brac's eyes lit up at the sight of the coins, "Sold to the beautiful white unicorn standing in the back!" said Bric, as Brac magically swept the loose coins into the sack before floating it out of sight behind his back. "We'll be packed up and ready to go within the hour, and if you're not here then we're going without you."

"No refunds." added Brac.

Twilight and the others left the brothers, who had taken to harassing another pony who had been browsing their wares. "Grammaw, why those two?" she hissed between her teeth.

"’Cause those two are delightfully unbiased when it comes to the whole unicorn thing seeing as how one of them is a unicorn an' all. Besides I've known them a while, heck since they were born seeing as I'm the pony that delivered them; and fer all their bluster they ain't bad ponies."

"And what about you Fleur? You could have at least tried to haggle them down, not given them extra!" Trixie hissed.

Fleur shrugged and bent down to whisper into Trixie's ear. "Half of those marcs were theirs anyway, and it’s not like we earned the rest. And yes I am that quick." she said quietly so only Trixie could hear. Trixie's grin was suitably malicious as Fleur spoke louder so the others could hear, "I'm sure we'll have no problems with those two and the price was probably worth it for the lack of questions asked."

"Maybe..." Twilight said noncommittally, giving Fleur a look that Fleur couldn’t quite decifer; "I don't know, they just reminded me of another pair of twins with a less than salubrious reputation."

"Will you quit worryin', if I says they ain't gonna rob ya then they ain't gonna rob ya! Now there's something else you four are gonna need if you're gonna be traipsing around in the countryside in this weather." Grammaw led them to a stall run by a short, stout cherry coloured mare, whose stall appeared to hold a collection of coats, ropes and other outdoor survival type items. "You still have those things I asked you about this mornin'?" She asked the pony.

The trader eyed Twilight and the others suspiciously before answering. "Yes I do. Four waterproof and insulated sleeping rolls. Those'll be fourty marcs each."

"Fourty?" said Grammaw "This mornin' you said they were twenty marcs each. Would you care to explain to me how they've doubled in price since then, and say it plenty loud 'cause I'm old and therefore senile and hard of hearing."

The trader swallowed nervously, "Well...you see, the thing is...a pony has to make ends meet, and I haven't sold much today and I-uh...well, I'm sure you know how it is..." The pony cowered down behind her wares, wilting under the intensity of Grammaw's glare. "But since you seem like such a nice mare I'll sell them for the old price of twenty marcs each!" she squeaked quickly.

"And it has nothing to do with three of them being unicorns?"

"Nope! Not a thing! I honestly hadn't even noticed!" the trader lied.

"Well that's good!" Grammaw exclaimed, suddenly full of cheer again; "I always thought to myself that here was a genuinely nice pony, willing to help their fellow pony out by not robbing them blind! You heard her girls, twenty marcs each."

Twilight, Trixie and Octavia started to rummage through their saddlebags, looking for the money, when Fleur pulled out another coin purse and counted out eighty marcs, giving them to the trader. "What?" she said defensively when she noticed the worried looks Twilight and Octavia were giving her, "I did a lot of...work in Stalliongrad before Trix- before we left."

"Uh-huh." Twilight murmured, although silently she was worried and the look Octavia gave her confirmed she wasn't the only one.

-0-0-0-

After that the five of them went about the various stalls picking up whatever supplies they thought they might need; Grammaw using her steely gaze to help traders suddenly overcome their bias against unicorns, not that they ever had one, no-siree.

Twilight and Octavia were also worried about the amount of marcs Fleur had appropriated, and about how she was spending them like they were going out of fashion; but Twilight thought it best to not confront her over it right now, figuring she was in enough trouble with Trixie to not need to get into more trouble with Fleur.

Slowly they wound their way back to Bric and Brac's cart, where the twins were adjusting a tarpaulin over a frame their cart to protect their wares.

"Well now, I guess this is the part where we go our separate ways." Grammaw said, giving them a kindly smile. "Ah, stop right there," she held up a hoof to ward off Twilight; "I ain't the hugging type."

"Still though, if it hadn't been for you I have no idea what would have happened to us."

"Especially myself," added Octavia; "I don't want to dwell on it but without you taking us in and taking care of me I might well be dead right now."

"Aww phooey, you'd have found some way of taking care o' things, but still, you ain't better yet so you better be careful out there and take care of yerselves, all of ya." Trixie snorted scornfully. "And you Trixie, the dye will wash out soon enough, so quit making out like we've permanently damaged you or something. As for you Fleur, stop stealing stuff. It ain't big and it ain't clever and don't act like you ain't been doing it 'cause I've been watching ya do it."

"Is there anything we can do to repay you? Twilight asked; "Anything at all?"

"Oh I think you'll pay me back some day, with interest. However there is one small thing you could do..." Grammaw's eyes twinkled and she grinned mercilessly before she leant over towards Twilight to whisper in her ear. "If, and I meant if; you see the Duke, tell him his lil sis Felicia says hi." With that she turned around and sauntered off, leaving a stunned Twilight in her wake.

She stood there watching as Grammaw walked up the hill back into the village, and it wasn't until Fleur came up to her and shouted in her ear that she got her wits together to get moving. They headed over to where Bric was helping his brother to get hitched up to a wooden caravan. "Are we heading out already?"

"Yes indeedy!" Brac confirmed, "All sorts of nasty critters tend to roam these woods at night.

"And we don't want to be here when they come a-looking," his brother continued; "they might have the brains to not head into the village,"

"But we're not in the village are we. That's why we're going now, to get out of the woods before nightfall."

Bric walked around to the back of the cart and held a hoof out to Octavia to help her up. "M'lady," he said before showing off his most suave smile. He went to the front of the cart where Brac used his magic to hitch him up. "Off we go ladies, do try to keep up." They started off, the two brothers walking side by side down the surprisingly wide track, Bric on the left and Brac on the right, with Fleur between them and Trixie and Twilight to either side.

"Soooo..." Bric said, "Have you ladies heard the news?"

Twilight laughed nervously, and mentally beat herself up for doing so. "News? What news? Don't tell me something interesting has happened around here?"

"Indeed it has little lady!" Brac said from the other side of Fleur; "Word is there was a most heroic rescue of a unicorn from dehorning in the fair city of Stalliongrad."

"Ooohhh," Fleur said in altogether too saucy a tone; "sounds exciting! Please, do tell."

"Word is," Bric began; "is that a unicorn was due to be publicly dehorned a few days ago, a mare of pale blue, but a soul black as night for cursing a pony."

"That's ridiculous! I nev- I bet that unicorn never cursed anypony!" Trixie burst out.

"It’s not!" Brac said back; "Rosebud, who runs the seed stall said she was there and saw it all! She said that as the dehorning blade was about to fall two mysterious cloaked unicorns appeared and smashed the guillotine to splinters!"

"If that pony's evil, with a soul as black as night; then why is it a heroic rescue? Surely she would deserve such a thing?" Trixie asked sweetly.

"I-I...uh...we...uh..." the brothers spluttered. ”Well she might not have had a soul as black as night per se, but I bet she must have done something wrong." Brac conceded.

There was a clang and a grunt from the cart Bric was pulling and after a second Octavia poked her head out of a flap. "She could've done anything. A unicorn around here can get dehorned just for throwing a piece of fruit at the wrong pony..."

"That is true..." Brac said slowly; "You have no idea how careful I have to be travelling with the caravan. Say the wrong thing to the wrong customer and minutes later I can have a mob after me screaming for my blood."

"Really?" Twilight asked, shocked.

"Yes indeedy." said Bric; "Let’s just say that we no longer go to the town of Furlong for a very good reason."

The ponies travelled in silence for a minute until Octavia asked, "So what happened in Stalliongrad? Did the unicorns get away?"

"Oh yes!" Bric answered her, "Rosebud said they fought off dozens of guards and fled into the city, where apparently they're still hiding."

"I doubt they fought off dozens of guards," said Trixie scornfully; "I mean, Brac, could you fight off say...ten guards on your own?"

"No ma'am, but I reckon that means they must all be powerful sorceress's to fight that many off."

"They must be," Bric added; "if they can hide in the city under the guards very noses."

Fleur looked at the two brothers as if trying to decide something. "Surely they'd be mad to remain in the city if they're being hunted?"

"Maybe that's their cunning plan," Bric answered; "to hide in the place where they're least expected to be."

"So why are the guards only looking in the city if it’s the place they least expect to find their quarry?"

Trixie was the pony who answered her; "Because they're embarrassed, obviously. All those guards getting trounced by three little unicorns? I wouldn't want news of that getting around."

Bric and Brac nodded their agreement. "Quite true," said Bric; "that kind of incompetence would get noticed if news spread around. Would make them look awfully silly... I bet they just want to forget all about it."

"So naturally you're going to tell as many ponies about it as possible?" Octavia asked.

"Naturally." the brothers replied simultaneously.

"You're being awfully quiet Twilight," Fleur said; "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothings' wrong, I'm just happy to listen." Twilight smiled at Fleur as best she could, but inside her stomach was churning. The idea of this being spread around made her nervous, although she didn't really know why. It was already blown ridiculously out of proportion by rumour so ponies hopefully shouldn't take it seriously, at least Twilight really hoped so; who knows what might happen if they did.

8. Just over the horizon

Twilight lay looking at whatever stars she could see through the mist of her breath. It had been two days since they had departed Hoof-Ridge and another day or so until they got to Prance; and the closer they got to Prance the worse the squirming in her gut became. The smallest bit of relief she could claim is that the snow had almost disappeared the closer they got to Prance, making things just that little bit easier even if it was still absolutely freezing.

She was also plagued with mysteries. Who was the Lady of the North? And did she really lead a rebellion four hundred years ago? If it is true she led the rebellion, why not sooner; Mareitania in its current state of affairs had existed since the exodus nearly one thousand five hundred years ago. Did she really spend a thousand of those years just sitting on her hooves?

Grammaw's sudden confession to being the duke’s younger sister also had her thinking. What was she going to do when she met the Duke and Duchess? Kill them? Impossible. Imprison them? Maybe. Would other ponies in Maretania even let her choose? Of course that was getting ahead of herself, she had to get to them first and she hadn't the slightest notion of how.

Then there was Celestia's comment about Princess Platinum being her and Luna's mother. Not that she wanted to doubt her mentor, but something about it just struck her as being slightly off; and Twilight very much wanted to know more, except she was almost afraid to ask. Twilight had to admit that she had never thought to ask where Celestia and Luna came from; to her and probably most Equestrians, Celestia and Luna had always been and always will be. The idea of them having parents and being children was just...weird, and the idea of them just having a normal unicorn as their mother also seemed weird, although she didn't know why; she was an alicorn now and her parents were normal unicorns.

Suffice to say Twilight's head was a busy place. No wonder sleep wasn't happening. She put another log onto the campfire and snuggled down into her sleeping bag, pulling the drawstring closed over her head and making a mental note to find Grammaw again and thank her for finding these things.

-0-0-0-

"Twilight! Wake up Twilight!" Trixie shouted as she prodded the grey lump that was Twilight in her sleeping bag. "If you don't wake up I'm going to drink your coffee and eat your breakfast and I totally won't be sorry! For many reasons! Seriously, I won’t be, I've already eaten mine and I'm still hungry and yours smells really, really nice."

Slowly Twilight undid the drawstring and poked her dishevelled head out. "Whattimezit?" she asked groggily as she noticed it was barely even light yet. Trixie passed her coffee to her, which she eagerly sucked down.

"I don't know... Sevenish maybe? Bric and Brac want us to get up early so they can get to Prance and set up shop by this afternoon."

Twilight blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "And you're up already? You're normally the worst at getting up."

"I know right. Blame Fleur for cooking that delicious smelling hay bacon right next to Trixie." she said with a pout.

"Hay bacon? Since when do we have hay bac- Oh. Great." Twilight said quietly.

"Always happy to help, Trixie." Fleur said from across the campfire, where she was cooking something in a frying pan. "Yours’ll be ready in a minute or two, Twilight. So get up."

Reluctantly Twilight dragged herself out of her sleeping bag and quickly wrapped herself in her cloak. "Do you ever think we should have bought more than just cloaks?"

"Yes." answered Octavia who stepped out of the brothers caravan and shivered before practically sitting on the fire. "All the time. We really weren't prepared for this were we?"

"It was all we could afford at the time," Fleur said as she passed Twilight her breakfast; "If it wasn't for the trade caravan we'd be far worse off right now."

"Yeah," Trixie agreed, as she drooled over Twilight's food; "it was strangely convenient how they happened to be in Hoof-Ridge just as we needed them."

"Meh, stranger things have happened." Fleur said dismissively. "Anyway, you seem a bit more chipper today."

"Yeah, well... After what Bric and Brac were talking about when we left Hoof-Ridge and after having a bit of time to think it over I admit disguising me was probably a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I'm still mad that you forcibly dunked in me a tub of dye; but I can appreciate you were doing it for my own good. The dye will wash off faster than a horn would grow back."

"That's good," said Twilight, a small bit of guilt weighting her down a little less; "speaking of, where are Bric and Brac?"

"Hmm? Oh they're off talking to some of the other traders." Fleur answered her.

"Good." Twilight got up and walked over to where they had stashed their saddlebags in the cart. She pulled out Fleur's and started rummaging through it.

"Twilight? What are you doing?"

"Something I should have done days ago." She pulled out Fleur's coin bag and emptied it, counting out what was there. "Thirty seven." she muttered to herself before pulling the coin bag out of her own saddlebag and adding her own money to the collection. "Fifty three, close enough."

"Twilight! What are you doing!?" Fleur demanded with a stomp of her hoof.

"Paying back what you took from Bric and Brac, and don't deny it, I heard what you whispered to Trixie; I'm not deaf."

"But I- we need that money! How else are we going to survive?"

"Surviving is one thing Fleur, what you're doing is just plain greed! Bric and Brac are helping us and don't deserve to be half paid with their own money!"

Trixie and Octavia shared a nervous glance at each other as Fleur shoved her face into Twilights'. "You have no right to take that money out of my bag! If you want to pay them back use your own money. Oh wait, you can't; I'm the one who has to get all the money we need! You'd be penniless without me!"

"Perhaps, but we said to only take what we need. The amount you've been taking is far beyond that!"

"Then why didn't you bring this up sooner? Twilight suddenly feels guilty and now we have to give it all back?"

"The reason I'm doing this now is because they aren't here to hear it. I'm pretty sure that doing this in front of them wouldn't go down too well. I'm also bringing it up now because I'm pretty sure we never had any hay bacon yesterday, and it’s not like we passed any shops. Your stealing is getting out of control; Grammaw could see it, I can see it and Octavia and Trixie can probably see it!"

Fleur swung round to face a suddenly awkward Trixie and Octavia. "Well! Do you agree with her? Am I getting 'out of control?’”

"Trixie has no problem with it. I mean I wouldn't have stolen off Bric and Brac, not now anyway; because they're pretty cool. Otherwise, yeah, no problem."

"Thank you Trixie. How about you Octavia?"

Octavia rubbed a leg nervously. "I-I think that...maybe you could, perhaps, rein it in a little bit. I mean, you spent loads back at Hoof-Ridge and you still have quite a bit left. I know we need money Fleur, but not that much."

"I see. Fine." Fleur picked her saddlebags up and placed them over her back, before tying her sleeping bag on. "Clearly if my helping you makes you feel guilty, then perhaps I better remove the problem entirely. I'm going to go to Prance and I'm going to rob somepony and laugh about it."

"What? No! I don't want you to go Fleur!" Twilight pleaded, holding out a hoof to stop her.

Fleur roughly knocked it aside. "Too fucking late! Clearly my help doesn't mean shit to you princess, so I'm going! Maybe I'll see you there, but I wouldn't count on it."

The three remaining ponies watched as she briskly trotted off down the road towards Prance. "Bravo Twilight, first the whole coat dyeing thing with me and now this. I can't wait to see what you're going to do to Octavia to piss her off."

"But...but I only meant to stop her stealing so much! I never... I never meant for her to do that!" Twilight shouted, pointing after Fleur. "Ooh what have I done..."

"You've lost Fleur, that's what."

"Oh hush Trixie." Octavia sat by Twilight to comfort her; "Even you have to admit that was a bit unexpected. What we did to you was far worse, and you didn't even mention leaving."

"I won't deny that Trixie thought about it, but yeah, I know what you mean."

Twilight sniffed and rubbed an eye, trying to compose herself. "I don't. I mean, I thought that maybe she would agree, or at least stop stealing so much for our sakes, because we're worried. Besides there are plenty of practical reasons for her to stop, like the more she steals the greater her chance at getting caught. The last thing we need is another one of us getting arrested."

"Exactly," Octavia said as she gave Twilight a hug; "there's something wrong with the way she reacted. I've met her a few times before this in Canterlot, and she was always really laid back and would laugh off even the worst insults. That...that was more like a child's reaction; 'you won't let me do what I want so I'm going to run away.'"

"Ok, yeah...Trixie can see where you're coming from, but that doesn't change the fact that she's gone. Shouldn't we be going after her?"

"I doubt she'd listen right now. Hopefully we'll find her in Prance once she's had a chance to cool down a little."

-0-0-0-

They had just finished dismantling the camp and packing their things away when Bric and Brac returned. "Is everything okay ladies?" Bric asked; We could hear you arguing from over there."

"No, not really," Twilight said sullenly; "me and Fleur had a bit of a disagreement and she's decided to go to Prance ahead of us."

"Well that's unfortunate," said Brac; "we were just about to give you a warning about you going there. According to some travellers heading the other way, there's some government bigwig visiting, and the security in that place has been doubled."

"If not tripled." Bric added;

"If you, as a unicorn, got caught doing something untoward in Prance right now...well..."

"Losing your horn would be the least of your worries because you wouldn't have a head to keep it on."

"You really couldn't make this stuff up," Trixie muttered to no one in particular as she stared up into the sky; "can't we just catch a break, please?"

"Anyway..." Brac said slowly as he gave Trixie a funny look; "We've decided that we're not going to Prance, not yet anyway. We'll be stopping in Trotton, which is a little village a couple hours trot from Prance."

"If you ladies want to go on ahead, it’s your choice. We, on the other hoof; won't be setting a hoof in Prance until whoever it is, is gone."

Twilight, Trixie and Octavia huddled together in a circle. "We really should go after her," Trixie whispered; "if she gets caught pickpocketing in Prance now it'll be game over for her."

Octavia shook her head. "Normally I would agree, but the way Fleur was acting it'd probably just make her more determined to go there and do whatever she's going to do. What do you think Twilight."

Twilight breathed out slowly as she thought. "I agree with Octavia, if we try to stop her going she'll probably think we're just trying to stop her from stealing. Besides she would probably get there before us, she has got a bit of a lead on us now, and I doubt Octavia can gallop that far without straining herself."

"You or me could do it Twilight," Trixie suggested; "catch up to her and at least warn her if we can't make her stop and wait for the rest of us."

Octavia and Twilight looked at each other and nodded lightly in agreement. "Yeah ok," Twilight said; "but it’s going to have to be you Trixie, I doubt she's going to want to see me."

"A mission only the Great and Powerful Trixie can complete? Now we're talking!" she said, making Twilight instantly roll her eyes.

"Leave your stuff with us so you can go faster. No point carrying that weight if you don't have to."

"And wrap a scarf around your muzzle," Octavia added; "breathing in that much cold air when galloping really isn't very good for you." They broke from the circle and Trixie started trotting on the spot to warm up as Octavia went to her bags and pulled a scarf out.

"Trixie," Twilight said as Trixie wrapped the scarf around her muzzle; "if you get to Trotton and haven't found her don't go any further, and if you do and she refuses to stop please wait for us. There's no point in you getting too far ahead and ending up in Prance too." Trixie nodded and set off, Twilight and Octavia watching her go.

"Where's she off to in such a hurry?" Bric asked casually.

"Chasing after Fleur. We figured that even if we can't stop her we can at least warn her."

"I see. Well come along ladies it’s still a long way to go."

-0-0-0-

Trixie flew along the road, her mane and cloak blowing out behind her in a way that would have looked very dramatic if she had been in a position to appreciate it. Unfortunately though, she may have rather overestimated her fitness when she volunteered to chase after Fleur; she'd only been galloping for ten minutes or so and she was already feeling the strain.

She slowed down to a trot and yanked the scarf down so she could gasp and wheeze for air a bit easier. "This is *gasp* totally the *gasp* thin airs fault! *gasp* Trixie is *gasp* better than *gasp* this." She attempted to start galloping again, which she managed for about thirty seconds before collapsing against a boulder at the side of the road and losing her breakfast.

"Yuck, hay bacon is not as nice on the way up as it is on the way down."

"Hey, you ok?" said a little voice from the top of boulder, causing Trixie to squeal and leap away before feebly blasting the top of the boulder with her magic. "Yeesh lady, a bit jumpy aren't we?" the voice said from its new position of behind the rock.

"Show yourself you cur!"

"Ok ok..." There was a scraping of hooves on rock as whoever it climbed back up the boulder. Slowly a tuft of pale purple mane came into view perched atop some pale purple eyes, followed by a small, grubby pale yellow body that was wrapped in a ratty brown cape that looked like it had been made from a sack. "Hi."

Trixie narrowed her eyes suspiciously; "What exactly is a young filly like yourself doing out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Oh you know, sitting, waiting. Watching unicorns throw up by boulders."

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. What's your name little filly that likes watching unicorns throw up?"

The filly shrugged lightly, "You can call me Petal if you want."

"What do you mean 'if I want?'"

"Well ponies call me a lot of names, none of them very nice; but I don't think a nice and pretty unicorn like yourself would want to call me things like that."

Trixie preened a little before remembering she was dealing with that most treacherous of creature known as a pre-teen. "I don't suppose you've happened to see another unicorn pass by here? Tall, white, pink mane and tail and wearing a black cape? Probably looked a bit angry?"

The filly nodded enthusiastically, "Sure! A unicorn like that passed here about an hour ago."

Trixie groaned in annoyance before frowning in thought; "How long have you been out here by this rock?"

"I dunno. A while anyway; Dad told me to wait here while he did something in the fields, but he should've been back by now... You don't think he left me do you?" Her face scrunched up and she started to cry. "He...h-he's abandoned me has-has-hasn't he-he-he!"

Trixie swallowed nervously as Petal started bawling; crying children was so not her thing. "Uh...there there Petal," she said, feeling a bit of an idiot for doing so; "I'm sure he's not far away." She looked at her tear stained face and felt a little of her resolve falter. "What if I helped you find him?" she offered weakly.

Petal rubbed her eyes and sniffed, "You'd really d-do that for me?" Trixie nodded unenthusiastically. "Oh thank you miss!" Petal jumped off the boulder and scurried over to Trixie before latching onto her front left leg in what was probably a hug, but felt more like a death grip. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're, uh...welcome...I suppose. Do you know where your dad is? Or rather, where he should be?"

Petal shook her head sadly; "He went that way," she pointed down a dirt track that branched off the main road; "but I don't know how far."

Trixie stared down the length of the dirt track, but couldn't see anypony. Unfortunately she couldn't see the end of the track either, and she had feeling the filly was going to make her walk the whole thing looking. "I guess we better get started..." she said in a voice devoid of cheer.

"You're the best miss...um...miss..."

"Trixie."

"You're the best miss Trixie!"

-0-0-0-

Trixie didn't know how long she had been walking down this track now, it hadn't been that long but the longer it took and the further she went the less sure she felt about things. Petal on the other hoof seemed quite pleased as she walked down this dirt track in the middle of nowhere with a complete stranger, and chattered on about anything and everything like she hadn't a care in the world.

"Petal, are you sure we should keep going down here?"

"Uh-huh, he came this way and we haven't found him yet so we have to keep going, we just have to!"

"Okay okay. Please don't cry again!" You'd have thought that years of being a show mare would have meant that Trixie was perfectly at home with children. Such a thing couldn't be further from the truth.

After several more minutes of trotting, and listening to Petal's incessant chattering; they came upon a ramshackle wooden house that sat just in front of a small wood. "Where are we Petal?"

"This is where I live! I can't hear anypony here though so that probably means the doors locked."

"Where you live? I thought we were looking for your dad?"

"We are! If this is where we live then he's bound to turn up sooner or later right?" Trixie really couldn't deny the logic of that.

"Did you really need my help just to walk here though? I'm pretty sure you’re big enough to do this on your own. Anyway, are you going to be okay here until your dad gets back? I'm kinda in the middle of something which I really should get back to." Because at this rate Twilight and Octavia are going to get to Trotton before I do.

Petal's lower lip trembled, "You mean you're just going to leave me out here in the cold? All on my own?"

Trixie sighed irritably; "I guess not... Would you be okay if I left you inside in the warm?" Petal nodded but still looked like she could cry. "Great! So how do we get in?"

Petal led them around the side of the house to a small window set level with the ground. She pushed it open and peered inside. "If you go in there you can go from the basement into the house and open the front door."

"Me? Why me? You're smaller than I am, you go."

"I would but there's a drop to the floor and its quite high for me, I might hurt myself." Trixie mumbled some curse words under her breath and was about to squeeze through the window when Petal stopped her. "You might want to take your cloak off. If you catch it on the window you could accidentally hang yourself."

Trixie took off her cloak and scarf and gave them to Petal. She then squeezed through the window and gracelessly fell to the floor with a thud. "Ow." She dusted herself off and looked around the basement, quickly finding the door into the house even in the poor light the window provided. She tried the door but it was locked. She was about to head back to the window and complain but it suddenly got a lot darker when something blotted out the light. She lit her horn and saw that some boxes had been pushed up against the window. "Petal? What's going on?"

"Y'know miss Trixie, your white unicorn friend is a lot sharper than you are; she didn't fall for it one bit. You though, you fell for it hook, line and sinker. This is a nice cloak, ought to be worth something back in Prance."

"What? No! Petal! Don't you dare run off with my things!" She waited for a reply, but got none. "Petal! You get back here right now you little rat!" Still no reply. "PETAL! I will find you, and when I do you have no idea how sorry you'll be!" The silence was deafening.

"You have got to be kidding me..."

-0-0-0-

Trixie had no idea how long she spent sulking in the darkness of the basement, the dark robbing her of all sense of time. Slowly she became aware of hoofsteps on the floorboards above her. She swallowed nervously and spoke loudly in the hopes that whoever it was would hear her.

"H-hello? Can anypony hear me? I'm sorry to bother you but Trixie appears to be locked in your basement and can't get out." She waited as the hoofsteps headed towards where the door upstairs was, and cringed when it was opened, blinded by the sudden influx of light. She stepped out gingerly and was met by a small brown earth pony stallion with a bald head and a great big bushy beard, like his hair had migrated to his chin and decided to stay there.

He raised a cynical eyebrow at her, "Small yellow filly, 'bout this tall? He asked, raising a hoof to level with his chest.

"I-uh...well, yes actually. How did you know?"

"You're the third pony in six months. I really ought to put a lock on that basement window. Anyway, I don't want a dang unicorn here so you best be on your way."

He led her outside and was about go back in when she asked "What's the best way to Trotton that doesn't involve taking the road? I'd rather not go that way for...reasons."

The stallion pointed through the wood. "If you go in a straight line through the wood you'll come out at the bottom of a hill. If you go up the hill you'll be able to see Trotton in the distance; it’s pretty much a straight line through the fields. You'd be better off taking the road though, it’s much easier."

Trixie thanked the stallion and set off through the woods. "No way am I taking the road." she said to herself, "If I turn up in Trotton after them on the road they came in on, well...that's going to be embarrassing."

-0-0-0-

Twilight paced around the small fountain in the center of Trotton. "Ooh, where is she? If she's gone to Prance despite me asking her not to I might just scream."

"Relax Twilight," Octavia said as she sat by the fountain, watching Twilight go round and round; "if she's late I'm sure it’s for a good reason."

"Did you ever encounter Trixie before this mission?"

"No. Why?"

"Let’s just say that she's the sort of pony that thrives on fulfilling her whims." Twilight circled the fountain a few more times; "Ugh, let’s go back to the camp, maybe she's waiting there for some reason."

The few minutes’ walk back to where Bric and Brac were set up were walked in silence; Twilight seething quietly, and Octavia too nervous to say anything to her in case it was the wrong thing. When they got to the camp they were disappointed, but not surprised, by the lack of Trixie. There was also a lack of Bric and Brac.

Lifting the bag of coins out of her saddlebag that she had meant to put in the brothers money box, or whatever they used, she paused a moment in thought. "Might as well have Fleur hate me for an actual reason." she said to herself. Louder she said "Octavia, keep an eye out for Trixie. I'm going to give Bric and Brac their money back."

She quietly stepped inside the brothers caravan and looked around. On the left were two bunk beds which weren't very helpful. On the right were two chests, each with the name of their owner embossed upon them. She opened the nearest one which belonged to Brac and started rummaging around hoping to find a money box or something.

She found nothing and was about to move onto Bric's when something under the bottom bunk caught her eye. She ducked down and using her magic, pulled out a small box that sounded like it had money inside. She opened it, but instead of finding money she found a collection of odds and ends, some papers, and most curiously a small orange feather that was the same colouration as Bric and Brac.

Her mind seemed to go blank as she studied the feather, and it wasn't until somepony right behind her cleared their throat that she was able to tear her mind away from the void it inhabited.

She looked round and was met by the stern face of Brac. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to pry, I only wanted to find somewhere to put this money because Fleur stole it and I wanted to give it back so I came in here and I was looking in the chest for a money box or something and I found this box under the bed and I thought that was what I was looking for but it wasn't and I'm really really sorry!" She had managed to say that in one breath and was about to start again when Brac held out a hoof.

"Give me the money." Twilight did so, and Brac made a show of counting it. "It’s not all here, so it’s a good job I don't want it."

"I k-know it’s not all...not all there, b-but it’s all we had left. I'm sorry." Twilight hung her head and a tear ran down her cheek before dripping onto the floor.

Brac reached over and raised Twilight's chin so he could look her in the eye. "I said its okay, we don't want the money." he said giving her a kind smile.

"Y-you don't?"

"No. We suspected one of you had taken it because frankly, our money didn't really add up at the end of the day. Personally I suspected it was Trixie so I'm a little surprised to hear it was Fleur, she always seemed like such a nice pony."

"If you suspected it was one of us why didn't you say anything?"

"Honestly, because we were expecting you to haggle. We would have happily done the job for fifty marcs, maybe even less, and we would have shared our fire with you for free; we're not totally soulless, money grubbing merchants. So when she gave us one hundred and twenty marcs, even though it was half ours it still left us in profit, so we never brought it up."

"Oh..." Twilight sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "But why are you letting us keep it?"

"Because you were nice enough to try and put things right; even falling out with one of your friends to do so. Guess I have a soft spot for ponies that would do that. Now I bet you're wondering about the feather?"

Twilight nodded, "But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, its fine." Brac took the feather in his magic and stared at it for a few seconds as a frown spread across his face. "This feather is all we have left of our other brother."

"Other brother?" She looked at the feather again and sudden twigged; "He was a pegasus wasn't he? Oh I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what? That he's a pegasus, or that he was taken to the labour camps?"

"Sorry that he was taken of course! My friends and I aren't like that; none of us have a thing against pegasi!"

"That's good, and don't be sorry, you didn't take him away. Anyway I don't really remember him since were still very young when they took him to the labour camps, so it's not like we feel his loss too heavily; but at the same time it just feels like something's missing. Its mine and Bric's hope that one day we'll find him and then we can be together again. That's why we travel around so much; we hope that someday we'll find something that'll lead to him. We also have some friends in the south looking."

"Hold on, Grammaw said she delivered you and Bric; she never said you had another brother."

"Of course she wouldn't mention it, it wasn't her secret to tell; if a family of non pegasi have a pegasus foal its seen as a mark of shame. The foal gets taken to be brought up to do the weather and in most cases is never spoken of again."

"Oh. In that case your secret is safe with me."

Brac snorted, "We're not ashamed and it’s not a secret; the more ponies that know, the better our chance at finding him."

Twilight was about to ask more but Octavia interrupted her by shouting her name quite loudly. "Thank you for sharing that with me," she said to Brac before heading back outside. "What is it? Is Trixie finally here?"

"Kind of yes, and mostly no. Not unless she has suddenly shrunk and turned yellow; see that filly there? The one with the purple cloak that's several sizes too big and the scarf that looks awfully similar to the one I gave Trixie?" She pointed to where said filly was lurking by a fruit stand. "Do you think that maybe we should ask where she acquired those?"

The two ponies walked over to the filly, who gave them a wary look as they approached. "Excuse me," Twilight said; "I don't suppose I could ask where you got that cloak and scarf from?"

The filly sniffed and spat on the ground; "Around." was her laconic reply.

"So you didn't happen to get them off a blueeerrrrr-dark grey unicorn?"

"I didn't see nopony. They were just there where anypony could take them. Recumbent like."

"That's a very big word for a filly."

"Oh yeah? Patronizing's a big word too, maybe you've 'eard of it? I also specialize in tall tales; being tall rather than long makes them easier for me to say."

"Uh..." was all Twilight managed to say since she had the feeling she was being challenged in a way she couldn't cope with. "What if I offered to buy the cloak and scarf off of you?"

The filly's face suddenly split into a wide grin, "Sure! Twenty marcs!"

Twilight was about to agree when Octavia suddenly spoke over her. "Ten."

"Twenty." "Ten." "Twenty." "Ten." "Twenty." "Ten." "Twenty." "Ten." "Twenty." "Ten and I'll throw in the hay bacon roll that Twilight never ate for breakfast." "Sold!" The ponies made their exchange, the filly quickly taking a bite out of the roll; "Hey, there's no ketchup in this thing! What a rip off. Oh, and your blueeerrrr-dark grey unicorn friend will probably be here in the next hour or so, give or take." she said mysteriously before cramming the rest of the roll into her mouth and scurrying off.

"How did you do that?" Twilight asked Octavia in amazement.

"Practicing with big kids helps, and Vinyl is the biggest kid I've ever met. I wonder how she got the cloak and scarf off Trixie?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

-0-0-0-

They were waiting in the town center when a cold and mud covered Trixie squelched into town. Supressing a snigger Twilight held up Trixie's cloak; "Lose something?"

"Shut up?"

"Did you find Fleur?" Octavia asked.

"Shut up."

"How'd that shortcut work out for you?"

"Last warning." Trixie said as she walked up to the two ponies mocking her.

"How did a little filly rob you?" Trixie snorted and very suddenly yet deliberately raised her forehooves and rubbed one each over Twilight's and Octavia's faces, leaving a big muddy streak behind; before getting up, snatching her cloak off Twilight and quietly squelching off.

"So worth it." Twilight and Octavia said with a grin.

9. Casually seeking Fleur

Twilight, Octavia and a slightly paler grey, post bath Trixie; were stood around the fire at Bric and Brac's camp, preparing to set off for Prance. Yesterday had not been anywhere near as productive as they had hoped and had cost them money in the end just to buy Trixie's stuff back, so they were feeling generally optimistic that things probably couldn't get worse.

First though, they had to say their farewells to Bric and Brac. "Are you all ready to set off?" Bric asked casually, although Twilight thought she could detect a hitch in his voice.

"I think so, it's not like we have an awful lot of stuff to pack." Twilight sighed and smiled at the brothers; "I guess this is goodbye then. I honestly cannot thank you enough for helping us get to Prance, we'd have found it a lot harder otherwise."

Brac snorted in amusement; "All we did was walk, not exactly a huge challenge. We do wish we could talk you out of going to Prance though, although I feel that would actually be a challenge. From what we've been hearing Prance is not a nice place to be right now."

"Trixie is willing to excuse many things about Prance if there's a bed she can sleep in," Trixie said with a grimace; "I didn't know sleeping on the ground could leave one feeling so sore."

Twilight rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored her. "We need to get to Prance to find Fleur; if it’s as bad there as you think we may need to find her before she does something stupid."

"Like stealing off the wrong pony and ending up wearing a hemp collar as her last outfit?" Bric suggested with a sneer.

"Yeah..." Twilight dropped her gaze and pawed at the ground; "I'm still really sorry about the whole stealing off you thing. I wish I had brought it up with her sooner, maybe things would have turned out differently."

Brac waved her off dismissively; "Maybe, maybe not. No point dwelling on what ifs. Anyway, you're not going to find her hanging around here."

"Right, of course. Goodbye then, Bric, Brac. I hope we'll see each other again at some point in the future."

The two brothers looked sideways at each other; "Quite possible," they said; "So long and farewell. May the Lady protect you in your travels." The others said their goodbyes and they were about to set off when an orange hoof tapped Octavia on the shoulder. She turned around and was surprised when she was swept off her hooves and firmly kissed on the lips by Bric.

"No chance was I going to let you leave without doing that. Farewell my lady Octavia." He kissed her on the hoof and practically danced back to where his brother was smirking at him. Brac gave them one last wave and the two brothers trotted off leaving a slightly bemused Twilight, a highly amused Trixie, and Octavia, who appeared to be going cross-eyed looking at the end of her nose.

"Ooohhh!" Trixie teased; "Octavia and Bric, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Trixie frowned when Octavia didn't rise to her bait, and didn't in fact do anything except stare blankly. "Hey," she gave Octavia a nudge; "you ok?"

"He kissed me..."

"We noticed. It was rather hard to miss, what with the sweeping off the hooves thing and the full on, overblown kissing sounds."

"Well I don't remember giving him permission to do so."

"It’s supposed to be romantic Octavia. Sometimes a pony just has to be brave and spontaneous and go for what they want."

"Have I given any hint over the last few days that I was even slightly interested in him?"

"No but he's given you more than a few."

Octavia shuddered and took a swig from her canteen before spitting it back out; "Ugh, his breath is a taste I won't be forgetting in a hurry. Sweet Celestia I wish we had some mouthwash! Let's get going, I really don't want to think about this more than I already have."

-0-0-0-

"Trixie is not impressed. I thought this place would be bigger."

"We're still a few miles away Trixie." Twilight shook her head and went back to studying the city. Despite Trixie's misgivings, she was impressed; the city was built on a hill, its highest point being some kind of castle. The rest of the city was spread out around the castle in a circle which was bordered by a tall wall. "How about we get closer before making our final impressions."

As they got closer even Trixie seemed to lose her dismissive attitude in the shadow of the city. The wall which surrounded the city turned out to be the height of at least fifteen ponies by Twilight's estimation. Following the road they were approaching a wide arch that was guarded on the outside by no less than four guards; two on the road and two on the top of the arch which were wielding crossbows that had been mounted on the wall.

They eyed the guards nervously as they entered, the guards doing nothing but staring ahead at the road, although Twilight was sure she could hearing one tutting after they passed.

"Ok, now Trixie is impressed, if slightly sickened." She was staring at the inside of the arch, upon which was carved murals depicting the earth ponies takeover of Mareitania after the exodus. On the right side were images of the earth ponies bringing the unicorns into line and the battle to take Unicornia, which Twilight thought very odd seeing as how the unicorns had apparently just given it to them.

The left side was worse though, depicting the earth ponies forcing the unicorns to tear down the city of Pegasopolis and the brutal subjugation of the pegasi that turned them into what they are today. At the end of both sides were images of earth ponies dressed in riches while on the ground between them, so that you were forced to walk over them; was a large image of unicorns and pegasi bowing in supplication, although it was heavily scored and pitted by years of being trod on.

"Whoever made this was twisted. A genius perhaps, but still horribly twisted." Trixie said as she walked over the frieze on the ground. "I'm no stranger to megalomania, but this? This is a bit much."

"You locked our mayor in a bird cage in the town square all through the perma-storm you conjured..."

"Exactly! Not a stranger to megalomania." Noticing Octavia's slightly alarmed look she explained; "I got hold of something called the alicorn amulet. Twilight beat me at magic some months before and I wanted revenge. I beat her in a magic duel and took over Ponyville where I literally went mad with power, as in completely cuckoo. Twilight tricked me into taking the amulet off, forgave me for my bizarre power trip and we've been firm friends ever since, right Twilight?"

"Right."

After they had passed through the arch Twilight looked back, noticing that at the top of the arch was carved a single word; 'TRIUMPH.' The squirmy feeling in her gut went into overtime, although she might just have been genuinely sickened by that twisted tableau. "Well, we're here..."

"Seems so." " Indeed." They looked around and really weren't expecting what they saw. There were guards everywhere, and heavily armed guards at that. Everywhere else ponies went about their business, many wearing guarded and nervous expressions. The tension around them was almost palpable.

"Why are there two types of guards?" Trixie asked as she pointed over to where a more plainly dressed guard was conversing with a well-armed and armoured guard. "I think I suddenly get what Bric and Brac were talking about."

Twilight studied the scene before her, but couldn't make heads or tails of what she was seeing. Stalliongrad had guards, but nothing even close to this level. "Octavia, could you ask one of these guards what's going on here?"

Octavia swallowed nervously; "S-sure..." She trotted over to the nearest guard, which happened to be one of the heavily armoured variety; and cleared her throat before giving him her most genuine smile. He in turn just looked at her disdainfully. "Excuse me sir, I've only just arrived in town and I was hoping you could tell me what's happening here? Why are there so many guards?"

The guard grunted and looked like he wasn't going to answer her at first. "This city has been placed under martial law."

"Martial law? Why? And why would you let us in during martial law?”

"Prance has become a hotbed of insurrectionism and is to remain under martial law until the General says so; and we may have let you in but we we've said nothing about letting you out. Now I suggest you get moving."

"So you've just decided to trap us in here?"

The guard growled; "Seems that way. Now get moving before I have you arrested for wasting my time."

Octavia hurried over to where Twilight and Trixie were waiting. "The city's under martial law; these aren't guards, they're soldiers!"

"Soldiers? I guess that explains the weapons and armour, but why is this place under martial law, and why let us into the city?"

"And why did it have to be while we're here?" Trixie added.

"He said that Prance has become a 'hotbed of insurrectionism' and that the city is to remain under martial until some General feels it’s been dealt with. He also said that the guards let us in but they probably wouldn't let us leave."

"Great, so we're stuck here. Fan-bloody-tabulous." Trixie muttered; "The bit about insurrectionists sounds promising. Sounds exactly like what we're looking for."

"What are you talking about Trixie? We're here to find Fleur, not get involved in this."

"Really? Isn't the whole point of us being in Mareitania to overthrow the government? An insurrection sounds like the perfect place to start if you ask me."

Twilight was about to argue but stopped, realising that perhaps Trixie wasn't talking total rubbish. "Maybe, but finding Fleur has to be our first priority; the punishments for breaking the law during martial law tend to be somewhat severe according to some books I've read. I'm hoping she's smart enough to not do something so risky but we can't count on that." She looked around quickly before making a decision; "We need to split up and find Fleur quickly." She pointed towards the city center, at the castle; "Octavia, you go that way. You're less likely to attract negative attention being an earth pony and all. Trixie, you go that way, "she said, pointing to the left; "and I'll go this way." she finished, pointing to the right. “Meet back here at sunset."

-0-0-0-

Twilight trotted through the streets, noticing more and more how dilapidated they became the further she went. She also noticed that the ponies around her were more commonly unicorns; a fact that was possibly behind why she was seeing a higher number of guards around here. It was only natural, in backward Mareitanian thinking; that they would hold the unicorns responsible for the insurrectionists.

She trotted on, keeping an eye out for guards as much as she was for Fleur, when she noticed a commotion further up the street in front of a tall multistory building. Two guards had backed four ponies into a corner; a pale green earth pony stallion, a white unicorn mare and two children; a light brown earth pony colt and a white unicorn filly.

"We know you're involved with them!" one of the soldiers shouted; "If you tell us where we can find them maybe your kids here will sleep in their beds tonight instead of a cell!"

"I don't know anything about any insurrection! Please!" the stallion pleaded as the mare held the children close; "If you have to arrest anypony, arrest me! Just leave my wife and children alone!"

The soldiers looked like they were going to do so, as one of them was pulling a set of manacles out. Without really thinking Twilight ran up to the guards; "What do you think you're doing!?" she demanded.

"Piss off horn head!" one of the guards snarled at her; "this has nothing to do with you! Piss off before I arrest you too."

"But you can't do that! You haven't got any proof that he's a rebel! You're just arresting him because he married a unicorn!" She looked around at the other bystanders, many of whom now seemed to be taking an interest in events and started to gather around; "And you were going to arrest the foals too? That's just sick!" A murmur ran through the small crowd.

The guards noticed it too, and in a voice that tried to at least sound like it could be reasoned with, one of them said "We're not going to arrest the foals, just him. We're just going to take him in and question him a bit."

"About what? He's already denied being involved in any insurrection. Are you going to torture him? Force him to confess to something he hasn't even done?" An even angrier murmur rippled through the crowd, which due to Twilight's raised voice had grown even larger.

The guards looked fearful now, and were looking up and down the street looking for support off their fellows. Unfortunately for them, no such support was forthcoming. "I guess we were jumping to conclusions," one of them said from between gritted teeth; "if he's done nothing wrong then I guess they're free to go." On that, the two guards hastily retreated leaving a relieved Twilight and a grateful family of ponies.

"Thank you, thank you!" the stallion burst out; "I thought they were going to arrest us all!"

"It’s no problem, really. I'm just happy to help."

"We should get off the streets though, before the guards return in greater numbers. You should come with us since you've probably made yourself a target now."

The stallion opened the door to the building they were in front of and ushered his family inside, followed reluctantly by Twilight. He led them upstairs to a small, damp smelling apartment, furnished only by two beds, a dressing table, a chest of drawers and a small, black iron stove.

Looking both ways down the hallway before closing the door, the stallion went to his wife and held her and the children for a while before doing anything else. "Thank you stranger, for what you did; but it was very foolish of you to do that."

"Foolish? But I was trying to help you!"

"I know, I know, and I am eternally grateful. It is rare that somepony will speak out against the guards as you did, but now you have made yourself a target. You're a traveller from the looks of things; you should leave Prance as soon as you are able."

"No. I can't, the guards aren't letting ponies leave. Besides, I'm looking for somepony and I won't be leaving until I've found her."

"I am sorry to hear that, and I truly wish you luck in finding your friend; but I fear that remaining in this city will be your undoing. Since I doubt I can sway your mind into leaving, would you at least do me the honour of being our guest for dinner? It’s the least I could do to repay you."

Twilight was about to decline, taking note of their already meagre possessions; when the two foals came and sat down in front of her, the colt looking bright eyed and curious, and the filly hiding shyly behind a battered looking ragdoll. "What's your name?" the colt asked.

"Oh uh, I'm Twilight, pleased to meet you. What's yours?"

"I'm Butterscotch and this is Lacy;" The filly timidly waved a hoof at her; "what you did to those guards was awesome! I totally thought you were going to have to fight them off!"

"Goodness, I hope not."

"But they totally backed off! Which is kinda lame but the guards around here outnumber you and you probably can't fight them all."

"Uh, probably not no. I'm glad you think I'm awesome, but I was only doing what anypony down there should have done."

The colt snorted angrily. "Yeah, except they don't. They're all scared of the guards, but not you! Hey are you one of those insussectionids they were talking about?"

"Butterscotch!" his father yelled; "We don't ask ponies that sort of thing."

The colts ears drooped, "Sorry miss Twilight."

"No no, it’s ok. No I'm not an insurrectionist, but if I were I bet I'd be an awesome one." She gave the colt a wink, the colt grinning in return.

"Are you gonna stay for dinner?" the filly asked, lifting her doll up for Twilight to see; "Miss Tilly wants you to stay."

"Uh..." Truthfully Twilight didn't want to stay; it didn't look like they had a lot to begin with and Twilight didn't want them to waste it on her. She should also be looking for Fleur and she was pretty sure Trixie was going to moan at her if she found out Twilight was having dinner in the warm somewhere. On the other hoof, Miss Tilly didn't look like somepony you could reason with. "Of course I will, I'd be delighted to." she said to the cheering of Butterscotch.

-0-0-0-

Twilight's stomach growled, now that she was sat in this apartment with little else to do except wait and smell dinner cooking, she had to admit she was pretty hungry.

In the time she had she did her best to get some answers about the city and what was happening here out of the stallion, whom she had learned was called Green Roots, shortened to Roots. So far all she had learned was that the guard had increased in number over a month ago, but it wasn't until roughly two weeks ago that martial law had been declared, and it got worse when the General arrived a few days ago. As for why this had happened he hadn't the slightest idea, life in Prance had been peaceful until the guards numbers had increased, and had remained fairly peaceful until the soldiers had arrived.

After that it became clear that the soldiers had no intention of allowing the city's inhabitants to enjoy that peace; even some ponies who had little reason to fear the soldier’s presence had quickly begun to chafe under the soldiers heavy hoofed methods. Now he feared that the city was becoming what the soldiers claimed it to be, because of the soldiers themselves.

Twilight had taken that information with a pinch of salt; sure things might seem bad, but surely there was no way things could be as bad as Roots' seemed to think. Then she asked what precisely the soldiers were doing and immediately changed her mind.

"Like what you saw them doing to us outside, they intimidate ponies for no reason and they arrest anypony who shows even the slightest bit of resistance, and those they do arrest, not all come back. Those that do come back have terrible injuries, speaking of being beaten and tortured by the soldiers who want them to confess their crimes."

"But why though? This makes no sense! How does arresting random ponies and forcing them to admit to being an insurrectionist help them achieve anything? And what do you mean by those who come back? What happens to those that don't?"

The stallion shook his head slowly; "It doesn't make sense, but they do it anyway. Those that don't come back are executed; there's only been a few hangings yet, but I fear that number will only grow and grow the longer this goes on. Assuming something worse doesn't happen first..."

Twilight was about to ask him what he meant when she was interrupted by a bowl of vegetable soup suddenly floating in front of her face, carried by his wife Cross Stitch; "I know you only wish to answer her questions my love, but perhaps you could not talk about such dreadful things," she glanced back at where Butterscotch was playing with Lacy; “especially not in front of the children."

"I know, I'm sorry; I only wish to convince her to leave as soon as she has found her friend."

"I'm sorry too," said Twilight; "I was only curious. I won't mention it again." She sniffed the bowl and smiled, "This smells great by the way, thank you." she said before digging in.

For a scant few minutes the only sounds were ponies slurping their soup as Twilight and the family ate, but the peace was soon shattered by a loud clattering from outside. Roots got up and looked out of the one window they had that overlooked the street; and quickly reeled back, a look of horror on his face; "The soldiers! They're back!"

Twilight shot up and peered through the window; the soldiers were indeed back, with greater numbers and had with them three carts with cages built into their backs, their purpose very clear. "We've got to do something! We've got to hide!"

"No, you've got to hide. They know we're here, if we're all hiding they will tear this place apart looking for us, which means they'll find you as well. If it's just you hiding you have a chance to get out of this." Roots pushed aside the drawers revealing a cubby hole; "Quick! Get in!"

"But shouldn't Butterscotch and Lacy hide in here?"

Roots' shook his head sadly; "If the kids are missing they'll search this place and find you anyway. I'm afraid it's just you that gets to hide."

Downstairs there was a crunch of a door being forced open and the sound of a mare screaming that was suddenly cut off. "No! You can't just expect me to hide while you're all taken by the soldiers!"

"It’s too late Twilight. There's no escape for us but there might well be an escape for you; now get in there before the soldiers come!"

Twilight scrambled backward into the hole, which was just big enough to accommodate her. Roots' shoved her bags in after her and was about to push the drawers back into place when Twilight quietly asked "Why are you saving me?"

"I'm just returning the favour, now shh." He pushed the drawers back into place and went to where his wife and children were sitting; Lacy whimpering in fear and Cross Stitch weeping quietly.

Twilight could hear him trying his best to comfort them as the minutes passed, the only other sounds being the shouts and screams of the buildings other inhabitants as the soldiers went about their grisly business. All too soon there was the sound of armoured hooves outside the door, followed by a crunch as it was battered open. "You're all under arrest!" a soldier shouted.

"Please," Twilight could hear Roots' say; "We'll come quietly."

"You better." the soldier growled. There was a clinking sound from what Twilight suspected were shackles, and slowly the ponies left, leaving Twilight in the most damning silence ever. She waited for a few minutes in case the soldiers returned, feeling cold and hollow as she lay there in the dark.

Slowly she lifted the drawers aside, keeping an ear out for any other sounds from within the building. Hearing nothing she exited the room and crept down to the door into the building, peeking out to see where the soldiers were loading ponies into the cages.

"Miss Tilly!" Twilight's ears perked at the sound of Lacy shouting for the doll she had dropped when the soldier practically threw her into the cage. She watched as Cross Stitch's horn glowed softly, picking Miss Tilly up and floating it towards Lacy's outstretched legs. But instead the soldier intercepted it and batted it aside, towards Twilight; before laughing.

Lacey's scream when he did that is a sound Twilight wouldn't forget in a good long time. Gently, she picked Miss Tilly up in her magic and stared into her recriminating button eyes as tears escaped her own. Twilight fell to her knees, weighed down by guilt and grief, Lacey's scream and the soldiers laugh echoing around her head; "This is my fault. This is all. My. Fault."

She squeezed her eyes shut, a few more tears escaped before those tears that remained evaporated into wisps of steam. When she opened her eyes again they were bright white, glowing with a cold, hard fury. "No." She tore off her bags and cloak, her still invisible wings instinctively flaring in her aggression. "No!"

She ran out to where the soldiers had finished filling the wagons and screamed at them "Let them go you bastards!" The soldiers reacted swiftly, bringing various arms to bear; but none of them attacked her, with many backing away from her almost demonic visage. A lone soldier stepped up and charged her, bringing a halberd swinging down towards her in an arc that would have cleaved her head in two had she let it.

She erected a shield, the oscillating energy of it designed to return and magnify any force that strikes it. The halberd struck the shield and instantly the shaft shattered into splinters as the head went flying into the air where it was quickly grabbed by Twilight's magic and buried in the street; she might have been enraged beyond belief but she wasn't about to let the weapon land on somepony.

The soldier backed away fearfully, dots of blood bubbling up on his face where the splinters had struck him. "What the fuck are you?" he demanded as Twilight slowly advanced towards him.

"Angry." was her curt reply. She stalked forward a few paces, the soldiers backing off a few paces in return; clearly all their experience at fighting unicorns without spells had left them woefully unprepared for fighting an angry alicorn who could, and it showed.

A soldier at the back raised a whistle to his lips, seeking to secure backup; but Twilight snatched it from his lips before he even had the chance to draw a breath. He was clearly in two minds about events because afterward he stammered a "Charge!" in a voice that very much sounded like it wanted to scream 'Retreat!'

The soldiers surrounded Twilight with their weapons raised, all of them except the one who had already lost his; and attempted to strike her in unison. The simultaneous attack proved enough to break through her shield, but not before shattering most of their weapons; the one that did get through left her with nothing more than a deep scratch on her flank.

"My turn." Her horn suddenly flared brighter as she hefted all the soldiers into the air and held them there as she ripped the padlocks off the cages. Giving time for the cages current inhabitants to leave, she crammed the soldiers into them and proceeded to wrap any bits of metal around the bars where the cage doors opened, trapping the soldiers inside.

As a final touch she cast a spell on the soldiers that would eradicate the last two days from their memories; not the spells original purpose, but as a non-lethal means of stopping the soldiers from returning here it served her purposes quite adequately. The soldiers all yelled in fear before slumping over unconscious as she finished casting it.

She paused and tried to take some cleansing breaths as the glow slowly faded from her eyes and reality slowly reasserted itself. She floated Miss Tilly in front of her; she hadn't even realised she had been holding the doll throughout that, and looked around hoping to find Lacy. She spotted her cowering behind her mothers and fathers legs, and when she tried to approach them the entire family backed off fearfully.

"What are you?" Roots' asked her, a tremor of fear in his voice. "What did you do to those soldiers?"

"I-I-I'm just a- just a unicorn. I was only trying to help!" Twilight felt like crying again as the anger drained out of her and as they all stared at her fearfully; even the other ponies the soldiers had tried to take. "The soldiers are fine, I removed their memories from the last two days so they hopefully won't remember this and won't come back. Please, I only wanted to help..."

"B-but how?"

"The spell was designed by psychiatrists to help ponies by removing traumatic events from their past, but it fell out of use when the cure was worse...than...the..." At the ponies confused expressions she figured out that wasn't quite what he meant; "It’s just magic, a spell, that's all."

"But no unicorn knows that kind of magic!"

"Well...I do." She tried to approach them once more but again they backed away. Instead she levitated Miss Tilly towards them and placed her on the ground, where they stared at the toy like they expected it to explode. "I haven't done anything to her, she's still the same old Miss Tilly." She smiled at Lacy who was peeking at her from between her mother’s legs.

"Thank you for helping us again Twilight, but I think you should go."

Twilight was about to protest but didn't when she saw the expressions of fear on the faces of the other ponies around her. She nodded with her head hanging low, crushed by their fear and rejection of magic. She retrieved her belongings and was about to go when she had a thought and paused. "I really think you should try to leave Prance, it’s not safe here." Roots' gave her a stiff nod in return. She continued on her way, not even trying to hide her tears.

-0-0-0-

Standing on a street corner, very classy. Octavia looked around at the ponies passing her by as she tried to think about what to do. The direction Twilight had given her had led her straight to the castle, but the castle itself was closed off and guarded by soldiers and if Fleur was in the castle then quite frankly there was very little they could do about it right now.

Instead she had gone all around the castle in what she had come to think of as Little Canterlot. The houses were big and well appointed, the ponies were almost all earth ponies and well-dressed ones at that; even if the styles were very much antiquated compared to Canterlot.

It hadn't taken her long to explore the district though and she was fairly sure that if Fleur had set hoof in here she had decided to set it back out again soon after. She was tempted to leave as well; the snobbery displayed by the ponies around here outdid Canterlot's nobility by a whole extra level, and some of the snippets of conversation she could overhear left her feeling sick.

A pony and her young filly passed by her; "Mother, can I take this bonnet off? It itches."

"Absolutely not! Do you want everypony to see your horn?"

"I don't mind if they do..."

"Maybe you don't, but I do. Now stop asking about it and come along."

They carried on and walked past a trio of stallions coming the other way. "I do so wish this silly little insurrection would end so that this martial law can be over and done with. This whole business has hurt my profits terribly!"

"Indeed, indeed! If this keeps going I'll have to lay some staff off somewhere."

"You mean you actually pay those scruffy ponies you employ? Hah! What a lark."

The stallions chortles tapered off, allowing Octavia to overhear the conversation between two mares at a café. "I warned her that if anything should happen to his grandmothers vase that there would be hell to pay. Of course the clumsy thing went and broke it this morning,"

"I really don't understand on why you would even think of employing a unicorn as a maid!"

"Times are hard and unicorns are cheap. Anyway when my husband found out he was absolutely livid and thrashed her severely! Cracked her horn too so now she's even more useless than she was before. Naturally I fired her, but that means I have to hire a new maid-"

Octavia ground her teeth and pointedly ignored that conversation just in time to overhear two other mares, an earth pony and a unicorn, both in matching uniforms; "I still can't believe the mistress could do such a thing! From what the butler told me the master's thinking of leaving her."

"And I wouldn't blame him at all. To think of such a fine lady as the mistress conceiving such a thing!"

"I know! If I gave birth to a...to a..." the earth pony held a hoof up to her mouth and whispered barely loud enough for Octavia to hear; "pegasus, I would just die."

"I know, it'd be horrible! Hopefully the foal will be taken away soon and this whole nasty business can be forgotten about."

Octavia snarled inwardly and grit her teeth, the idea that even the downtrodden unicorns of Prance could hate pegasi really was depressing. She snorted and was about to leave to continue her search elsewhere, when she was accosted by two earth pony mares dressed in fancy looking clothing; one a beige colour with a golden mane, the other pale blue with a dark brown mane that reminded her of her fellow quartet member Beauty Brass.

"Are you ok dear?" the beige pony asked her; "You've been sat here for an awfully long time and I was beginning to worry that something was wrong."

The blue one sniffed and wrinkled her nose; "I think something is wrong. When was the last time you took a bath? You smell awful!"

The beige pony gasped and batted at her companion; "Sapphire! Mind your manners! Terribly sorry about her," she said to Octavia; "she's a bit rude, although she does have a point. I wasn't going to say anything but you smell a little...odious."

Octavia sniffed herself gingerly and had to admit that perhaps she smelled a little. "I've been travelling and there isn't really much chance for bathing out in the wilds. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to find somepony and I really must get back to it." She tried to walk off but the two ponies cut her off.

"Nonsense. There is no way I am going to let a lady like yourself walk around here smelling like a vagabonds armpit. I insist that you come with us back to our abode where we can see to getting you a bath, and perhaps your clothing cleaned too."

A vagabonds armpit? "While that is a very generous offer I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline." And why am I speaking like this? This is posh even for me! "It’s imperative I find my companion as soon as possible." She tried to walk off again but was cut off again by the blue pony.

"When Velvet offers you something, you don't decline. She's just trying to do you a favour." Octavia's eyes twitched from Sapphire to velvet, a sinking sensation growing within her.

"While I do appreciate the offer I am rather busy. If I had the time I would gladly take you up on that bath, but not right now."

Velvet pushed Sapphire aside so that she stood almost nose to nose with Octavia. "If you don't come, I'll scream."

"What? Why would you do that? What would doing that even achieve?"

"The guards will come and I'll tell them you attacked me, and then you'll get arrested and go to jail."

Octavia backed off a few steps, "What reason would the guards have to believe I attacked you? You wouldn't be injured!" Octavia looked to Sapphire who wore a hard look similar to Velvets', although Octavia was sure she could detect a hint of something else there.

"Wouldn't matter. Daddy's a judge and the guards all know him and his daughter. Daughters, I mean. They'll arrest you for anything if I ask them to."

By now the two ponies had backed Octavia into a corner. "Let me get this straight. If I don't come with you, you'll scream and summon the guards who will arrest me for whatever reason you invent. Because you think I need a bath."

"That's right. If you do come with us you'll get washed, your clothes will get washed and you'll be free to continue your search in a couple of hours. Sounds like a good deal right? It would be awfully hard to search for somepony from inside a prison cell."

Octavia looked around the street hoping that somepony was paying attention to this, but nopony was. Feeling that she didn't have a lot of options she relented. "Fine. I'll come."

Velvet clapped excitedly and Sapphire seemed strangely relieved; "Excellent! Now follow us and don't even think about running off because I'll have the guards hunt you down."

Octavia nodded reluctantly and followed after the two ponies, who had started whispering to each other; taking turns to look back at her. Octavia couldn't make out what they were saying, but there was the occasional mention of 'Daddy.' Next year I'm vacationing somewhere far from here.

-0-0-0-

The two ponies had led her to a large, terraced house not far from where they had found her, and had ordered her in, where she was relieved of her belongings by a nervous looking, peach coloured unicorn mare that was then ordered to run a bath for Octavia and clean her cloak up as much as she could.

As they waited she was left alone with Sapphire as Velvet disappeared on some mysterious errand. They sat there in silence, the only sound being a faint rustling as the saddened looking Sapphire rubbed one foreleg with the other over the sleeve of her dress. "Are you ok?" Octavia asked, feeling genuinely concerned for the miserable pony.

Sapphires' head shot up in surprise, like she hadn't been prepared for the idea that Octavia might have talked to her. "Uh...yes. Yes I'm fine, thank you." She lapsed back into silence for a moment, "I'm really sorry about this."

Octavia tried to ask what she meant but the blue pony remained silent, doing nothing more than rubbing her leg. The silence was broken when Velvet returned and announced that the bath was ready and that Octavia should follow her. She led them to a fancy looking bathroom decorated in white marble, complete with steaming bath and the unicorn maid from earlier wielding a scrubbing brush. "Peach Blossom, see that she is well scrubbed. When you're done bring her to the master bedroom."

"Yes mistress." Velvet and Sapphire departed, leaving Octavia with Peach Blossom; who waited patiently as Octavia climbed into the bath, before beginning the task of getting her clean.

"Peach Blossom, can I ask you a question."

"Certainly miss. I can't say if I'll be able to answer it though."

"Do you have any idea why those two would threaten me with arrest just so they can bring me here for a bath?"

Peach Blossom suddenly looked awkward; "I couldn't say miss."

"Is that because you don't know, or because you aren't allowed to say?"

Peach Blossom visibly winced that time; "Please miss, it’s not my place to say." The maid looked like she wanted to cry, so Octavia stopped asking and let the unicorn work, leaving her to wonder just what the hay was going on.

-0-0-0-

Apparently ponies in Mareitania hadn't yet heard of hairdryers, and unicorns were limited to telekinesis; so drying Octavia's mane and tail, both quite long; had taken a really long time to dry with just a towel. Eventually though, the washed, dried, and rather more fragrant Octavia was led through a double door into the master bedroom where Velvet and Sapphire were waiting for her.

"Ah! There we are! Much better, don't you think Sapphire."

"Yes Velvet. I still think she needs a little something though."

"Look, I've played your games long enough. I've had my bath and now I would appreciate it if you would return my belongings and let me go."

Velvet gave a pointed look at Peach Blossom, who lowered her eyes. "Is miss Octavia's cloak ready yet?"

"No mistress."

"No? Well that's too bad. If you could go and see to that, Peach." The maid curtsied and departed, but not before glancing at Octavia who could see the apology in her expression. "In the meantime, how about we do your mane up and do your makeup. You do want to look your best don't you?"

Look my best for what? "No, I don't. I want my belongings and I want to leave, please."

"But you can't, they aren't ready yet. Now stop being silly and lay down on the bed so we can pretty you up, not that it should take much, you're already very pretty."

Octavia did so, albeit warily. She was starting to think she would be better off taking a chance on the guards, and probably would have if they weren't holding her belongings hostage. She lay down between the two ponies; Sapphire picking up a hairbrush and starting on her tail, and Velvet opening a makeup kit she had with her. I wish Vinyl were here, she'd know what to do. Who am I kidding, I know what to do, I just can't quite bring myself to do it.

Since she had little else to do she looked around the room when she could and quickly deduced that this was definitely a stallions bedroom, judging by the colour scheme, the furnishings and the distinctly male clothing dotted around. The only thing that looked out of place was an instrument that made her heart ache when she saw it. Unfortunately that fact might have distracted her a little too much from important details, like being in a stallions bedroom.

"That cello, does it belong to one of you?"

Velvet shook her head; "No, it belonged to my mother."

"Your mother? Not Sapphires' as well?"

"No, we have different mothers, and different fathers as well. We don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough. Sooo...does either of you play?"

"No, Daddy doesn't let anypony touch it. He says the only pony allowed to play it is mother, and she's no longer with us. Why do you ask?"

"I'm a professional cello player myself, and it’s been weeks since I've been able to play. Seeing a beautiful antique cello sitting there unused is horribly tempting. Seems a waste if nopony is allowed to use it; instruments are meant to be played."

"Right! I think you're all done!" Velvet shouted out suddenly, sounding slightly panicked. Octavia looked at herself in the mirror across the room. What on earth? She's made me up like some sort of harlot! Octavia thought as she looked herself over in the mirror; there was way too much purple eye shadow and a veritable explosion of blusher on her cheeks. No need to even mention the ruby red lipstick.

"Now how about a little dress up? Personally I think you would look absolutely stunning in these." Velvet said before picking up some white, silky objects. "I've always found the right hosiery can do wonders for a mares confidence."

"Hosiery?" Octavia studied what Velvet was holding. "Stockings? Why the hay do you want me to put those on? What is going on here!? Do you think I'm some kind of prostitute or something? Because you're vastly mistaken!"

Velvet's expression hardened but she still managed to smile sweetly as she said "Put them on or I'll have Peach Blossom burn your belongings."

"Why are you doing this?” Octavia pleaded, hoping that the miserable looking Sapphire would step up and end this. She didn't though, instead she just sat there hanging her head. "Sapphire, please. Make her stop..."

Sapphire looked up, allowing Octavia to see her tears; "I can't, I'm sorry." She got up and practically fled the room.

"Now look what you've done!" Velvet screeched, throwing the stockings at Octavia. "Put these on right now! And don't cry or you'll ruin your makeup." Octavia sniffed and nodded, pulling on the stockings with hooves that were shaking as her mind flooded with dark thoughts. "Now wait here and don't leave this room, and don't take those off!"

Velvet stormed out, leaving Octavia alone, shaking as fear took hold of her mind. They're going to rape me. I'm going to be raped by two mares and then they're probably going to kill me. Those thoughts ran through her mind, blocking out everything else so that she didn't notice when somepony entered and closed the doors, locking them as they did.

"My my, don't you look lovely." Octavia jumped in surprise and raised her head to see who had just addressed her. It was a stallion; a grey and obscenely fat one, wearing a black dinner jacket that barely contained his girth.

"Wh-who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Who I am isn't important, at least not to you; but for all intents and purposes you can call me...mmm...daddy. As for what I'm doing here, let’s just say that I'm here so that you and I can get to know each other a little more intimately." He reached under the bed and pulled out a box, taking from the box some hoof cuffs, a gag and a string of beads.

Octavia almost gagged in disgust when she saw what he was holding; "Y-you mean those two brought me here and did all this for you!?"

"Mmhmm, they are such good little girls aren't they, and they have such a fine a taste in mares to find me a beauty like you." The stallion climbed onto the bed and Octavia slowly backed off, climbing down the opposite side; keeping a wary eye on the stallion as he lay on his side and revealed his...stringbean? It’s tiny! "Now how about you come back on up here and give daddy a kiss..."

Octavia's stomach lurched; "I'd rather not. In fact, if anypony is going to be kissing anything it’s going to be you kissing my flank goodbye because I am leaving." She trotted to the door and tried to open it, but failed since it was locked.

"Looking for something?" the stallion said smarmily, as he held the key flat on his hoof, before tucking it in his jacket pocket; "I get the feeling you don't know the rules here. Let me enlighten you. I don't open that door and you don't get to leave until you have performed your...services and I am satisfied. Now cease this silliness and come here." The stallion dragged himself off the bed and approached Octavia, who in turn backed away from him, going around the room until her rear brushed up against something that twanged lightly as she did so.

She waited as the stallion got nearer to her; "I really am sorry about this."

"It’s quite alright my dear, now how about you-" He was cut off, when in a sudden smooth motion, Octavia span around, grabbed the cello by its neck and continued her spin, bringing the cello in a sideways arc until it met the side of his head, knocking him out cold with a crunch and sproing as some of the strings snapped.

"I wasn't talking to you..." She brushed the side of the cello that had made contact, inspecting the large splintered dent it now bore; a strange calm coming over her. "Such a pity, it really is a beautiful instrument." She placed it back in its stand with gentle reverence, before checking the stallion for a pulse; which fortunately, or unfortunately, he still had.

She dug the key out of his pocket, unlocked the doors and stumbled out, feeling a bit numb and starting to shake as the adrenaline started to wear off. She closed the doors behind her and locked them before stepping sideways and giving a solid buck side on to the key so it snapped off in the lock. Then for good measure she located a chair, tipped it over and snapped a leg off, which she then jammed through the door handles.

"Daddy? Is everything ok? I heard banging. I mean actual banging, not the...other kind... Oh." She went quiet as she observed a heavily panting Octavia staring at the door like it had offended her. Velvet didn't move as Octavia slowly turned to face her.

"You! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat the living hell out of you!" Octavia stomped over to Velvet and roughly shoved her over onto her back before pinning her down.

"You'll ruin your outfit?" Velvet suggested with a weak grin. She cringed as Octavia pulled a hoof back, only opening her eyes again as the expected punch failed to land, because Sapphire was there holding back Octavia's leg.

"Please! It’s not her fault."

"Is that so?" Octavia said with frightening coolness; "Frankly when ponies abduct me to be raped I at least expect somepony to be at fault."

"Please, she was only doing it to protect me!"

"Protect you? From what?"

"Him."

Octavia's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. "You mean, your father does that to you?"

"He is not my father!" Sapphire snarled back; "My father died years ago and that bastard doesn't deserve to take that title from him!"

"But he's your step father, and he...I mean h-how could he...I don't..." Octavia fell silent, unable to think of what to say as her anger suddenly drained out of her. She backed off, her legs shaking again, and sat down, allowing Sapphire to pull Velvet to her hooves; Velvet giving her a kiss on the cheek in return. "Wait...are you two an item? Isn't that...well...incest?"

Sapphire shook her head; "Not with step siblings." Octavia rubbed her head; as explanations went, she'd rather have got one that didn't confuse her as much as it horrified her.

"It still is with step fathers isn't it? I mean I'm pretty sure it is."

Sapphire nodded in confirmation and hugged herself; "That's kind of a moot point compared to what he does to me though."

"Oh, yes. Right. Is that why you brought me here? So he'd attack me and not you?" The two ponies nodded; "Is forcing ponies into your home really the best solution you could come up with? Why didn't you just leave?"

"We want to," Velvet answered her; "but he won't let us and we don't really know how to survive out there. We've always been taken care of. So to stop him hurting Sapphire we started encouraging ponies to come here after all the earth pony maids refused to work here. Daddy won't touch unicorns for some reason and after that he started attacking Sapphire. We found that if we could get other earth ponies here, he'd leave Sapphire alone; that's why we targeted you, you're clearly a traveller with no ties here. If he attacked you, nopony around here would really care.

I care! "Wait, you mean he used to attack the maids too? Or at least the earth pony ones? Why isn't he in prison?"

"Because he's a judge. Nopony would dare accuse him."

Octavia felt sick to her stomach, stuff like this was unheard-of in Equestria. "What about your mother, Sapphire? Can't you go to her?"

Sapphire shook her head and hugged herself a little tighter. "She died a couple years ago. He said it was consumption, but personally I think he poisoned her because he wanted me all along. The bastard. Besides, even if she were still alive she'd be living here too."

How can one pony handle this much pain? Even Octavia wanted to give her a hug at this point. "I honestly don't know how to deal with this, this is...beyond anything I've ever come across. I really think you ought to leave, nothing is worth you staying here with that monster."

Sapphire nodded; "Yeah, I think so too. After whatever you've done to him he's only going to get worse. Now I really think you should be going, we've wasted enough of your time." She got up and left, leaving Octavia alone with Velvet.

"I really am sorry Octavia," Velvet burst out; "I just didn't know what else to do... I love her, and knowing what he was doing to her...it just makes me so...angry! I had to do something to stop him."

"How is she so calm about this? If I were in her shoes I'd probably be a nervous wreck."

"She's not always this calm. Its- I-" Velvet sighed heavily; "She's not the pony she was before this started, before daddy...did those things. What did you do to him by the way?"

"I committed an act of blasphemy." At Velvet's puzzled expression she elaborated; "I hit him around the head with your mothers cello, he's unconscious, but he should be fine. I have to ask though, why do you call him daddy? It's pretty obvious you really don't like him."

Velvet shrugged noncommittally; "I don't know, I've always called him that; and he is still my daddy despite everything he's done."

Octavia nodded listlessly, unable to say anything further. In Equestria, she would be able to think of a dozen different ways to help, but here? Here she had nothing. She looked up when Sapphire returned with Peach Blossom, who was carrying Octavia's belongings.

"Peach Blossom, once you've shown miss Octavia out, could you come up here and help Velvet and I pack some things; we're leaving."

The maid grinned widely; "Begging your pardon mistress, but it’s about damn time." She helped Octavia put her cloak on and placed her saddle bags over it. "Follow me miss." she said before leading Octavia to the way out. "I do hope you're not angry with them miss, they're good ponies, just hurt and...confused."

"No. I can't be now, not after hearing all that.” She rubbed her head; the sudden change in the situation as well as Sapphires revelations had left her feeling like she had emotional whiplash. “You'll make sure they get out okay right? I can stay if you need me to?"

"No need miss, I've been waiting for this day for months, and I really think you ought to be elsewhere when the master recovers." She opened the door for Octavia who was about to exit when Peach stopped her. "You might want to take those off." Peach Blossom said, pointing at the stockings Octavia was still wearing.

"Oh, right." She blushed lightly and pulled the stockings off, quietly tucking them into a bag. "What?" she said defensively when she noticed Peach Blossom's bemused expression; "They might come in useful for bandages."

"Of course miss, I didn't wish to imply otherwise. Goodbye." she said with a curtsey. Octavia returned the farewell and departed, looking back after a few meters to see Sapphire and Velvet looking down at her from a window. She paused, wanting to turn around and go help them but didn’t. Swallowing, she waved and continued on her way; good luck girls, you deserve it. And Bric? Consider that kiss forgiven.

-0-0-0-

Trixie breathed in deeply, sampling the many aromas the marketplace offered her; from spices to perfumes to freshly baked bread. The market in Prance made the market in Stalliongrad look like a slightly overblown swap-meet and there was something about it that called to her.

She wandered around, quite forgetting that she was meant to be looking for Fleur; and took in the sights. There were tumblers, a freak show featuring a bearded mare that she was sure was just a highly effeminate stallion; and a pretty yet scantily clad pink unicorn standing on the corner.

"Hey there cute, grey and sexy," she said with a wink; "you looking for a good time?"

"No thank you, I don't want to buy any drugs." Trixie replied without even stopping.

"But I wasn't trying to sell you...oh whatever."

"Honestly, what kind of pony wears fishnets like that during the day?" Trixie said to herself as she continued her meanderings; "So tacky." She carried on through the food section; swiping an orange as she went and stopped when she spotted a small yellow filly dressed in a scruffy brown cape lurking by an apple vendor. She narrowed her eyes and charged over, snatching the filly up by the scruff of her neck using her magic. "You!"

"Oh hey miss Trixie! I see you got your stuff back, good for you! I'd give you a high hoof, but it’s kinda awkward when you’re hanging by your neck."

"You! Why would you do that to me!?"

"Well y'see, the thing is that I am a poor lonely orphan out here in the big wide world, and I have to do what I can to survive." Her eyes went big and dewy; "You do want me to survive don't you?"

"If you try it with those crocodile tears again I'm finding a water barrel and giving you an impromptu bath. That'll wash those tears right off."

"Wow Miss Trixie, you're learning! I'd totally try that high hoof again but it's still awkward, what with the whole hanging by the neck thing. Which really kinda hurts I feel I should mention."

"You are going to give me those ten marcs back right now!"

"Ok ok, sheesh." The filly reached into her cloak; "There's just one problem."

"And what might that be?"

"Apple."

"Apple?"

"Apple." The brought her hoof out of her cloak and expertly launched an apple at Trixie that impaled itself on Trixie's horn, disrupting her magic and making her drop the filly who ran off as fast as she could.

"Get back here!" Trixie yelled as she scrambled after the filly; pulling the apple off with her magic as she ran and throwing it at the filly, although she didn't even come close to hitting her. She was at a disadvantage here, in that Petal knew where she was going, was small enough to nimbly dodge round ponies legs and could run under stalls; whereas all Trixie had going for her was longer legs, and a burning need to catch her.

"Come on Trixie! Are you even trying?" Petal yelled back at her as she dodged round a pony carrying a stack of large empty baskets. Trixie wasn't so lucky, ramming into the pony and sending her and her wares flying. Whether through skill or by being powered by sheer indignation, Trixie pushed through without stopping and grabbed a basket as she went.

Petal clambered up a stack of crates and jumped onto the roof of a stall, skilfully running along the narrow beam that supported the canvas down the middle, jumping from one stall to the next. "Run run fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the pony that stole your stuff! Har har!"

"That doesn't even rhyme!" Trixie yelled after her as she kept pace on the ground. She looked ahead to where the row of stalls ended, seeing an opportunity to catch Petal. She put on a burst of speed and floated the basket out ahead of her, hoping to catch Petal in it when she jumped down. She almost succeeded but Petal jumped off the edge of the basket without even disturbing it, using it as a step down.

"Thanks Trixie!" she shouted as Trixie snarled behind her. Petal took a hard right, which led to a passageway out of the market. Feeling like she was losing her chance to catch the filly, Trixie threw the basket and beyond anypony's and even her own expectations, the basket landed perfectly on the filly, causing her to trip up, sending both her and the basket flying. Trixie grabbed the basket and slammed it down over the filly before she could recover and jumped up and stood on it.

"Got you, you little beast!"

There was a small grunt of pain from inside the basket; "Agh, nice one Trixie. I'll bet you twenty marcs you couldn't do that again."

"Quiet you!" Trixie shouted, pretty sure that she couldn't repeat that throw even with time to practice; "You’re going to slide the ten marcs out from under the basket, then, and only then will I let you go."

"No."

"No? What do you mean no? The Great and Powerful Trixie has you at her mercy! You will do as I command!"

"Great and Powerful Trixie? Really? Anyway I can't do it because I don't have the money, at least not all of it."

"Then give me what you got! Right now!"

"Trixie, what are you doing with that filly?" said a voice from the shadows.

"Not now Fleur, I'm busy." Trixie was about to demand the money again when her brain caught up with her. "Oh hey Fleur! We've been looking for you. You done throwing your epic tantrum?"

"It wasn't an epic tantrum!"

"It soooo was! I mean they only wanted you to not steal so much because we don't need it and because all this theft might draw unwanted attention; and you were all like 'fuck y'all, I do what I want' before storming off in a big strop. Epic. Tantrum."

"Knock it off Trixie; you didn’t have a problem with it back at the camp. Besides, your last epic tantrum resulted in you taking over a town using dark magic."

"Hmm, ok...touché, I suppose."

"Taking over a town using dark magic?" said a small voice from under the basket.

"Now what are you doing with that filly?"

"This filly," Trixie pulled Petal out from under the basket and floated her in front of Fleur; "is evil incarnate! Just look at her."

"Flower? What are you doing with her? Wait..." Fleur snorted a laugh and grinned; "She totally got you didn't she? Hah! I'd expect Twilight or Octavia to fall for it, but you? I'm almost embarrassed for you."

"Shut up! It’s not my fault I have a soft spot for helping fillies. Besides, her name's Petal."

"Oh that's just one of many names I use. Last week I was Chrysanthemum. You'd be surprised how many ponies have trouble saying that, I mean chry-san-the-mum, it’s not hard."

"I think you better tell us your real name, right now!" Trixie demanded, giving the pony in her grasp a shake.

"Dalia."

"Oh ha ha. Tell us your real name, fiend."

"Ooh, so Trixie can be a clever pony, colour me impressed. If you must know I don't really have a name, other ponies call me things like 'Oi you!' 'Hey!' and my personal favourite, 'Get back here!' Before you ask I do the flower thing because it’s such a delightfully earth ponyish thing to do."

"Let her go Trixie."

"Let her go? Do you have any idea what this filly has put me through?"

"No, but unless you're going to beat up a filly for whatever money she has then you're not really going to get very far are you." Trixie growled but dropped the filly, who backed off to stand by Fleur before sticking her tongue out at Trixie.

"Don't s'pose I can ask what you meant by taking over a town with dark magic? Pretty sure I would have heard of something like that." Fleur and Trixie both suddenly felt very awkward.

"It was a, uh... You tell her Fleur."

"Right. Ok, it...it was a game, a uh..."

"Roleplaying game, where you play different ponies in a story, and...um."

"That's what we were referring to. The game. That we were playing. The other night."

"Yep."

"Oh, ok. Sounds lame. Well, it’s been great seeing you again Trixie but I think it's time I went, sooo...see ya!" She ran off and Trixie checked her bags as she went, just to make sure. "Hey! I had an orange!"

"Forget it Trixie. So what's the news? Other than you got robbed by a filly."

Trixie stared after the filly as she ran off before turning back to Fleur and mockingly scratching her head. "Hmm, let's see... There's martial law in Prance, the price of tomatoes is down and, uh...oh yes! We're all here looking for our companion who threw a wobbly and ran away."

"All right! All right! I admit it! I over reacted! For some reason that just got to me. I'm sure you wouldn't have been any different if they said something like that to you."

"Fleur," Trixie said sweetly; "what's my natural coat colour?"

"It’s blue-" She paused as if in thought; "Well don't I just feel like a bit of an idiot right now."

"Mmhmm. So does this mean you're going to stop acting like a foal and come back with me?"

"No, or at least, not yet. I realised pretty soon after leaving that there was no way I could abandon the mission, so while I've been here I've done a bit of snooping and found some things out that might be helpful."

Trixie paused before lowering her head and growling; "You're going to make me into a glorified messenger pony aren't you?"

"Yep." Fleur looked around surreptitiously for a moment before leaning down to whisper in Trixie's ear.

-0-0-0-

"But why would they be afraid of you because of magic? I mean, you helped them! They should be ecstatic!" Twilight and Octavia were sat near the arch they had come through to enter the city as they waited for Trixie to return. As they waited they were discussing their adventures through the day and neither of them was particularly cheerful as they did.

"I know. If it was just the earth ponies that were scared of it then I could probably accept it; some earth ponies in Equestria seem surprised about what a skilled unicorn can do, but the unicorns here as well? That...hurt." She shook her head rapidly as if trying to dispel her sadness; "How about you? Do you think you should have stayed and helped those two?"

"Erm... Yes and no. They made it clear that they didn't want me hanging around, and part of me still wanted to run a mile. I don't know. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"I know what you mean,” Twilight said with a nod; “I wanted to stay and help, but they wanted me to go and the way they were all looking at me... I don't think I could've stayed."

The two ponies hung their heads in silence, as if unsure how to comfort the other without ignoring their own problems. "Still better than Stalliongrad though." Octavia said with a grin. Twilight gave a short chuckle but said nothing back.

They were disturbed out of their reverie by the sound of approaching hooves; "Hey Twilight, hey Octavi-woah... What happened to you? Accident at a makeup factory or something?"

"Not quite. It’s a long story, I'll tell you later."

"Oookay... What about you Twilight? You look like a puppy that's been kicked."

Twilight snorted with mirth; "You could say that. It's a long story too, so it’s going to have to wait as well."

"Oh good, more secrets." Trixie said with a huff; "I'm almost disinclined to tell you what happened to me."

"Does it involve finding Fleur?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"As a matter of fact it does. I know, I know, aren't I marvellous."

Twilight looked around eagerly; "Well, where is she?"

"Hmm?" Trixie looked up from buffing a hoof on her chest; "Oh, she's not here. She's not going to rejoin us yet, but she did give me a few messages to pass on."

"She's still mad isn't she?" Twilight said as she scuffed a hoof on the ground.

"Maybe. I don't know. She was willing to concede that she may have overreacted a teensy bit when faced with the fact that I took a forced coat dyeing with better grace than she did. Anyway, do you want these messages or not." Twilight and Octavia nodded. "Ok then, first she wants me to say you Twilight, are a dingus."

"She really said that?"

"Well no, not entirely. I may have adlibbed a little bit, but I'm sure that's what she meant in essence."

"Of course she did... Anything else?"

"She also said that she's not seen any wanted posters or heard anything about me being a wanted mare so I'm probably safe."

"That's good." Twilight said, smiling. "I guess that means we can get rid of that coat dye now."

"But I thought it had to wash out?" Twilight fished around in her bags until she found the pouch of powder Grammaw had given her.

"Grammaw gave me this saying it would help wash the dye out. She also said to not tell you until we knew it was safe for you to be your true blue self." She tossed the pouch over to Trixie who caught it and looked inside. "Anything else Trixie?"

Trixie tucked the pouch into her own bags and pouted at Twilight; "I can't believe you've had this the entire time, and before you say it was necessary, yeah, I know. Anyway, Fleur said there's a curfew from nine in the evening 'til six in the morning so we need to either get good at avoiding guards or find somewhere to stay. She said there's somewhere in the lower city that's not too bad and affordable. Then there's the big news."

"Big news? Just how much has she been up to? She hasn't been here that long."

"I know right! The things a pony can do when we're not bickering like fillies. She said that she knows a pony who works in some high class bakery thing. There was also some stuff about her childhood but I'm not going to delve too deep into it. Now, she said that this bakery has received a special catering order for a big cake and some other stuff for a party for the Dukes son..." Trixie paused, looking between Twilight and Octavia.

"Okay, and you're saying that because?" Octavia asked.

There was a clop as Trixie facehoofed; "Oh for goodness sake. I would've thought that you of all ponies, Octavia, would appreciate dramatic tension. Now, as I was going to say, this order is for the duke's son's birthday party which is taking place on a luxury river boat in less than a week so we have a couple of days to finish up whatever we're doing here before heading off-"

"Woah woah woah." Twilight held up a hoof to ward off Trixie's complaint about being interrupted; "How does this help us exactly?"

"Big party for the duke's son? Lots of important ponies there, drinking an awful lot of champagne? Sounds like a great way to find out stuff that might help us with our mission. You know, that thing which so happens to be the reason we're in this miserable country in the first place?"

"Oh. Yeah. But what are we meant to do until then? And what about Fleur? We can't leave without her, especially now she's the only one of us with an actual plan!"

Trixie shrugged; "She didn't say. All she said was 'I'll find you.' I know, cryptic much?"

Twilight sighed with frustration and looked around, taking note of the dwindling number of ponies around. "First things first, let’s find some shelter. Last thing we need is to be caught out after curfew."

"Uh-huh, then you two can tell me what you've been up to and why Octavia's face looks like it’s been attacked by a drunk beautician. Once I've had a bath of course.

-0-0-0-

Twilight unlocked the door into the room they had rented for the night and was immediately pushed aside by Trixie who ran in and jumped on the bed. "Mine!"

"You don't get the whole bed Trixie. There's three of us and only one bed." Twilight said as she removed her bags and cloak.

"It’s not my fault we're too poor to afford two rooms. I mean the look the bar pony gave us we said we wanted one room; I thought he was going to ask if he could join us."

"Please don't say things like that." Octavia said with a shudder. She poked her head through a door in the room; "Oh hey! An en-suite, with actual plumbing! I wasn't expecting that. I call first dibs!" She said quickly before Trixie even had a chance to open her mouth.

"Oh come on! I need to wash this dye off! So unfair."

"Oh shush Trixie, I'm only going to wash my face. It'll only take a minute. I'll start a bath running for you, although I don't know how much you'll want it."

"You have no idea how much I want it but I'll humour you by asking what you mean."

"There's no hot water. I mean, at all. It's freezing."

Trixie groaned and kicked her rear legs out. "Worst hotel in the worst country ever!"

"Hardly," Twilight said as she opened the curtains, giving her a spectacular view of the neighbouring buildings side; "at least it does have an actual bath which is more than you expect from some cheap rooms above a bar. Besides I can heat the water for you."

"You can? Excellent! I knew there was a reason we brought you!"

"Yeah, about the only one so far..." Twilight muttered under her breath. She looked down on the windowsill and noticed a small figurine. It was carved out of wood, depicting a tall alicorn like Celestia, rearing up with its wings spread, but with its forelegs held close to its body and its head lowered as if in sadness. It also had a straight cut mane and tail not dissimilar to her own. She had a look to see if there was a cutie mark but the pony who made it had neglected to include one. "Hey, look at this," she said, holding it up in her magic so the others could see; "Do you think this is meant to be the Lady?"

Trixie took the figurine in her own magic and inspected it closely. "Huh, it’s kind of like a cross between you and Celestia. Weird."

"I wonder what it’s doing here?" Octavia asked as she studied it herself. "If worshipping her is banned then surely leaving this in a public place is a bit inflammatory."

“Maybe somepony left it here by accident?” Trixie suggested. “You’d be surprised at the amount of stuff I’ve left in hotels over the years. Admittedly not as much stuff as I’ve taken from hotels, but still.”

Twilight shook her head and shrugged; “It doesn’t matter.” She tucked the figurine into her saddlebags; figuring that since it probably wasn’t meant to be there then she might as well keep it, although she wasn’t sure why she thought that. Rummaging through her bags she located the speaker stone and lifted it out. “I’m going to find somewhere private to have a talk with Celestia.”

“Wait!” Trixie shouted; “Bath water first!” Twilight rolled her eyes but went into the en-suite. She turned the faucet off and dipped the tip of her horn into the water where she cast a spell for a few seconds which was enough to make the water steam. “There, enjoy.”

She tucked the stone under a wing where it thankfully became invisible as well and walked out of the room, smiling slightly as there was a splash and yelp from Trixie; “Hot hot hot!” She walked down the hall, gingerly testing every door she passed until she found one that opened and gently pushed it open. Finding the room empty she entered and moved the bed against the door ensuring nopony came in while she was there. She lay on the bed, activated the stone and waited for a reply.

“Hello? Twilight? Is that you?” There was a brief pause, where Twilight was sure she could hear a sound like a coconut hitting a rock; “My apologies Twilight, Of course it’s you.”

“Hi Luna. Guess I forgot the time when I did this.”

“Quite alright Twilight. Would you like me to get my sister? She is only bathing right now.”

“No, no need,” Twilight said, not wanting Luna to feel slightly rejected for wanting Celestia over her; “you might be the better pony to speak to about this.”

“Of course Twilight, how may I assist?” Twilight breathed out slowly through her nose, unsure of what she wanted to say. Luna must have picked up on it, asking “Twilight? Is something amiss?”

“I guess I better give you the news first. We’re in Prance, not without some problems along the way but we are all here. We might have a new problem though; the city is under martial law and has been since before we arrived.”

“Martial law? Why would the city be under martial law? Did something happen there?”

“We don’t really know. Octavia asked one of the guards and he said they were looking for insurrectionists, but the thing is we haven’t seen the slightest evidence of such a thing.”

“There is rarely smoke without fire Twilight. There must be a reason of some sort?”

“If there is we don’t know it. All we know is that there’s a general here of some description and he’s not leaving until he’s decided that the insurrectionists have been pacified.” Twilight’s chest grew tight as her emotions threatened to escape her control. “It’s awful here Luna; in just the last six or so hours we’ve been here I’ve seen how bad it is, how the general intends to stop them.”

“Twilight? You sound upset. If something is the matter you can tell me.”

“I was looking around the lower city and saw some soldiers harassing a family, a mare, stallion and two foals. They were going to arrest them all if the stallion didn’t come quietly and I couldn’t just stand there and let it happen. I managed to get enough attention on the soldiers so that they became worried and left but they came back later with reinforcements.”

“What did they do?”

“They arrested everypony Luna! Even the children! The stallion told me to hide since the soldiers didn’t know I was there so when they cleared the building I snuck out to where they were loading the ponies into cages. The filly from the family dropped her stuffed toy when a soldier threw her into the cage and when her mother tried to retrieve it the soldier kicked it away.”

“The fiend!” Luna said, sounding shocked.

“It landed by me and when I picked it up I…I… I just lost it! I was so angry and I wanted to hurt them like they were hurting these ponies!”

“Did you…kill somepony? Is that why you are upset?”

Twilight shook her head before remembering that Luna couldn’t see her. “No, I didn’t kill anypony Luna! I could never do that! No, they attacked me first and I defended myself. Then once I had unarmed them I locked them in their own cages and wiped their memories of the last two days, hoping they might never come back.”

“You would know such a spell? Isn’t such a thing outlawed?”

“No, psychiatrists use to use them but only in the most extreme of cases, but no, they’re not illegal. Anyway after I did that I went to give the filly back her toy but nopony would come near me! They were terrified of me because of the magic I did! I was only trying to help them!” Her voice cracked and she gave a little sob. “I don’t get why they were afraid of me Luna. I helped them!”

“Oh Twilight, I understand what you’re going through all too well.”

“You do?” Twilight said, rubbing her eyes after her outburst.

“Of course I do, you remember how ponies treated me after I returned and was cleansed by the elements. Even though I was no longer evil I was still treated as a threat, ponies would look at me and all they would see was another Nightmare Moon waiting to happen. The ponies of Mareitania haven’t seen magic like yours since before the exodus and have been told for centuries that magic users are evil. You may have helped them Twilight but I’m afraid all they saw was you attacking ponies with something they think is evil, which by an unfair extension makes you evil as well.”

“I know that,” Twilight said quietly; “I just never thought that being rejected in such a way would hurt so much.”

“It does,” Luna said equally quiet; “but it doesn’t stop them from doing it. Find strength in your companions Twilight, with them at your side it won’t seem so hard. Work towards a future in Mareitania where such displays of magic would only garner you praise rather than fear.”

Twilight snorted slightly and smiled; Luna was speaking the truth but to hear said in such a way was strange. “Thanks Luna.”

“You are welcome Twilight. I realise that perhaps Celestia might have been more comforting for you, but I hope you realise I am always here for you as well; after all you were my first friend after my return and I would do anything to help you.”

“Don’t worry Luna, you did.”

“I’m glad, now, is there anything else you wish to tell me?”

“Uh, not much. We might have a lead on where we should go from here, but Fleur knows a lot more about it than I do and she isn’t…here right now.” Twilight thought maybe Luna and Celestia didn’t need to know about the princess of friendship’s failure at friendship. “I’ll tell you more once I know more.”

“I see. I hope it’s something good then. If there is nothing more I shall have to take my leave; night court begins soon and I do not wish to be tardy, unless of course there is something else you wish to discuss?”

“No, that’s it. Thanks for this Luna, I should probably get back to the others. Bye.”

“Farewell Twilight, and remember not to let the fears of these ponies bring you down.”

“I will.” Twilight cut the spell and froze when she realised that in her blubbering she had neglected to tell Luna more important things like what was happening with the martial law, like the random arrests and the brutal treatment ponies were receiving. She was about to make contact again when she remembered that Luna was about to go to night court. “Ugh, I am such an idiot.”

She roughly shoved the bed back into its former position and teleported to her room, rather than walking. She emerged in a flash in the centre of the room and was immediately set upon by Trixie who was still in the bath. “Twilight! Is that you? You said this stuff would wash the dye out! It’s just powdered soap!” Twilight frowned for a moment before snorting into a giggle; “What? What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry Trixie, I didn't mean to laugh. it’s just that Grammaw said that it would wash the dye out and technically she wasn’t wrong even though it’s just soap powder. I guess she made it sound like a miracle fix for the dye to stop me from moping around so much, feeling guilty for what I did to you.”

“Twilight, you are going to come in here and help me because if I come out a blotchy, half blue, half grey freak there will be hell to pay and I won’t be leaving this room until its fixed! Surely you must know a spell of some sort that can remove the dye?”

Twilight rubbed her chin as she thought and couldn’t help but grin as a solution formed in her mind. “No, I’m afraid I don’t know any dye removal spells, but I do know hair growth spells. We could shave you and then use the spell to grow your coat back in is proper colour.” Twilight and Octavia grinned at each other as they cocked an ear towards the bathroom, waiting for a reply.

“No chance. Instead I have a better idea; you are going to come in here and help me scrub until Trixie is either blue or bleeding! Preferably blue.” Twilight walked into the bathroom where Trixie immediately flicked water into her face. “You got that?”

Twilight giggled and picked up a scrubbing brush; “Fair enough, but I’m telling you now that washing your flank is your own business.”

“As if I would even let you.”

10. Unexpected Consequences pt 1

Twilight's eyes fluttered open as she slowly awoke, a strange buzzing sound making her ears twitch and in her sleep addled state she couldn't make heads nor tails of what it might be. She carefully removed Trixie's legs from around her and got out of bed to search for the source of the sound, the small amount of early dawn light coming through the curtains being enough to do so by.

She traced the sound to her saddlebags and facehoofed in the gloomy light as she realised what it was. She opened a bag and looked at the offending item; the book that was bonded to Sunset Shimmer's in Canterlot High. I really need to find out the name of their world, I can't name their entire world after a high school and I refuse to call the city she's in alternate Canterlot, Canterlot two or even bizarro Canterlot like Spike suggested. She opened the book quickly so that its flashing wouldn't disturb the others and read it in the glow of her horn.

Dear Twilight

Just checking in with you to make sure everything is okay. I haven't really written to you since the Anon-a-miss incident and I just want you to know that everything is going better now (although I'm getting tired of apologies).

I do have one small issue though that's been bugging me for a while; why did my friends turn against me so easily? Why couldn't they see through what was, in hindsight, an obvious attempt to frame me? I'm not proud when I say this but back in the 'bad' old days I managed to tear their friendship apart without them suspecting me in the slightest. Do they really think I would do the Anon-a-miss blog in my own colours and use a silhouette of myself? Do they think so little of me to think I could be that obvious? And that's before I even get to the rest of the people at school, not one of them was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. Is this what it’s going to be like forever? Someone points a finger at me as a suspect and suddenly everyone jumps on the bandwagon because I'm Sunset Shimmer and therefore I must be behind everything bad that happens?

Sorry Twilight, I guess it’s not that small an issue for me; I didn't mean for that to become a rant even if it is in writing. I also can't thank you enough for backing my corner during that, really, it means so much that I can count on you.

Anyway, what have you been up to? I can't help but feel like the problems of a high schooler probably don't compare to the problems of being a princess. Can't wait to hear back from you.

Your friend

Sunset Shimmer.

Twilight frowned, saddened that Sunset felt like that, although she truly couldn't blame her for being angry; even Twilight had to admit she was disappointed by the way Sunset's friends had not only refused to believe her, but had turned their backs on her as well. She got a quill and a small ink bottle out of her bags and thought for a moment before writing back.

Dear Sunset Shimmer

Don't undersell yourself like that. You're my friend and your problems are as important to me as anything I would have to do as a princess. That said, you wouldn't believe what I've been up to lately. I'll tell you at the end.

Have you approached the others about how you're feeling? I know they apologised for their mistake, but if that mistake is still hurting you then it’s not fixed yet. I can't suggest what to do about the rest of the pupils at the school, but these are your friends, you shouldn't be afraid to tell them how you feel.

I would suggest using nicer words though since you are bringing this up quite some time after it happened so they probably think nothing's wrong; having a confrontation about this after this long would probably be counterproductive even if justified.

And now for the news. I don't know what you know of Mareitania so I'll give you the abridged version and say it’s the kingdom that ponies left after the exodus to Equestria. After the windigoes were defeated the country was taken over by earth ponies, who formed an oppressive government that treats unicorns as second class citizens and have enslaved the pegasi to be weather ponies. They also cut themselves off from the world which is why nopony really knows much about it.

There's more to it than that but it would take a long time to tell you in a letter. If you're curious I'll tell you in person when I next see you. Unfortunately that may not be for a while because Celestia has tasked me with effecting a change of government in Mareitania by any means possible and it could take months, especially considering that I have no idea what I'm doing. I've also been forced to leave my friends in Ponyville since they have responsibilities that they can't really leave behind, and also because Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would be horribly mistreated while here; thanks to magic I can hide my wings but they wouldn't be so lucky. I also can't tell them about what I'm doing either since its highly top secret.

Instead I've been given different companions to come with me, an earth pony musician called Octavia, who I'm sure has a counterpart in your school; a unicorn model called Fleur who is older than us so I don't think you might have encountered her counterpart at the school. And there's the pony equivalent of Trixie, who happens to be a unicorn. I know you can imagine what that would be like but fortunately she's a bit nicer than your Trixie; different life experiences are probably to thank for that.

So far all I can say is things are not going great.

I did say that this is top secret so don't tell anypony anybody, not even your friends. The only reason I'm telling you is because you're in a different dimension so it probably doesn't matter too much, and I trust you. I need to go now but please write back soon.

Your friend

Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight sat back, watching as the letters flashed and crossed the divide into an entirely different world, unsure whether she should have told Sunset anything different to what she told her friends in Ponyville, not that it really mattered since it was too late now.

She was about to get back into bed but saw that Trixie had rolled into her spot and decided that it wasn't worth the effort trying to get her to roll back, especially if she risked waking both Trixie and Octavia in the process. Instead she unrolled her sleeping bag and lay on top of it and settled down to try and get more sleep.

-0-0-0-

An hour later and Twilight hadn't got to sleep and had instead spent the time reading back through Sunset Shimmer's old letters to Celestia. It had felt intrusive at first, like reading someone's diary but Twilight wanted to know what had shaped Sunset to be the pony she used to be. She was surprised to find that despite their identical roles as Celestia's personal students they were very different.

Sunset had sought power through her knowledge and considered herself to be heir to whatever legacy Celestia was going to bestow upon her and thought making friends to be beneath her. Twilight hadn't thought herself heir to anything and considered herself blessed to be taught by Celestia. She had never once thought that Celestia owed her anything and was a good deal more humble. Her own approach to friends was also different, she didn't think it was beneath her but that it was less important than being the princess's student.

How wrong she was. Would things have turned out differently if Sunset had reached out to others? Twilight might never have become Celestia's student and she might have been one of the ponies witnessing the coronation of Princess Sunset Shimmer. A small shiver went down her spine at the thought of never being Celestia's student.

She put the book back into her bags and thought that perhaps it was time that she woke the others. Not that it mattered much; their current plan was in the hooves of a pony that wasn't even there. They could have spent the entire day in bed for all it mattered right now.

She glanced over to the bed and had to fight back a laugh at what she saw; Trixie had rolled over and had wrapped herself around Octavia and was very gently chewing on Octavia's ear while drooling down her face. Octavia, for her part, hadn't appeared to notice and was slowly moving her legs like she was dreaming. Never before had Twilight wished so much to have a camera.

Twilight gave Octavia a gentle nudge with her magic, before giving her a harder nudge when the last one didn't do anything. She watched as Octavia slowly came about and took extra care to watch as Octavia discovered what Trixie was doing to her.

"Wazzit? Huh? Stop touchin' m' ear..." Octavia blinked a few times as her awareness grew and suddenly froze, eyes wide open as Trixie chewed a bit more. Suddenly she lept out of bed; "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew! Trixie!" She rubbed her cheek with a hoof, a sticky string of saliva forming when she pulled her hoof away. "Eeewwww! Trixie!"

Her shouts woke Trixie who thrashed about wild eyed in her half asleep delirium; "What? Wha's happening? We bein' 'tacked?"

"Yes! I'm being attacked by you Trixie!"

Trixie stopped thrashing and rubbed her eyes a few times before blinking owlishly at Octavia. "What d' y' mean I'm attacking you? That's stupid."

"You were chewing on my ear in your sleep! And you've drooled all over my face!" Octavia grabbed a corner of the blanket and did her best to wipe it off.

"There is no way Trixie would do something like that! Maybe Twilight was doing it?"

Twilight cleared her throat noisily and tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably and burst out laughing. "I've been down here for the last hour so it wasn't me. Besides, even if I were still in the bed you'd be between me and Octavia." she said once she had calmed down.

"Trixie would never perform such a lewd act. Perhaps it was you, Octavia, who put your ear in my mouth! Or maybe Twilight set up the whole thing!" Octavia shook her head and growled slightly before going into the bathroom to wash. "What are you doing down there anyway?" Trixie asked Twilight.

"I thought I heard something and woke up. I thought I'd leave you two to it rather than wake you up getting back into bed."

"Fine, fine. Did you have to do that to me and Octavia though? Couldn't you have entertained yourself with something else?"

"I swear I didn't do anything to either of you!"

"Hmmph, likely story." She got out of bed and stretched like a cat would, a series of clicks emanating from her joints. "Is there a plan for today? Hanging around doing nothing doesn't sound like a lot of fun."

Twilight sighed and shook her head; "I wish I had a plan. Ideally we would find Fleur and have her explain what exactly she's up to, but I get the feeling you only found her because she wanted you to."

"She does seem to have quite a large skill set for somepony who's 'just a model,'" Octavia said as she emerged from the bathroom; "you'd be forgiven for thinking she was some kind of spy or secret agent."

"Yeah," Trixie agreed; "I mean Trixie knew she could be stealthy but this is full on ninja skills here, sneaking around, gathering Intel and stuff like that."

"Or," Twilight suggested; "it could be that this is the city she grew up in, living on the streets. She would know her way around and she would know the right ponies to ask. I'm not trying to put her down but I think you're getting a little caught up in thinking she's something she is not." Both Trixie and Octavia nodded vaguely.

"What are we going to do today then?" Octavia asked. "Could I also suggest that we do it together? I don't think any of us want a repeat of yesterday’s misfortunes."

"How about we start with breakfast?" suggested Trixie.

Twilight shrugged in return; "Sounds like a plan."

-0-0-0-

The three ponies headed downstairs to the bar and paid a small pittance for what the bar pony called 'you get what you're given.' Apparently that was a bowl of lukewarm and stodgy porridge, which they ate with little complaint, their palate's being somewhat altered by the weeks of subsisting on whatever food they could get.

As they ate Twilight kept glancing out of the window, concerned by the number of soldiers she could see patrolling up and down the street. "Excuse me," she said to the bar pony; "Has something happened? There seems to be more soldiers than usual out there."

The mustard coloured earth pony spat on a glass and polished it with a grubby rag, which made Twilight's stomach turn; before answering; "Some unicorn attacked a bunch of soldiers yesterday, trapped them in their own cages and stole their memories. Soldiers are going nuts trying to track down something that they have no idea how to find."

Twilight swallowed and tried to keep the fear she now felt from entering her voice. Octavia and Trixie also had the wits to not give their shock away. "Do they know who they're looking for? I mean, male, female; what colour?"

The bar pony put the glass away and picked up another which he again spat on and polished; "Don't know. It's not like they like to share their information freely, not 'less they beat it out of somepony else first. What I do know is that they already arrested one pony who they think might be the pony they're looking for."

Twilight nervously glanced at the others, reading in their expressions the same thing that she was thinking; please don't be Fleur. "Do you know who that might be?"

"Not a sodding clue. I reckon the whole thing was done by those mares what I heard of in Stalliongrad what did that rescue. If the soldiers captured one of them then it must have been intentional on the mare’s part. Truth is they probably just arrested the shiftiest looking unicorn mare they could find, an' now that poor girl is going to face the noose for something she didn't even do."

"Hold on," said Trixie; "if they've already arrested somepony then why are they still looking? You said they were going nuts looking for somepony they didn't know how to find?"

The bar pony started rubbing the bar down with the same cloth that he used on the glasses, both Twilight and Octavia squirming as they watched him do it "Beats me," he said; "maybe they're trying to find their accomplices or something."

"By marching up and down the streets? Hah! Good luck."

"Standard search pattern for the grand army, least it was back when I was in it. Basically just walk round in circles until you find somepony who looks suspicious or guilty."

"You were in the army?" Twilight asked, surprised that the stallion would be so dismissive of the armies methods after he was in it.

"Sure was, and I'll tell you now that there's two things the leaders of this so called 'grand army' lack; subtlety and guile. Why try to do things sensibly when you can send a bunch of boys in screaming 'n' hollering and making a mess of things. Couldn't have been happier when I finally got out; being around that much stupidity on a daily basis can leave a pony feeling pretty stupid themselves."

"Wait wait wait," Trixie interrupted; "if you were in the army does this mean you know why they put this place under martial law?"

The bar pony stopped cleaning the bar and rested on it instead, giving the three ponies a long, cool stare. "Fear. The Duke's a paranoid old bastard who thinks everypony around him is one step from starting an open rebellion. He's put this place under martial law to cow anypony who might think unpatriotic thoughts, and to set an example to the inhabitants of other cities. Likes making examples does the Duke; made one in Neigh Orleans about twenty years ago where he got some ponies who tried to escape out of the country and...'executed' them, just to set an example to anypony else thinking of escaping." The stallion visibly shuddered; "Even kept me and the other boys in the dark about what they was going to make us do until we had no choice but to do it; told us we were just escorting them back to the city at first."

Twilight put a comforting hoof on Trixie's shoulder, Trixie having gone still and quiet with her mouth slightly agape. "Do you know what's going to happen here?" she asked the stallion.

He sighed wearily and pulled a bottle out from behind the bar and took a pull before putting it back. "Same thing that happens every time they try something like this; randomly arrest some ponies, torture some, make others disappear before finally making a big show of executing the leaders of some rebellion they made up. Probably just some ponies they found breaking curfew the night before. Happened in Bitmark 'bout ten years ago, almost exactly the same, all so he can keep ponies afraid of him and his army. Someday he'll go too far and start something that he can't finish and between you an' me, I'll laugh when it happens." A mare suddenly shouted from somewhere behind the bar; "Yeah yeah, I'm coming!" the stallion shouted back. "Excuse me ladies, if you need me just holler." he said before disappearing.

Trixie squeaked and started hyperventilating; "That was my parents he was talking about! It had to be!"

"You don't know that," Twilight said as Trixie started to rock back and forward; "I'm sure other ponies from there have tried to escape and...failed." She hugged Trixie, unable to think of what else to say.

"I don't mean to sound cruel," Octavia interjected; "but I fear we may have more pressing concerns, like finding out the identity of the pony they arrested. More specifically, making sure it’s not Fleur."

Twilight was about to tell Octavia off for being so insensitive when Trixie pushed her off. "Yeah, I know. I'm fine honestly, it was just a bit of a shock." She stood up, her legs shaking slightly; "Come on, we need to find Fleur. Again."

-0-0-0-

"This is pointless." Trixie exclaimed as she collapsed onto her rear at the foot of a statue depicting some deceased military pony and massaged her hooves. "It's going to be impossible to find her if we stick together and let's be honest here, if she's been arrested then we're not going to find her at all are we? We've been at this for hours and haven't seen a trace of her."

"We're not splitting up Trixie; do you even remember what happened to me and Octavia yesterday?"

"Of course I remember, I'm not stupid. It seems to me though that we're slowing ourselves down just to make you two feel better."

"Says the pony sat on her flank, whingeing." Octavia said snarkily. "I do agree that this is pointless though; Fleur isn't liable to suddenly just cross our path, nothing's ever that simple."

"Actually, statistically speaking, that is quite possible." Twilight said as she tapped her hooves together nervously; "If we keep at it it's bound to happen."

"Oh good!" Trixie said sarcastically; "It might happen today, tomorrow or next month but we can rest assured it will happen. Eventually."

"I never said it would happen quickly, although technically we could turn the next corner and find her."

"'Statistically speaking.'" Trixie added with hoof quotes.

Twilight threw her hooves out in exasperation; "Do you have any better ideas then Trixie? Besides splitting up. If so I would love to hear them."

"No, admittedly I do not, but not having a better plan is no excuse for sticking with a bad one. Give Trixie a minute and I'll come up with something." Trixie folded her legs and looked out across the square at the other ponies, leaving Twilight looking like she wanted to explode. She was about to when Trixie suddenly gasped and charged off into the crowd.

She came back a minute later carrying in her magic a small yellow filly who was complaining about her treatment. "I mean seriously, why is it always by the neck? Do ponies not realise that it hurts? The best part is I didn't even do anything wrong this time!" She was dumped in front of Twilight and Octavia and rubbed her neck with a hoof. "Oh hey, I recognise you two! You’re the ponies that don’t put sauce in their hay bacon rolls." she said once she bothered to look at them; "Does this mean your idiot friend is around here too?"

Trixie's magic glowed around as she spun the filly round in a half circle. "Hi." Trixie said in a low growl.

"Hi yourself. Now seriously, where's Trixie?" There was moment of quiet as the filly studied the blue pony in front of her. The moment ended when the filly lifted up the side of Trixie's cloak to see her cutie mark. "Huh, didn't know ponies could change colour. Guess that's what blueerr-grey meant. Anyway, how you been Trixie? What's up?"

"Don't get friendly, you don't like us and we don't like you; we need information and you are going to give it to us."

"Are you kidding? I like you, you guys are great! Especially you Trixie. Anyway, I don't know what you expect me to know because despite my mature, outward appearance I am in fact but a mere filly. Knowing stuff is adults business."

"We'll give you money." Twilight said slipping some coins out of her bag.

"Now you're speaking my language! So what can I do you for miss, miss and miss?"

"We want to know who the unicorn was that the soldiers arrested last night," Twilight said; "and if they've arrested anypony else involved in that...attack on the soldiers yesterday."

"I have no idea!" the filly said cheerfully. "I do know that two other ponies were arrested last night, but I don't think it had anything to do with that attack."

"You mean you have no idea who that unicorn mare might have been?"

The filly shrugged lightly; "There's only one kind of mare that would risk being out after curfew if it meant making a few coin for the trouble."

"Drug dealers!" Trixie shouted out loud, causing a few passers-by to look in their direction.

"Ooookkkkaaayyyy, make that two kinds of mare who would stay out after curfew like that." the filly said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"That doesn't tell us if Fleur's been arrested though." said Octavia; "All that means is she could be one of three possible ponies."

"Fleur ain't been arrested, I saw her this morning; bought me breakfast in fact. By which I mean she stole something and gave it to me and I ate it because it’s easier than stealing it myself. I'm telling you, you unicorns have a real advantage when it comes to sleight of hoof seeing as how you don't need hooves to do it. Hey, are you guys even listening?"

They weren't listening in the slightest, all of them distracted with relief that Fleur was safe. The distraction ended when Trixie grabbed the filly in her magic again when she noticed she was going through Octavia's bags. "Why do you have stockings in your bag? Seems a bit weird."

"They're for bandages okay! Quit asking! And don't go through my bags!" She glared at Trixie who didn't even try to disguise her snigger.

"Yeesh, defensive much? And it’s not my fault you all started ignoring me, I get antsy when that happens and I have to do something to distract myself."

"Nevermind that," Twilight said, hoping to direct the conversation somewhere helpful and not into an argument about Octavia's possessions; "where did you see Fleur? Is she nearby?"

"Nah, this was ages ago; she could be anywhere by now."

Twilight stomped a hoof in frustration; there was no way that one pony should be this hard to find. She tossed the coins to the filly; "Here. Thanks for helping."

"Don't give her money!" Trixie whined; "Now we'll never get rid of her!" she said, making Twilight roll her eyes.

"If you should happen to see Fleur," Twilight said to the filly as she directed a glare at Trixie; "could you ask her to find us? We really need to talk to her."

"Sure! Although if you want to find her you could try your luck tonight."

"Tonight? What do you mean tonight?"

"The executions in castle square! Loadsa ponies go to that sort of thing, maybe you'll find Fleur there!"

Twilight licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry; "Oh, exe-executions? Really? I didn't know they were treated like a...a...spectator sport around here. Are you going?"

"Yeah, but only because it’s good pickings at a thing like that; I don't actually care about the...killing bit." She scuffed her hoof in the dirt, her eyes averted. "I think you've had your two marcs worth of my time so I'm going to go now. If I see Fleur before tonight I'll pass on the message." She started to trot off when Twilight shouted after her.

"Wait! What time are the ex- what time is it happening tonight?"

"Just after sundown, around sevenish. It's always after sundown for some reason. Guess they think the dark makes it more dramatic."

Twilight watched as the filly vanished into the distance, her mind blank. She was shaken out of her reverie by Octavia; "Seems we got a date to keep. May as well get some lunch or something first, because if I see somepony selling hay-dogs at this thing then I might have to scream and I certainly wouldn't be buying one." Twilight nodded slightly and followed after Octavia.

"Pretty shitty date." Trixie muttered darkly. "And it’s definitely going to have to be 'or something' because I'm really not hungry now."

-0-0-0-

The three ponies had ended up back in the bar where they had stayed the previous night. They had tried a bar in the upper city near the castle but the bar tender had taken one look at them and immediately told them to leave. They hadn't bothered to get an explanation why.

Twilight swirled her glass of wine around as she stared into it, as if looking for portents in the ruby liquid. Truth was that the wine actually tasted a little worse than vinegar and could probably be used to etch glass. She wasn't much of a drinker either so the initial taste was actually as far as she had gotten.

"This is so messed up." Trixie moaned for the hundredth time; "Sitting around drinking as we wait to go see a bunch of ponies get brutally murdered by other ponies for no good reason at all." Twilight winced at her words, like she had done so every other time Trixie had said them.

"I don't think we have to wait much longer," Octavia said, taking another tentative sip of her own glass of wine; "It’s almost time."

Twilight swirled her wine a few more times before putting it down; "I guess we should head up to the castle then." None of them moved a muscle.

"Do we, in theory, actually need to go?" Trixie asked. "There's no guarantee that Fleur's going to be there anyway. We could end up seeing this whole vile business for absolutely no reason if she's not."

Twilight got out of her chair and donned her cloak before hauling her bags over it, securing them in place before checking her sleeping bag was securely tied on. "Yes we need to go."

"But why?"

Twilight rounded on Trixie with her teeth bared, "You don't get it do you? I attacked those soldiers! Me! Now that poor mare is going to hang because of what I did!" She stopped, her breathing ragged as she let that sink into Trixie's head. "It's my fault, that's why we're going! If there's a way to stop this then I have to try!"

"Oh."

Twilight waited as the other two gathered their own belongings, ignoring the muttered protests from Trixie; and led the way out of the bar. She would have said goodbye to the bar pony but he seemed to have disappeared somewhere a while ago and hadn't come back since. The rest of the bar was empty so there was probably no need for him to be there anyway.

She led the way out onto the street and headed towards the castle, each step feeling like there were lead weights attached to her hooves. If this was the sort of thing Celestia had expected her to do when she gave her this mission then she might have considered giving her resignation as a princess right then and there.

As she led the trio up through the city she started to notice that other ponies were heading in the same direction, in twos and threes. She was also quietly relieved to note that none of them looked happy, every one of them wearing a sombre expression as they headed to the execution.

They soon came upon the entrance to castle square, the square itself being with the confines of the castle. Twilight was faintly surprised by how large it was; all the ponies she had seen so far had only just filled half of it and there was plenty more still coming.

She looked around, the torches lined around the walls providing just enough light to see by. At the far end of the square was the gallows, built adjacent to the main part of the castle. It was heavily guarded as though the soldiers were expecting trouble before things had even started. Gladly pulling her focus away from that she continued to search around, hoping to spot Fleur. "I can't see her." she said out loud to nopony in particular.

"Ponies are still arriving yet," Octavia responded; "give it time." They waited, with more ponies entering into the square which added to the difficulty of trying to spot one pony amongst them. Twilight was sure she spotted her once, catching a glimpse of a white muzzle in a dark hood looking right at her. As soon as she had though her view was blocked by another pony and when she moved to try and find what she had seen again, the hooded pony was gone.

"This is hopeless, there's too many ponies here. Finding her in this crowd is going to be impossible."

"I wouldn't be so certain of that." Trixie said before nodding towards Twilight. Twilight turned around and saw the hooded pony coming towards her, because of their height they looked like a hooded shark moving through a sea of ponies. As it came closer it became obvious that the pony was in fact Fleur. Twilight smiled faintly but that smile was quickly faded when she saw Fleur's own expression of fury. Fleur closed the distance and shoved her face into Twilight's.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!"

-0-0-0-

Dear Twilight

First things first, thanks for the advice. The others seemed a bit funny about me bringing it up this long after things had cooled down, but you were right, they did listen and I think we did sort things out although I did have to receive more apologies (yay).

When it comes down to it though I'm still a bit suspicious of why it happened; I thought we were past all of this. I guess the magic of friendship is something you have to keep working at; it doesn't just happen and stay happened.

Anyway, less about me and more about you little miss 'effect a change of government.' I mean, wow... That's a pretty big deal. I've heard some things about Maretania and none of them were very nice. I'm guessing the truth is even worse.

I wish I could be there to help you but obviously that's impossible now seeing as how the book is now hundreds of miles away from the mirror so there's no way I'm getting through it.

I guess all I can do then is wish you good luck. Celestia must have real faith is your abilities to ask you to do something as crazy as that.

Your friend

Sunset Shimmer

11. Unexpected consequences pt 2

"Do you have any idea what you've done!" Fleur growled in Twilight's face, from between gritted teeth; Twilight taking a step back defensively.

"Yes, I know what I've done," Twilight said quietly, her head drooping; "and now some poor mare is going to pay the price for it." She looked back up at Fleur with tears in her eyes; "And it's all my fault."

"Really? Really? You think that's all you've done? Are you really that fucking dense?"

"What are you talking about Fleur?" Octavia asked as she surreptitiously tried to edge her way in between Fleur and Twilight.

"This...purple fucking idiot has given the army every fucking excuse it needs to do whatever it wants here!" Fleur grabbed Twilight's bangs in her magic and dragged her, squealing and protesting, to a more secluded part of the courtyard where she roughly threw Twilight sideways against the wall.

She was roughly shoved aside by Octavia who fully interposed herself between Fleur and Twilight, who was now crouched down cowering. "I don't know what you think you're doing Fleur but you better explain yourself!" she demanded with her eyes narrowed.

"Fine. I'll try to keep it simple. Do you know why the army is here, doing what it's doing?"

"Of course, they're here to root out an imaginary insurrection."

"Right, an insurrection that didn't exist. All they were doing really was putting the fear of the Duke and the army into ponies. At least that's what they were doing until a certain purple 'unicorn' went and attacked a bunch of soldiers."

"I was only trying to help! They were arresting foals Fleur, foals! I couldn't just sit there and do nothing!"

"Well you should have done nothing!" Fleur snapped; "Now you've convinced the ponies in charge that there actually is an insurrection here! And you've made unicorns bigger targets for the soldiers than they were before! Before long there'll be even more soldiers brought in which means even less freedom for the ponies here and a lot more unicorns being arrested and beaten in small dark rooms before being kicked back out into the street with their horns snapped off their head all because some dumb ass purple unicorn doesn't know the meaning of the word consequences!"

Twilight sagged against the wall, a knot forming in her chest as the weight of Fleur's revelations dragged her down. "Bu- but I-I was... I was only trying to help... I-I-" She collapsed onto her stomach, her legs no longer able to support her; and lay there, unmoving.

"Why on earth would they snap unicorns horns off?" Octavia asked at the same that Trixie asked "Why did you think it was Twilight that attacked the soldiers?"

Fleur sighed and rolled her eyes; "Ugh, firstly they've been arresting loads of unicorns since the attack and beating the crap out of them for information. They've also been doing it because a unicorn attacked their buddies and have been taking it into their own hooves to dehorn any unicorn as a result. And Trixie, no offence to you but there's only one unicorn in Mareitania with the skills to pull an attack like that off; credit where credit is due and all that."

Twilight wasn't listening, the sound of their voices sounding like little more than droning as she lay there with her mind trapped in a never-ending loop of I've failed, I tried to help those ponies and now I've made things worse! Ponies are going to die because I helped and it's all my fault! It was like being trapped in a nightmare, the thoughts swirling through her head again and again. She snapped out of it when a bugle call suddenly sounded from somewhere, the shock of it cutting straight through the fog in her mind. She stood up and wiped her eyes free of tears before looking out over the crowd towards the gallows where a soldier was stood blowing said bugle. He stopped and hooked it on his armour before addressing the crowd; "Silence for General Sabre!"

Apparently that was all he was going to say. He stood there as a sandy coloured, middle aged stallion, dressed in an ornate uniform and complete with mutton chops coming from his silver mane; walked onto the platform and nodded to the horn blower. He stood there looking over the crowd in silence, the crowd murmuring more the longer he said nothing.

Eventually, in a high nasal voice that Twilight would have found amusing on any other day in any other situation; he addressed the crowd. "It has come to my attention that certain ponies from this fair city do not enjoy living under military protection. Why else would your noble guardians be attacked in broad daylight and horribly altered by dark magics? Perhaps it was a rogue element who performed this heinous act, but perhaps not; any pony else that was there also seems to have conveniently developed memory loss as a result, despite not being attacked themselves."

"Need I remind you that withholding information from us during this time is a criminal act since it clearly makes you complicit with the fiends who assaulted our brave soldiers. As a result of this complicity you shall now be living under higher scrutiny; more soldiers will be arriving within the week and curfew is now reduced to seven o'clock."

The crowd erupted into booing and hissing and the General stopped talking as they did, his face growing as red as a beetroot as the crowd continued their protestations. "Silence!" he squealed; "I will have silence!"

"Go to hell!" a mare shouted from the crowd, with many others shouting their affirmation of that idea. The General didn't rise to their taunts but instead nodded to the horn blower who shouted "Bring out the prisoners!"

The crowd fell silent as the prisoners were brought out of the castle and escorted onto the gallows, the shackles on their hooves clinking as they walked. The first prisoner was a fat, grey earth pony stallion who had his head wrapped in bandages for some reason. The second was a dark purple unicorn stallion with a spiky, bright silver mane who scowled at the General before scanning the crowd as if searching for something. Thirdly came a pink unicorn mare with a two tone red mane, a red heart and arrow cutie mark visible under the tattered remains of a dress that somehow made her look more naked than if she wasn't wearing it. She was also sobbing openly, tears and mascara running down her face; and Twilight's heart ached with each sob, knowing that this must be the pony that got arrested for Twilight's crimes.

"Hey! That's the drug dealer I saw in the market!"

"Trixie, she's a prostitute you moron." Fleur said with a groan, lightly batting Trixie on the back of her head.

"Trixie totally knew that." Twilight was about to say something as well when she was distracted by shouts from nearby. When she looked to see what might be causing them she was surprised to see it was Octavia, charging through the crowd.

-0-0-0-

Octavia stood open mouthed as she saw the first prisoner step up onto the gallows, shocked that he of all ponies would be there. Snapping out of it she stood up on her rear legs, years of playing the cello making her well balanced; and whipped her head around as she searched for two other ponies she thought might be there in the crowd.

She spotted them about midway across the square and swiftly fell back onto all fours before pushing her way through the crowd to them, ignoring the shouts and complaints directed at her. After a minute or two she came upon the ponies she was looking for, Sapphire and Velvet.

Sapphire was watching the ponies on the gallows, her expression grim and her eyes hard as she did her best to comfort Velvet, who was facing away from the gallows as she wept. "Sapphire! Velvet! What's going on? Why's your fa- why is he up there!?" Octavia asked hurriedly.

"Hello Octavia," Sapphire said, not taking her eyes off the gallows; "isn't it obvious why he's up there?"

"Not really, they're hanging ponies suspected of being rebels! I'm pretty sure your father- sorry, he isn't a rebel." Octavia glanced at the gallows where a noose was being placed around his neck.

"We know that, but Peach Blossom accused him of being one when the soldiers took her in for questioning and they don't seem particularly concerned with obtaining proof. That or he has enough of a reputation that they don't care. I hope it’s that one; about time he was brought to justice."

"Peach Blossom did this?" Octavia looked around, hoping to find the peach coloured pony but couldn't see her. "Where is she?"

"Back at ours; the soldiers beat her pretty badly, snapped her horn off, broke her leg and purposely split one of her hooves. We're taking care of her until she's better since she's probably safer in the upper city." Octavia shuddered; split hooves were one of the most painful things known to pony kind, possibly on a par with foal birth.

"Velvet?" Octavia asked quietly, placing a hoof on Velvet's shoulder; "Are you ok?" On a scale of one to ten for dumb questions Octavia had to admit that was probably an eleven. Velvet looked up at Octavia, her pale brown eyes brimming with tears before she squeezed them shut and shook her head.

"He hurt Sapphire," she said, her voice little more than a whisper; "and he hurt so many others. He's- he's getting what he dese- deserves. He's a monst-" Her voice cracked and she said nothing more as she choked up. Velvet suddenly tensed as the crowd cheered before falling to her haunches, being held up by Sapphire, whose expression remained unchanging even as it gazed upon the now dangling and twitching body of her abuser.

"I-I... I don't- I um..." Octavia wanted to say something comforting, to both of them, but her words failed her. Sapphire turned her view away from the gallows and towards Octavia, a fire burning in her eyes.

"It's fine, you don't have to say anything. We need to go, we have things to do since he's...well, yeah. She gestured towards the gallows; "but it was nice to see you again Octavia. Take care." Sapphire started to leave, Velvet leaning against her for support as she walked.

"I...don't..." Octavia sagged and watched as the two ponies made their way through the crowd. "Take of yourselves." she said quietly before turning and heading back to the others.

-0-0-0-

Twilight flinched as the first prisoner fell and averted her gaze, feeling sick with horror as the crowd cheered for the death of a probably innocent pony. She glanced over to Trixie who had similarly averted her eyes, meeting Twilight's glance in return. The only one of them able to watch was Fleur who was carefully maintaining an impassive visage, although Twilight could hear her grinding her slightly bared teeth.

After a minute grey hooves entered her vision and she looked up as Octavia sat next to her, resting her forehead against the wall, facing away from the gallows. "Are you ok?" Twilight asked, unknowingly mirroring Octavia's question to Velvet a few minutes earlier.

Octavia shook her head, grinding her forehead against the stone of the wall. "Not really. We shouldn't be here."

"I know, I'm sorry Octavia. I don't think we should ha-" Twilight whipped her head around as scream pierced the night, a half hysterical begging from a unicorn mare pleading for the life of the purple stallion on the gallows, standing with a noose around his neck.

"Please! He's all I have! Please don't kill him!"

"Star! Don't!" the stallion shouted back; "It's not worth it! I'm not worth it! Get out of here befo-ack!" He was cut off when one of the soldiers punched him in the gut, choking himself with the noose as he doubled over in pain which only made the mares screams more frantic; "Nightlight!"

Twilight folded her ears back and felt herself shake at hearing her father’s name mentioned even if it wasn't actually him. She whimpered slightly as the General stepped forward and spoke; "Cease your prattle woman! This stallion has been charged with committing insurrectionist activities and he will pay the price. Men, you have permission to use lethal force should she try to get in the way."

"But sir!" One of the soldiers exclaimed; "She's just one mare!"

"Don't you dare question my orders soldier! If she comes within ten paces of the gallows you will strike her down!"

"Sir yes sir!" As one of the soldiers stepped up to the lever that would open the trap door beneath the stallion the mare charged the gallows; "No! Don't!" she shouted before one of the soldiers swung round with a spear in his mouth, stabbing her through the neck. The mares eyes went wide and she staggered as a trickle of blood fell from the corner of her mouth and from the wound staining her white fur crimson."

"Star! No!" the stallion shouted as he struggled with his bonds, trying to escape and get to the mare.

"Good work soldier," the General said with a cruel grin on his face; "now let’s hang that traitor and get on with this." The soldier who had stabbed the mare pulled the spear back and dropped it, the mare falling over and pawing at her neck and coughing up blood as she choked on her own vital fluids; "I-I- I didn't... I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

"Pick up your weapon and get back into line before I have you court-martialed! I will not stand for insubordination!" The mare’s movements slowed as her life ebbed from her, the stallion still struggling to get to her. Two ponies rushed forward to try and help her, but there was nothing they could do as the mare struggled, drowning in her own blood. "You fucking killed her!" one of them shouted.

A single rock flew from somewhere in the crowd, narrowly missing the General followed by another that cracked one of the soldiers on the head, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Many in the crowd started to push towards the gallows and the soldiers backed off in return. "Get back you curs! I will have order! Soldiers, kill anypony who would dare attack!"

There crowd didn’t seem to care as they continued to push up against the gallows, but they relented and fell silent when somepony in the crowd started singing something in a language Twilight couldn't understand. The song was quickly taken up by others in the crowd, getting louder and louder until it drowned out the feeble shouts of the General who was starting to look worried. "What is that?" Twilight asked Fleur as she searched for the pony that started it. She spotted him and saw that it was the bar pony from before, singing with one hoof over his heart and a determined look on his face.

"It's the old Prench national anthem," she said vaguely; "sung when patriots are about to do something pretty dumb." She started glancing about nervously.

The song rolled to a stop and silence reclaimed the square. "We need reinforcements right now!" the General screamed at no one in particular.

"Viva la Prance!" the bar pony shouted before charging the stage, others picking up the charge as he ran. The soldiers brought their weapons to bear but they might as well have been wielding toothpicks as the ponies pushed them aside before crushing them against the gallows, before beating the soldiers who fought back into bloody messes, taking their weapons.

The ponies then swarmed onto the gallows with most going after the General and his remaining soldiers, apart from a few which helped to free the two remaining prisoners. The stallion leapt off the gallows to the fallen mare who lay cooling in a pool of blood; Twilight could barely hear his wails of grief over the sound of the other ponies as they subdued and strung up the General. "You will all die for this!" the General shouted before somepony pulled the lever and dropped the pony, leaving him to thrash as the noose choked the life from him.

Twilight, Trixie and Octavia stood slack jawed as they failed to comprehend just what exactly had happened. Fleur seemed a bit more controlled but did seem to be swearing under her breath a lot. The fact that they had all witnessed several ponies die in the space of a few minutes didn't even enter their minds as they watched the bar pony walk to the front of the gallows and address the crowd.

"I don't know about all you folk but I reckon these soldiers have had the run of our city for far too long. I think it's high time we made them consider their futures and how leaving would be good for them." He hefted a spear into the air; "Everypony who's with me grab a weapon if you can and let's show these bastards that we ain't gonna roll over and play nice for them!"

The ponies surrounding him cheered and raised their own weapons into the air before exiting the square and spreading out into the city in small groups. It didn't take long for the square to empty leaving a few stragglers, Nightlight who was hugging the body of the mare, and Twilight and her companions. "What the fuck just happened?" Trixie half shouted, conveying the feelings of the others quite accurately.

"I think we just saw the birth of an actual insurrection," Octavia answered her. "Should we- should we be helping them?" she asked after an awkward few seconds.

"What? No!" Twilight gestured around in a big sweeping arc; "This? This isn't an insurrection! This is barely controlled chaos! We shouldn't be helping them, we should be stopping them before this city tears itself apart!"

"You both wrong!" Fleur shouted at both of them before either could argue. "We need to get out of here."

"You can't be serious Fleur! This is your home, where you were born! Do you really want to see it torn apart by this madness?" Twilight pleaded; "We have to stop this."

Fleur shook her head sadly; "There's no stopping this Twilight. This is a choice between martial law and mob rule and quite frankly I don't find either very appealing. We need to get out of here and now is an ideal time while everypony is busy."

"But this is my fault! We have to stop this! I have to stop this!"

"For the record," Trixie interjected; "I agree with Fleur about the whole leaving thing. Mob rule sounds worse than martial law if you ask me; at least martial law has law, even if it is a bit one sided in this messed up country."

"Twilight. Once news of this reaches the Duke he's going to send an actual army here that will either lay siege on the city and starve it into submission, which isn't far off seeing as how they restricted trade; or they will enter the city and kill anypony who looks at them wrong. Maybe both; starving ponies tend not to fight back much."

"But...I...I have to...I have to stop this..." Twilight muttered weakly before slumping against the wall in defeat. "This is my fault."

Fleur grabbed Twilight's head in her forehooves and looked her straight in the eyes. "Yes Twilight, you fucked up and I'm not going to lie to you and say you didn't. But what's going on out there right now isn't really your fault, at most you were the spark that lit the fuse to this mess. But right now we need to get out of here; pity parties can happen after."

"Yep...that's me, I'm good at sparks. And parties." Twilight pushed Fleur's hooves off and stood up, steadying her breathing as she adjusted her cloak and tried to smooth her fraying mane down. "How can you be so calm about this Fleur?" she asked once she seemed satisfied with her appearance.

"Something Fancy Pants once told me about politics. I didn't really get what he meant at first since it was kind of long winded, but it boiled down to sense first, blind rage after."

"A misquote of a non-quote," Trixie commented with a snort as she adjusted her own gear; "Loving it. Now how about we get out of here?"

"Right, we should head to the Arc. It’s the nearest and most straight forward way out." She started to head to the exit out of the square when she paused mid step. "Of course we might have to kick the gate down or something when we get there but we can worry about that later. Let’s go."

"Hold on." Twilight said before trotting over to where Nightlight was still holding the body of the mare. "I-I'm really sorry, I...I wish I could change all of this, truly." She placed a hoof on his shoulder but the stallion didn't react in the slightest. She bit her lower lip nervously and was about to go when he spoke."

"We were going to be married in August. Just a small ceremony with a few friends, we didn't need a fancy wedding as long as we were together." He let out a choking sob, tears streaming down his face. "I was ok with dying here because I knew she was ok, I knew she was would survive even without me... It was always us just us when we were young, looking out for each other because nopony else would, but she was always the stronger of us..." He fell silent once more, gently rocking the body of the mare.

"I-I...I'm sorry!" Twilight turned and ran back to the others, tears staining her own cheeks. She did her best to wipe them off before nodding at Fleur who led them out the gate and down the street.

-0-0-0-

Even just outside the castle square there was a noticeable difference in atmosphere. They could hear the shouts and cries of ponies fighting in the streets. The fighting had already moved on from around the castle, leaving nothing more than bloodstains and broken bodies behind. A soldier was leaning against the base of a statue with half a spear protruding from his chest, yet somehow he clung to life. His gaze followed them as they went past, his eyes begging for help or mercy but none of them were able to give either.

"You were right," Octavia whispered; "this is madness." A burning cart illuminated the worry in her eyes, "If we're headed this way, do you mind if we make a small detour? There are some ponies I wish to check on to see if they're ok." Fleur rolled her eyes and grimaced but nodded for Octavia to lead the way.

Thankfully it was only a small detour, and the first sign they had that they had arrived was the crossbow bolt that shattered on the cobblestones by Octavia's hooves. "One wrong move and you're dead!"

"Sapphire?" Sapphire was sat in the window above the front door, pointing a now unloaded crossbow at them.

"Octavia? Oh, uh...sorry about that. It seems the natives are a bit restless so I stole this crossbow from a dead soldier, you know, just in case."

Octavia bit back her first reply of 'are you crazy?' since Sapphire wasn't a mare she wanted to say that to; "So you and Velvet are ok then? I was worried." she asked instead.

"Yes, we're fine. Peach Blossom is too. Seems leaving the execution early was a prudent decision. I would let you in but we've barricaded the door quite severely and it would be difficult to move it all again. That and I doubt we have the provisions for four more ponies in here."

Octavia watched as Sapphire calmly reloaded the crossbow, looking the every inch like a practiced killer as she did it without fumbling. She also wondered about Sapphire's strangely posh speech; she was half expecting her to call this a 'jolly good riot.' "That's ok, we're leaving the city anyway. I just wanted to make sure that you and the others were ok."

"Oh yes, we're fine. Apart from the complete breakdown of law and order you could almost call this a jolly good riot. Good luck out there Octavia! You may well need it." Sapphire rested the reloaded crossbow on the windowsill and aimed along it, apparently seeming to forget they were even there.

Fleur turned around and led the group back the way they came. "I'm pretty sure there's a name for what that mare is."

"Bat shit crazy?" Trixie suggested.

"Yeah, that could be it."

"She's not usually like that. At least, she wasn't like that the last few times I've met her."

"Oh yes," Trixie sneered sarcastically; "I bet she thinks of that time she and that other mare abducted you to be raped was just a 'jolly fun lark.' I've bet you've become the best of friends and know all of each other’s secrets."

"Pony was going to rape who now?"

"Oh right, you don't know about that do you Fleur. I guess we can tell you but only once we've gotten out of this place."

"Borderline personality disorder." Twilight said quietly from behind them.

"Excuse me?"

"Ponies can develop it as a result of traumatic experiences; like that pony has had plenty of. To simplify it, it can fracture a pony’s personality into several versions of the same pony, but with each version usually having some kind of emotional extreme. For example that one seemed to have an upper class Nightmare Moon may care attitude, another might be quite melancholy whilst a third might be rather childish. I'm quite probably wrong but from that and from what you said about her Octavia, it seems a likely possibility."

Octavia opened her mouth to say something but Fleur beat her to it; "As fascinating as this all is could we maybe think about getting the hay outta here?" Octavia and Twilight both spoke their assent to that idea but Trixie seemed to have something else on her mind.

"Trixie does tend to wonder sometimes about why they call it a Nightmare Moon may care attitude. I just think it gives the wrong impression about her."

Fleur tried to a few times to tell Trixie to shut up and hurry up but the result was her mouth flapping silently. "I'm almost afraid to ask but what are you talking about?" she said, relenting to the demands of her curiosity.

"It's just that in my opinion Nightmare Moon was at least passionate about what she wanted. Sure it would have been the end of all life on the planet which would have been, y'know, really bad; but you still have to admire a mare that’s willing to go to any lengths for what she really believes in."

"She tried to kill her sister and end all life on the planet just so ponies would be forced to admire her night sky for a bit before they all froze to death." Fleur scrunched up her face in a mock expression of thought; "Hmmmm... Nope, no admiration here."

Octavia tapped her chin with a hoof as she thought. "I always wanted to ask her that if it's eternal night here, does that mean its eternal day somewhere else? Doesn't seem like much of an eternal night if it’s also eternal day somewhere else."

"Great! A frigid wasteland on one side of the planet, and a scorching desert on the other. Maybe if we're lucky there's a nice temperate zone in-between where all the survivors can constantly fight over what few remaining scraps of society we have left."

"Ok ok! I never said Trixie agreed with what Nightmare Moon was doing! I just admire her drive ok! Sheesh. Can we get on with leaving the city now? Because this irreverent discussion doesn't help us and if we're going to argue could we at least walk while we do it?"

Twilight said nothing, but felt glad that Luna wasn't around to hear this. Less so because she might get offended but because she would probably be her biggest critic and it would be a bit weird to see Luna, one of four princesses of Equestria, whimsically discussing her evil alter ego in the midst of a city in chaos.

Fleur nodded at Trixie, gesturing for them all to follow her. She led them on an indirect route through the city, doing her best to avoid the fighting in case they got dragged into it. More than once they had to double back as soldiers and partisans battled it out in the streets. Even away from the fighting they could still hear it; mares and stallions shouting and screaming as they battled. More than once they had come across the remains of a skirmish, stepping around the bodies of the fallen whose lifeless eyes blankly surveyed the carnage around them. The wounded survivors were worse.

It also became clear as they took their meandering route through the city that this had gone far beyond a fight to liberate the city and had become a free for all, with looters and arsonists having a field day if all broken windows and fires were any indication. Judging by Fleur's heavy breathing it was effecting her heavily to see her home in flames, and not just because of the smoke.

They rounded a corner and Fleur let out a cry as she saw a building being gutted by fire. She sprinted off and skidded to halt just far enough away so it wasn't too hot. "Fuck... No..."

"What is it?" Octavia asked once she and the others had caught up.

"It’s the bakery I used to come to as a kid. Cookie Dough, who owns it, used to give me the leftovers and stuff 'cause he knew I was homeless. It's also the bakery making the order I told you about. I can't believe some fucker burnt it down."

"I can." They looked round to where a pale brown earth pony stallion was comforting a weeping pale yellow earth pony mare in the shade of a nearby tree. "The amount of times I've done orders for the Duke and his cronies, I'm not surprised ponies around here thought I was on their side."

"Doughy! You're ok!" Fleur ran over to the stallion but stopped short of hugging him when she noticed his burns and half missing mane.

"Heh, barely. Got a few burns making sure Buns got out, but it's nothing that won't heal in time. I see you've done your best to stay out of this."

"Yeah, we're trying to get out of the city but the fighting isn't making it easy. Fuck knows what we're going to do if the gates are locked. You should come too, especially if ponies around here think you're on the Dukes side."

The stallion chuckled lightly and shook his head; "Thanks but no thanks, I've got a bakery to rebuild. The money I got for that last order should be enough to cover most of the rebuilding; say what you want about the Viscount but he isn't shy about paying for quality. Good job I put the money in the bank and not under my mattress even if only because coins are uncomfortable to sleep on." Fleur watched the fire shining in his eyes as a coy grin crossed his face. "Maybe I'll finally get around to extending the business into dairy products, I have the feeling that ice cream will be quite the popular dish someday."

Fleur grinned in return and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek. "Sounds like a great idea. We're going to go now but hopefully I'll see you again soon."

"Heh, last time you said that it took you nearly fifteen years to get back to me. Try and make it a bit shorter this time."

"Deal." Fleur said with a giggle. "Come on guys lets go." She started to trot off but paused to stare into the burning wreckage of the bakery, her smile slipping off her face. "I hope he's serious. He made the best cookies."

-0-0-0-

"C'mon! This way!" Fleur panted as she charged through the narrow alleyways, a pack of soldiers chasing after them. They had headed to the market which had a more direct route to the outer limits of the city, but were surprised to find it neither rife with fighting or aflame but full of soldiers who were attempting to rally. It seems that a trio unicorns weren't welcome company seeing as how a dozen of the soldiers had started chasing after them the moment they had set hoof in the market place.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Trixie panted between breath's. "It's just this city isn't that big yet we're still stuck in it!"

"Trixie!" Twilight said, forestalling Fleur's next comment; "When we turn the next corner can you make some illusions to keep running down the alley."

"I think so! Why? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get us out of here! All of you, when I shout 'stop,' stop running!"

"Why?" Fleur asked.

"Because I mightn't be able to catch you in time if you don't!" They kept running, watching carefully as the next turning rushed to meet them. They skidded around it and as soon as they had Trixie's horn flared creating four illusions of them that kept running in a straight line down the alley. "Stop!" Twilight shouted as her own horn flared, teleporting them away. She skidded to a halt as they reappeared on the roof of the building they had been running next to.

They slid down the tiles but managed to stop before they fell off the roof, although it was a close call with Octavia who just managed to stop with her hooves in the guttering. She swallowed and cautiously backed off from the edge before joining the others in looking down at where the soldiers were still chasing the illusions.

"Wow those soldiers must be dense," Trixie said as they watched; "those illusions aren't even trying to dodge the rubbish, they're just phasing right through it! Surely they can tell something's wrong?"

"They're probably just putting running through rubbish down as unicorn witchcraft and trickery." Fleur said back. "Always found it odd even when I lived here that despite unicorns having no magical training or skill, ponies will happily believe that unicorns are capable of all kinds of magic. You could actually live up to your self-imposed title here Trixie, y'know, if you didn't get brutally murdered here for it." Trixie stuck her tongue out at Fleur.

"Thanks." Octavia said to Twilight, giving her a friendly nudge. Twilight nodded but didn't look like a pony would after having saved their skins. Instead she looked like a pony would after having their heart broken.

"Anypony would have done that if they knew how, it's nothing special.” She shook her head and turned to address Fleur; “where's the gate we're trying to get to?"

Fleur looked around, holding a hoof up ready to point as she tried to get her bearings. Slowly though, her hoof lowered as she looked around before falling back to the tiles with a thud. "..." She couldn't even swear as their vantage point on the roof offered her an excellent view of Prance in chaos. "My home..."

Large parts of the city was in flames now, the small fires having spread eagerly from building to building until entire streets burned brightly in the night. Smoke poured into the sky, the light from the fires reflecting off it and giving the sky a hellish appearance, and coming from all directions was the sounds of fighting and screams, of ponies calling desperately for loved ones and the overwhelming cacophony of a city in chaos.

Trixie looked to Twilight and Octavia for some kind of input but Twilight was staring intently at her hooves and Octavia seemed transfixed on the scene before her, her mouth hanging open. Trixie went back to Fleur but she too was staring, transfixed with tears in her eyes. "For fuck sake... You know it’s bad when I have to be the responsible one." She grabbed Fleur's head in her magic and wrenched it around until she faced her; "Fleur, I know this is your home and I'm sorry, but unless you can tell us the way out we're probably going to die here."

Fleur blinked a few times and her eyes seemed to gain focus as she returned to her senses; "Right...I-uh it's..." She looked around and found where they were meant to be going; "It's over there." she said, pointing a hoof.

"Good. Twilight?" Twilight raised her gaze from her hooves and turned it to Trixie who pointed a hoof to where Fleur had before. "Fleur says it’s over there so do whatever you're going to do." Twilight gave a single nod and focused on where the gate was, her eyes twitching as if searching for something.

"Octavia?"

"Y-yes?"

"I don't know, just hold on or something." There was a purple flash and the group appeared on the roof of a building a lot nearer the outer wall, a street away from the way out. "Why didn't we do that sooner?" Trixie asked.

"No magic remember." Twilight said in answer; "However I get the feeling most ponies around here don't care right now if they did see us." She glanced over the edge of the building and there was another flash as she teleported them down to the road below. "Lead on Fleur."

"Ok, the Arc should be on the other side of the square at the end of this street. Be prepared for anything." She crept forward, her head low as she headed to the end of the street and gasped at what she saw.

"What? What is it?" Trixie asked, moving up beside Fleur.

"The gates... They're open... They're just letting ponies out of the city." Trixie squinted as she studied the gate and the ponies exiting the city through it, some running with nothing more than what they had been wearing when this began whilst others were hauling carts and carrying whatever belongings they could strap onto their own backs.

Feeling slightly emboldened, the four ponies headed out of the street and over to the gate where some soldiers were nervously watching the ponies flood out the gate like rats out of a sinking ship. "Why are you just letting us all leave?" Fleur asked one of them.

His eyes twitched to her horn before he answered her; "Less ponies in the city means less ponies trying to kill us. Besides, we'd probably have been killed by now if we had refused and you'd all be getting out anyway, and I ain't the sort to die for nothing. Now get the fuck out of here if you're going."

Fleur nodded and was about to lead the way through the arch when a filly's voice behind them cried out; "Wait!" They all turned and saw a small yellow filly charging across the square towards them.

"No! It's MY stuff!" Trixie cried as she hugged her saddlebags to her sides.

"What? No! I'm not here to rob you; I want you to take me with you!"

"Uh-uh, no way. You’re probably just setting us up so you can rob us when we're asleep or something. Nope, you're staying here, away from my stuff!"

"Please Trixie! Do you have any idea what happens to small unwanted, homeless fillies that nopony would miss in a place like this?"

"And you do?" Trixie asked as she gave the filly a flat stare.

"No, but my imagination can provide a few ideas and not one of them involves a daily helping of cake and hugs. So please, I'm begging you! Take me with you!" The filly's eyes grew big and dewy and her bottom lip jutted out and quivered.

Trixie scratched her chin in mock thought; "After careful consideration of your request and in lieu of your attempted use of puppy eyes to sway me I have reached a conclusion. Piss off."

"Trixie!" Fleur yelled, making Trixie flinch.

"What?"

Fleur picked up the filly in her magic and put her on her back between her saddlebags. "Of course she can come with us. If you want to know what happens to fillies on their own in a place like this then you can stay here. No buts." she said before Trixie had a chance to complain.

"I really think we ought to be going now, look." Octavia interjected before pointing off across the square where a large group of armed citizens had charged in. The soldiers were preparing their own weapons and a lot of the ponies in between them started screaming and pushing towards the gate in their panic.

"Oh right, yeah. Let's go ponies." Fleur led the way, pushing through the crowds of ponies when she had to, the filly hanging on around her neck. Slowly they made their way through the arch, but progress was slow and they could feel the pressure building behind them more and more ponies crammed themselves into the tunnel with the occasional muffled scream as ponies fell and were trampled underhoof.

As soon as they were through they turned to the side along the wall as they took a moment to catch their breath, and Fleur put the filly back on the ground. Twilight watched the ponies exiting the arch and was surprised to see Green Roots pulling a wagon out, Cross Stitch, Butterscotch and Lacey riding inside it. Twilight was about to go up to them when she noticed that Cross Stitch was heavily bruised and only had half a horn. Roots must have seen Twilight because when she looked back to him he was scowling at her as he walked. Twilight met his glare for a moment before averting her eyes and turning back to the others; at the least she could be glad they had made it out ok.

"Now what Fleur?" Octavia asked as she flexed her right forehoof gingerly. "Somepony trod on it in the tunnel but it’s fine." she explained when the others gave her a quizzical look. She gave them a weak grin, "I guess I'm just cursed to slow you all down."

"I don't know why you're asking me," Fleur said with a shrug. "I've got a lot on my mind right now, what with my home city suddenly kicking off in a civil war and half burning down. Maybe you should ask our intrepid leader." She glared at Twilight who raised her head for all of a second before lowering it again.

"You're the one with the big plan to sneak into that party thing," said Trixie; "so I guess that technically makes you the pony in charge since Twilight would have trouble leading a kid into a sweet shop right now."

"Oh yeah? Well maybe we should all consider a permanent change of leadership of this mission."

"Fleur!" Octavia gasped, "There's no need for that! Twilight's doing fine as a leader."

"You're kidding right? She has hardly done anything worthy of being called leadership. In fact her leadership has forcibly dyed Trixie against her will, severely pissed me off and resulted in the shit storm on the other side of that wall!"

"It also saved my life, saved Trixie's horn and helped ponies who needed it which is more than you can say!" Octavia grit her teeth and squared up to Fleur as if preparing to fight. She only cut eye contact when Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Fleur's right," said Twilight, her voice dangerously close to breaking; "I shouldn't be leading this, I can't lead this, not now. I appreciate your faith in me but my mistakes have just gotten dozens of ponies ki-" She choked up, unable to say the word. "Maybe somepony else should lead." Her eyes met Fleur's and watched as her expression softened.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Who says we even need a leader? How about for now we just get walking and give a chance for cooler heads to prevail."

"I had to pick the biggest bunch of weirdo's to hang out with didn't I. I mean we just escaped a city that's on the brink of falling to pieces and you all stop to have an argument." The filly looked between them, her face bearing a puzzled smirk; "Seriously though, what are you guys going on about?"

"Five marcs gets you the whole story." Trixie said to the filly; "If you want the deluxe version though that's ten marcs."

"And suddenly I'm fine not knowing. Now seriously, how about we get out of here?"

"I'm with the filly," Fleur said as she picked the filly up in her magic, placing her on her back once more. "It's a long way to Whiplash so we better get moving if we're going to make the party." Fleur frowned as she felt the filly tense up. "Something wrong...you? Seriously, we need to give you a name."

"I-uh...I just think that you could have picked literally anywhere else. Maybe going back in there would be a better choice," she said, gesturing towards Prance.

"Why?" Trixie asked, "What's wrong with Whiplash? Other than its stupid name?"

"You'll see." Fleur started walking with the filly close behind her. A moment later Trixie started after them followed soon after by Octavia who limped slightly as she walked. Twilight sat watching them as the distance grew between her and the others, although it was easy enough to see them even with all the other ponies around; the fires in the city provided a lot of light. It also illuminated the sight of Octavia coming back towards her.

“Twilight? Are you coming?” Twilight nodded and stood up slowly, taking her time as she walked because she was afraid she might fall over, considering how much her legs were shaking.

12. Guilt.

Dawn peeked over the hills and through the trees to shine down on the still forms of four sleeping bags and Twilight, who sat under a tree wallowing in abject misery as her heart ached. She had opted to give her sleeping bag to the filly, reasoning that she needed it more. Truth was that Twilight doubted she would be sleeping much for the next few days; the screams of the ponies in Prance were echoing around her head too loud.

"Can't sleep?" Fleur's voice whispered from behind her. Twilight's head whipped round to where Fleur was lay, propping herself up on one elbow. She shook her head in response before averting her eyes, unwilling to look Fleur in the face.

"Me neither." There was a gentle rustling as Fleur clambered out of her sleeping bag and donned her cloak before stretching. "Come on." She nodded her head towards an embankment which led down to a small stream.

"Where are we going?" Twilight asked quietly.

"Not far, I just think you and I need to have a little talk." Twilight rose to her hooves and followed Fleur down the embankment, over the stream and up the other side where Fleur sat down and wrapped her cloak around her to ward off the early morning chill. "You know I envy you being part pegasus and not feeling the cold so much." Twilight nodded gently causing Fleur to sigh irritably. "If I wanted to talk to myself I wouldn't have asked you to come."

"I-I'm sorry... I d-don't know what you want me to say. If this is about what I said to you the other day then I'm sorry about..." She trailed off as Fleur chuckled lightly. "What?"

"Sorry Twilight, it's just that our little disagreement seems so silly now compared to what happened yesterday. I'm surprised you're still worrying about it." Fleur shifted on her hooves as she made herself more comfortable. "Since we're on the topic though, yeah I was kind of pissed at what you said," she said, making Twilight wince. "But I guess you did have a point." Twilight looked up at Fleur, her eyes wide in surprise. "I'm still going to have to steal for our survival but only what we need. I guess I was letting my childhood get to me because that's what I wanted to be like back then, able to steal anything and everything I wanted. Thing is though, I wasn't too good with my magic back then so it was a lot harder. But now it’s better it all seemed so easy and I may have gotten greedy. Anyway, I'm willing to make this little concession to you if you do something in return."

"Of course! Anything!"

"Stop judging ponies for having to do unsavoury things to survive. No offence Twilight, but without intentionally undermining your achievements I have to say you've had a pretty easy life, the biggest consequence for your mistakes was a stern talking to. You don't get to judge and look down on those who have to struggle to get by day to day and you don't get to say what a pony shouldn't do just because you've never had to go that low."

"That's fair," Twilight said, nodding; "and I'm sorry I was like that. Rules and regulations have kind of been a big part of my life and to see a pony just flagrantly break the law in front of me, well, I guess it's kind of a kneejerk reaction; 'you shouldn't do that, it's wrong.' I'll try to not do it again."

"Good." Fleur took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. "Now, onto the big stuff." Twilight cowered away from Fleur slightly, causing Fleur to ask why.

"Because you're probably going to hit me. Celestia knows I deserve it."

"Twilight, I'm not going to hit you. In fact, I'm not even angry at you."

"What? How? I mean you should be mad at me seeing how badly I screwed everything up!"

"Ok yeah, you messed up on the whole 'don't use magic' thing, but I don't blame you for what happened in Prance. That probably would've happened with or without you doing what you did. No, I blame the Duke and his stupid army. I blame that pompous General and that idiot soldier that killed that mare even if it was an accident. If I had been in the same situation as you I probably wouldn't have done anything different."

"No. If I hadn't attacked those soldiers then they wouldn't have arrested all those unicorns, they wouldn't have asked for more soldiers to come to the city, changed the curfew, and those executions wouldn't have been taking place at all. That mare wouldn't have died for nothing and that riot would never have happened!"

"Don't be stupid Twilight, if you hadn't acted against the soldiers then I'm sure somepony else would've eventually. You helping some ponies’ does’nt mean you're responsible for everything that happened after. You didn't tell those ponies to attack the soldiers and you didn't tell whoever it was to burn down half the city!"

"Why are you trying to tell me it's not my fault? You seemed so sure it was me that messed it all up at the execution yesterday, yet now you're trying to calmly say it's not my fault! What gives Fleur? Why are you so calm about this?"

Fleur stopped, opening and closing her mouth as she tried to think of what to say. "You know what? Yes. Yes I am angry okay? I was angry at you too because I thought the ponies of Prance were going to have an even shittier life than before with all those soldiers around. But then what happened happened, and being angry at you seems pointless now since there is no way that you could have been solely responsible for all that. So instead I'm just angry at everything."

"But you should be angry at me! It's my fault!"

"Believe or not Twilight, it's not all about you. You can mope around swimming in self-pity if you want but personally I would prefer you didn't. We need you, we can't do this without you and your guilt complex doesn't help us. Besides Prance was a nasty place if you looked deep enough; some of it needed burning down just to get the stench out."

Twilight's head shot up, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in shock, "Fleur! Ponies lived there, innocent ponies that didn't deserve that! And it was your home! How could you say such a thing?"

"Yeah, I know. It's also the city I saw my parents die in. It's the city I had to learn the hard lessons about survival in, and it's the city that one nasty winter I had to s-" She stopped and took a breath to calm herself. "Lets just say that some ponies in that city deserved to burn." She hugged herself gently.

"Fleur..."

"No, I'm done talking about this. I'm dealing with it in my way, you need to deal with it in whatever way suits you."

"But what about the others?"

"I don't know if you've noticed but Trixie tends to bury everything in humour and irreverence which I find odd for somepony who spent months diligently planning her revenge against you; and Octavia seems to take things in and cope with them almost ridiculously easy. I'm almost jealous of her for that. As for the filly, she seems delightfully unencumbered by notions of worry. Five minutes out of Prance and she was cracking jokes."

"You like her don't you?"

"Of course I do, she reminds me of myself." Fleur looked down and scuffed her hoof on the wet grass. "What are we going to do with her though? It's not like we can tell her what we're up to."

"I don't think we should worry about that too much right now. I'd be happy if we could give her a name rather than call her 'the filly.'"

"Yeah, I guess we don't need to worry about her for a couple days at least." Fleur got up and stretched, her joints clicking as she did. "Right now we should focus on getting to where we're going. I'm going to grab the canteens and find some water a bit cleaner than what this stream can offer,"

"I'll-"

"You, Twilight, should talk to the princesses on that stone thing you have. If anypony would know about making mistakes it would be the pony that tried to end the world or the sister that let it get that far and had to stop her." Fleur sauntered off back to where the others were before heading further up into the forest leaving Twilight alone with her suddenly frantic thoughts.

-0-0-0-

Twilight paced back and forward, planning in her mind what exactly she was going to say to whoever answered on the stone. Hi Celestia, it's me. Just wanted to call to let you know Prance is in ruins. Nope. Hey Princess, you know how you said I should do this mission through any means possible? Guess what! I accidentally blew up Prance! Ugh, don't be stupid Twilight.

Twilight growled at herself and paced a few more times before stopping by the rotting stump she had placed the speaker stone on. Biting her lip she decided to just get on with it and pressed her horn to the stone before she could over think it and chicken out again. She didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Good morning Twilight," said Celestia's voice from the stone; "you're up early. Is everything ok?" Twilight tried to speak but the words caught in her throat and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't say them. "Twilight? Hello?"

Nope, it’s going to be tears. Hearing the warmth and concern in Celestia's voice broke all the resolve she had and she collapsed onto her knees as the tears came without hesitation. "H-h-hi Cele-Celestia-a-a..."

"Twilight? Are you crying? What's happened?"

Twilight wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself but it was as if she was trying to stop a flood with tissue paper. "D-did Luna tell you about what I did with the s-soldiers?"

"Yes, and I have to admit I was worried about you doing something like that, and not just because of you using magic so openly. Has something happened since?"

"You could s-say that." Twilight told Celestia about all that had transpired since her last conversation with Luna and she had to admit that telling somepony who didn't immediately yell back at her was extremely cathartic.

"Oh my." Twilight waited for Celestia to say more and the longer the silence grew the tighter her chest became as she awaited the tongue-lashing she was expecting. "You shouldn't blame yourself for that Twilight." Huh?

"But I messed up so badly Princess! I got all those ponies hurt and k-killed! Prance is in ruins because of me! How am I supposed to not blame myself?"

"Twilight, you're putting too much weight on your own actions. Considering all that was happening in Prance anyway your actions were but a drop in the ocean, a big drop that created a few waves admittedly but you must realise that all those ponies acted of their own accord. You aren't responsible for the actions of others."

"But as a princess you told me I'm responsible for the ponies around me. If the actions of a pony results in them getting hurt does that not mean it's my fault for not stopping them?"

"Twisting my own words against me... We'll make a politician of you yet Twilight," Celestia said with a small chuckle; "but you are responsible for ponies as a whole, not individuals. You will have to make decisions that will hurt some but help others and you will have to deal with the consequences of those decisions. It's all part of being a princess Twilight and sometimes you will have to make decisions that get ponies hurt whether by accident or by design. I chose to not act against Sombra until it was too late and hundreds died in the war that followed because I hesitated instead of stopping him before he took over the Crystal Empire by force. And that is just one example of many."

"But you shouldn't blame yourself because of what Sombra did, he was a monster! How were you to know what he would do?"

"Just as you shouldn't blame yourself for the actions of the ponies in Prance; you didn't know they were suddenly going to revolt, you were only trying to help ponies and you shouldn't make yourself suffer because it didn't end how you wanted."

"I... I understand."

"Do you? Truly? You must have realised by now that Mareitania is a brutal place. It's a slim hope if you think Mareitania can be freed without anypony getting hurt."

"No, I get it, I do. The greater good right?"

"Not really Twilight, in my experience there is no greater good; just good and not good and not letting fear of consequences stop you from doing good. Now I have to ask, what are you going to do now that you're on the road again?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Fleur's in charge of the plan right now and she hasn't really explained it in detail. All I know is she has a plan involving the birthday of the Duke's son and a party on a riverboat. She has us walking to someplace called Whiplash to catch it."

"Whiplash? I really do hope she knows what she's doing."

"Why? What's wrong with Whiplash other that its awful name?"

"Whiplash is..." There was a rattle of static from the stone as Celestia sighed wearily. "You know I said that each region or city has a compound containing pegasi to control the weather." Twilight's stomach churned at the thought of the pegasi's treatment here but managed to stammer a yes. "Whiplash is the center of all that. Think of it as a distribution center but dealing in pegasus slaves and the equipment needed to control them. For your purposes though it’s also a major trade hub and a port for the Mareissippi river. Take care to keep your wings well hidden if you're going there."

"I will Celestia. Thanks for talking to me, I needed it."

"You're welcome Twilight, always. Take care of yourself." The was a burst of static as the connection was cut off and Twilight teleported the stone back to her bags before laying on her back and crossing her forelegs over her face.

"Why does everypony insist it's not my fault?"

-0-0-0-

"Did that help?" Fleur asked once Twilight rejoined her and the others.

"Slightly, maybe a little bit perhaps." Twilight rubbed her face with a hoof and sighed; "Not really. But how I feel about what happened in Prance doesn't matter, it'll all have been for nothing if I just give up."

"That's the way, ignore your problems until they either go away or get replaced by a bigger problem." Fleur sat down and started rolling up her sleeping bag, humming as she did.

"How do you do it Fleur? How do you cope with what's happened?"

"I don't know if you've noticed Twilight but I'm not exactly the pony I was when we started this. This isn't Fleur de Lis the famous Canterlot model; this is Fleur, the hardened street rat who didn't give a whole lot of fucks about things."

"I wouldn't say that, you cared about the pegasi in Stalliongrad-"

"I pitied them Twilight, and thanked whatever deity might have been listening that I wasn't born with wings instead of a horn. Yes I felt for them and wished for their freedom but I didn't lift a hoof to help them and I stopped going near them because it made me feel bad. I certainly didn't give much thought to how it made them feel." Fleur stopped rolling up her sleeping bag and rested on her haunches. "Ok, maybe Fleur the hardened street rat isn't the same pony she used to be, or maybe she is... I don't know. I've been through a lot Twilight and learning to cope with things is part of that. Now please stop asking."

Twilight nodded and took a drink out of her canteen. She looked at the others, Octavia was sleeping peacefully, the filly was snoring obnoxiously loud and Trixie was peeking at her out the corner of her eye before squeezing it shut and pretending to snore when she saw Twilight notice her. "Good morning Trixie."

"Darn it! Now I have to get up," Trixie muttered under her breath. She stretched and sat up, making a show of having just woke up. "Good morning Twilight, Fleur, Octa- nope she's still asleep, and that little bast- no, still sleeping too. Please tell me there's something tasty for breakfast."

"Nope," said Fleur; "but there is all this green stuff called grass on the ground. It seems to grow quite freely so eat as much as you want."

"You'll never make head chef with that attitude," Trixie snarked, sticking her tongue out at Fleur who stuck her own out in return. "So what's the plan today? I bet it involves walking."

"We might be able to fit some trotting in if time allows."

"Marvellous." Trixie got up and performed her usual morning routine of stretching like a cat and sounding like all her joints had dislocated overnight. "At least tell me we have coffee."

"Nope, just good old fashioned water."

"Ugh, worst camping trip ever."

"What is wrong with you!" Twilight burst out, unintentionally waking Octavia and the filly; "Did yesterday not happen? Is it all a fever dream I had? Because I have no idea how you two can joke like it never happened!"

"Mmm... What's going on?" the filly asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

"Oh great Twilight," Trixie said as she gave Twilight an accusing stare; "you woke the baby. Now we'll never get her to settle."

"Hey!"

"Am I going completely insane!?" Twilight steadied herself as she started to hyperventilate, her chest heaving with each rapid breath she took. Octavia jumped out of her sleeping bag and grabbed Twilight by the shoulders.

"Easy Twilight, slow breaths. In, hold, out. In, hold, out." She repeated the exercise until Twilight's breathing returned to a more normal pace and she no longer looked in danger of collapsing. "Feeling ok now?" Twilight nodded in answer.

"How did you know how to do that?" asked Trixie as she quirked an eyebrow at Octavia.

"Pre show nerves and anxiety attacks tend to go hoof in hoof. I don't get them myself but I know a good many musicians that do." She put a comforting leg around Twilight who looked strangely ashamed.

"Twilight's having difficulty dealing with yesterday," Fleur said as she passed Twilight a canteen in her magic; "she seems to think that what happened there was entirely her fault."

Octavia gave Fleur a dirty look; "So did you yesterday when you yelled at her. Besides, something like that isn't something you can get over with a good night's sleep; I end up shaking if I think about it too much."

"Yes I was angry at her, but that was for attacking those soldiers and making that dumb ass General think there was an actual insurrection in Prance. I was expecting more soldiers, more executions, less freedoms and a whole lot of unicorns being beat senseless for no other reason than for the soldiers petty revenge. I'm no longer angry at her because none of that happened. I've been thinking about it and if I'm honest I must admit I'm actually slightly pleased it happened."

"What!?" Twilight, Trixie and Octavia shouted in unison.

"It means ponies in this crap ass country are willing to fight back against the Duke and his cronies. If we're going to do this we need ponies to mmph mamph..." She stopped when Trixie suddenly shoved a hoof over her mouth and nodded at the filly who was wearing a sly grin. "Oh... Shit."

"Twilight's the pony that attacked those soldiers?" asked the filly as she leaned forward and with her eyes wide. The others looked between themselves and Twilight nodded weakly. "That is sooo cool! Next you'll be telling me that you're the ponies that did that rescue in Stalliongrad!" Most of the others nodded again, except Trixie who looked awkward instead and pleaded the others with her eyes to not tell the filly it was her they rescued. "That is awesome! You guys are heroes!"

"What!?"

"Oh man this is so awesome! I gotta tell my friends about this if...they're not...dead..." The filly deflated and a couple of tears escaped as she lay down slowly.

"I'm sorry..." Twilight said, her voice cracking as she watched the filly dissolve into tears.

"It really happened didn't it? Prance really was destroyed."

"You don't know that." Fleur said as she gave the filly a comforting stroke on her mane; "Once the fighting was over hopefully they put the fires out."

"Yeah, but all those ponies still got hurt and killed..."

"I really am sorry, I never expected that to happen. I was just helping ponies when I attacked those soldiers."

"Did you- did you tell the ponies to start fighting the soldiers?"

"What? No! I wanted them to stop fighting."

"Then it's not your fault. You just inspired them is all, showed them that they can stand up for themselves. You became a hero to them." The filly gave Twilight brave smile.

Twilight however looked panicked. "I'm no hero! I never wanted to inspire anypony to do something like that!"

"Look at it this way Twilight," said Trixie who looked far too happy; "if you inspired those ponies to do that then it does make it sort of your fault. Now you can justifiably blame yourself." Twilight started hyperventilating again and Trixie backed away because Octavia's expression promised violence if she got too near.

"Not. Helping."

Twilight world spun as the excess oxygen rushed to her head. She was no hero, of that she was certain but at the same time a small part agreed with the filly because it allowed her to cling onto the hope that maybe what happened in Prance could in theory have been positive.

"I need- I need air!" She shrugged Octavia off and tore off her cloak before sprinting into the forest as fast as she could, ignoring the shouts of the others to stop. Soon as she was out of sight she spread her wings, invisible as they were, and teleported herself above the trees, her momentum from running easing the transition into flight. The wind swept through her mane and her heart leapt as she left her worries behind for a brief moment but they quickly returned when she saw the rising plume of smoke that could only be Prance.

She hovered for a few moments before searching out a nearby cloud and resting upon it, her breathing again becoming ragged as she viewed the smoking remains of the city. "I'm no hero," she told herself. She continued staring at Prance, letting time wash over her when suddenly she clicked; the smoke from Prance was white, which, if she remembered correctly, meant the fires had stopped burning which also hopefully meant the fighting was over.

Feeling relieved she smiled slightly and was about to return to the others and share the good news when a shadow flashed over her. She ducked down and searched about hoping to find what had caused it. Looking up she swiftly found the cause was none other than a pegasus, one that was doing a lot of flapping for the slow speed it was maintaining. She remembered what Celestia had told her about the wing clippings and surmised that must be the reason for the extra flapping.

She wrapped some of the cloud around herself for cover and watched as the pegasus flew down to a pool that the stream fed into. Around the pool were several other pegasi that appeared to be making clouds from the water, as well as some guards and a collection of caged wagons. There was also a device with an antenna on one of the wagons that Twilight couldn't fathom but figured it might have something to do with the collars the pegasi were forced to wear.

Twilight had never seen clouds made from scratch although she had heard of the process. The clouds in Equestria were all made by the weather factory in Cloudsdale, but there were no pegasus cities in Mareitania so it only made sense that all the weather here was made from scratch. As she watched a pair of pegasi formed a cloud, the flapping of their wings near the water seemed to generate a mist which they gathered in their hooves and pressed into clouds. Once it was big enough another pegasus would collect it and push it up into the sky.

All in all the process seemed very laborious and time consuming which is probably why the weather in Mareitania seemed to last for days at a time and why there seemed to be a lot of grey clouds around that didn't really do much; the pegasi were too busy making new weather to immediately clear out the remains of the old weather.

Fascinating as it was though Twilight was very exposed here and if one of the pegasi spotted her they might have some awkward questions about what a unicorn was doing hiding in a cloud. She flapped her wings gently, slowly propelling the cloud down towards the forest but stopped when she heard a splash and shouting.

She looked back at the pool where one of the pegasi, a cream coloured mare, appeared to have fallen in and splashed one of the guards judging by what he was shouting. The mare dragged herself out of the pool and was instantly set upon by the guard who kicked and hit her. The mare didn't make a sound until the guard pushed her over and stretched her wing out over a rock and threatened to stomp on it. Only then did she tearfully plead and beg. The guard held her down a bit longer and seemed to be whispering something in her ear and Twilight could see her nodding to whatever he said.

He released her and slapped her on the flank before she resumed her work, her head hanging low and her expression ashamed. Twilight felt something build inside her, a righteous anger directed at that despicable guard and those who employed him; she didn't even notice that she had been shaking the entire time as she warred with herself over whether to intervene or not. This needed to stop and Twilight would see to that. She still blamed herself for Prance but there was no way she was going to let that stop her now, not when there were ponies who needed her help.

She grit her teeth and continued her descent into the forest where she discarded the cloud and returned to her companions.

-0-0-0-

It didn't take long for her to find the others; all she had to do was follow the argument.

"I don't see why I even have to have a name; I've never needed one before."

"Yes, but I refuse to call you 'the filly,' or 'her,'" Twilight heard Octavia say; "You need something by which we can refer to you as."

"Alright, fine. But all your suggestions are rubbish! Trixie's is the best I've heard so far and she wasn't even being serious!"

"Excuse me? Trixie was being deadly serious thank you very much!"

"And what might that have been?" Twilight asked stepping out from between the trees.

"Shithead," Trixie told her with a smug grin; "It's both a name and a description."

"I won't even bother list all the practical reasons why that would be a bad idea. Besides we need to get moving, there's a pegasus weather team thing over there somewhere," she said, pointing behind her; "and I don't want them finding us."

"Why not?" the filly asked. "It's just a weather team, what are they going to do if they find us? Give us blank hopeless stares until we feel sorry for them?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the filly, who raised an eyebrow in return. "I really hope you're not saying that because you have an issue with pegasi."

"Unless you're hiding a pair of wings about yourself somewhere I don't see why you should care. But no, I don't have an issue with pegasi, it's just they aren't exactly known for their happy, smiley attitudes." The filly shrugged and turned away muttering something Twilight couldn't make out. It was a good job too because she was straining to hide her reaction to what the filly said about wings.

"Ladies," Fleur said as she pulled the straps tight on her saddlebags; "I don't know about you but we need to be in Whiplash in four days and personally I'd rather make it there in less than that. I think we've bickered enough for one morning so let’s get a move on shall we?"

Soon enough they had gathered their belongings and headed down to the road they had walked along the previous night. Fleur took the lead with Twilight just behind her, and Trixie, Octavia and the filly brought up the rear where they were arguing about names again.

Fleur slowed and drew level with Twilight so they could talk. "Feeling better?" she asked.

Twilight sighed and looked away before answering. "Yes and no. I'm not ok with what happened yesterday and I doubt I ever will be." She turned back to Fleur, a determined expression on her face; "but those pegasi reminded me what this is all about. I'm not giving up."

"Good," Fleur said with a smile; "because if you're going to go off flying in full view it better be for a good reason."

"How did you know I was flying?"

Fleur smirked at Twilight; "I didn't until just now."

"Oh. Sorry."

13. Whiplash blues

"Low and behold the town of Whiplash." Fleur said gesturing towards the town in the distance behind her; "Try to curb your enthusiasm."

"Excuse me Fleur but we're not even there yet." Trixie said, eyeing Fleur suspiciously; "Did you make us walk up this hill just so you could gesture dramatically? Because if so I wish you hadn't bothered."

"No, there is actually a point to us being up here." She sat down and motioned for the others to join her. "I wanted to take a moment to tell you what this town is about. Mostly so it isn't a shock when we get there." She waved a hoof, following the line of the vast river on the other side of the town. "That is the Mareissippi river, the biggest river in Mareitania that happens to run from not far below Stalliongrad and goes all the way down to Neigh Orleans and is the most significant method of moving cargo from north to south and vice versa."

The filly looked between the four others and raised a hoof; "Yeah, I have a question. Why are you telling us this?"

"Because the others aren't as well travelled as we are, now shush." She pointed at the expansive port just to the right of the town. "That is the cargo port where cargo is loaded onto and off ships to either go south or be delivered to wherever up north. I'll be honest and say we're not going to have a thing to do with that place."

She now pointed to the town. "In the town is the port for the passenger ships and privately owned ships which are basically playgrounds for the wealthy."

"I'm guessing that's where we're headed for this party we're supposed to be going to?" Octavia asked.

"Party!? We're going to a party?" the filly asked excitedly making Trixie snort.

"We are. You're not."

"Aww c'mon, pleeeease can I come? I'll be super extra good!"

"No."

"I wasn't asking you." She took a short breath, shut her eyes and turned to Fleur. Then she opened her eyes again to reveal the biggest puppy eyes imaginable; Fleur could have sworn that her eyes had grown in size to accommodate the extra cute.

Oh Celestia that's a lot of quivering lip; Fleur bit her own lip to stop it quivering in sympathy. "I, by which I mean we, will think about it." The puppy eyes abated and Fleur shook her head rapidly to dispel the feeling that the filly now owned her soul. "Now as I was trying to say, the port on the left is somewhere we will be avoiding like the plague. Its use is solely for that place there." She pointed over to a collection of four large walled compounds similar to the one they had seen in Stalliongrad only much, much bigger and were all connected to a central hub that for some reason possessed an unreasonably large chimney.

"Cel- ahem, somepony told me about this place." Twilight looked a Fleur with watery eyes; "It's the pegasi distribution center isn't it?"

"Yeah, although distribution, replenishment and incineration center would be more accurate."

"Replenishment and incineration?"

Fleur bit her lip as she thought about how to word this in front of the filly. Turns out she didn't have to bother because the filly answered the question for her.

"She means breeding. Lots of pegasi get killed either by tripping their collars accidentally and falling, or they get killed by the guards for some reason like they were bored or something, or they just get sick and die. They breed pegasi here to replace those. Incidentally that's what the chimney is for, incinerating the dead ones..." The filly stared at her hooves the entire time she was speaking and when she looked up again Fleur was surprised to see tears coming from the normally stoic filly. "That's why I didn't really want to come here."

The others all looked at her in varying degrees of horror although Trixie was the only one who could bring herself to speak. "That's sick! Those are ponies in there! Not livestock!" She stared accusingly at Fleur who met her stare with a cool one of her own. "Why didn't you tell us about this before?"

"Because I didn't know if I could get you here if I did."

"I guess the name of this place makes sense now," Octavia said quietly; "although I feel I'd rather have not found out."

"Actually," the filly said; "this places real name is Brayside. It's just that somepony nicknamed it Whiplash and the name stuck to the point that if you said Brayside to somepony they probably wouldn't know where you meant."

"The more you know," Trixie muttered; "Just when you thought Mareitania couldn't get any worse. How'd you know so much about it anyway?" A shrug was all the answer the filly gave her.

"What should we be expecting in terms of soldiers and the like?" Twilight asked Fleur.

"Around the pegasus compound there's a lot of security but we're not going there are we. Around the town should be ok but with the party and after Prance and all that I guess we shouldn't be surprised if security's a bit tighter."

"Great. I guess we better get on and introduce ourselves."

-0-0-0-

"What's with everypony looking so happy?" Trixie asked as she suspiciously eyed a pony who vigorously waved his hoof at her in greeting. "It's creepy."

"I know," said Twilight in agreement; "it's giving me the willies. Know anything about it Fleur?"

"Unless they've drugged the water supply I honestly have no idea." She watched as two ponies had the most convivial, friendly and incredibly forced conversation you could watch two ponies have. "Certainly wasn't like this last time I was here."

"You've been here before?" Octavia asked her.

"Yep, for all of three hours before I found out what went on in that compound and left again, and let me tell you the ponies here were as miserable as you'd expect ponies to be in a town like this."

The filly walked up to a mare that was sitting on the side of the road wearing a shaky grin. She was also rocking back and forward slightly. "Hiya! Don't s'pose you could tell me why everypony looks so cheerful? Because honestly it's creepy as fuck."

The mares eyes swivelled side to side as if looking for backup, and her grin grew a little tighter; "My aren't you a cute yet precocious little filly. Why don't you run along back to your friends over there and leave me to my...sitting."

"Not until you tell me what's going on here, or I'm gonna keep on pestering you. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell m-"

"But there's nothing to tell! We're all just really happy to be here in this wonderful town and we're all so happy that the Dukes' son is coming here with all his rich and influential friends, andnowIreallymustgobye!" The mare sprinted off as fast as she could, flicking mud all over the filly in her rush.

"Oh come on! You did that on purpose!" the filly shouted after her. She did her best to wipe off the mud and returned to the others who were waiting for her. "Yeah...I get the feeling that a ducal visit might have something to do with this."

"I don't see how there's any correlation between the Duke's son coming here and everypony grinning like loonies," said Trixie. "He's not even here yet."

The filly shrugged; "There's also no proof that the Lady kills a kitten every time a pony masturbates but that's what some ponies like to think."

"What!?" Twilight burst out as Fleur and Trixie snorted with suppressed laughter, even Octavia was grinning. "Why would anypony even think that? And aren't you a bit young to know about that sort of thing?"

"Which is another thing that ponies like to think." The filly looked Twilight up and down with an appraising eye; "You seem kinda sheltered for a unicorn, you grow up under a rock or something?"

"No! I just...had a different upbringing to most."

The filly took in a deep breath; "You were born to a poor miners family and was taken in by a wealthy land owner who looked after you and treated you nicely and educated you but it was all a ploy because all he was really doing was setting you up to be his live-in sex bunny but you didn't want that so with the help of some unlikely allies you escaped and you wandered the country looking for your long lost family and found them and had a big happy reunion but they wanted you to work in the mine which was dark and dirty and pretty unhygienic so you escaped again and have been exploring Mareitania looking for adventure ever since," the filly took another deep breath; "am I right?"

"Not. Even. Close."

"Aww darn it, I thought I was onto something there..."

Fleur rubbed the bridge of her nose with a hoof, "Why is it we can barely go five minutes without flying off on some wild tangent?"

"Because we're craaaazy?" Trixie suggested. "You know, if we want to find out what's going on here we could ask the smile patrol over there."

"Oh ha-ha Trixie, very funny."

"I'm serious," she pointed over to two stallions in barding with 'smile patrol' emblazoned on their flank amour under a big painted smile; "see."

Fleur squinted at the name badge on the breast of the left stallion, "Hello, my name is Rockard and I'm VERY happy to help," she said out loud before blinking in disbelief. "Is it wrong that I'm finding this a lot harder to deal with than everything else we've done so far?"

They watched as the two stallions walked up to a pony that had his head in a barrel, and tapped him on the shoulder. The pony pulled his head out of the barrel and scowled at the two stallions for a split second before his scowl morphed into a smile so fast you could almost hear his facial muscles snapping like elastic. The two stallions nodded their approval and continued on up the street.

"That's it! Trixie intends to get to the bottom of this! Octavia, go ask them what's going on."

"Huh? What? No! You ask them if you're so curious!"

"I would, but alas Trixie is but a lowly unicorn in a country of insane, earth pony supremacists. To do so would surely be a death sentence for me." She put the back of a hoof to her forehead and sighed as though her heart were breaking.

"I don't see how that would be a problem, after all it does say they're 'very happy to help.'"

"Ugh, fine. Here I go then, if I should die doing this put it in my epitaph that I blame Octavia for not doing her job." They all watched as Trixie approached the two stallions and had a very animated conversation with them. It lasted for less than a minute when a hugely grinning Trixie turned around and returned to the group.

"I suggest you start smiling or we're all going to be flogged."

-0-0-0-

"This is insane," Twilight muttered as she massaged her cheeks; "they actually expect everypony to be happy and smiley all the time? Even ponies in Equestria have the right to be miserable."

"Ix-nay on the Equestri-ay in front of the filly-ay." Trixie hissed in Twilight's ear, the filly eyeing them suspiciously.

"Hopefully the smile patrol's...patrol doesn't include grubby back streets," Fleur said as she massaged her own cheeks. "I don't know how long this has been going on but I feel sorry for the town’s ponies; my cheeks are killing and it's only been an hour. Didn't they say why we all have to smile?"

"Trixie thought it was pretty obvious; big smiles for the son of the Duke to show how much we love him and his rich friends. Honestly Fleur, show some imagination."

"I get that, I was just hoping for something a little more specific like, why?"

"Who cares why? Let’s do what we came here to do and get the hell out of here before my cheek muscles rupture from the strain!"

Twilight nodded in agreement. "I do think it's about time you explained the plan to us."

"Ok then, we're going to...uh..." She stopped talking when she noticed that the filly was listening intently. "This is awkward. I don't suppose you mind waiting somewhere else while we discuss this."

The filly frowned but got up and started walking away, "I'm going to figure out what you lot are doing eventually," she said over her shoulder.

"You know we ought to discuss what we're going to do with her," said Octavia before looking to where the filly was sat staring up into the air. "She's a risk to our mission while she's with us."

"I know, but what are we going to do with her? We can't dump her here and abandon her," said Fleur; "she doesn't have anywhere else to go since her home is...well...yeah..."

"I don't see how that's our problem," Trixie said haughtily; "either she goes or we end up revealing what it is we're doing. I don't think it's a good idea to trust a filly like her to not blab."

"But it is our problem," Twilight implored; "we're involved in Prance being thrown into civil war and we took her with us when we didn't have to. That makes her our responsibility."

Trixie snorted derisively; "You mean you still feel guilty for Prance and you think helping her absolves you of some of that guilt." Twilight hung her head and stared at the floor between her hooves.

"Trixie!" Fleur growled; "That was uncalled for."

"Right, right. Sorry."

"Since we seem unable to decide what to do with her in friendly manner let's just leave it for now. Anyway, the plan is to sneak onto the river boat the party is on and see if we can find something we can use against the Duke." The others blinked incredulously at her.

"That's it?" Trixie narrowed her eyes dangerously at Fleur and leaned forward until their noses almost touched. "That's the brilliant and masterful plan you dragged us here for? Un-be-lievable..."

"Excuse me if I didn't immediately discuss every single nuance of the plan straight away. First we are going to need some disguises."

-0-0-0-

Twilight sighed as she browsed through the dresses on display in the clothes shop they were currently in. The first shop had been better quality but the owner had taken one look at hers, Trixie's and Fleur's horns and told them with a big cheerful grin to get lost. As a compromise they had left Octavia with a decent sum of money to buy a dress for herself and a dress for Twilight since Twilight had picked up a number of spells from Rarity that could be used to adjust the fit of clothes; not as good as a properly fit and made dress, but good enough in a pinch.

"Why couldn't Trixie have got a dress from that last shop? This place isn't exactly what I imagined when we said we were going shopping for dresses." The shop keeper deflated slightly but Twilight had to give her credit for not letting her smile move even the tiniest bit.

"Suck it up Trixie," Fleur said from within the changing room; "We couldn't all go as Octavia's hoof maids so we got to go as something else."

"Ok, fine, but why couldn't I have been the hoof maid?"

"Because you have to be demure, quiet, polite and...well, pleasant, to be a hoof maid. Basically the four things you aren't."

"If you could see me you'd know I'm sticking my tongue out at you."

"Duly noted."

Trixie huffed and folded her forelegs and watched the filly who was lounging on a padded bench by the changing room. "I guess I better ask what we're going as then."

There was a swish of the curtain as Fleur stepped out wearing the most scandalous outfit Twilight, and probably Trixie, had ever seen. It appeared to be mostly red velvet trimmed with black lace, it rode high on the flank and had a train that would have brushed the floor on a shorter pony. The best way Twilight could describe it was if a dress and some lingerie had a perverted love child this dress would be how it would look.

Fleur had paired it with some long black gloves, black fishnet stockings, mane accessories involving feathers, a small black lace fan and makeup that bordered on being too much. Twilight bit her lip as her normally heterosexual mind sent her some very confused messages.

Fleur flashed Trixie a saucy grin, "We my dear Trixie, are going as entertainment." A shocked silence enveloped the room, a silence that was broken only when the filly laughed so hard she fell off her bench.

-0-0-0-

"What's up with Trixie?" Octavia asked Twilight when she met her and the filly out the front of the shop. It had taken one look through the window to where Trixie was arguing with Fleur for her to reach the conclusion it was probably Trixie's fault.

"Trixie doesn't like her outfit," the filly answered her.

"Why? What are they going as?"

"Take a look through the window at Fleur and you'll find out."

Octavia turned and looked at Fleur, "Oh." Her eyes bulged as she took in what exactly Fleur was wearing. "Oooohhhh. Oh my, I suddenly appreciate Trixie's issue with this. I don't suppose Fleur said what they're meant to be?"

"Entertainment."

"I see." The three ponies sat outside the shop doing little more than shuffling hooves while the argument raged on behind them. The only variation in the time they spent there was when a smile patrol passed by which they smiled and waved at, getting some cheerful waves in return. "I must confess that I'm not entire comfortable with my own...outfit, for this party. I'm a cellist, not a socialite. I go to a party, I play, I get paid then I leave; that's it. I don't typically socialise with the guests."

"We could try and get you in with the band somehow but Fleur never said if there was a band at this party," said Twilight; "and honestly, I don't see how she would know until we got there, though I would say it's a reasonable assumption that there would be one."

They jumped when Fleur suddenly slammed the door open and came out wearing a triumphant smile, a considerably less jubilant Trixie just behind her. "Good news everypony! Trixie has come to respect the fact that I don't expect her to have sex with anypony, unless she really wants to, so I can officially declare the shopping over and done with!"

"Awesome!" the filly shouted excitedly; "What's next?"

"You argued about that in front of the shopkeeper?" Octavia asked.

Of course, all she could do was grin and bear it." Fleur grinned disarmingly as the others reeled from her horrible attempt at humour. "Oh whatever, next thing is finding the boat and finding out when it's leaving."

"To the harbour!" The filly pointed dramatically towards the river and started trotting but stopped when she noticed she was trotting on her own. "You guys coming?" She looked back to where the others were frantically trying to shove clothing into their saddlebags, "Oh."

-0-0-0-

"You know what? I am getting so fucking fed up of this smiling shit! I'll be miserable if I fucking well want to be and I'll be happy when this little tit of a Viscount gets here and fucks off again."

Twilight and the others were casually admiring the scenery at the harbour in an attempt to surreptitiously ascertain the whereabouts of the boat they needed to get on. While they were there they had found two dock workers who seemed less than pleased about the harbours future visitors.

"Viscount?" Trixie whispered questioningly.

"Hereditary title," Twilight whispered back; "the duke's son doesn't get the title of Duke until the last duke dies or gives it up. Until then the heir apparent uses one of the Dukes' lesser titles which in this case is viscount."

"Oh, okay. I only wanted to know if they were talking about the pony I thought they were talking about. I guess now I know how to address him."

"Keep it down would ya," the other dock worker implored his companion; "if one of those creepy smile patrols catch you talking like that it'll be worse than twenty lashes. Maybe they'll put you on corpse duty at the factory."

This time it was Twilight's to whisper a question; "Factory?"

"The pegasus compound," was Fleur's whispered reply making Twilight feel sick that such a duty existed and even needed to exist.

"Can't be no worse than smiling all the bloody time," the first worker said.

"Tell you what, we're almost done here; how about we sneak off early and go for a pint down the Bloody Siren? Ain't no smile patrol going to go in there if they know what's good for 'em." The two stallions dropped what they were doing and sauntered off leaving Twilight and the others to breathe a sigh of relief that they had gone.

"'The Bloody Siren' sounds like a charming place," commented Octavia.

"We're not actually near the ocean are we? Because Trixie was under the impression that sirens were supposed to live in the ocean."

"And you'd be forgiven for thinking that," Twilight muttered, frowning as she thought of something she should ask Sunset in her next letter.

"I gotta ask," the filly said, nudging Trixie in the side; "what's with all the referring to yourself in the third pony? It's a bit weird."

"It's a left over from my show pony days, the Great and Powerful Trixie! I used to talk in the third pony a lot during all that but now I'm trying to give it up. Turns out that old habits really do die hard though."

"You actually have to think about referring to yourself in the first pony? I think I'll just be adding another entry on my list of weird things Trixie does."

"And what about you hmm, you talk awfully fancy and know a lot of big words for a filly with no name, no education and no cutie mark."

"I dunno, I just seem to have a knack for stuff like that. You're looking at the only homeless filly in Prance that can read, which is more than a lot of non-homeless ponies around here can say. Not bad for somepony who's self-taught. Anyway, that's enough chitchat, how about we find that boat." The filly suddenly scrambled her way up a stack of crates before back flipping off and landing on another stack on only her rear legs. "What?" she asked defensively when she noticed the stares she was getting.

"You don't really see a lot of ponies do that," Trixie explained.

"Pinkie can," said Twilight; "but Pinkie tends to be the exception rather than the rule."

"Pinkie...Pinkie... I know I've heard that name before..." Trixie muttered, rubbing her chin.

"You stole her muzzle, remember?" Twilight whispered in her ear.

"Oh, uh...right. Enough said about that I think."

"I think I see the boat," the filly said, having got bored and chosen to ignore their insane ramblings and do the job she set out to do; "it's the big one over there."

They headed in the direction she pointed and soon came across a paddle boat that dwarfed the other boats. "I suppose we should have suspected that it would be the biggest one," Trixie commented with a smirk.

"How can we be sure though?" asked Octavia.

There was a pony with a clipboard standing next to a ramp that led into the rear of the boat. Fleur walked up to her and brazenly asked "Is this the boat the Viscount's party is on?"

The mare jumped as if startled but quickly recovered; "Yeah, are you the ponies I asked for two hours ago to get these crates loaded?" She pointed at four large cube shaped crates, each twice as tall as Fleur.

"Nope," Fleur said simply.

The mare shook her head and growled; "You know what, I don't even care. I need these on board soon as and I will pay you twenty marcs to get them in there. I don't even care how you do it." The mare pulled a small bag from her jacket pocket and counted out twenty coins. "Whaddya say?"

Fleur turned to the others and collected a unanimous vote of impartial shrugs. "Sure, we'll do it. Come on Trixie, help me with this crate." Trixie and Fleur stood on either side of the first crate and used their telekinesis to move the crate. Or at least they tried to.

"What...the hell...is in these...things?" Trixie hissed from between gritted teeth as sweat poured down her face.

"Booze I believe," the pony with the clipboard told her.

"Who in the hay needs this much booze?" Trixie leaned against the crate for a moment to catch her breath.

"Might I suggest that you and Fleur simply lift up the box and let Octavia and the filly push it. It'll save you a bit of effort,” suggested Twilight.

"I don't need your advice on how to lift things thank you...very...much..." Trixie's mouth hung open as she watched Twilight effortlessly lift the remaining three crates in her magic and guide them up the ramp into the hold. "That is so not fair! Stupid cheating alicorns and their stupid cheating...powers..." she mumbled to herself.

"What's an alicorn?" the filly asked her.

"A byword for a pony that cheats."

"Oh. Weird word." Between Fleur's and Trixie's efforts at lifting and Octavia's and the filly's efforts at pushing they eventually managed to get the crate on board. The fact that Twilight had offered to do it for them was irrelevant in the face of four pony’s stubborn pride.

"What time is the Viscount supposed to be getting here tomorrow?" Twilight asked the mare as she waited for the others to make their way back out of the boat.

"Sometime tomorrow, not sure when. Could be anytime between dawn and dusk depending on when he gets up; I’m sure somepony on board knows. Hope it's sooner rather than later though, I'm so sick of this 'be happy and smile for the Viscounts visit' crap."

"Yeah, about that; why not do that on the day? We only just got into town so we don't know how long that's been going on but I suspect that it's been longer than just today."

The mare suddenly looked worried; "You're not here to monitor things for the Viscounts visit are you?" Twilight shook her head and the mare relaxed again. "That's good. It started the day before yesterday and it'll end the moment we wave him off on this tub. Not soon enough if you ask me and my aching face but whatever. No idea why they make us do it for days beforehoof though. Tends to creep a lot of visitors out." She picked up the twenty marcs in her hoof and held them out to Twilight who took them in her magic. "Here's your pay and boy do you deserve it. I've never seen lifting magic like yours before, if I didn't suspect you were leaving soon I'd offer you a job."

"Sometimes a unicorn gets lucky," Twilight lied. She watched as the others returned, Fleur and Trixie both looking exhausted enough to collapse. "I guess we'll be going then, we still need to find somewhere to stay. Thanks for the talk miss..?"

"Ship Shape, I know, it's not a flattering name. Thanks for the heavy lifting and all that, see ya." The mare trotted off leaving the five ponies on the harbour with no one around to see them.

"You know," the filly said; "if you're going to stow away on the river boat like I have a serious suspicion you are, now would be an excellent time to do it."

"We'll get right on that...as soon...as Trixie can walk again...without feeling like...she's going to fall...over..." She collapsed onto her knees and started panting. "I'm not even sure...that Fleur...was trying..."

Fleur tried a few times to say something in her defense but every time she opened her mouth it would close again without making a sound. She leaned against a post and gently slid down it until she lay on the floor. "Fuck...you..." she managed to say eventually.

Octavia grinned at Twilight and rolled her eyes; "Here I was thinking that the Great and Powerful Trixie could lift anything. Guess I was mistaken."

"I'm great and powerful, not overpowered and godlike." Trixie hauled herself back to her hooves and steadied herself for a moment before taking a few tentative steps. "I think Trixie is okay!"

"Fleur's not," Fleur said from her position on the floor.

Trixie studied the boat for a minute before addressing the others. "The filly who seriously needs a name is not wrong; we totally should sneak onboard now, while there's nopony around to see us. Too bad she can't come with us, she does have the occasional decent idea."

"But...but...I-I... Why not? Why don't I get to come? I-I thought we were friends?" The filly looked between the four ponies; "Aren't we?"

Fleur tried to smile kindly at the filly but the sensation of her heart gently breaking made it come out more like a grimace. "Of course we are sweetie, but we have important things to do and we can't risk you coming with us in case you get hurt."

"But...but... Twilight?" she asked hopefully.

Twilight hung her head guiltily, marking another failure as the Princess of Friendship. "I'm sorry."

"Octavia?"

Octavia's reaction was similar to Twilights' but with extra tears. "I'm sorry too," she said quietly before heading up the ramp into the boat, Twilight and Trixie close behind her.

Fleur stood up and walked over to the filly who was now in floods of tears; "I'm sorry but this is way it has to be. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt coming with us." She took a small coin bag out of her bags and placed it in front of the filly, "This should be enough to take care of you for a while-"

"I don't want your money! I want to come with you! Please? You really think I'm any safer living on the streets? Please, I'm begging you! Don't leave me on my own!"

"I'm sorry but I can't, we can't. Take care of yourself out there." She quickly turned and half ran up the ramp where the others were waiting. She wiped away her tears and nodded to them, waiting a moment as they headed further in.

"I thought you cared Fleur! I thought you cared!" The filly collapsed and sobbed, curling up on herself. "I thought you cared..."

"I do..." Fleur said quietly to herself. She stood, wrestling with herself before lighting her horn and gently picking the filly up when suddenly a pink flash across the end of her horn disrupted her magic and made her drop the filly.

"She's playing you Fleur," said Trixie from behind her; "just ignore it."

"I can't." Fleur turned, allowing Trixie to see her own tears; "I had nothing when I was her age, I know what it's like. I would have loved nothing more than for a pony to come along and offer something, anything, more than what I had." She turned to the filly who was looking at her confused; "We've given that to her and I'll be damned if I just take it away."

She lit her horn again and once more picked the filly up before Trixie's own magic disrupted hers. "So help me Trixie, I will throw you in the fucking river if you do that again!"

"She can't come with us Fleur. She can't find out about us and what we're doing, that and it's dangerous."

"She won't tell, I trust her. Do you honestly think she likes this place and its rulers and its shit? She could be useful to us." She tried to pick the filly up and kept a firm hold on her that Trixie couldn't break so easy. Instead Trixie also tried to grab the filly in her magic and put her back down. The two ponies became engaged in a battle of wills, the filly yelping as the turbulent magic started to hurt. Suddenly a purple aura overtook the two pink ones already on the filly and carried her up the ramp.

"If Fleur trusts her it's good enough for me," said Twilight. "And me," said Octavia from beside her.

Fleur grabbed the filly from Twilight's magic and hugged her; "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry." She nuzzled the filly before standing up and placing her on her back where the tearful yet smiling filly hugged Fleur around her neck.

"This is a mistake. I would say I can't wait to see how it's going to bite you in the flank but it's also my flank on the line." Trixie jabbed a hoof at the filly who recoiled slightly; "You better know how to keep a secret."

-0-0-0-

Twilight smoothed out the page in the book she used to keep in contact with Sunset Shimmer. After the emotional occurrences of earlier and the time it had taken to find a secure hiding place on the boat and explain everything to the filly, well, almost everything, they were all pretty exhausted. They had decided to not tell her that it was Trixie being rescued in Stalliongrad or that Twilight was an alicorn and a princess in Equestria, since Trixie had begged them not to tell and it was decided that telling her about alicorn princesses could wait.

The entire time Fleur had hugged the filly between her forelegs, and for her part the filly seemed genuinely happy to be there. Maybe she does have a place with us, despite what Trixie might say.

She smoothed the page again and began to write.

Dear Sunset

I know you weren't expecting me to write back so soon but I was in a place called Brayside today and it had a bar called The Bloody Siren, not a nice name I know but that's not the point.

The point is that I was reminded of the sirens and I began to wonder; what happened to them after we stopped them? Are they ok after we stripped their power from them?

I'm not asking you to do a lengthy search for them, but if you do happen to see them could you let me know if they're okay? I feel a bit guilty for letting them just run off after the battle.

Your friend

Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight yawned and put the book away, figuring it was another thing the filly didn't need to know about. She crawled inside her sleeping bag, which was hers again since the filly was snuggled in with Fleur tonight; and very gently let sleep embrace her.

14. Party hard! pt 1

The filly blinked sleepily and stretched but stopped short when she met resistance in the form of Fleur's large white body pressed against the back of her own. She looked up and followed the arc of Fleur's neck all the way to her chin before shaking her head experimentally to see if she had a hangover to deal with. Nothing.

"Huh, I thought I'd have to be seriously drunk to get in bed with a mare...or anypony for that matter." She glanced about her surroundings and saw the slumbering forms of Trixie, Twilight and Octavia before suddenly remembering that the events of last night had actually happened. She clamped her hooves over her eyes and groaned; "Was I really that emotional last night?"

"After all we told you last night, that's the bit that concerns you?" Trixie sniggered quietly before stretching where she lay. "By the way, you and Fleur looked absolutely adorable snuggled up together like that, I wish I had a camera."

The filly narrowed her eyes at Trixie, "What do you care about how we look, you don't even want me here."

"It's nothing personal." Trixie tapped a hoof on her chin as she thought; "Okay, maybe it is slightly, I mean you did rob me and leave me locked in the basement of some strangers house. What if he had been a murderer or a rapist or something?"

"If he was I wouldn't have done that. Yes I'm a cheeky bugger who will rob you for every marc in your possession but I do have limits; I try and make sure that if I'm going to con a pony that they're not going to get hurt in the process. If I knew that pony could hurt you then I would've thought of something else."

"Hmmph, very well, so you do have a conscience. All the same though I don't think dragging you along with us helps us in the slightest while at the same time puts us and you in danger."

"I don't care what you think Trixie, I have a chance for a better life here and if I can help in any way then I will. What are you here for Trixie? All you seem to do is whine and complain."

"Oh, Trixie has her uses, far more than your infantile mind could ever fathom."

"And yet far less than her ego would ever let her admit," Fleur mumbled, cracking one eye open to enjoy the look of indignation on Trixie's face. "And never ask her for a witty comeback, hers are awful."

Trixie huffed and puffed and blew a raspberry at Fleur, "Of course it’s going to be rubbish when I'm put on the spot like that. Besides, it's not like you're that useful yourself."

"Oh yeah? Well at least I never took over a town in a dark magic fueled, powe-"

"Oh will you fuck off with that!" Trixie snapped suddenly, waking Twilight and Octavia up. "Why is it that everytime I disagree with something, or have an opinion that you don't like, you have to say that like it's some giant trump card! It was stupid and I regret ever doing it! I don't need you and the others rubbing my face it all the fucking time, and it shouldn't be used to legitimize your own stupid fucking things! 'We can't do that, It's bad! But not as bad as Trixie using a dark magic amulet so we should be ok!' or 'I shouldn't steal all this stuff. But then what's that compared to Trixie taking over a town in a fit of megalomania!' I've tried to be good humoured about it, but seriously, fuck off!"

The others lay in a shocked silence as Trixie glowered at them, panting slightly. "I...I didn't realise you felt so strongly about it Trixie," Twilight said after a few seconds.

"Of course I feel strongly about it. I regret what I did, and I'm sorry it ever happened. But I'm not here to have my biggest mistake thrown in my face repeatedly and reminded about how badly I screwed up, and I'm certainly not here for ponies to compare their own actions to mine. Just because it's not as bad or evil or stupid as what I did doesn't mean it isn't still bad, evil or stupid!"

"I never did that, did I?" Octavia asked tremulously.

"Hmm," Trixie screwed up her face in thought; "no...I don't think you did." She shuffled her sleeping bag closer to Octavia, "I'm going to be over here, with the nice pony."

"I don't get it," said Fleur thoughtfully; "why'd you do all those things just to regret it later?"

"I only wanted to get revenge on Twilight for besting me at magic when I started, which is dull enough as it is. I had no desire to hurt anypony or take over Ponyville, but that amulet...changed me, made me into a monster. I mean Trixie grew distrustful of wheels for pony's sake! What pony in their right mind doesn't trust wheels?"

"She's not kidding Fleur," Twilight said; "the amulet she was wearing corrupts the user. If it was you wearing it you wouldn't have been any better. And for what it's worth Trixie, I'm sorry if I upset you by bringing it up inappropriately."

"Yeah, sorry Trixie," muttered Fleur.

Trixie closed her eyes and breathed out slowly through her nose. "Very well, I shall forgive you. Celestia knows I probably deserve some teasing about it, but it shouldn't be used as a 'one argument beats Trixie' style of thing."

"Damn you guys must take your roleplaying games seriously," the filly said as she them all strange looks.

"What?" Twilight mouthed quietly, hoping for an explanation from the two awkward looking unicorns in the room.

"We...may have brought it up in the presence of the filly back when I found Trixie in Prance. To cover it up we pretended it was from a roleplaying game we were doing..."

"Wait... You mean it actually happened? It's real?" The filly looked up to Fleur who nodded in confirmation. "Ho-ly crap Trixie," she gave Trixie a look of mock horror; "you fucking psycho."

-0-0-0-

Twilight rattled the handle to the door that led from the cargo hold to the rest of the ship. Unfortunately somepony had the foresight to lock it, although Twilight couldn't think of any practical reason why they should when the ship was supposedly empty and the exterior entry to the hold was still wide open. "Probably to stop ponies sneaking on-board overnight," Fleur had suggested.

Trixie walked up beside Twilight and studied the lock for a second before enveloping the lock in her magic and unlocking it with a click a moment later. Trixie must have noticed the surprise in Twilight's expression, explaining that she learnt to pick locks with her magic for her escapism act.

"And you didn't think to add that to your résumé when we started this?"

"Trixie thought it was obvious that she could do that, after all, she is the most talented unicorn in Mareitania," Trixie exclaimed smugly.

"Surely that would be Twilight?" the filly said, sounding confused. "I'd say that picking locks doesn't compare to fighting soldiers."

"Twilight doesn't count." Trixie said, coughing awkwardly. "Anyway... How about we go see what's going on upstairs." She went to open the door when Fleur shouted "Wait!"

"We should strip off before going upstairs," she said, explaining that this boat was going to be full of fancily dressed rich ponies. Five ponies dressed in grubby cloaks would look severely out of place. "We'd be less conspicuous going unclothed."

"Nuh-uh, no way," the filly said defensively; "There's no way I'm going anywhere in the nuddy."

"That's silly," said Trixie; "there's nothing wrong with going in the buff. Ponies in Equestria are pretty much naked all the time."

"I have my reasons..." the filly muttered, her expression dark, “I guess I'll have to stay here and watch your stuff. I promise not to steal it before you think that I would Trixie."

"Why would I trust the promise of a liar and a thief?"

"That...is a very good point, touché. I guess you'll just have to have some faith in me instead."

"Come on Trixie," said Fleur with a hint of warning; "you're going to make us go over on this morning’s argument quota if you're not careful." She reached into one of her bags and pulled out a small toiletries bag; "First stop, hygiene. Be good...you," she said to the filly.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. You go do whatever it is you're going to do," the filly said as she waved them off. "If you happen to find me some breakfast I'd appreciated it."

Fleur nudged the door open and poked her head through, looking around for a moment before carrying on through, followed by Twilight, then Octavia with Trixie bringing up the rear.

"Might I ask what the bag is for?" Octavia asked from behind Twilight, who seemed strangely mesmerized by the swaying of Fleur's uncovered flank.

"We're on a boat full of the rich and well to do, Octavia, a wash and some makeup is going to go a long way, believe me."

"Why is Twilight staring at Fleur's ass?" Trixie asked loudly.

"Huh? What!? N-no I'm not! I was just hoping nopony touches my sides in case they feel my wings."

"Would you feel better if Fleur touched your sides?"

"Shut up!"

"Stop being mean to Twilight about her confused sexuality-"

"I'm not confused!"

"Besides, I must be losing my touch if you're not staring either."

"Actually, Trixie would say your rear looks better than ever, all the walking and running over the last few weeks have really toned those cheeks up."

"Why thank you Trixie, and there I was thinking that getting a compliment out of you was like getting water out of a stone."

Trixie shrugged, "Thing is though is that I know where my preferences lie unlike Twilight."

"I like cock!" Twilight blushed as she realised what she had just blurted out and her ears folded back as they filled with Trixie's laughter. "I-uh, I mean I would...if I-uh...wasn't a... Oh shut up!"

"You heard it here first," Trixie choked between laughs, "Princess Twilight likes cock!"

"Where are we anyway?" Octavia asked in the hopes of steering the conversation towards something useful and away from Fleur's rear, Trixie's preferences and Twilight's...Twilightishness. "This doesn't look nice enough for the rich ponies to be staying in," she said as she observed the rough wooden walls.

Trixie snorted and nudged her, “Is that all you're going to contribute to this conversation?"

Octavia bit her lip, "Well...okay, there is something I have always wondered about; is it true what they say about unicorn horns? About them being sensitive? I would've asked Vinyl but I was worried that she’d give me a demonstration if the answer was yes."

"Nah," said Fleur, "complete load of rubbish. Horns are made of bone and don't have sensations like that. Bloody hurt if you smack them though. It is, however, true what they say about pegasus wings being sensitive isn't it Twilight."

"Not. Saying. Anything."

"Oh lighten up Twilight, anyway to answer your first question Octavia, these are probably the servants quarters, at least I hope they are otherwise this tub has some shitty accommodations. I'm hoping that there's some kind of communal bathroom or something where we can freshen up." She soon espied a door emblazoned with a small 'WC' and led them in.

"You know, Trixie has always wondered why it's called a water closet when it is neither a closet nor particularly watery."

"And I've always wondered what it is that goes on inside your head Trixie, but I fear only madness lies down that route." Fleur walked up to a sink and turned the tap before splashing herself with water, "Cold!"

"What time do you think the Viscount will be here? Twilight asked as she viewed herself in a mirror, before pulling at the bags under her eyes and sighing.

Fleur dried herself off with a towel before answering; "If he's the hedonistic little twit I've been led to believe he is then I doubt he'll be here any time before midday. Gives us plenty of time to wander around and work this out."

There was a grunt as Octavia pulled a brush through the knots in the end of her tail; "I really ought to have cut this thing before we came."

"I really never understood the thing with having your tail touching the ground," said Trixie; "sure a long tail looks nice but it seems horribly impractical and wouldn't it turn into a-"

"Knotty, mud laden mess? Hence why I wish I'd had it cut. It's not so bad around Canterlot if I wash it and brush it often, but here? No chance of either of those happening much. I guess this is what my morning will consist of if I wish to be presentable by this afternoon." She sighed and grumbled, "This'd be so much easier if I was a unicorn."

"It does make you wonder how Celestia and Luna does it," Fleur commented as she applied eye shadow; "I mean Celestia's mane and tail are freaking huge!"

"Or how their manes seem to be blowing in the wind all the time," agreed Trixie. "Is that going to happen to you someday Twilight?"

"Goodness I hope not, I like having hairy…hair; sure Celestia has said the hair is easy to handle since it never really gets dirty as it tends to float just above the ground and doesn't need styling because it tends to do as it pleases, but at the same time both princesses have confessed to having to rely on magical senses since it's ridiculously easy to sneak up on their right side."

"What does it feel like though?"

Twilight pursed her lips as she tried to think of an adequate answer, "Okay, it's like the lightest, softest piece of silk imaginable but in lots of little hair-like strands and seems to be constantly moving like it gets blown in even the slightest breeze, no matter how hard you try to stop it." Twilight stared into the distance and smiled wistfully; "I used to love cuddling up in her hair when I first started my apprenticeship with her, it was always so soft."

"I've changed my mind, she doesn't have the hots for Fleur, she has them for Celestia and her luxuriously soft hair. Sorry Fleur, you've been replaced."

"What? No! Me-me and the P-Princess?" Twilight spluttered, "I could never do that, she's like a mother to me!"

"And not because you're 'apparently' straight Twilight? You didn't say you haven't thought of it..." Trixie said as she smirked, making Twilight blush and stammer. "Ooh, maybe Twilight likes a bit of Princess Luna! Wanna explore the dark side of her moon, eh Twilight?"

"I'm not gay!" Twilight shouted as she blushed furiously. "I don't know why you would think I am!"

"You were staring at Fleur's ass..."

"I couldn't care less about Fleur's rear end!"

"Fleur gasped mockingly, "But I have a fabulous tush! You've broken my heart Twilight," she said before starting to giggle. "Sorry," she said after the others asked what was so funny; "it just struck me as amusing that after the last few weeks and everything that's happened, here we are having girly talk in a bathroom. You could almost think we were getting ready for a night on the town, not working to overthrow a corrupt and evil government."

"Normal does seem a long way off doesn't it," agreed Octavia.

"Not that Trixie ever knew what normal was in the first place," Twilight snarked.

"Ooh meow, kitty got claws! Besides, you're not wrong," Trixie said haughtily, "Trixie would never be so plebeian as to have a 'normal' life. Perish the thought."

Octavia grunted as she pulled the brush through a particularly knotted part of her tail before putting the brush down with a thunk. "This is going to take me forever to sort out," she groaned, "perhaps you ought to leave me here while you go scout around the ship."

"Trixie's ready to go whenever..." Trixie shrugged and moved over to the door.

"Doesn't anypony else find it odd that the better the mood Trixie is in the more she refers to herself in the third pony," Fleur said, grinning at Trixie who stuck her tongue out at Fleur in return. "Anyway, I'm ready to go too, how about you Twilight?"

Twilight levelled a scowl at Trixie before answering; "I'll stay here and help Octavia with her tail. Perhaps some magic would speed things up."

"Oh come on, now you're making things too easy for me," Trixie cleared her throat, "Twilight and Octavia, sitting in a tree, f-u-c-k-i-n-g!" Trixie sang before running out the door laughing maniacally. She poked her head back through the door and grinned saucily at Twilight; "And Twilight, if you're going under Octavia's tail, make sure you get her consent first," she said before running off again.

"She does seem cheerful today doesn't she." Fleur patted Twilight on the back in a not very comforting manner as Twilight ground her teeth, "We'll meet you back in our hiding place, hopefully with good news."

"Fuck my life," Twilight muttered once Fleur departed.

"Damn you're going for everything today aren't you!" Trixie said from the doorway.

"Dammit Trixie! Get out of here!"

-0-0-0-

Trixie let out a low whistle as she perused the grand ballroom she and Fleur had stumbled upon, "So this is what Mareitanian taxes get spent on."

"Actually most of this country's taxes are spent on the whole pegasus...thing."

"Really?"

"Yep, oppressing a race of highly mobile, winged ponies ain't easy and it ain't cheap." Fleur ran a critical eye over the decor and started to frown as she realised something. "Trixie, do you notice something odd about the stuff in this room."

"Other than it smells strangely of cookies in here, not really."

"Exactly, I mean wh- hold on, what?" Fleur sniffed the air experimentally, "I don't smell cookies."

"Yeah, neither do I, but you clearly wanted something out of me when you asked."

Fleur rubbed the bridge of her nose and groaned as she came to realise she was the sole focus of Trixie's ramblings now it was just the two of them. "Right, if you were paying attention you would have said something like 'gee Fleur, it sure does look like a lot of this stuff was made in Equestria,’"

"Trixie does not sound like that,"

"And then I'd be like, 'that's right Trixie, doesn't that strike you as odd seeing as how Mareitania is mostly cut off from Equestria and has very limited trade with them.'"

"Why yes Fleur, that would strike me as odd if I had any credible reason to believe that you are in fact not talking out of your arse."

Fleur gave Trixie a long, cool stare; "I hope you're acting like this to get it out of your system before the party."

"You say that like Trixie has a limit to her obstinacy."

Fleur rubbed the bridge of her nose again and sighed heavily, "Anyway... This light," she said pointing at one of multiple wall mounted lights; "Fancy Pants has the exact same fittings in his mansion leading me to suspect they're from Equestria." She picked up an ornate china plate in her magic and flipped it over before pointing at its hallmark, "This plate was made by the esteemed Clay Brothers company in Fillydelphia," she picked up a few more plates, "as was this one, this one and this one."

She trotted over to the bar which stretched along most of a wall and picked out a variety of bottles. "This rather expensive champagne was produced in the expansive vineyards of Las Pegasus and this cherry liqueur was made in the cherry orchards of Dodge Junction; not forgetting this lovely apple cider produced on Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville itself. Do I need to go on because there are plenty more things I could point out."

Trixie sat down and folded her forelegs, "Trixie has spent most of her life either being poor in Manehatten or travelling around Equestria in a little wooden caravan with minimal possessions. Excuse me if I can't immediately point out all these things a wealthy pony living in a mansion in Canterlot would know about. But, now you have said it, yes I see what you're getting at."

"I didn't mean it like that..." Fleur ran a hoof down the back of her head as she thought and blew out through her nose, "Sorry Trixie, sometimes I forget you're not a Canterlot pony like the other two."

"Or you?"

"I guess there is more Canterlot in me than I like to admit." Fleur fell silent as a group of ponies entered the room the same way they had; most of them bearing bulky instrument cases and all of them, five mares and three stallions, were looking unhappy.

"About time we found this bloody ballroom, you'd think there'd be some kind of steward or something sorting this all out!" The stallion in the front, a glossy dark grey colour with a mahogany mane and tail, glanced about before spotting Fleur and Trixie. "You there! The," his nose wrinkled up in disgust, "unicorns... I don't suppose you know who's in charge here?"

"Don't you dare imply it's you," Fleur whispered to Trixie out the side of her mouth before saying to the stallion "I'm afraid not, we seem to be in the same boat, excuse the pun, about finding where we're meant to be." She pointed across to the corner of the ballroom where a grand piano resided upon a raised stage, "Is that there what you're looking for?"

The stallion glanced at the stage and a look of relief crossed his face, "Ahah! Finally! Perhaps now we can get practicing before tonight." He trotted off to the stage followed closely by his bandmates.

"You're welcome!" Fleur said bitterly. "If only we could find out when this whole thing is kicking off we could stop wondering around like morons."

"Yes, that would be convenient. If only there was some kind of itinerary like this one Trixie found on the bar over there."

"And you were going to mention this when?" Fleur said in a low growl.

"I was hoping to hold out for when you were ready to give up in a fit of despair for maximum annoyance, but I don't think we have that long."

Fleur scowled at Trixie and snatched the itinerary off her with her magic before skimming through it, "Viscounts arrival at two in the afternoon followed by guests... Then setting off at three once guests are settled. Stallions are welcome to brandy and cigars in the smoking room while mares would be welcome to have tea in the drawing room, ugh that would so not work in Equestria."

"Because there'd only be ten stallions here in total?"

"Well yeah, that and Equestrians don't really seem big on the drinking and smoking thing either so there would be plenty of competition over the tea." She skimmed further down the page, "Dinner at six then an opportunity for the guests to change into their outfits in preparation for the masked...ball... Shit."

"Does this mean we have to acquire some masks now?"

"It seems we do." Fleur lifted the barrier to behind the bar and rooted around in the hopes of finding something to eat. "Where's the bloody bar snacks in this place?"

"You do remember what kind of ship you're on right? There's probably going to be a buffet with hor d'oeuvres' and canapés and whatever else it is that rich ponies live on."

"I know that, but I don't want to have to listen to that filly moaning because she skipped breakfast." Fleur tapped a hoof on the floor as she thought but nothing occurred to her. "Oh I don't know, I'm sure we can find something somewhere. Let's get back to our hidey hole; at the very least we can come back with news."

"And tell Octavia that there's a cello player here," Trixie said, nodding at the band where a mare was extracting a cello from its case.

-0-0-0-

"A cello player you say? Hmm..." Octavia rubbed her chin as a thoughtful and slightly evil expression spread across her features. "That might be worth investigating."

"You're already thinking of ways to get rid of her aren't you?" the filly said before starting on her second apple. Much to Fleur's chagrin the filly had decided that waiting was boring and had instead decided to find her own breakfast. Somehow she had managed to find the galley and steal a bowl of fruit almost as big as herself without being seen; not that anypony minded since she was happy to share.

"Do you realise how long it's been since I've been able to play a cello? The last one I even held I was forced to smash around somepony's head to stop them from...uh... Ahem, anyway...yes I would like to get a chance to play if I can."

"Okay then, how lethal do you want this to be?"

"Lethal? Are you suggesting we kill her because that's a bit much."

"Righty oh, non-lethal it is."

"Does anypony find it odd that Octavia and the filly are plotting like this just so Octavia can play a cello for the evening?" Trixie looked around hoping to find some agreement but failed to find any from Twilight or Fleur. "I guess Trixie's on her own then."

The filly thought in silence before breaking out into a sinister grin, "Does anypony know where we can get a laxative at this hour?"

Trixie gave the filly a flat look before rolling her eyes, "You mean this normal daytime hour where you could buy such things in a shop?"

"You just have to ruin everything don't you!"

"There must be an apothecary in town somewhere," said Fleur thoughtfully. "Guess there's only one way to find out. Come on Twilight, filly, let's go."

"Me?" Twilight asked, "Why do I have to go?"

"Maybe Fleur's looking to buy some lube in a flavour you like," said Trixie with a snigger.

Fleur smiled sweetly at Trixie while Twilight stammered incoherently, "If I was to buy any lube my dear Trixie, it would be to aid the passage of your head up your own ass which might be an event happening sooner rather than later if you don't knock it off."

"Okay okay, sheesh."

"And you Twilight, are coming with me because you're the smart pony who probably knows what we need."

-0-0-0-

"What time is it?" the filly asked.

"About ten I think," Fleur told her, "why?"

"I'm just counting down the hours until these poor sods can go back to being normal." The smile patrol did seem to be out in force as time drew close to the Viscounts arrival and the ponies around them bore ever shakier smiles than before.

Fleur shrugged casually even as her own cheeks quivered with the effort to keep looking cheerful. "I wouldn't worry about it too much on the simple basis that it's not our problem."

"It does make you wonder though," Twilight pondered out loud, "did the Viscount request this or is it happening without his knowledge. Or is it in fact a complete misinterpretation of something like 'tidy the town up and make it look cheerful.'"

"Pfft, like that matters," the filly said obnoxiously. "I just wish that it wasn't happening."

Rather get into a heated discussion concerning the filly's manners, Twilight instead went back to observing her surroundings which is probably why she was the first to spot the apothecary when they came across it. She led the way over to the shop and entered it first which unfortunately meant she was first to encounter the owner of the premises.

A bright yellow earth pony stallion with a near neon green mane jumped over the counter and shoved his face into Twilight's the moment she entered; "Hallooooooo, how I can haaaaalp you?" the stallion asked, spraying Twilight with spittle from his impossibly wide, and in Twilight's opinion chemically induced, smile before sniffing around her quite vigorously. "My my, you smeeeeeell veeery halthy! Whaaaattt could yooouuuu neeeedddd my ser-vaces for?"

What the bloody hell kind of accent is that supposed to be? Twilight thought to herself before grinning nervously as the stallion continued to march his one pony army all over her personal space. "I-uh, I'm looking for extract of Senna Alexandrina actually, I don't suppose you have some in stock?"

"Seeeeenna Alexandriiiiina? Do yooouuuu have a toooouch of tha constipaaaation? Yooouuuu don't smeeell like you dooo..." Twilight's cheeks tinged red as Fleur and the filly giggled behind her.

"It's not for me, it's for a friend," Twilight said, hoping the stallion would take the hint and drop the issue. He sort of did when he shrugged and said "It would seeeemmmm that a lot of pooooonies have sick friends in this toooowwwnnn."

He trotted back to the counter and addressed a small all-white unicorn mare that was sat behind it smiling bemusedly, "Liiiiiillydrop, see that this uuuuunicorn gets what she neeeeedddddsssss. I'm going out back tooooo...refreeeesh my smiiiiillle..." He walked around the counter and through a door behind it from where a moment later there was a loud sniffing noise.

"Called it," the filly said to Fleur quietly.

"And? I wasn't exactly arguing," Fleur whispered back.

The white unicorn stood up and grinned disarmingly, "My apologies for the master, he's a tad...eccentric."

"Isn't that a posh way of saying he's off his rocker?" the filly said, cocking an eyebrow for emphasis.

"Maybe..." Lilydrop admitted before sighing slightly. "Don't get me wrong, he's a master at his craft, but...let's just say he's also a cautionary tale against eating strange mushrooms you find in the forest. Anyway, you're looking for extract of Senna Alexandrina?"

"That's right," Twilight said with forced cheerfulness, causing the unicorn to start searching through one of the shelves, muttering to herself as she went.

"Aha!" she shouted suddenly, making the others jump. She returned to behind the counter brandishing a small vial in her magic which she deposited in front of Twilight. "Need any instructions on how to use it?" Twilight nodded in affirmation and the mare assumed what Twilight thought of as a lecturing stance.

"Right, depending on how bad your little problem is you should only take two or three drops at a time. More than that and you'll probably develop the opposite problem, and certainly don't take the entire bottle at once because even if you don't shit yourself to death you may well wish that you could. Mix the drops with a glass of water and drink, preferably in the morning because nopony likes getting up in the night to go to the bathroom right?"

"Right..."

"Anyway, that'll be five marcs." Twilight fished the money out of her bags and hoofed it over before gently placing the vial in instead. "Thank you very much," the mare said, "please come again?" Twilight could easily make out the tone of pleading in her voice that said 'please please please don't leave me alone with the madpony!'

Sorry, Twilight thought before heading out the door and back to the boat.

"Hold on," said Fleur, "I just remembered that we need to get some costume masks since apparently it's a masked ball."

"Okay, let's do that, then we can go back to the boat."

-0-0-0-

"Trixie looks like a moron," Trixie deadpanned as she tried on the dark purple mask that the others had bought for her.

"And that concerns you more than usual...why?" Fleur said jokingly as she tried her own red coloured mask on.

"Oh ha ha... Trixie just doesn't like wearing masks, that's all."

"I'm afraid that's something you're going to have to get used to," said Twilight as she tucked hers and Octavia's black masks into her bags with her dress for safekeeping. "If we're going to try and fit in then we're going to have to wear them."

"You don't need to explain it to Trixie like she's a foal. Besides, what about you Twilight? Now that Octavia's hell-bent on playing the cello in the band you don't have a cover story."

"Actually I've been thinking about that and I think I have a solution. I've been playing around with the spell Luna taught me to hide my-uh...appendages," she muttered as she remembered the filly's presence, "and I think I can alter it to disguise my horn as well." She lit her horn and a moment later the horn faded from view leaving behind a cone of purple magic. "As long as I don't use any magic and I'm careful nopony touches my horn I think I can pass as an earth pony and therefore just another guest."

"I don't suppose that's something you could teach me and Fleur?" Trixie asked. "It would be useful."

"I don't think so, Luna said only...certain powerful ponies would be able to use the spell originally since pegasi can't do magic and unicorns don't have normally have to hide things so they wouldn't need to know it. It's kinda specialized like that."

"Oh boy, more weirdo cryptic talk," the filly muttered to herself as she tugged at the new cloak Fleur had bought her, reasoning that the ratty brown thing she had been wearing wouldn't do in this situation. "Why do I need this? It's not like I want to go to the party," she huffed.

"Too bad for you." Trixie rolled onto her back and stretched her legs out in all directions. "I never thought that sneaking onto a ship to gate-crash a party for the country's elite would be so...boring," she said wearily. "I hope Octavia's having more fun than us."

-0-0-0-

Octavia followed the directions Fleur had given her to the ballroom, the coin purse that hung around her neck jingling as she trotted. She hadn't wanted to bring anything with her but she had needed some way to inconspicuously transport the vial of extract and actual money might come in use. She gently nudged the door open to the ballroom and immediately her ears were assaulted by a tune going wrong. Despite that though it somehow seemed...familiar...

"No no no!" a stallion shouted. "Have you forgotten how to read music or something!?"

"I can't help it," a mare whined; "I've never even heard these songs before, let alone played any of them!"

"Oh for goodness- look, it's not hard," a grey and mahogany stallion stomped over from his piano to a lilac mare who instinctively hid behind the treble bass she was wielding. The stallion loudly and animatedly explained something to the mare who flinched with every gesture he made but Octavia stopped listening when behind the bassist she spotted a yellow mare holding a cello and giving the bassist a rather disdainful look.

Thwap! Octavia was brought back to the moment when the stallion smacked the bassist around the head with a roll of paper before returning to his piano. Octavia was about to express her disapproval but managed to curb herself. She frowned as the cellist sniggered at the bassist but ignored it as the band started up again, sitting quietly as she listened, the only motion she would make were her ears twitching every time she heard a mistimed or off-key note. Suffice to say her ears never stopped twitching.

The piece wound to an end and the stallion flopped onto his piano and gave a little groan. Out of sheer politeness Octavia applauded the band which quickly drew the ire of the lead stallion, just as she hoped it would.

"Are you kidding me? Are you actually applauding the abomination that last piece was?"

"I wasn't going suggest it was perfect but it was a good effort. Is it wrong for one musician to applaud the work of another?"

"When it's as bad as that was, yes, yes it is."

Octavia looked around the room, which had a lot more ponies in now compared to the amount Fleur said it had earlier. Fortunately that also included a pony working at the bar. "Perhaps I could offer to bring you some refreshments in exchange for letting me get a look at some of your sheet music, it does sound like an...unusual piece."

"Yes, fine, fine." The stallion waved her off languidly before berating another member of the band he was with. Octavia headed over to the bar where she was greeted by the friendly grin of the stallion behind it. "Bar's not open yet miss," he said.

"I'm only trying to organise some refreshments for the ponies playing over there," Octavia said, pointing over her back to the stage to where the lead stallion was screaming at one of the other stallions there.

"Doesn't matter miss, bar's closed until the ball tonight."

Octavia looked into her purse, "Would ten marcs change your mind?"

"Would you like ice with those?" the barpony asked with a broad grin. Octavia counted the money out of her purse and placed it on the bar, "No, but I would like a tray."

Octavia waited patiently as the barpony prepared nine glasses of what appeared to be lemonade and placed them on a tray for her. She picked the tray up in her mouth and carried it over to one of the tables placed around the side of the room before turning her back to the stage. She took the vial out of her purse, opened it and put a couple of drops into one of the glasses before shrugging and tipping almost half the vial in. Then she waited.

The band came to the end of murdering another piece of music, prompting Octavia to pick up the tray and balance it on a hoof before heading up onto the stage. Being careful to keep rotating the tray so that the wrong pony didn't pick up the wrong glass she eventually came to the cellist who immediately went for the untainted glass.

Octavia shied back, "Ah-ah! That's mine. It's-uh...got a little something added to it, if you know what I mean." The yellow cellist shrugged and picked up the other glass in her mouth before sitting down; grabbing it in her hooves and drinking almost half in one go.

The cellist 'hmm'd' and squinted at the drink through one eye, "Tasted a bit funny, are you sure you didn't give me the wrong drink?"

Octavia shrugged, "Reasonably sure." The cellist shrugged in return and downed the rest of her drink.

Octavia waited on the stage with the tray as the rest of the musicians finished their drinks and returned the glasses to her. She returned the tray to the table and went back on stage before tapping the pianist on the shoulder, "May I?" she asked, pointing at the stack of sheet music he had next to him.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," the stallion muttered, waving her off again. She went back to the table, took a sip of her drink and waited for the show to begin. A sliver of guilt poked the back of her mind but she shrugged it off, reasoning that it was too late to go back now. She decided to pass the time by looking through the sheets the pianist had let her take. It didn't take long for her to work out that something was wrong.

She skimmed through the sheets one more time, to be certain of what was plainly obvious to her, "All these songs are Equestrian... What in Celestia's name are they doing playing them here?" At least she had solved the mystery of why they had sounded so familiar. She glanced at the stage to see if anything was happening and wasn't disappointed to see the cellist looking uncomfortable as she gently rubbed her stomach.

She waited a bit longer, watching as the poor cellist grew increasingly pained, when suddenly, in the middle of a song, the cellist dropped her instrument, fell to her knees and clutched her stomach with both forelegs. "Fuck fuck fuck..." she whimpered, "Bathroom! Where's the fucking bathroom!"

Octavia pointed to the nearby exit, "Through there, then first door on your right," she supplied helpfully, having the foresight to find out in the suspicion something like this might happen. The cellist whinnied and charged off, smashing through the doors.

"Well that's just fucking great!" the stallion roared. He looked around and pointed at the bassist, "Go check on her, see if she's still alive."

"M-me? W-w-why me?"

"Because I said so, that's why." Poor thing Octavia thought as the pony gently laid down her instrument before sprinting for the door. Octavia and the remainder of the band milled around until she returned a minute later. "Well?" the stallion demanded when she came back, looking a little sickly.

"Well-uh...she's...she's alive, but she might be in there for a long time."

"Brilliant! That's just fucking brilliant! How the bloody hell are we supposed to practice without our cellist? She was the only one of you getting this right! This is the Viscounts birthday, we can't afford to get this wrong!"

Octavia watched as the vein on the pianist’s forehead bulged in a most disconcerting manner before gently clearing her throat, "Perhaps I could be of assistance?" she said, trying to keep her eagerness out of her voice.

"No thank you whoever the bloody hell you are!"

"But I can play the cello so at least you can keep practicing until your proper one...recovers." Hopefully not that she will any time soon...

The pianist huffed and puffed irritably before growling his response, "Fine, there's a small chance you'll be better than these other buffoons." Octavia couldn't help but smile joyfully as she headed on-stage and picked up the cello from where the yellow mare had dropped it before playing a few notes and tweaking the tuning a bit.

It wasn't as nice as the one she had held in Prance but that didn't matter. Here, a thousand miles from Canterlot and her own cello, she suddenly felt right at home. She studied the sheet music in front of her and nodded her readiness to the pianist, who started them off. Within seconds she was lost in the music as she finally put her art to good use and might have made the mistake of being too good as she played the familiar tune perfectly.

"How the fucking hell did you do that?" the pianist asked as the others around her gave her equally suspicious looks.

"Um...beginners luck?"

"Well...I don't care how you did it, just keep doing it!" Octavia smiled warmly as the band launched into another song, her heart floating with the melody despite the others mistakes. Perhaps I ought to check on the real cellist and take her a drink just to make sure she doesn't recover too fast...

-0-0-0-

"You'd think more ponies would question why three unicorns and a filly are aimlessly plodding around their ship," Trixie commented as she and the others wandered the exterior parts of the ship looking for a good place to view the Viscounts arrival from.

"Ponies tend not to ask questions in this country," Fleur told her; "they might not like the answers or how they're told them."

"I'm meant to be an earth pony, remember," hissed Twilight through her teeth to remind Trixie to not call her a unicorn. She wriggled around trying to get the dress she was wearing comfortable but for some reason it pinched in the worst places despite her attempts to magically alter it.

"Will you stop squirming," Fleur whispered to her, "You look stupid when you do that."

"Sorry but this dress is trying to murder certain parts of me. Who puts straps in that kind of place anyway?"

Fleur regarded the midnight blue dress that Twilight was wearing and decided she didn't have an answer she could call sensible. "If you had disguised your cutie mark you wouldn't have to wear it. Since you can't do that with magic you'll just have to suck it up."

"Why'd she have to cover it up anyway?" the filly asked from her vantage point atop Fleur's back.

"Star bursts and star related cutie marks tend to belong to unicorns skilled in magic, or at least in Equestria they do. Might be a bit suspicious for an earth pony to have one."

"Oh, right." She squinted into the distance to a trail of small dots were moving towards the town and pointed them out to Fleur who nodded.

"I guess this is it ladies, show time."

15. Party hard! pt 2

Trixie hooked her forelegs over the railing as she watched the carriages draw closer. Fleur watched impassively as the filly did her best to climb up her neck to get a better view and Twilight tried not to do anything because it was less painful that way.

"Ah! There you are!" said a voice from off to their left. It belonged to Octavia who was rapidly approaching them, "I've been looking all over for you."

"I'm guessing everything went okay then?" Fleur asked once Octavia had positioned herself next to them.

"More than okay actually; you have no idea how nice it's been to play again. I've made sure the actual cello player is...incapacitated for the rest of the day so I should be safe to play with the band through the party and good gracious Twilight! Where's your horn?"

"Didn't you know? Twilight's a bona-fide earth pony now." Trixie snorted and went back to looking over the rail, muttering something about stupid alicorns and their stupid powers.

"I've disguised it with magic. Since you're playing with the band I had to come up with another cover story and now I'm going as an actual guest, so to speak."

"I see. Fair enough I suppose. I do have something I want to talk to you about actually," Octavia said, addressing them all. "It's about something I've noticed about the music I've been playing. The songs, they're all from Equestria."

"Really?" Twilight said with genuine surprise. "How are songs from Equestria here?"

"The same way the rest of the stuff from Equestria is getting here probably," Trixie said as she continued to stare out over the rail.

There was a quiet clonking sound as Fleur facehoofed, "I knew there was something I was meant to talk to you about; loads of stuff in this ship was made in Equestria. Decor, cutlery, drinks! Loads of stuff!"

"But...that doesn't make sense," Twilight insisted; "how would all this stuff get here? And why?"

"Did you ask Celestia what it was she was exporting into Mareitania?" Fleur asked. "Because I'm guessing most of it has ended up in the hooves of the Duke, or at least his son."

"But why though? I've been working under the impression that the Duke had absolutely no respect for Equestria and certainly not for anything that came out of it." Twilight tried to sit down to ponder the mystery but yelped and changed her mind when the dress tried to get intimate with her.

"Are you okay?" Octavia asked cautiously.

"I'm fine, it's just that this dress wasn't made for a pony with my proportions. That or dressmakers in Mareitania really hate their clientele. I'll try and make some more adjustments later when we're out of sight."

"Do you think that the Duke knows about all this stuff from Equestria?" Fleur asked, "This could all be the work of the Viscount since I get the feeling he's a bit of a fan."

"What makes you think that?" Trixie asked, her head bobbing up and down as she spoke since her chin was resting on the rail.

"Well he was at the Equestria games. In fact he was sat barely ten meters away from you, Twilight."

"He was?" Twilight frowned in thought as she tried to remember. The pony with the stupid hat, silly beard, ridiculous blue cape and the white unicorn mare with the oversized headdress came up in her mind, compared with memories of meeting them at the summit just prior to Tirek's attack. "Omigosh! You're right! He was!"

"And this helps us how?" Trixie said questioningly, finally turning to look at the others.

"It could mean that he's open to Equestria philosophy," Twilight told her. "If we can get to him perhaps we could encourage him to increase contact with Equestria. Perhaps we could even get him to make changes so that unicorns get treated better and pegasi could live free!"

"I doubt it. Need Trixie remind you that the Duke rules here, not the Viscount, and that if changes were to be made I'm sure the Viscount would be trying to make them. Since he isn't I guess he doesn't care much."

"But all the visits he's made to Equestria must mean something?" Twilight said, almost pleading in the hope that she could have a way to resolve this whole thing peacefully.

"Twilight," Fleur said as kindly as she could; "you've met Prince Blueblood right?"

"Yes, many times."

"Then I assume you know what he's like. The Viscount is Mareitania's equivalent; a ponce, a twit, a bit simple with no real power and no desire to change the status quo if it keeps him in the lap of luxury. The only difference is that one day he will rule, unlike Blueblood. He probably treats all those visits to Equestria as holidays."

Twilight deflated as what Fleur said settled in her mind and grouched slightly that despite her being a princess, Fleur was probably more politically savvy than she would ever be. "He could at least be an ally though if we do start something here."

"Perhaps," Fleur conceded. The train of carriages was now on the outskirts of town and were starting to head down the road through the centre of town towards the docks. The townsponies were lined up along both sides of the road and were cheering madly as the carriages passed them, although they might have been cheering madly with relief that it would soon all be over.

As a token of gratitude for the crowds false devotion the Viscount hung out the window of his carriage and waved. He kept waving until his carriage pulled up alongside the boat which as far as Twilight could tell had moved to its current position without her ever noticing. She jumped when, from somewhere on the boat, there came a loud toot and searched about for the source and quickly became worried when she noticed the columns of black smoke pouring from the tall metal chimneys that sat side by side in the middle of the ship. "Fleur?"

"Yes Twilight?"

"I was informed that Mareitania wasn't very technologically developed and hadn't yet developed steam power. Was I misinformed?"

"No, there aren't any trains or anything and nothing was being developed that I knew about when I lived here, why?" Twilight pointed skyward to where the smoke was pouring from, "Ah... Well, fifteen years is a long time and it's not like I knew everything that was going on." She considered the smoke for a moment, "Is this going to be a problem?"

"Hopefully not, depends what other applications they've used steam engines for."

"Such as?"

"In the hidden vaults of the Canterlot archives there are...designs...for weapons based around steam engines. Terrible machines that can go anywhere without rails, have thick protective armour and have weapons that can spew steam hot enough to cook a pony in seconds. Giant catapults that can hurl a two ton rock over a mile, and not to mention the perverse uses somepony came up with for firework powder." Twilight shuddered and turned back to the town and watched as the Viscount trotted on board. "There's a reason Celestia keeps certain things hidden from the public, a very good reason. I only found them by accident since I now have unfettered access to everything like that."

"And you think they could have stolen these designs?"

Twilight shook her head, "Nah, but that's not to say they couldn't come up with something like that anyway."

"You guys are the worst at reassuring ponies aren't you," said the filly from atop Fleur's back where she had been largely forgotten. "It's almost like you want me to freak out at what you're dragging me into."

"Hence why we really weren't sure about bringing you along for all this." Fleur nuzzled the filly affectionately, "Too late now, you're stuck with us."

"Oh don't worry, I ain't going nowhere. At the very least just to spite Trixie." Trixie just snorted scornfully as she watched the rest of the Viscounts guests trot into the ship. Once the last pony was onboard there was a shout prompting somepony to raise the gangway and untie the moorings. The boat started drifting in the current until suddenly, with a scream from the horn, the paddle wheels churned to life and started to slowly propel the boat to its destination.

"You hear that?" said Trixie, holding a hoof up to her ear. Twilight and the others did the same but heard nothing, "I'm pretty sure Trixie just heard an entire town sigh with relief."

"Weren't we meant to be departing at three?" Octavia mused out loud.

"Eh, who cares? It's more dramatic this way."

-0-0-0-

"Can't...get...it...loose!" There was a ripping sound and a cry of victory from Twilight who held up the offending piece of her clothing triumphantly in her magic. "Oh thank goodness!" she exclaimed as she wriggled her rump experimentally.

"Bravo!" Trixie cheered mockingly, "Maybe we can move you up from conquering dresses to entire countries."

"If you had any idea how painful that was you wouldn't be saying that." Twilight balled the offending cloth up and almost threw it away before reconsidering. It'd probably be better if she didn't start throwing stuff around where anypony could find it.

"I wonder how much longer Fleur's going to be?" Octavia asked as she finished buttoning up her pale lilac dress, "I was hoping she would be back before I had to return to band practice." She picked up her mask and placed it on her head, "How do I look?"

"Like Octavia with a mask and a dress on," Trixie said with an eye roll.

"You look nice," Twilight told her, giving Trixie a gentle kick. "Good luck tonight and don't worry about your belongings; we'll take care of them." Octavia smiled bravely before heading out the door.

"How come she's the only one who gets to do something they like tonight?" Trixie whined.

"Because it allows her to observe without being obtrusive and it also lessens the chance of us being caught if somepony asks her something a noblepony should know the answer to."

"I think you're just being soft on her."

"If there was a way you could perform a magic show up there tonight, would you?"

"Well...yeah, in a heartbeat."

"And we would be happy to let you do it as long as you still did what we needed you to do."

"I guess..." Trixie groaned and flopped onto her back, "Sorry if I'm being a bitch, I guess I'm just nervous."

"You? The Great and Powerful Trixie? Nervous?"

"It happens, especially when I'm going to be acting as a prostitute in a room full of amorous rich arseholes. You're lucky it's me that got stuck with this job."

"Yeah...you're right; thanks Trixie. You know, despite everything that's happened between us in the past and despite all the teasing, I have to admit, I'm glad you came."

"Yeah, I suppose you guys are alright, even if Fleur is kinda bossy and that filly is a pain in the flank."

"That almost sounds like flattery coming from you Trixie," said a widely grinning Fleur from the doorway. "You know, you two are pretty cute when you're getting along."

"You're back! Did you find a room? Please say you found a room!"

"Yes Trixie, I did indeed find a room. It's in the servant’s lodgings but it should serve us well enough. Better than the cargo hold anyway."

"Don't care! I swear if we stayed in here and I woke up tomorrow with somepony staring at me I'd...I'd... I don't know what I would do..."

"I do, I'd be thankful that staring at me was all that they were doing; I doubt stowaways get treated very nicely on here. Anyway, I left the filly in the room so we best get back to it."

-0-0-0-

"Do you think we could sneak into dinner? I'm starving!" Trixie whined as she flailed her limbs like a child mid-tantrum. Twilight, who was sat on the bunk to the left of her, gave Trixie a dirty look when Trixie's thrashing smacked her right in wing.

"You're a unicorn," Fleur reminded her; "the only reason you would be in there is if you were serving the food. Even then, that's making a broad assumption that they would even allow unicorns on here to do so."

The filly jumped on the bed on the other side of Trixie and started bouncing up and down, "It's a party full of corpulent rich types; there's bound to be a buffet going on. You can fill up at the party!"

"You know it amazes Trixie where you get these words from; corpulent is at least a three bit word."

"Bits? Why the hell would I want one of those nasty things stuck in my mouth just for saying a word?"

"Bits is the name for the currency in Equestria," Twilight explained.

"Bits huh? That's a stupid name. Why name your currency after a torture thingy?"

"..." Twilight frowned at the thought the filly had given to her. Bits had indeed been used as a form of punishment in the dark days of pre-Equestria, so why had Celestia seen fit to name the currency after them? Knowing her mentor it was probably an ironic joke concerning the evils of money. "I don't know," she said at last; "I hadn't really thought of that. I'm guessing bits are still used around here since you know what they are."

"Yes and no," Fleur said slowly. "Being forced to wear a bit and bridle used to be the punishment for gossiping back in the really draconian days of Mareitania and is still a legit punishment for doing so. Thing is that nopony really seems to care about gossiping anymore so it doesn't really happen."

"Why not just use a gag?" Trixie asked.

"A bit allows a pony to eat and drink whereas a gag wouldn't," Twilight told her. "The main idea of a bit punishment is mostly in the discomfort and humiliation while at the same time making talking really hard. It still allows the pony to function properly."

Fleur gave the others in the room a sly smirk, "You know, bits are still used in Equestria in some ways..."

"Oh no you don't!" Trixie burst out, giving Fleur a look of warning; "You keep your kinky fetishes to yourself!" Twilight's and the filly's eyes boggled at what they had just found out.

"Oh it's not my fetish Trixie," Fleur purred, "but I know there are some ponies out there that very much enjoy that sort of thing..."

"If you're trying to imply Trixie is into that sort of thing, good luck. I didn't even consider such things during my megalomaniacal days."

"Ponies would do that? For fun?" Twilight asked, flabbergasted.

Fleur looked smug for a moment and was about to answer when Trixie clamped her mouth shut with her magic, "Yes they do, and no, we aren't going to go into it as amusing as that would probably be." She glanced at the small clock on the wall, which showed it to be quarter to six. "It's high time we started to get ready anyway so we have no time for a tangent right now."

"You're no fun," Fleur said with a pout once Trixie released her. "I hope you're not this prudish at the party."

-0-0-0-

"Now remember 'Lady Aramon,'" Fleur grabbed Twilight by the shoulders; "you are a high society lady so be sophisticated and charming. As much as I love your usual adorkable self it could get you into trouble here." Fleur turned to the filly and nuzzled her, "and you, 'Ancilla,' do what Twilight tells you to."

"Ugh, seriously? What kind of a name is Ancilla anyway?"

"It-uh...it means servant in old equestrian," Twilight told her, having the decency to look embarrassed as she did so.

"Servant!? You've decided my name should be servant!?"

"No, that is Lady Aramon's name for you," Fleur explained. "Since Twilight is of the bookish persuasion it would make sense that Lady Aramon is too. Sooo...giving you an old equestrian nickname would make sense for her." Fleur patted the filly on the head, "It's just for tonight, you'll live."

"That buffet better be good," the filly grumbled.

"What about us?" Trixie asked as she pulled a black satin glove onto one of her forelegs. "Are we just going as ourselves?"

"Yep, the only reason Twilight's going under a different moniker is because Twilight Sparkle is hardly an earth pony name-"

"And because the Viscount might recognise it and get suspicious of how an earth pony in Mareitania has exactly the same name," Twilight added.

"Quite, and while Twilight could get away with calling the filly, 'filly,' since that is an incredibly snooty thing to do-"

"Because calling me servant is better?"

"-I think it’s better she doesn't. So yes Trixie, we are going as ourselves since we are in fact, total nopony's."

"Right, so Ancilla and I are to go to the party from the beginning-"

"And Trixie and I will join you in a bit. If you get in trouble ask Ancilla to get a message to us, and when we're all there let's try our best to keep an eye on each other."

"Okay." Twilight checked her makeup and prodded at her mane which Fleur had spent some time piling up onto a beehive on the top of her head. She gently placed her mask on her face and took a calming breath, "Okay, I'm ready."

"Good luck," Fleur said to her without looking as she was helping the filly with her mask. "Remember to head up to the guest rooms before heading to the ballroom so you don't look suspicious coming from the servants quarters," she added before ushering them out the door.

"Hang on," Twilight said, pausing in the doorway. A cone of purple magic floated in front of her forehead for a moment that spat a orb of purple light at their belongings. "Just putting a teleportation marker on our stuff in case we need to teleport back here in a hurry or vice versa, y'know, just in case."

-0-0-0-

"Hey Twilight? I meant to ask before why the Viscount would know your name?"

Twilight gave the filly a calm yet stern stare, "I hope that's not how you plan to address me amongst our peers," she said as haughtily as she could.

The filly rolled her eyes and bowed deeply before asking again in a far more refined, yet cheekily chipper voice; "Apologies m'lady Aramon, I merely wished to enquire about how the Viscount would recognise you?" she said before giving Twilight a cheeky smirk.

Twilight um'd and ah'd a few times while she tried to decide how to answer honestly while not giving away too much and staying in character; "Well, you see, back where I come from I'm recognised as a fairly important pony and as such I have had reason to meet the Viscount on one of his visits, if only briefly. That's why I fear he might recognise me."

"An understandable concern m'lady, but I don't see how that would be an issue?"

Twilight almost giggled with joyful amusement at the filly's posh accent before getting serious again, "I'm not meant to be here. Ever. That's why it's an issue. By the way, might I commend you on your elocution."

"My what now?" The filly looked genuinely puzzled by what she said.

"That somewhat ruined it but I meant you talk very nicely."

"Oh, thanks!" The two ponies continued in silence, both of them interested in what they could see of the boat around them. Now they were away from the cargo hold and the servants quarters the décor was decidedly nicer. If Rarity were there she might have commented on the dark wooden panelling and the interestingly baroque styling's of the hallways other fixtures. Since Rarity wasn't there though all they could say was that it looked nice, although Twilight was reasonably sure the filly was looking around for small, expensive and easy to steal items, rather than actually admiring how it looked.

Soon enough they came upon the ballroom and Twilight finally got to see what the others had told her about. The filly, sensing her moment, scrambled ahead to open the double doors for her and Twilight had to take a moment to remember not do it herself with her magic. She stepped through onto the landing of a staircase that led down to the ballroom floor, while to either side of her were two smaller staircases that led to a single balcony that wrapped around the entire room.

Twilight stared slack-jawed as she wondered about how they managed to create this on a river boat. While the ballroom wasn't that big it was larger than what she expected to find; clearly the boat was bigger than she had thought it to be. She looked around hoping to see one of two ponies; Octavia she spotted easy enough on a stage at the opposite end of the room in the shade of the balcony. Her heart fluttered a little with relief that she was okay.

The other pony was proving harder to locate due to the small issue of the room being quite full of ponies, each of them wearing a mask including the servants that were winding their way through the crowd holding trays in either their magic in the case of unicorns, or upon their backs if they were earth ponies. She was also made aware of something else when the filly brought it to her attention.

"There. Buffet. Hungry. Can I? Please?" The filly was almost dancing on the spot in her desperation. Twilight had to admit the buffet along the wall to her left was an impressive sight, complete with edible flower arrangements and ice sculptures.

Twilight brought her head down to the level of the filly's and whispered in her ear, "Okay, but keep your eyes and ears open for anything of use to us, and if somepony asks why you're here you're to tell them you're here as a hoofmaid to Lady Aramon."

"Uh-huh." The filly zoomed off down the stairs towards the buffet leaving Twilight alone; Okay Viscount, where are you? She remained at the top of the stairs, doing her best to try and find some clue as to the whereabouts of the Viscount while at the same time doing her best to look casual and slightly aloof. It wasn't an easy look to maintain.

This isn't working... She bit her lip and descended the stairs as regally as she could; time to mingle. Before she had even got to the bottom she was accosted by a tan coloured stallion wearing a navy military style jacket and matching mask. He gave a small bow and offered a hoof in assistance down the last few steps which Twilight graciously accepted even though it technically made things harder since it gave her one less hoof to work with. He then kissed her hoof and introduced himself.

"Good evening my lady, and must I say you look ravishing tonight."

"Why, uh...thank you good sir; you're...cutting quite the-uh, dashing figure yourself." Twilight grinned nervously and hoped the mask was hiding the fact that she was already sweating profusely.

"You're too kind," he said, giving her another bow; "might I ask your name?"

"Oh, my apologies, my name is Twiaaa- Lady Aramon." Twilight mentally kicked herself for stumbling so soon. "And you might be?"

"Sir Perry, at your service. Are you alright my lady? You seem ill at ease."

"Sorry, sorry! I'm not exactly used to this sort of thing and I'm worried I'm making a complete fool of myself." Twilight hadn't intended to be so honest then but there was no going back now.

"First time to one of the Viscounts balls?" Twilight nodded and the stallion grinned easily; "Don't worry, they usually end a lot more informally than they begin. I don't suppose I could ask where you're from? I don't recognise your name."

Luckily Twilight had planned ahead for this bit, mostly by attempting to divert the question; "Are you trying to rob a lady of all her mystery Sir Perry?" Twilight tried to titter demurely but even to her it came across as a bit manic, "If you must know, my family struck it rich down south so we're new money, so to speak."

"I see-I see. Sorry if I seem a bit forward but was that filly your daughter? I only ask because this is hardly the place for a filly of her apparent age."

"She's not my daughter!" Twilight blurted out before catching herself and coughing to cover her embarrassment, "She's my hoofmaid."

"Hoofmaid? Rather young for a hoofmaid isn't she?"

"Well, that's...the way I like 'em." Sir Perry stared at her a little blankly before grinning and giving her a saucy wink. "I bet you do," he said while Twilight suddenly realised what she had inadvertently implied.

"No no no! That's not what I meant! I just meant that she's special! I mean she's different! No! Wait, she's-uh...she's...errrrgghhh..." Twilight fell silent and stared at the space between her hooves, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her; it was a much as she could do to not teleport away and spare herself the shame of being in public right now.

Perry patted her on the back consolingly, "It's alright my dear, we all have our own peculiar taste's."

"Eh-heh, eh-heh-heh-heh..." Kill me now... Twilight took a cleansing breath and did her best to compose herself, "I don't suppose you know where the Viscount is? It would be improper of me to not wish him a happy birthday at his own party."

"I don't think he's arrived yet, knowing him he's probably off powdering his nose before arriving fashionably late at his own party."

"Powdering his nose? He's wearing a mask, why would he need makeup?"

"Hah! Good one your ladyship. Now if you'll excuse me I have other guests I must say my hellos to." He departed and left Twilight on her own which suited her fine because it gave her a chance to silently burn with shame and humiliation. Bravo Twilight, I can fight ancient magic stealing centaurs, demonic shadow kings and other eldritch abominations but can't hold a conversation with a pony without humiliating myself. Good thing we're wearing masks.

-0-0-0-

"Can we go to the ball now? I'm hungrrryyyyy!" Fleur rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time in ten minutes as she was reminded again of just how petulant Trixie could be. She looked at the clock and noted that it had been half an hour since Twilight and the filly had departed. She had thought to wait for an hour before Trixie and herself made her way there but Trixie didn't seem interested in waiting.

"Alright, fine. I'm sick of the sound of you whining so yeah, let's go." Trixie bounced off the bed and stood at the door dancing with giddy anticipation while Fleur took a moment to make some final checks on their outfits and to force a mask onto Trixie's head since she had almost forgotten it. "Okay, I think we're ready."

"We've been ready for ages Fleur, I have no idea why you made us wait so long!"

"Because it wouldn't be fit for a lady like Twilight's pretending to be, to arrive at the exact same moment as a couple of gaudily dressed prostitutes. Now come on." Fleur led the way out of the room and up towards the guest rooms, hoping to take the same route as the others to the ball since it would look odd even for them to arrive through the servants entrance.

As they walked neither of them couldn't help but notice they were drawing attention due to the way they were dressed. "I feel dirty," Trixie whispered out the corner of her mouth.

"And you look like you feel dirty," Fleur whispered back. "You're meant to be a prostitute so you could at least try to act a little shameless." As an example Fleur put on her most sultry expression and put a little more sway into her hips.

"You walk like you're drunk when you do that you know," Trixie informed her. Fleur ignored her and hurried on a few steps so she was ahead of Trixie. They made it to the guest quarters and mixed into the few ponies that were arriving late to the party. They kept a respectable distance behind a couple of ponies and were about to follow them into the ballroom when a grey stallion in a black suit stopped them.

"I really don't think you're meant to be going in there," he told them.

"Sure we are," said Fleur, "we're here as...entertainment for the guests so inclined to do such things."

The stallion almost growled at her; "The 'entertainment' as you call it, don't go in the ball for so many reasons I could almost laugh about why you would think that." The stallion gave the appearance of being completely humourless, "If you would follow me I will escort you to your workplace."

"But, but, but, buffet!" Trixie whined. "I was promised a buffet!" Fleur almost slapped her as her sense of control over the situation whirled away from her. Instead she stood behind her and poked Trixie on the rump with her horn until she reluctantly followed after the stallion.

The stallion led them past the ballroom to another room that was heavy on the red velvet. In the center of the room was a mass of cushions upon which lounged a collection of mares and a couple of stallions, earth ponies and unicorns alike; none of which were wearing masks. A corridor led to a series of doors, and the sounds coming from at least one of them left no room for doubt what those rooms were for.

They were greeted by a stone faced mare who did her best to look down her snout at them despite the fact that Fleur was a whole head taller than her. "And who might you be?" she asked, the sneer in her voice grating on Fleur's ears.

"They were trying to get into the ballroom," the stallion told her; "try to make sure your charges don't go wandering off again."

The mare humphed indignantly and the stallion departed. "Take those masks off, you won't be needing them here," the mare said brusquely. "Since you're obviously new here I'll tell you what you need to know," she pointed at the cushions where one of the mares reclining on them waved in greeting; "you are to wait here until a stallion or mare comes to make his choice, should they pick you, you to take them to an empty room and provide your services. Once they are satisfied you are to clean yourselves up in the room then return here in preparation for you next customer, understood?" Trixie held up a hoof. "Yes?"

"How much are we getting paid for this?" Fleur looked sideways at Trixie since that wasn't a question she was expecting her to ask.

"You are to be paid a sum of one hundred marcs, with a bonus of ten marcs per customer serviced. The more you work, the more you earn. Is that all?" Trixie didn't have anything else to ask and Fleur certainly didn't. The mare nodded at them and departed to go sit at a desk at the entrance.

Fleur tossed her mask away and slumped onto one of the cushions followed by Trixie who dug into the bowl of fruit she found in the center of the cushions. "Fleur?"

Fleur sighed, "Yes Trixie?"

"When this is over I'm going to murder you. A lot."

"Fair enough."

"Hi," said one of the unicorn mares gathered around them, "First time doing this?"

Fleur studied the mare for a few seconds before answering; she was a pale aquamarine colour with a cream coloured mane and tail, and to Fleur's mind looked far too sweet and innocent to be doing something like this. "Yeah," Fleur told her, "I'm a bit nervous to be honest."

"It's okay, we all had our first time once, but honestly it's not too bad. Most of the ponies that come here are usually very respectful and nice. My name's Tulula, what's yours?"

"I'm Fleur and this is Trixie," Trixie nodded at Tulula with her mouth full of grapes.

"Well it's super nice to meet you both." Fleur was going to say more when a finely dressed stallion fell into the room after tripping over his own hooves, even so early into the evening it was clear he had drank quite a lot.

"'m 'ere to take 'is lordships challenge," he slurred once he had got back onto all four hooves.

The mare at desk did her best to hide her grimace with a smile but didn't quite manage it. "Apologies my lord but the challenge isn't quite ready yet, but if you go and wait in the furthest room down there I will have it brought to you in a few minutes." The stallion nodded drunkenly and stumbled off to wait in the designated room.

"What's the challenge?" Fleur asked. Trixie leaned in closer to hear the answer.

"The challenge...is...well, it's a pegasus."

"A pegasus?"

"Mmhmm, every party like this the Viscount has a pegasus mare brought on board and the challenge is to have sex with it. Any noble pony that lowers themself to fuck her gets awarded one thousand marcs on the spot. Last party he held he gave away almost thirty thousand marcs!"

Fleur felt sick with horror and Trixie looked the same, "That's disgusting!"

"I know, having sex with a pegasus..." Tulula shuddered at the thought.

"Huh? No, I mean, does the pegasus get a choice?"

Tulula frowned as if she didn't understand the question before giving Fleur a funny look, "What does that matter?" Fleur said nothing since it was clear what Tulula's stance on the situation was. Trixie swallowed what she had been eating and lay still, looking a little green.

A few minutes later a stallion came in leading a sky blue pegasus on a collar and leash. Her wings had been bound in their middle so they could neither stretch out fully, or fold completely; clearly the idea was to make her look like a pegasus while completely removing her ability to fly. Judging by what Fleur could see of the pegasus's expression from behind her pink curly mane it must have been quite uncomfortable. There were also tears staining her cheeks and Fleur felt her own tears welling up in sympathy.

Fleur looked at Trixie and Trixie looked at Fleur and it was obvious that neither of them had adequate words to describe how they felt about this. I hate this country; I hate this country so much...

-0-0-0-

To say Twilight felt lost was an understatement. Wanderers lost in the desert have felt more secure in the knowledge of where they were going, even if it's a one way trip. So far all she had done was reaffirm her knowledge that she was awful in these situations.

She had done her best to mingle and meet ponies and get involved in conversations where she might pick up some useful information but so far all she had done was make a lot of unneeded apologies, and learn that the celery dips were proving popular.

She had been so busy doing nothing that she had missed the arrival of the Viscount and was now trying her best to edge her way into the group of ponies surrounding him and listen in to their conversation. So far this had been a pointless effort since all she had heard was more of the same empty chatter that she had gotten off everypony else. At least that was until some mare asked a question she could finally get into.

"My lord, I heard you went to something called the Equestrian games, what was it like?"

"It was quite the spectacle," the Viscount answered in his strangely deep voice, "I can assure you that you will never see anything else like it."

"Is it true what they say, that earth ponies, unicorns and even pegasi live as equals?" Now we're getting somewhere!

"That is indeed the truth, and I must say that Celestia does an admirable job of keeping the unicorns and pegasi in line." What!? It’s not like that at all!

One of the mares in the crowd gasped theatrically, "You met the goddess Celestia? What was she like?"

"She was tall, and white, regal and majestic. But I can assure you she was no goddess. Just because she has a horn and wings doesn't make her better than us; any one of us could do a better job of ruling Equestria." Twilight almost bit through her lip trying to suppress her anger, she knew Celestia wasn't a goddess but the way the Viscount had said she wasn't made it sound like he thought of her as even less. It's not being an alicorn that makes her better, it's her love and compassion for those she rules.

"It also seems that Equestria has picked a few more princesses in the last few years. Princess Luna, who claims to be Celestia's sister, Princess Cadence who's bright pink and looks like a joke, and Princess Twilight who... Y'know what, I'm not sure what she's for; I guess even Celestia needs a pet." Twilight could feel herself trembling with rage as the other ponies laughed at the Viscounts joke.

"It must be terribly confusing," said a stallion from next to the Viscount, "having a horn and wings. I wouldn't know if I were coming or going with all that!" Twilight glowered at the ponies around her and was about to leave when the Viscounts wife caught her eye since the tall white unicorn was staring right at her. The mare gestured with her eyes towards the corner of the room and Twilight got the impression she wanted to talk.

The mare whispered something to her husband and departed and Twilight followed after her. They went to the corner opposite to where Octavia was playing and the tall mare turned to look down on Twilight. "You shouldn't be here."

"Huh?"

"You shouldn't be here Princess Sparkle, not here in this party and not here in Mareitania. It's not safe for you."

"Wha- what do you mean, I'm not- I'm not a princess..."

"You're the right colour, have the right stripes in your hair and I can see part of your cutie mark where your dress has been damaged." Twilight's head whipped around and saw there was a tear in the dress which she must have made during her adjustments earlier. "I can also see the parting in the feathers of your mask where your invisible horn is poking through. I'm just going to assume the same magic is hiding your wings." Twilight's jaw hung open in amazement and the mare smiled at her. "One of the joys of quietly hiding in the background is that I tend to see a lot more than most others."

"I- me- I- huh?" Panic swiftly followed after the confusion, "Please don't tell anypony!" Twilight had to curse her luck that she had been recognised by one of the four ponies in the country capable of doing so.

The unicorn gestured for Twilight to calm down, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me, I only want to know why you're here and to warn you to be careful."

Should she trust this mare? Twilight didn't know and although she wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt since she hadn't summoned the guards as soon as she realised who Twilight was, there was far too much at risk. Unfortunately though, the time Twilight spent deliberating over this was long enough for the unicorn to develop her own suspicions.

"You're here to bring an end to Mareitania aren't you.”

Twilight hung her head and admitted the truth, "Yes, and then again, no. I'm here to put an end to the brutal regime here and make the ponies here free."

The mare gave Twilight an appraising look before smiling brightly, "Good."

"Good?"

"Yes, good. It needs to happen and seeing as how you're here it seems Celestia has finally lost patience. I knew she would grow tired of our lies soon enough but the Viscount never listens, and neither does his parents."

"I-I don't understand."

"Do you know what the Duke promised Celestia at that meeting at the Crystal Empire?"

"Yes, access to Mareitania."

"And did Celestia tell you what they wanted in return?"

"No, she never mentioned it."

"Dragons had been threatening our borders, no actual attacks but their presence was very much visible. The Duke asked Princess Celestia to approach the Dragon Matriarch and force her to stop the incursions since there is only one individual the dragons fear and respect more than the matriarch and that is Celestia; although I imagine now that there are three more alicorns around, that fear and respect will shift to you, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence as well."

"But why would you need to ask Celestia to do that? Don't you have an army?"

The mare looked around warily and waved Twilight a little closer. "Yes we have an army, but it's far more suited to oppressing the ponies of Mareitania than defending them. The thing about dragons, Princess, is that they fly, and without pegasi and magically trained unicorns our armies are helpless against them. Before the dragons we had to ask Celestia for help against griffons that were attacking our northern villages, again because griffons can fly and we were helpless then as well. If we were to move our armies against these threats we would lose and look weak, which is something the Duke absolutely refuses to appear as."

"So without unicorns and pegasi in your armies you're-"

"Almost completely helpless against outside threats, yes. So we ask Celestia for help and give her false promises for her aid. And now that has finally backfired because who can we ask for help against Celestia? Not that it matters to me, I'm glad she's coming."

"Um...well she's not exactly coming, per se, she's sent me to bring change to Mareitania from the inside; she's not marching an army in here."

The mare shrugged, "Either way, I see little difference."

"Aren't you concerned we might harm your husband?"

"Husband?" The mare smiled as if Twilight had told her something funny. "He's not my husband, I think a more appropriate term for what he is to me would be master."

Twilight was confused for a moment until she remembered what Luna had told her of this mare not being the Viscounts wife, but his concubine. "Sorry, Luna did tell me about your situation but I guess I forgot. So you don't care for him at all?"

"I used to," the mare smiled wistfully; "if he'd had got his way he'd have married me long ago but his parents threatened to disown him if he did. About the only good thing they've ever done." The mare must have noticed the confusion on Twilight's face and felt further explanation was needed; "Just because he loves me doesn't mean I love him. I'm just a whore he picked up one night and got too attached to."

"Wait... I'm confused. Do you even like him?"

"Yeeesss...or, at least I used to. In the beginning he was a different pony and I have to admit I was quite fond of him. He used to be far more open to the idea of equality between the three tribes, but it seems the ideals of his parents have finally poisoned him; he's barely the pony I used to know. Perhaps he might find the right path again with the right guidance but I fear only Celestia herself could give him that. As it is I think he barely remembers that I'm a unicorn myself with some of the things he says about them."

"You sound like you admire Celestia."

"I do, she has done a marvellous job of bringing the three tribes together, and in doing so created something far better."

"But Celestia didn't bring the tribes together, that happened before she came to rule." Since the mare didn't seem to know the true story of what happened in Equestria after the ponies left Mareitania Twilight spent a few minutes telling her the hearthswarming tale.

"So in the end it wasn't Celestia that brought the three tribes together, but the ponies themselves realising their differences were only skin deep..." The mare smiled at the idea before a frown spread across her face, "Where did we go so wrong?"

"By letting old hatreds get in the way of progress. Only with tolerance and friendship can Mareitania hope to recover from the mistakes of the past. It also helps to not think of ponies as three tribes, but as one people."

The mare nodded thoughtfully, clearly Twilight had broadened her horizons a bit today, as the mare had done for Twilight. "I thank you for this talk Princess Sparkle, you have given me much to think about."

"Please, call me Twilight. I don't suppose I could ask your name? I was never told it during your visit."

"Ivory Spire, but you may call me Ivy. Lady be with you Twilight Sparkle." Ivy gave Twilight a small nod and a smile before returning to side of the Viscount who was miming something that Twilight could already tell was offensive to unicorns. Seeing him acting like that reignited some of her former anger and she turned away in disgust.

Twilight wandered around for a little and happened to glance at the clock, noting it was past nine and therefore long past the time when Trixie and Fleur should have joined her. She headed to the buffet in the hope of finding the filly. "Ancilla?" she called out. "Ancilla, are you here?"

"I'm here," groaned a small voice from below her. She looked down to see the filly crawling from beneath the table cloth. She seemed to be a bit bloated and looked ill. "Don't eat the spinach puffs, they're poison!"

"How much did you eat?" Twilight asked, trying to keep her amusement from her expression, although she needn't have worried since she was wearing a mask.

"I dunno...a lot? I've never had free food before. Well, legitimately free food anyway." The filly rubbed her stomach which gurgled in protest. "If you want something my lady it better not involve any sudden movements."

"Actually I was hoping you could go find the others; they should have been here by now."

"Anything you want me to tell them?"

"Yeah, give them my apologies in advance in case I accidentally on purpose blow a hole in the bottom of this ship and sink it."

"Riiiiight..."

16. Party hard! pt 3

The filly knocked tentatively on the door to their room, although she wasn't sure why, "Hell-oo-oo? Anypony ho-ome?" she sang. There was no answer so she pushed the door open and went in just to find the room empty save for their belongings, part of which seemed to be making a weird rhythmic buzzing sound.

Maybe they got lost? the filly reasoned, although she knew that probably wasn't true. She left the room and headed back towards the ballroom, hoping to find somepony who wasn't a guest and might know what was what. Eventually she found a red stallion wearing a black suit that didn't look like a guest. "Excuse me? I don't suppose you've seen a couple of...uh...ladies of negotiable virtue around here?"

"Ladies of what?" the stallion said confusedly. The filly rolled her eyes; clearly she was going to have to make this simple.

"Prostitutes, whores, ladies of the night, street walkers, escorts, hookers, harlots, strumpets; your mother was probably one."

"Hey! You take that back! My mother was a saint and a proper lady!"

"Fine, your mother wasn't a total whore. Doesn't matter though, I'm looking for a couple of hookers that might have wandered by here."

"Why the hell would a filly need a prostitute, let alone two? Heck, I'm still trying to work out what you're doing here at all!"

"I had to find the idiot," the filly muttered to herself. Louder she said "Because one isn't enough to satisfy if you must know." She smirked at the stallion as he squirmed with the thought she had put in his head.

"B-b-but you're a filly!"

"So? I still have needs." The stallion stammered a bit more and after a few seconds she took pity on him, "I'm a hoofmaid to Lady Aramon and the two prostitutes are her favourites. She was expecting them to join her at the ball but they haven't come so I was sent to find them."

He narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion, "You're not lying to me are you?"

"You're right, you caught me. We're actually here as part of a terrorist rebel cell and we're going to attempt to assassinate everypony on board by means of sinking the boat thus damaging the Dukes' hold over the country. What do you think?"

"Oh har har, if these ladies of negotiable virtue, as you call them, were trying to get into the ball chances are they were stopped and taken to the harem instead."

Uh oh. "And where is this 'harem?' Can you take me there?"

The stallion groaned and rolled his eyes, "Come on," he grunted.

-0-0-0-

"What are you doing?" Trixie asked Fleur as she watched Fleur smudge her makeup and roughen her mane a bit. The end result was Fleur looked tired and haggard and more than a little used.

"I'm trying to make myself look unappealing, if you must know," Fleur said while she used her magic to rumple her dress in places and to roughen her tail up. "Believe it or not I have no desire to be used by anypony tonight. Perhaps you ought to try it as well?"

"I wouldn't need to if you had actually thought this through. I'm almost ready to beg Twilight's forgiveness for doubting her because she would never have proposed a stupid plan like dressing up as whores!"

"Keep it down would you; ponies can hear you! Besides, how was I meant to know th-" Fleur stopped talking as another 'caller,' as the matron called them, entered the harem and looked about with interest. So far Trixie and Fleur had gotten lucky in not being picked but that luck wasn't likely to last all night.

"Good evening my lord," the matron said in greeting from behind her desk; "anypony in particular take your fancy?"

"You do seem to have some very attractive specimens here but I would like a closer look before I choose."

"Of course my lord, I'll be here if you require any assistance." The stallion approached the circle of cushions and went about inspecting the various mares on display, most of which did their best to catch his attention. He circled around them in a more literal description of a sexual predator, occasionally praising a pony for her appearance, or tutting in disapproval if he saw something he didn't like. He stopped at Fleur who did her best to look tired, and it must have worked as she noticed a flash of disgust cross his face. He quickly moved on to Trixie who defiantly looked him in the eyes.

"Hmm, you seem to have a bit of fire to you. What's your name girl?"

"Trixie, Trixie Lulamoon." Trixie glared at him and the stallion grinned nastily at her.

"Maybe a little too much fire hmm, perhaps I ought to smother it. Matron, I have made my choice."

"Very good my lord, room eight is available." The stallion waited until Trixie hauled herself to her hooves before leading the way to the room. As she passed Fleur, Trixie narrowed her eyes into a look that promised retribution for what she was about to go through. Unable to meet Trixie's glare, Fleur looked away guiltily.

Like a true gentlepony, the stallion held the door open for Trixie, giving her a chance to take in her surroundings. In the center of the room was a large bed; which Trixie was loathe to touch considering what exactly went on in these rooms. To the left of the bed was a well-stocked mini bar, and to the right was a cabinet stocked with every sex toy imaginable, including several that Trixie considered to be physically impossible to use.

"See anything you like?" the stallion asked before running his nose up the side of her neck, breathing in her scent; it was as much as she could do to not shudder.

"N-no my...uh, my lord. Nothing more than you." Her eyes twitched from side to side as she desperately sought a way out of her predicament. "Perhaps I could prepare you a drink while you strip off," she purred. "We wouldn't want to make a mess of your nice clothes would we?" The stallion winked at her and turned to the bed to undress while Trixie selected two glasses and picked up a bottle of whatever was nearest to fill them.

The bottle shook in her magic, betraying her nerves as her heart tried to fight its way out through her mouth. She managed to fill the first glass and was about to fill the second when she stopped and considered the bottle in her magic. She hefted it a few times and shrugged before turning around and clocking the stallion around the back of the head; the bottle making a pleasing 'poink' sound on contact. The stallion slumped over without making a sound, landing half on the bed. Trixie tossed the bottle up in the air and caught it again before inspecting the bottom of the bottle, noting with glee that it hadn't even cracked.

She took a mouthful out of the bottle and set it down before hauling the stallion the rest of the way onto the bed and rolling him onto his back. Humming a cheerful tune, mostly due to sheer relief as the adrenaline started to wear off, she went to the cabinet and picked out four hoof cuffs and used them to secure his hooves to the bed before picking up a gag with straps which she shoved in his mouth and tied around the back of his head. She also briefly considered inserting a little something up his tail hole but decided against it, mostly because she couldn't find any lube and to do it without was too much effort.

Once she was done she stole the pillows off the bed and put them on the floor and picked a bottle of bourbon up off the bar before laying down. She raised the bottle to stallion before taking a large gulp, savouring the warm sensation it made on the way down.

"Trixie has more fire than you could ever handle. Asshole." she said, the shaking of her hooves betraying her nerves.

-0-0-0-

Fleur felt sick; Trixie hadn't been lying when she said this was Fleur's stupid plan and now Trixie was suffering through Celestia knows what all because Fleur got a bit too caught up in her own ideas and thought it would be fun to disguise themselves as prostitutes.

"Are you okay?" Tulula asked her. "You look a little ill." Fleur considered pretending to be ill after Tulula had asked but decided not to; there was no way she was going to run away pretending to be ill while Trixie took one for the team.

"I'm fine," she lied since she did feel sick, even if from worry. "Don't worry about me." Tulula shrugged and went back to talking to one of the other ponies waiting there while Fleur focused her gaze on the harem entrance and was greatly surprised to see the filly approaching in the company of a stallion. She watched as the filly said something to the stallion who proceeded to turn around and leave while the filly entered the harem.

"What are you doing here?" the matron immediately snapped at her.

"Looking for a good time," was the filly's cheeky reply. "Actually I'm looking for a couple of unicorns, a big white one and a blue one. I was told they'd probably be in here."

"The white one's over there," the matron told her, pointing at Fleur; "the blue one's working so you won't be seeing her until she's done with her client."

The filly took a few cautious steps towards Fleur and since the matron didn't stop her she trotted over the rest of the way. Fleur gave her a weak smile before nuzzling her; "Hey."

"Hi, soooo... I'm guessing you done goofed." Fleur got up and led the filly to a corner of the room where they could have a little more privacy.

"You could say that. I can't believe I was so stupid to think this would work."

"Meh, nopony's perfect; besides, maybe a little action will go a long way towards loosening Trixie up."

"Don't say that! The stallion that picked her up was a complete asshole; said something about 'smothering her fire' or something."

"Let me guess; she was Trixie at him wasn't she?"

"Trixie's a verb now? Ugh nevermind; point is she's in there having goodness knows what done to her and it's all my fault!"

"And you're sat out here whining about it instead of doing something...because?"

"Because I don't want to compromise the mission. Doing something rash could ruin all our efforts here; Trixie knew what was at stake when she agreed to this."

"Did she say she knows what's at stake? Did she say 'Fleur, if we get stuck being actual hookers I want you to know that if a stallion ties me down and shoves his cock so far up my ass I can taste it, that I won't hold it against you because it's for the mission.' It was your idea to do this; that and how helpful do you think you're being to your mission when you're sat here moping."

"What do you know about it! Nothing!" Fleur snarled before pinning her ears back in shame. "I...I... Sorry, I-I didn't mean to snap like that." Fleur sank onto the floor until her nose touched the carpet and a few tears escaped, running down her nose until they met the floor.

The filly regarded her coolly, as if trying to decide something. "Do you know what I like about you Fleur?" Fleur shook her head gently. "It's the fact that you seemed like nothing could stop you. Prance burning down? You took that in your stride. This? This is pathetic."

"That's different. Prance was about survival and I'm good at surviving. This? This is different because Trixie got hurt because of my stupid plan."

"And your response is to sit here and cry like a little filly?"

Fleur barked a single laugh, "Can't believe I'm being told that by a little filly."

"I'm not that much of a filly, I mean yeah I cried a bit when I thought of my friends dying in Prance and when we got to Whiplash, and especially when you guys were just going to leave me because I thought I had something with you guys and suddenly having that torn away...hurt. Other than those few occasions I don't exactly cry much and you crying over a mistake doesn't even compare in my books. Seriously, stop whining, get up and do something about it."

"But they're watching me. I can't just wander off to her room."

The filly rolled her eyes and grinned at Fleur, "Fine, you get one distraction and one distraction only. Don't waste it. I'm gonna head back to Twilight after so don't worry about me. By the way, Twilight got in the ball and is doing her best to schmooze, Octavia's fine and I got to eat myself sick at a buffet so, y'know, your plan ain't all bad." The filly gave Fleur a moment to compose herself before heading over to the desk where the matron eyed her suspiciously. "Say, what would it take for me to get all these fillies into a room for an orgy? I'd be willing to pay if it helps."

The matrons eyes boggled for a moment before she managed to find some words. "B-b-b-but you're just a filly!"

"You'd be surprised at how many times I've been reminded of that today." Fleur stared at the filly for several seconds before she realised her mouth was hanging open and that she had somewhere she needed to be. She headed up the corridor until she found the right room and was about to burst in when she hesitated. Instead she put her ear to the door and listened, but all she could hear was some indistinct humming.

She took a step back and prepared herself to fight the stallion before charging through the door; "Get your filthy hooves off her you...bastard?" She was met by the angry glare of a stallion that was gagged and tied spread-eagle on a bed while next to the bed, laying on her back on a couple of pillows, was Trixie, throwing an empty bottle in the air using her magic and catching it again before it hit her in the face. She was also humming the Equestrian national anthem. "Trixie?"

"Hey Fleur." Trixie said, slurring slightly.

"You're okay?"

"Mmhmm, was there ever any doubt?"

Fleur walked over to Trixie and stood looking down at her, eye to eye. "And you've spent the entire time in here drinking?"

"Yup."

Fleur jumped onto Trixie and wrestled her into a hug, "I fucking love you Trixie."

"Hey! You're in my space! Get outta my space!"

-0-0-0-

Twilight sat at the bar, staring at the drips of condensation running down the side of her glass of sweet apple cider. She was also somewhat incensed that they had sweet apple cider here at all and had concluded to drink as much of it as she could because nopony else at the party deserved to; too bad it's not the hard stuff.

The cider was also a small reminder of home and of how much she missed her friends. She wished so badly that they could be here right now; Rarity would outshine everypony else with a dress she had made, Rainbow Dash and Applejack would probably have invented some way to compete against each other while Pinkie egged them on and Twilight had to admit that Fluttershy would probably be hiding in a corner somewhere, bless her.

Feeling nostalgic as she was, Twilight was woefully unprepared for when somepony tapped her on the back. "Ahh!" she cried before cramming her hooves over her mouth and wilting under the amused stares of several ponies nearby.

"Apologies Twilight, I didn't realise you were so engrossed in your drink."

"Octavia! You scared me!"

"Sorry, I was trying to get your attention but you seemed to be in a world of your own. Is something wrong?"

"No," she smiled in an attempt to assure Octavia who didn't look convinced at all. "Yes," she confessed, slumping slightly. "My friend Applejack makes this cider back home in Ponyville and I guess I got a bit homesick. I'm also annoyed that they have it here at all and I know Applejack would hate the idea of these ponies drinking it."

Octavia gave her a small smile and hug before sitting on the next seat over on Twilight's right, "Do you mind if I have one? We've finally had a chance for a breather and I have to admit a glass of cider would go down nicely."

"Go ahead, you're one of the four other ponies on this ship that has any right to drink this stuff." Octavia ordered her drink and tasted it, nodding in approval.

"I can see why you like this stuff." She took another sip and sighed contentedly. "I guess we should talk business since we have a moment. For starters I feel I should mention that I haven't heard a single thing about Prance."

"Really? Not a single thing?" Twilight thought back to the conversations she'd had and overheard through the night and had to admit she hadn't heard anything either. "I wonder why though, it's not like that's something you can keep secret."

"Unless they can; I wouldn't put it past the Duke to try and suppress all knowledge of what happened in Prance. Personally I was thinking that Prance is very much on the list of topics that can't be talked about. How about you? Learnt anything?"

"I learnt what the relationship is between Mareitania and Equestria."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and I would talk about it but we're not in the best company right now and I'd rather discuss it with Trixie and Fleur as well."

Octavia looked around, "Speaking of, where are Trixie and Fleur?"

"Bit of a funny story actually," said a voice from the left of Twilight. Twilight yelped and span around to see the filly sitting beside her, looking at her intently.

"What is with ponies trying to give me a heart attack?" Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself, "What's this funny story then?"

"Hmm? Oh, well it turns out there's a harem on board. Can you imagine it? An entire section of this ship dedicated to extramarital relations! Anyway, rather than get in here, Trixie and Fleur were stopped and taken there instead."

"Are they okay?" Twilight asked while in her mind she started plotting ways to get them out of there.

"Trixie might not be. Or she might be, depends entirely on how it goes. But Fleur's kinda gone to pieces over it and it took me a while to convince her that sitting around moping was pretty pathetic."

Twilight shared a look with Octavia who looked just as worried as she felt. "What did she do?"

"Don't know, all I did was provide a small distraction so she could go help Trixie." The filly shrugged and slid Twilight's drink over to herself before taking a sip. "No pony's panicking so I’m guessing what she did was pretty benign."

Twilight didn't know whether to be relieved or to go help them, one glance at Octavia was all it took to tell her she wasn't alone, "Are you sure they're okay?"

"As okay as they can be which means you don't need to go do anything stupid. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go collapse somewhere upstairs because somepony made me walk all around this effing boat and now my tummy hurts." The filly slid off the stool and trotted off.

"I hope she's right about them being okay," said Octavia.

"I should have said something about their disguise. I knew it was a bad idea but I didn't want to say anything because after Prance I... I just couldn't, I didn't have the right." Twilight went to grab her glass but was faintly surprised to find it was gone.

"Not to put too fine a point on it Twilight, but you're not allowed to blame yourself for not talking Fleur out of that patently stupid idea. Right now I'm more concerned about Trixie than anything else but unfortunately we have a job to do. I'm also concerned about that weird stallion that's been walking around the edge of the ballroom for most of the night." She pointed to where a mottled brown stallion in a scruffy dinner jacket and what looked like an oversized pirates hat turned in to a mask was staring into space. "Anyway my set's starting again in a few minutes so I need to head off." Octavia downed the remainder of her drink, patted Twilight on the shoulder and headed back to the stage.

Twilight ordered another drink and remained at the bar; not feeling particularly enthused about getting up off her rump and doing her job. So far all she had learnt was something interesting but not useful, Octavia was the same. Trixie had been... Twilight didn't even want to think about it and as cruel and selfish as she felt to think it; Fleur was getting a taste of her own medicine. Here's to another rousing success, she raised her glass in a silent toast and was about to take a sip when an incredibly drunk mare stumbled into her, making Twilight spill her drink down herself.

"Oh I'm so very, terribly sorry," the mare slurred at her. The mare grabbed a cloth off the bar in her hooves and started to pat Twilight down in completely the wrong place despite Twilight's best efforts to stop her.

"It's fine, really. You don't need to do that," insisted Twilight as she tried to gently push the mare off.

"No no no, it’s my fault entirely. I would offer to buy you another drink but all the drinks are freeeee!!" The mare went back to patting Twilight down when her hoof landed directly on Twilight's wing, and even in her drunken haze she could tell something wasn't right. She felt around Twilight's wing, "What are you hiding in there deary? It feels like a wing!"

Twilight tried to laugh it off but once again her nerves got the better of her and she ended up stammering a load of nonsense. "Th-th-that's stupid! W-what w-w-would I be d-doing with w-wings?"

The mare turned to her equally drunk friend who was propping herself up on the bar, "Tutti darling, I think this mare's a pegasus! Come feel this wing!"

The other mare pushed herself up and took a few steps towards Twilight before falling onto her and hugging her. "She's nice, she's a nice fluffy pegasus. A nice, pretty, purple pegasus..." The mares grip slackened and she slid onto the floor in a heap at Twilight's hooves. Not that Twilight noticed as she locked up with panic as other ponies around her started to take notice.

"Hey everypony! Look at me!" Twilight immediately looked up to where the voice had come from and she was surprised to see the filly balancing on her rear legs on the rail of the balcony opposite. Twilight's immediate reaction was to want to yell at her to get down from there but her words froze in her throat when the filly began to spin around on one hoof and sing.

"If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life,

Never take a pretty mare for a wife,

If you want my personal point of view,

Get an ugly mare to marry you!"

The filly repeated the verse a couple of times, the crowd cheering and booing her in equal measure. Some even started to throw things at her which she either dodged with ease or got fancy and back flipped over. Twilight couldn't help but be amazed at the filly's skills.

"A pretty mare makes her husband look small,

And very often causes his downfall,

As soon as he married her and then she starts,

To do the things that will break his heart,

But if you make an ugly mare your wife,

A-you'll be happy for the rest of your life,

An ug-a-ly mare cooks meals on time,

And she'll always give you peace of mind,"

Suddenly the band started playing, led by a hugely grinning Octavia as the filly continued her silly dance. Slowly it occurred to Twilight that maybe she should take this opportunity to sneak off. She carefully stepped over the mare collapsed on the floor, who was humming along with the song, before sneaking off up the stairs to the balcony opposite the filly's performance.

"Don't let your friends say you have no taste,

Go ahead and marry anyway,

Though her face is ugly, her eyes don't match,

Take it from me she's a better catch,

If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life,

Never take a pretty mare for a wife,

If you want my personal point of view,

Get an ugly mare to marry you!"

Suddenly the filly back flipped off the railing into the gloom out of sight, leaving the guests to stomp their approval. Twilight slowly headed along the balcony to where the filly had been dancing and searched around until she found the filly behind a chair, curled up in a fetal position and clutching her stomach.

"That hurt so much," the filly said without acknowledging Twilight's arrival. "You're welcome."

"That was amazing!" Twilight blurted.

"I could see those mares were bothering you. Honestly though, I hadn't expected that to be so...energetic, or painful."

"You did scare me though, what if you had fallen?"

"Then I hope somepony would have caught me." The filly crawled out from behind the chair, still clutching her stomach. "Seriously though, this hurts so bad."

"You're not used to eating so much so I'm not surprised it hurts. Hold on." Twilight surreptitiously looked around before lighting her still invisible horn and pressing it to the filly's stomach. "It's just a little something to help with the indigestion. Not sure it'll help if you've pulled something though."

"Before now I've been in pain from not eating. I'll take being in pain from eating too much as a big win for me." The filly climbed onto the chair and curled up on her side, "Yay victory..."

"Yeah, you can stay here if you want. I'll try to not get into any more trouble-" Twilight jolted as a scream rang through the ballroom, followed by many more.

"He's got a knife!" Twilight ran to the edge of the balcony and tried to find out what was happening. A white stallion was pushing through the crowd, a knife in his mouth, and was making a beeline straight for the Viscount and his cronies. From the corners of the room other ponies were trying to push through, although Twilight thought they were more likely guards than other assailants, and it looked like they weren't going to stop the attacker in time.

"Cly 'ou 'athted!" the stallion shouted from around the knife in his mouth. He leapt for the Viscount, who gave a very ladylike scream, at the exact same moment that Twilight, purely on instinct, formed a shield around the Viscount. The stallion smacked into the shield with a wet slap where he stuck for a few seconds before sliding down onto the floor where the guards swiftly piled on him.

Twilight cancelled the spell and took a step back from the edge of the balcony, hoping to hell that nopony had seen her do anything. The filly joined her in watching the guards swiftly escort the Viscount and Ivory Spire away. "Pierre sends his regards!" the stallion shouted at the retreating ponies.

"As a matter of security I suggest that you all return to your rooms!" one of the guards shouted, and nopony seemed to want to argue as they started filing out of the room as fast as they could. Twilight crouched down, allowing the filly to clamber on her back, but waited as long as she could to watch the guards drag their new prisoner somewhere.

"I wonder who Pierre is?" Twilight mused as she started to head down stairs, although in her head she was quietly freaking out a bit.

"Who cares? I'm disappointed it wasn't that weirdo that was wandering around staring at everypony."

"That's your biggest concern? I'll admit he seemed a bit strange and I do wonder why he was doing that... Ooh..." Twilight had turned the corner of the stairs and came face to face with the stallion in question being escorted by another, older stallion.

"You thought Penfold would do something like that?" asked the older of the two, before chuckling heartily. "Penfold's harmless aren't you Penfold?"

"Smash the beetles! Smash 'em!"

"See? Wouldn't harm a fly!" The stallion re-evaluated what he had just said. "Okay...maybe he would hurt a fly but not a pony, that's for sure."

"Smash the beetles! Kronk! Kronk! Kronk!" At that the two stallions headed off.

"We see the weirdest shit," the filly commented. "By the way... Why does it feel like you have wings under this dress?"

"It's-uh...it's just part of the dress. You've seen me without the dress on, you know I don't have wings."

"You turned your horn invisible. Excus-ack!" The filly yelped when Twilight suddenly jigged and bounced her into the air. "Urgh..." she groaned as her landing on Twilight's back hurt her stomach, "What was that for?"

"You don't talk about a lady's business in front of strangers Ancilla."

-0-0-0-

"I'm telling you Trixie, one of these times you're going to fail to catch one of those and it's going to hurt. A lot."

"I don't...I don't...I don't-" Trixie belched loudly, and Fleur could smell the bourbon on her breath from six feet away. "Your face is stupid," Trixie concluded before throwing her two empty bottles in the air and catching them again. "Muh...my drunk is perfectly magic when I'm-when I'm good."

"Of course Trixie," Fleur sighed deeply and resumed her pacing. Once she had discovered that Trixie was okay, more than okay in fact; it had occurred to Fleur that they had nothing to do. They couldn't even discuss what to do since the stallion in the room probably didn't need to hear such things. Trixie had suggested joining her in the consumption of whiskey flavoured fun but Fleur had refused because two drunken ponies couldn't really carry each other home.

Fleur growled and set about completing another circuit of going back and forth when she overheard some excited talking coming from outside. A minute later a rose coloured mare poked her head through the door, shocking Trixie into missing one bottle that fell and landed on her horn disrupting her hold on the other bottle which proceeded to smack her on the chin.

"Aaahhh! Ah-ah-ha-ha-ow! Owie-owie-owie!"

The new comer stared at Trixie rolling around on the floor clutching her face and cursing. Then she stared at the stallion tied to the bed before turning her gaze to Fleur who scowled at her. "Can I help you?"

"What the hell have you been doing in here?" the mare asked before shaking her head. "Look, it doesn't matter. There's been an assassination attempt on the Viscount and we've all been ordered back to our rooms."

"You mean there's been a massinaton thingy on the Vi-*hic*-cunt and we missed it? This party sucks!"

Fleur bit her lip as she thought. Her initial worry was that Twilight had done something but quickly thought otherwise when she remembered there was no way Twilight would do something like that, or Octavia for that matter. She started nodding as another idea started to form in her mind. "Okay, let us finish up and we'll be out soon." The rose coloured mare gave them a nod and left.

After giving her thirty seconds Fleur cautiously looked out through the door and found that nopony was nearby. "Wait here," she told Trixie.

"Where you going? Trissie wanna come too!"

"No Trixie, you're drunk. Stay here and I'll be back real soon." Fleur left the room and headed towards the room at the end where the pegasus had been taken. She stopped outside to make sure no pony was looking before pressing her ear to the door to check if there was anypony else in there. All she could hear was the occasional whimper.

Fleur pushed the door open and entered the room, swiftly shutting the door behind her. The room was tiny with a bed on the right that the pegasus was lying on, her rear pointing towards the door. She was also chained to the wall via her collar and her wings were still bound as they were before. "Uh...hi?" Fleur said, not knowing what to say in this situation. She certainly didn't expect the response the pegasus gave her.

The pegasus, without moving her front, raised her rear into a standing position and flicked her tail aside, fully exposing herself to Fleur. Fleur gawked at the pegasus's rear for a moment, a part of her grimly noting the cum leaking out of both of her sore looking holes, before remembering that she should be doing something.

"No no no! I'm not here for that!" The pegasus lowered her rear back down and wrapped her tail around herself. Not expecting the pegasus to ignore her like she was Fleur thought desperately to find a way to make the pegasus engage with her. Her eyes settled on the ropes binding the pegasus's wings in their half open position.

"Uh, let me get those for you," she said, taking a step forward and noticing that the pegasus flinched when she did. Her magic deftly undid the ropes and dropped them on the floor but all the pegasus did was stretch her wings and fold them; her head never moved the entire time.

Not wanting to lash out in frustration Fleur swallowed and tried to remain patient. "I know you must be scared but I'm honestly just trying to help you." Still, the pegasus remained silent. "Do you... Do you have a name?"

"Yes," the pegasus said, barely louder than a whisper. The pegasus said nothing more.

"Good, that's good. Could you-uh, possibly tell me your name?"

"Slut." The pegasus curled up a little tighter.

"Ooookay... I doubt that's your actual name-"

"It's what the guards and the others here call me, mistress."

"I wasn't asking what they call you, I was asking what you call you." The pegasus gave a small strangled cry and finally looked at Fleur, fear etched on her face.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry mistress, I didn't know what you meant! My name's Summer Skies." Summer held a hoof over her head and cowered away from Fleur, "Please don't hit me mistress, I'm sorry!"

"What? I'm not going to hit you!" Fleur held a hoof up to calm the pegasus but the gesture just made the pegasus scramble back and cower further. Fleur relented and backed up a few steps, giving the pegasus a bit of room to calm down. After a minute the pegasus peeked at Fleur who tried to smile reassuringly, "I'm not going to hit you. In fact I'm not going to hurt you in any way at all. Why do you think I would?"

"Because everypony does!" the pegasus wailed.

"Shh, keep it down!" Fleur hissed as she motioned with her hooves. Immediately the pegasus shut her mouth but started breathing rapidly to the point where Fleur thought she might pass out. "Look, Summer, I want you to stay still a moment, okay? I'm going to take your collar off and clean you up a bit. If you want me to stop, just say."

Fleur stepped closer to pegasus whose breathing somehow became even more rapid the closer she got; the pegasus looked like a cornered animal that was ready to bolt and if it weren't for the fact that she was chained to the wall she might well have. Fleur studied the collar, noticing it wasn't like the collars weather ponies wore but was more like something you would put on a pet, albeit with some important differences.

That didn't mean it was going to be easy though; the padlock holding it shut looked like it could resist every effort of Fleur's to open it, but the strap was made of hardened leather. A fact unbeknownst to most ponies that weren't unicorns, was that telekinesis had more utility than merely lifting things. It could be turned into an edge that due to the intangible nature of magic, could be almost infinitely sharp. Provided you were good at magic.

Unfortunately, Fleur wasn't that good at magic and the edge she could form was only marginally sharper than the average spoon. Bearing that in mind, she started the slow process of sawing through the leather. Why did Trixie have to get pissed? Fleur thought as sweat started to bead on her forehead; her lock picking magic would have been damn useful about now!

After a couple of minutes of exhaustive sawing she finally broke through and pulled the collar off before collapsing in a heap. She grinned at the pegasus whom she expected to be sharing in her elation, but found the pegasus to be staring wide eyed at her own hooves.

Fleur stood back up and tore a strip off the bed sheet and was about to try and clean the pegasus up a bit when the pegasus spoke to her. "There's a bowl of w-water and a cloth un-un-under the bed mistress," the pegasus stammered in a tiny voice. Fleur looked under the bed and found that the pegasus was right, and more disgustingly, that the cloth and water hadn't been used.

"Why didn't you use it yourself?"

"I couldn't reach it," Summer said, hanging her head in shame.

Fleur soaked the cloth in the water and ran it out, "If at any point you want me to stop, just say so. Unless you'd rather do this yourself of course?" The pegasus gave a small, almost imperceptible shake of her head. "Okay then, I promise I'll be gentle."

Fleur rubbed the cloth down the inside of the pegasus's thighs, doing her best to wipe off the remaining fluids and putting some effort into scrubbing off those bits that had dried on. She then gently lifted the pegasus's tail and wiped the underside of that but quickly found it impossible to clean off with only a rag and water. She did the best she could though and moved onto the more intimate parts of Summer's anatomy.

She had barely touched the wet cloth to Summer's privates when the pegasus squealed and jumped away, hugging her tail between her legs. Immediately Fleur backed off, "It’s okay, I won't do anything if you don't want me to." She rinsed the cloth out and put it on the bed, "If you want to do it yourself, go ahead, I won't even look." Fleur turned her back to the pegasus and studied the door intently until a minute later when the pegasus squeaked "I'm done."

Fleur turned back to see the pegasus curled up in the far corner of the bed, watching her warily. Fleur gave her a gentle smile and moved over to the window and wrenched it open. "You can go now Summer," she said, "you're free."

"Free?" Summer said as if the concept was entirely new to her, "I-I-I... I can't! I can't go out there!"

"What? Why not? Don't you want to be free?" Fleur was a bit lost, she had been counting on the idea that any pegasus would want to be free and would go without looking back. Summer's reaction complicated things a bit.

"N-no, I'll be p-p-punished if I go out there! The guards will find me a-and hurt me and break my wings or something! I should...I should stay here..."

Fleur's mouth hung open is disbelief, what had these ponies done to this poor pegasus that made her too afraid to run away? Were all pegasi like this? Fleur didn't know what to do. Logically she should have thought of her own safety and got out of there, leaving Summer to her fate. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Fleur didn't have much love for logic and there was no way she was giving up now.

"I'm getting you out of here whether you like it or not," she muttered, not particularly caring whether the pegasus heard her or not. She stripped her outfit off, dress, gloves, stockings and all and put it on the bed in front of Summer. "Put this on," she told the pegasus. Summer glanced nervously between Fleur and the outfit until Fleur couldn't take it anymore. "Now," she grunted, not really wanting to give orders.

"Yes mistress," Summer squeaked.

"And stop calling me mistress."

"Yes mistress!" Summer squeaked slightly louder. Fleur rolled her eyes and went to the window to get a breath of fresh air; the room reeked of intimacy, but the horrifically shameful kind, not the fun, loving kind. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to regret doing this for no other reason than Summer's submissive behaviour was getting on her nerves. Fleur had spent her life standing up for herself and to see Summer too afraid to give herself a chance at freedom was too much.

She took a calming breath and turned away from the window to find that Summer was cowering next to the clothes she hadn't put on. "I'm sorry mistress," Summer said without offering any explanation as to why she hadn't put them on.

Fleur nearly yelled but managed to rein in her annoyance and took a moment to think, which was long enough for her to work something out. "You've never worn clothes before have you Summer?"

"No mistress, only collars and wing binders."

"I really don't think those count as clothing," Fleur said quietly as she tried to work out how to dress an adult. "Okay, sit down, forelegs up and wings folded." Summer complied and using her magic Fleur slipped the dress over Summer's head and into place. She then set about putting the other items of clothing on Summer and eventually she ended up with a blue and pink prostitute that could hopefully pass for an earth pony under casual inspection.

Summer hunched up slightly and cast her gaze downward, reminding Fleur of the modelling shots that model called Fluttershy did a while back. I wonder what became of her, Fleur mused. "Right," she said, addressing Summer, "Come with me."

"Yes mistress."

"And stop calling me mistress!"

"Sorry mistress!"

Fleur poked her head out through the door and was gratified to find nopony around. She walked out, making sure that Summer followed her, and went back into the room she and Trixie had occupied before. "Trixie? Come on, we need to go." Trixie responded by snoring loudly from down the side of the bed. "Trixie?" Fleur moved to where she could see Trixie and groaned when she found Trixie curled up, using an empty bottle as a teddy bear.

"Dammit Trixie! Now is really not the time to do that!" She gave Trixie a sharp kick on the rump, followed by several more, until Trixie woke up.

"Why you kickin' m'?" Trixie mumbled.

"Because we need to get back to the room. Now."

"But we has a room, this's a room..." Trixie curled up a little tighter.

"For fuck sake..." Fleur lifted Trixie in her magic and draped the happily snoring unicorn over her back. Trixie was surprisingly heavy for a pony that wasn't all that big, must be the ego. "Come on Summer, stay by me and don't keep staring at the floor."

"Why is he tied to the bed?" Summer asked in her tiny voice as she cautiously looked towards the stallion, "Was he a bad pony too?"

Fleur barked a single laugh but instantly felt ashamed, "Yeah, you could say that."

"You're...you're not going to do that to me are you? I promise I'll be good! I promise!"

Fleur shushed the panicking pegasus, "No we're not going to do that to you. We only did that to him because he wanted to...do bad things to Trixie, but Trixie didn't let him." Summer nodded emphatically, clearly she knew what Fleur meant. "Come on, we need to go." Fleur led the way out and down the corridor and was faintly surprised, and relieved, to see that Tulula was the only pony left.

"There you are! I've been waiting ages, where you been? And who's that?" Fleur grinned slightly, thanking whatever deity was watching that it was Tulula here and not the Matron because there was no way Tulula would have bothered to remember the pegasus from earlier.

"I found her in one of the rooms. I think one of the callers were a bit rough with her and did some things that, well, shouldn't be done to a mare, so I gave her my dress to cover the marks. Why'd you wanna know anyway? Why are you still here?"

"The matron left and I had to stay to make sure you got this." She opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out two small bags of coins, "One hundred and ten for Trixie, and one hundred for you. There doesn't seem to be anything for you though you poor thing," she said to Summer, "and you Fleur, I can't believe you didn't get any callers all night..."

"Yeah... Sure does suck to be me. We'll sort out her payment tomorrow or something." Fleur picked up the two bags and tucked them into Trixie's dress. "I'm surprised you didn't take the money and run though?"

Tulula gasped as though Fleur had insulted her, "I wouldn't do that to you! Us ladies have got to stick together.

"Uh-huh." Fleur made to leave but stopped when she remembered something, "By the way," Fleur waved Tulula closer so she could hear her whispering; "there's a stallion in room eight that's tied to the bed. If you could give us a ten minute head start I'd greatly appreciate it."

-0-0-0-

Dear Twilight

I have to admit that I hadn't really thought much about the sirens after the battle, and it certainly hadn't occurred to me that they might have been in trouble after losing their voices so the girls and I did some snooping and you'll never guess what we learnt... The sirens are loaded! As in they're like millionaires! I guess a thousand years is plenty of time to make some smart investments.

That's not all though, rather than just leave it we decided to approach the sirens and try to be friends with them. After what I did, you guys all stood by me so I figured I owed it to them to try and be friends with them.

Not my greatest plan. Aria gave me a split lip and Rainbow Dash has a bruise shaped like the bottom of a boot on her back and I'm pretty sure Fluttershy broke Adagio's nose for that, but there might be a silver lining to all this. Sonata came to us after and apologized for what happened, and said she'd like to hang out some time because staying at home with the other two moping around was really bringing her down. She really wants to give being friends a go which is great because it means my face isn't hurting for nothing.

We haven't made any plans on what to do yet, but we swapped phone numbers so we can organise something. Hopefully it goes well; I'll keep you posted.

Your slightly pained friend

Sunset.

Twilight smiled grimly, while she was glad the sirens were okay she wasn't too happy that they had attacked her friends, and she was honestly surprised at Fluttershy, sure she had her moments, but wow! At least it hadn't been for nothing; maybe through Sonata they could make progress on befriending the others, and if not, at least Sonata was willing to try.

She returned the book to her bags and tried to get comfortable in the bunk she was occupying. They were pretty basic and lacked any kind of safety features meaning she was paranoid about falling out during the night. She had considered sleeping on the floor since there were only four bunks and five ponies, but had decided that maybe she could have a bed to herself for once.

She looked across to where Octavia and the filly were sleeping, with the filly claiming the other top bunk which Octavia was perfectly happy about. It hadn't taken long for either of them to fall asleep, leaving Twilight on her own to worry about Trixie and Fleur whom still hadn't returned.

Just as she was starting to think about going out and searching there was a timid knock at the door, "Twilight? You there? Please say you're there..."

"Fleur? Don't worry, I'm here."

"Thank goodness." Fleur opened the door and wobbled in, entering far enough to lean over and tip Trixie onto the floor; Trixie herself, not disturbed in the slightest, carried on snoring. Fleur stretched until her back popped, "Aaahhhh, that's better; Trixie is a surprisingly heavy pony."

"Is she okay?" Twilight asked, "You know, after what happened..."

"After what happened? Ooohh, you mean that. Yeah, she's fine, clubbed the stallion over the head with a bottle and tied him to a bed. She then proceeded to drink best part of a litre of bourbon, so yeah, she's fine. Better than I would have been in that situation because I probably would have just grit my teeth and taken it."

"Well that's a relief, I was so worried after the filly told me what had happened. I wanted to come and get you guys but-"

"But the mission comes first, I know," Fleur said, interrupting Twilight. Fleur sat on the edge of the bunk when she suddenly remembered something. "Aww dammit..." She got up and went to the door, "Summer, get in here."

"Yes mistress." The blue and pink pegasus cautiously entered the room, her eyes never leaving the floor, and sat down in the center of the room.

"Uh...Fleur, who's this?"

"This is Summer Skies. She's a pegasus."

"A pegasus? Where the heck d' you find a pegasus!?" Summer shied away from Twilight, who instantly felt guilty for her outburst, "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell, and it's not because you're a pegasus. I just wasn't expecting one to be here."

Summer squeaked something barely audible and Fleur tried to place a comforting hoof on her shoulder, but the pegasus shied away from the contact. "She was being forced to work in the harem, although it’s definitely more of a brothel, and she was part of something called the Viscount's challenge where the Viscount awards a thousand marcs to any pony willing to use her."

Twilight covered her mouth with her hooves, "That's horrible! How could anypony do that to another pony?"

"I know right, I couldn't leave her there, so when everypony was told to go back to their rooms I took a chance and rescued her. I was hoping I could get her free enough so she could fly away but she wouldn't because she was afraid the guards would catch her and do the nasty things they tend to do to escaped pegasi. In the end I did the only thing I could and brought her here."

"That's okay, you did the right thing." Twilight teleported from the bunk down to the floor, appearing in front of Summer in a bright purple flash that made the nervous pegasus squeal and back off until her rear hit the door. "Sorry! Sorry... I really should remember to not do that. Anyway, I'm Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to meet you"

Summer fell into a very clumsy bow, "It's my pleasure to serve you mistress," she said, surprising Twilight and making Fleur facehoof.

"Um...excuse me? You're not here to serve me or anypony. Why would think that?" Summer said nothing, but cringed like she was expecting to be struck. "Um... Fleur?"

"Yeah, I don't know what the ponies did to her here, or if this is a thing all pegasi get made to do, but she is totally subservient to everypony. Either way it's messed up."

"What do you mean all pegasi or just her?"

"Pegasi are born and bred to be weather ponies, that is the duchies one and only interest in them. What I'm trying to say is that Summer here might be a rare example of a pegasus trained purely to be a slave which is why she's like this. That or all pegasi are trained like her to be utterly subservient which is not a good thing."

"I guess not." Twilight sighed and tried to put it to the back of her mind since it wasn’t something she needed to worry about right now. She turned to Summer and gave her a comforting smile, "I'm guessing you must be tired, you can have the top bunk there if you want."

"Yes mistress, thank you mistress." Summer started to climb up the ladder when Twilight stopped her.

"Why are you climbing the ladder? Wouldn't it be easier to fly up there?" Summer crept back down the few steps of the ladder she had gotten up and sat down in silence. "Did...did I say something wrong?" Twilight asked, "Did they do something to your wings? Are they clipped?" Summer shook her head. "May I see them?"

Summer nodded and started to remove the dress before Fleur impatiently yanked it and the rest of her clothes off her. "She's never worn clothes before," Fleur explained before Twilight had a chance to ask.

"Spread your wings please," Twilight said to the now undressed pegasus. Summer did so and Twilight ran a hoof over them, noticing that Summer shivered fearfully as she did. "They're not even clipped," Twilight observed, "so why can't you fly?"

"The guards hit me if I tried to," Summer explained, "and they said they'd break my wings if I kept trying, so I stopped.

"She was also chained to the wall and had her wings bound half open when I found her," Fleur added, "she couldn't have done it if she tried. I guess if they discouraged her it means that she's probably a one off."

"I see, I guess we'll have to teach you to fly then." Twilight smiled warmly at Summer who completely failed to reciprocate the gesture. "Anyway, you can go to bed if you want." Twilight watched as Summer clambered up the ladder into the bunk before turning to Fleur, "So, apart from rescuing her, did you learn anything?"

"Yeah, I'm an idiot that shouldn't be allowed within ten paces of planning. Dressing up as prostitutes," she growled, "what was I thinking." She climbed into the spare bunk and buried her face in the threadbare pillow.

"You made a plan based on what you knew at the time," Twilight told her while being slightly miffed at being volunteered for the floor without being asked, "It's not your fault it didn't work out."

"I could've suggested that we go as serving mares or something. But no, I had to have fun forcing Trixie to dress up like that. Stupid stupid stupid!" Fleur groaned and rolled onto her side so she could look at Twilight, "So yeah, apart from that I got nothing. I did hear however, that a certain Viscount was almost assassinated. Get anything from that?"

"It was only one pony and he's being held onboard somewhere-"

"How'd he fail anyway?"

Twilight cringed, Fleur had asked the one question that she hoped she wouldn't, "Oh...uh... Somepony pushed him out of the way and, uh...saved him."

"Lying really isn't one of your strong points is it?"

"It really isn't. I didn't plan on saving him, I just saw the pony charging towards the Viscount with the knife and reacted."

"You're such a goody-goody Twilight." Fleur grinned teasingly at Twilight who shrugged without argument, "It doesn't matter though, last thing we need is something like that making our life harder, so it's probably a good thing he failed. Learn anything else?"

"Yeah, when the assassin was captured he shouted something, 'Pierre sends his regards.'"

"Why would he do that? Surely the identity of whoever sent him should be kept a secret?"

"Unless he thought that the Viscount would already know who Pierre is. Maybe it’s part of something bigger that we don't know about yet? I'm also wondering about what kind of name Pierre is, it sounds griffish."

"Actually it's prench. Maybe this was some kind of revenge attack for what happened in Prance?"

"Maybe, I don't know. What I do know is that I would very much like to have a talk with this would be assassin."

18. Story cave

Twilight's hooves echoed on the wooden floors of the Golden Oaks Library. She wasn't entirely sure why she was here but all the same, it felt good to be home. She breathed deeply, the scent of wood and books filling her nostrils at the same time as filling her with a terrible sense of longing; she shouldn't be in the library, and yet here she was and for the life of her she couldn't work out why.

She was about to contemplate the mystery when a collection of giggles emanated from the kitchen; "My friends!" Twilight grinned happily and ran into the kitchen where she was met by the steely gaze of her five friends and Spike. There was also a lot of pancakes, piled up on the table and covering every inch of every surface to the point that every part of the kitchen looked as though it was made of pancakes. Even Applejack's stetson had a sort of pancakeish quality to it.

"Hey guys!" Twilight said happily, "You have no idea how good it is to see you! Why are you all here anyway? And what's with all the pancakes?" she asked as the pancake ceiling dripped a large blob of syrup past the end of her nose.

"Y'see, the thing is y'all went to Mareitania without us, and we don't take kindly to that sort of behavior," Applejack told her in a cold tone of voice.

"Nopey Dopey! So we went and threw a 'Twilight doesn't care so let's eat pancakes in her kitchen' party. Not the most excite-ifferous of names but meh, it's your brain." Pinkie shrugged and stuffed a whole stack of pancakes into her mouth, "You do dream a good pancake though."

"I...but...what?"

"I must say though that the 'cold hearted bitch' look is very much in fashion right now," Rarity got up and paced around Twilight a few times before sitting back down, "At least you got your fashion forwardness going for you."

"B-but I'm not a cold hearted bitch! You know me, you know I'm not like that!"

Rainbow Dash flew over and pressed her nose up against Twilight's nose, "Oh yeah? Then how could you leave like that then? How could you go to Mareitania without us? I mean, come on! We're your friends! Friends don't do that to each other!"

"Now now everypony, let's be fair. Twilight was only trying to do what was asked of her." Fluttershy smiled warmly at Twilight who felt relief that at least one of her friends was on her side. "After all, we all know she has a deep seated fear of disappointing the princesses and that she values being a princess more than anything else."

"What? No! That's not true, you guys are more important to me than anything in the world!"

"What do you think Spike?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight looked to the last occupant of the table who was wolfing down a stack of gem-laden pancakes with the help of a fork in each claw.

Spike stopped eating and thought for a moment before shrugging, "Meh, let her be; it's not like we need her anyway, I mean we got each other, and pancakes! Besides, did you see the way she let all those ponies get hurt? How could we be friends with a pony like that? No way!" Spike went back to eating as the others all laughed their agreement.

Twilight couldn't speak as the laughter continued. All she could do was choke up and cry as the mocking laughter echoed all around her. She lay down heavily and clamped her hooves over her ears in a halfhearted attempt to make it stop.

"Enough!" somepony roared, sending the pancake room and its occupants whirling away, though not without burying Twilight in a small mountain of pancakes. Twilight started to feebly dig her way out when a dark blue leg adorned with a silver horseshoe thrust itself towards her and pulled her out. "My apologies Twilight, it took me longer than I expected to reach you."

"Luna!" Twilight thrust herself towards Luna and grabbed her around the neck, as if afraid Luna would disappear if she let go. Then she started bawling, all her hurt and fears coming out in one big weepy mess; Luna returning the hug and nuzzling Twilight gently until the tears stopped. "Feeling better?"

Twilight nodded and wiped her eyes, "I-I'm sorry, I don't k-know what came over me."

"Nonsense Twilight, I would be more worried if all the events of the last few weeks hadn't left their mark on you."

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"My sister and I hadn't heard from you in a few days and we were becoming concerned. When I saw you were trapped in a nightmare I thought I would assist you and kill two birds with one stone, as it were. Again my apologies for taking as long as I did; reaching the dreams of ponies outside of Equestria is difficult for me and more so for ponies in Mareitania, it was only my familiarity with you that made it possible."

"Why is it so hard for you to dream walk in Mareitania?"

Luna gestured to their surroundings, Twilight truly noticing for the first time that they were no longer in the library, but were in the realm of dreams. "See how different this is to the realm of dreams in Equestria?" Twilight nodded, she had walked the dream realm with Luna on several occasions and had found the mystical, star filled expanse to be serene and beautiful. Here though, the sky was dark and angry, filled with streaks of red and purple; the only stars she could see were around herself and Luna.

"Why is this so different to the dream realm in Equestria?"

"As Mareitania is a land filled with fear and horror, so too does its dream realm reflect this. I must be very careful where I tread, least I be overwhelmed by the nightmares of the ponies here."

"D-do you mean you could become Nightmare Moon again?"

"Oh no, the nightmares of ponies had nothing to do with me becoming Nightmare Moon; she was born of my anger and resentment. All the nightmares here would do is wound me and force my return to the waking world." Twilight relaxed and looked around the dream realm again, wondering what exactly it took to alter this place so badly. "Do you have any news you wish to tell me?" Luna asked, rousing Twilight from her silent reverie.

"Oh uh, yes, yes I do."

-0-0-0-

"Pierre..." Luna mused, "Such a name sounds griffish rather than pony."

"That's what I thought but Fleur says it's old prench, and I'm happy to take her word for it. Anyway we talked to the pony that tried to kill the Viscount and in exchange for his freedom he left us a clue, although none of us can make sense of it." Twilight's horn glowed, forming the message the assassin had left for Octavia and herself.

"Hail green son..." Luna mumured. "A most vexing clue indeed, it's almost as if it should make some kind of sense, yet doesn't. I'm also surprised you would trust the word of an attempted murderer."

Twilight sighed deeply and nodded, "Yeah I know. It wasn't until Fleur pointed out that I might have released an unprincipled murderer onto the streets that I really thought about it, but he didn't seem dangerous to me."

"And he wouldn't tell you more about Pierre?"

"No, he was worried we might be agents of the Duke, sent to find Pierre. The clue was the most we got out of him."

Luna nodded in understanding, "I can appreciate his caution. Ah well, I am sure you will find the meaning of the clue in due time. Now about these new companions you have acquired; do you trust them?"

"Yes, of course. I honestly don't think the filly would betray us without good reason and since she is just a filly we are doing our best to make sure no harm comes to her. Summer on the other hoof could potentially be a problem; she could betray us simply because somepony tells her to."

"It's a terrible thing they have done to her; slave conditioning is not easy to break as we learnt with escapees of Sombra's rule. Even free of his direct control those few ponies were subservient to others around them."

"Which is exactly what's happening with Summer."

"Be patient with her Twilight, and don't pressure her to change her ways; such conflict in her mind could be harmful to her. Show a little kindness and hopefully she can be made anew."

"We're trying our best but it's Octavia that seems to be trying the most. For the last couple of days she's been spending a lot of time with Summer."

"Perhaps then she has found a kindred spirit in Summer. From what I have learned through her dreams and nightmares she lived under very strict rules in her youth; go here, go there, do that, don't do that, and most importantly, be quiet; it doesn't surprise me she would empathize with Summer."

"It also explains why she would be friends with a loud and boisterous pony like Vinyl Scratch."

"Indeed, even now she rebels against her parents, if only in small ways. At any rate I hope she can help poor Summer. Last but not least I feel I should ask you what your immediate plans are short of solving this riddle and finding this 'Pierre.'"

"Actually we're taking a bit of a break from things and we're going to explore the Caverns of Mareitania!" Twilight grinned happily and squirmed in her excitement.

"Are you indeed?" Luna said bemusedly, "Then I hope you shall tell me what you find in there. Starswirl never wrote of what he found in the caverns, and he never spoke of it either, leaving me and my sister most curious of what he found. At any rate it shall be a fine balm to your soul."

"It's going to be great! Even if we don't find anything it'll be amazing to walk in Starswirl's hoofsteps!"

"Quite so. One more thing Twilight..."

"Yes?"

"It's time to wake up."

"Huh?"

-0-0-0-

"Bluh?"

"Hey! Hey Twilight! Hey! It's time to wake up! Hey! Hey! Hey Twilight! Wake up damn it!" The filly was bouncing up and down on Twilight's side which was, in all fairness, an effective method of waking ponies.

"Gruuuuhhh... I'm awake, I'm awake... Gerroff me..." The filly bounced off and went to pester Trixie who used her magic to float the protesting filly into the branches of a nearby tree before rolling over and going back to sleep. Fleur was rubbing her left ear and had the expression of a pony that was awoken by means of having a filly sticking their tongue in said pony's ear. Octavia was still sleeping and between them was Summer, curled up in a fetal position and shivering.

"What time is it?" Twilight asked.

Fleur glanced at the sky vaguely while still rubbing her ear, "I dunno? Eightish?"

"Uh, is your ear okay?"

"That filly has an unreasonably long tongue," Fleur supplied. "An unreasonably long and wet tongue."

There was a thud caused by the filly jumping the last few meters to the ground, "All the better to wake you with, my dear," she said before taking a running jumping onto Trixie. "Nopony puts me in a tree!"

"How close are we to the caverns?" Twilight asked while keeping an eye on Trixie and the filly. Trixie had once again picked the filly up in her magic and was dangling the filly by her rear hooves over her head, just far enough away so that the filly's flailing hooves skimmed by the end of her muzzle without touching it, the muzzle itself sporting a faint half smile. The filly slowly and purposefully crossed her forelegs and 'hmm'd' as she thought.

Fleur pointed behind her, "In those mountains. The entrance is literally ten minutes’ walk from here."

"Eewww-Ooofff!" Twilight's and Fleur's attention snapped back to Trixie and the filly who was now lying on Trixie's stomach, grinning hugely. "Why would you do that?" Trixie demanded to know as she wiped something off her face.

"What? I told you what I was going to do. Have I ever given you any reason to think that I wouldn't do something like that?"

"What did she do?" asked Fleur.

"She dribbled on me! Right in Trixie's face!" Fleur snorted in laughter and Twilight tried to hide her own smile but failed. "Stop laughing! Trixie did not deserve that!"

"You hung her by her rear hooves over your face. Hate to break it to you but yeah, you kind of deserved that. She did exactly what I would have done."

Trixie sighed and wiped her face on the back of the filly's cloak, "To be fair, that's exactly what Trixie would have done too."

Twilight lay back and tried to stave off her craving for pancakes when she noticed Summer peeking at her and the others, "Good morning Summer," she said as kindly as possible, "did you sleep well?" All of them were trying to get Summer to engage in normal conversation as much as possible, just so the pegasus could at least talk to them without freezing up.

"G-g-g-g..." Summer swallowed and tried again, "Good morning Twilight. No I-I didn't sleep very good, I...I had a nightmare..."

Twilight nodded, remembering what Luna had shown her of the Mareitanian dreamscape and how broken it was. "Do you want to talk about it?" The pegasus shook her head rapidly and Twilight let it go. Over the last day or so Summer had confided almost entirely in Octavia, who then passed the information onto the others; all of them had learnt more about depravity than they had ever thought possible. It did leave Twilight wondering though; why Octavia? Was she simply the quietest of them all which made Summer more comfortable? Or was it that Summer was far more used to dealing with earth ponies and was somehow replacing her mental image of her masters and mistresses with Octavia. If so, that was more than a little worrying.

"Will you at least tell Octavia about it?" Fleur asked hopefully. Summer nodded gently and Fleur gave a satisfied nod of her own. "Good, that's good. I guess we better get up then, cavern ain't gonna explore itself now is it?"

-0-0-0-

Twilight ignited a small orb of light on the end of her horn, Trixie and Fleur doing the same; and directed it into the low cave that was the entrance to the caverns. "We're not really going in there are we?" the filly asked, a small tremor in her voice.

"Why? Is da lil babby afwaid of the dark?" Trixie teased.

"No, of course not! I'm just not sure how much Summer is going to like it in there is all." They all looked at Summer who flinched under the attention, but otherwise seemed fine with going into the dark filled caverns.

"They u-used to lock me in a cage in the cargo hold in the d-dark," she offered as an explanation, although judging by the awkward expressions on the others faces nopony had really wanted to hear it.

"So the dark doesn't bother you then?" asked Fleur.

"No mistress, it was...peaceful. And as long as I kept the toys in they wouldn't b-beat me when they let me out." Summer watched as they all reeled slightly from her answer, "I'm sorry if I said something wrong!" she cried.

"It's...fine, honestly," Fleur told her. "It's just that we don't really expect to hear those sort of things so they might come across as a bit of a shock for us."

"You want me to say n-nothing then?" Hurt and confusion etched Summer's features. Fleur ran a hoof down her face and sighed. "I-if that's what you want..."

"No, it's not what I want. At all. Don't ever think that it would be. I just... I-uh..."

"It's alright Fleur," Octavia said from the back of the group; "I'll have a talk with her and see if I can get her to understand what too much information is." Fleur smiled her appreciation and turned her attention back to the cave.

Twilight set a hoof onto the slope and headed down, the others close behind. After a few meters the ground levelled out and became strangely uniform, almost like it wasn't a natural formation but more like an oversized animal burrow.

Twilight inspected the walls up close and found them to be covered in dozens upon dozens of marks, such as those that might be made by metal tools. They didn't appear to be very recent but it was obvious that they were far more recent than when Starswirl had ventured through here.

"This place feels wrong..." Trixie murmured, "There's no cave...stuff in it."

"Cave stuff?" the filly asked, "Is that a technical term?"

"You know what I mean; where's the stalactites and stalagmites? The eerie sound of distant water dripping, and-eep!" They all dropped to the floor as a flock of small, black, leathery winged bodies flew over them, screeching as they went. "At least there are bats here," Trixie commented once the flock had vanished.

The filly gingerly raised her head and shivered, "If one of those things touches me I'm going to freak out sooo much..."

Trixie grinned coyly, "You're afraid of bats aren't you..."

"Yes! Yes I am! It's not the dark I'm afraid of; it's those creepy little monstrosities!"

Twilight cleared her throat, "Perhaps now would be a good time to tell everypony to not touch anything with their hooves and do not put your hooves anywhere near your mouth."

"Why not?" asked the filly.

"Because of possible contamination by guano."

"Guano? What the heck's guano?"

"Poop!" Trixie supplied happily.

"Eeewww! This trip is getting worse all the time! And I don't know what you're so happy about Trixie; you're walking in it too."

"Trixie is well aware of that, thank you very much."

"Let's get a move on shall we?" said Fleur. "I'm not so fond of small places myself."

"What is that?" Octavia pointed at something embedded in the wall of the cave. On closer inspection it was a heavily rusted bar with a hoop on the end; "What is that supposed to be?"

"If I was to hazard a guess I'd say it was supposed to hold a torch. Hold on." Twilight pointed her horn further into the cave and formed a second orb of light which sped away from her, illuminating the cave as it went until it hit a bend and fizzled out. Staggered along the walls were more rusted objects like the one Octavia had pointed out, "Yep, definitely torch holders. It's also pretty clear this cave isn't natural. Or at least, not anymore."

"Seems a bit odd," said Octavia. "I'm no scientist but I'm fairly sure that diamond dogs wouldn't do something like this."

"They might," Twilight disagreed, "but not without a good reason; diamond dogs aren't totally uncivilized. At least not the ones in Equestria. I am though, actually thinking this is the work of ponies. This cave was carved out with tools, but diamond dogs use their paws for digging."

"Why would anypony want to come in here though?" asked Trixie.

"I would say for mining, but I'm really not sure what there would be to mine in a cavern."

"There must be something, otherwise why are there diamond dogs supposedly living here?" said Octavia.

"Can we just assume that there's only one way to find out and get a move on!" Fleur snapped, "This tunnel isn't getting any bigger!" The six ponies lapsed into silence and headed further into the darkness, the only sounds being the echoes of their hooves on the bare rock. At least that was until the filly tripped over something that bounced off out of sight, making a disconcerting rattle as it did.

"Son of a bitch," the filly groaned as she held her chin in her hooves; "Stupid dark and its stupid…non-lightness..."

"What did you trip over?" Fleur asked as she looked around, seeking the offending item.

"I don't know, it bounced off somewhere." The filly gestured up the passage and Fleur headed in the same direction, stepping gingerly in case she tripped over as well. "I don't see anything. Are you sure you didn't just trip over your own... Oh no. Oh Celestia no..." Fleur stopped, staring at what her light spell had illuminated; it was the mouldering skeleton of a pony, slumped against the wall of the cave and draped with the rusting remains of armoured barding.

"There's another over there," Octavia pointed out. The skeleton was in much worse a condition than the other, with many of its bones cracked and broken and the side of its skull, just to the left of its horn, had been caved in giving the impression the remains had been heavily trampled at some point. By its side were the rusted remnants of what looked to be a sword.

Trixie poked the head of the skeleton leaning against the wall, making the skull give up its fight against gravity and fall to the floor, echoing loudly as it did. "Oops," Trixie said with a apologetic grin as most of the others glared at her.

"Show a little respect Trixie," Octavia hissed.

"Sorry. Why d' you think there's pony remains here anyway?"

Twilight peered closer the skeleton by the wall, her magic tracing around a narrow slit in one of the plates of the barding; "I think these ponies were killed here and just left. This one has a stab mark in its armour."

"Do you think they killed each other?" the filly asked, kicking at the rusted sword.

Twilight glanced at the other body that had been trampled over; "I don't think so, they look like they tried to stop something getting in but failed," she said but she quietly hoped she was wrong. "Let's keep going, there might be a clue further in."

It didn't take long for them to find more skeletal remains scattered around further down the passage, each of them showing signs of having been killed and left to rot. The ponies also couldn't help but notice that the further they went, the more numerous the skeletal remains became until the passage suddenly opened up into a large open area, one which was littered with bones.

Twilight uttered a curse under her breath, almost as if she was afraid to disturb the silence surrounding them. Certain other ponies though, didn't possess her reticence; "What the fucking hell happened here?" Trixie asked loud enough to cause an echo.

"When we came in here I wasn't expecting to find a tomb," Octavia said quietly. "I think we should leave."

Twilight shook her head, "No, at the very least I want to find out what happened here." She raised her horn towards the ceiling and created a large orb of light which she cast into the air, moving it and increasing its brightness until the entire cavern was illuminated under what could only be described as a miniature sun.

"I thought this place would be bigger," the filly said almost as if she were disappointed, although Twilight couldn't help but agree; the cavern she had lit up was maybe three or four times the size of a hoofball pitch; far smaller than the mountain range above it would suggest.

"We should split up," Twilight said, "look for any clue that could tell us what happened here. Fleur and the filly, you go left. Octavia and Summer, you go right and Trixie, you're with me. If you need help, just shout and we'll be there in a jiffy."

The ponies all headed off in their given directions, each of them being careful to not disturb the remains of the fallen warriors. And warriors they were; all the bodies seemed to be wearing some kind of armour and more often than not had a weapon of some description by them.

"This feels wrong," Trixie said, although far quieter than her earlier outburst. "What could happen to kill all these soldiers?"

"I don't know," Twilight admitted, "but I have a feeling the answer is 'other soldiers.'"

"But they're all wearing the same armour."

"Maybe they turned on each other then, I don't know. Maybe their enemy reclaimed the bodies of their own fallen while leaving these here to rot."

"Maybe." The two ponies continued through the cavern, eagerly seeking out any clues they could find. Eventually they found themselves in an armoury, if the rusted and rotted remains of the weapons and armour there was any indication. There were also the rusted remnants of an anvil by the crumbled remains of a forge. "Surely all these fires and stuff in a cave would have been, like, really bad for the health of these ponies?"

"I don't think it really mattered in the end," Twilight replied in an offhand way. "There are less bodies up here," she observed, "so they were definitely defending against an attack from the entrance."

"Hey, what you think this is?" Trixie was standing next to something a little taller than herself that was shrouded in a sheet of mouldering canvas. Before Twilight could tell her to be careful Trixie pulled at the canvas, which fell apart in her magic, to reveal a set of silver barding, covered in intricate scrollwork and shining slightly despite the layer of grime coating it. "Woah..."

Twilight stared silently at the armour before her, studying the scrollwork and noticing the golden tree symbol of Mareitania on the large armoured peytral. There was a hole in the forehead of the helm that was clearly designed for a unicorn’s horn, the scrollwork weaving around it. The barding consisted of several plates of silver amour, complete with more scrollwork; and were worked so that they were placed around a hole in the side which would allow a wing of a pegasus to poke through. Or the wing of an alicorn...

"The last rebellion!" Twilight exclaimed, "This must have been the alicorn’s armour!"

"Really?" Trixie said sceptically, "Trixie was expecting a mythical figure like the Lady, or whatever she's called, to be a bit bigger than this, like Celestia kinda big. This armour's made for a pony that's only a few inches taller than us."

"I suppose so... Does it really matter though? I mean I'm an alicorn and I'm nowhere near as tall as Celestia is; who says alicorn's have to be tall?"

"My imagination, that's who." Trixie snorted and looked away, tracing her eyes over the rest of the cavern. "I guess it didn't end well for the rebellion even after the Lady surrendered. I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise."

There was a crunch and a clatter from behind them as Fleur and the filly approached, Fleur staring at the armour with apprehension; "I guess that confirms my suspicions," she said.

"The last rebellion?"

"Yep." Fleur studied the armour, her eyes glazing slightly until Twilight asked "Did you find anything?"

"Huh? Oh, right. No, not really; just the living areas and the stores I think. Everything was pretty thoroughly smashed up and rotted away."

"There was less bodies over there though," the filly pointed out.

"Yeah we noticed that too," Twilight told them. "If this truly is the last rebellion then what happened here was their last stand where they fought to the end."

"Or they didn't but the soldiers killed them anyway," Fleur said bitterly. "Are the other two still looking?"

"Actually m-mistress, we've f-found something." They all yelped and span around to glare at the pegasus who blended in with the gloom far too well in Twilight's cloak. "S-sorry," Summer squeaked with her eyes squeezed shut and her ears folded back.

"It's okay," Fleur told her; "You just scared us a bit; you're surprisingly sneaky."

"Sorry," Summer said again before opening her eyes. "Octavia s-sent me to get you."

"Is she okay?"

"Mmhmm, we found something so if you could...uh, follow me-uh...please?" Fleur nodded, prompting Summer to turn around and head back to where she had left Octavia, the others following close behind.

"What did you find?" Twilight asked her.

"It's a book, but Octavia said we shouldn't touch it ourselves."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dirty and we have to use our hooves and mouths mistre- Twilight."

"Oh, right. Fair enough I suppose." Summer led them through the cavern to where Octavia was waiting on a raised area next to the skeletal remains of a unicorn. She was also surrounded by black marks on the ground, evidence that whatever had been here had been burnt. "Summer said you found something?"

"Actually she can take all the credit for it; she has remarkably sharp eyes." Octavia gave a beaming smile to Summer who returned a small, shy smile of her own.

"That's pegasi for you," said Twilight.

"Yep. Anyway, we found this place here, which seems to have been burnt at some point, making me think it was records that the soldiers burnt and we were about to move on when Summer spotted that." Octavia pointed at the unicorns remains, or rather, the book underneath it. "I didn't think it was a good idea to touch it ourselves and thought it might be best to bring you here.”

"Good idea." Twilight gently lifted the skeleton up and slid the book out from beneath it and reverently returned the bones to their former resting place before paying attention to the book, taking note of the amount of dark red upon it.

"Are those blood stains?" asked the filly, although that was a bit of a understatement; the blood had fused quite a bit of the book into a solid lump. With careful manipulation of her magic Twilight managed to separate some of the pages in the middle of the book. She lit her horn and read some of the writing before remembering there were others that would probably like to hear what it said. She cleared her throat and began to read.

"The pegasi refuse to fight. Even after our efforts to free them, they believe that all they will become is slaves under a new regime. Do they not understand what we are trying to do for them? What we are trying to do for all ponies? That they will not consider fighting for our Lady in her quest for freedom for all is an insult! Perhaps they preferred their lives as slaves! If so I'm sure we can accommodate their wishes perfectly well! Hopefully the pegasi in other camps will be more pliant, especially once we figure out how to remove their collars fully, rather than merely cease their operation."

"I'm going to hazard a guess here and say this is probably the unicorns’ diary," said Fleur. "I wonder why the pegasi would refuse to fight though."

"After centuries of slavery I imagine that they weren't keen on being forced into something they didn't start," Twilight told her. "Honestly, I can't blame them, especially with the symbol of their slavery still attached to them."

"Is there any more?"

Twilight skimmed down the page, a range of expressions passing across her face. "Uh, not on this page. It's mostly just rants about the pegasi, flavoured with insults that only a creature with wings could...appreciate." She tried to turn the page but they refused to separate so she kept trying until she found a page she could turn.

"Let's see... Date's obscured by blood again... Okay, right; we found a colt wandering around outside and were forced to apprehend him; how are we to trust a child to not reveal our location to somepony? Even sat as far from him as I am I can still hear him wailing for his mother. The Lady tried to console the child but even her splendor was not enough to distract him from his incessant hollering. Maybe it would be kinder for all to cut the boys throat; we can't release him and his cries are already driving ponies to distraction."

"This unicorn wasn't a very pleasant fellow was he," said Octavia, the disdain clear in her voice.

"He's just one pony," Twilight said, "I'm sure that his opinion wasn't the same as everypony else’s." Twilight tried to turn the page but again it was all stuck together. She passed quite a few pages before she found one that would open.

"The attack on Bitmark has failed. Spectacularly. Without the pegasi and their numbers to harass the armies of the Duke we were left far too open to counterattack. Cursed featherbrains! Do they not see what we are trying to do? Why do they still refuse to aid us when we have done so much to aid them? I fear that without them the revolution shall soon falter and- and the rest is too stained for me to read," Twilight finished.

"Did they really base their entire plan on the idea that the pegasi would help them?" Trixie asked while Twilight attempted to find a new page. "Seems a bit short-sighted."

"Don't see why not," said Fleur. "The pegasi would have the numbers they need and the Duke's army at the time would have been mostly helpless against them. Seems like a sound plan."

Trixie snorted, "Not really, the pegasi are taught to control the weather, not fight. Between that and their clipped wings I imagine that the pegasi would have been pretty crap on the battlefield. Especially if they're afraid to strike back against their masters like Summer is."

"Huh, when you put it like that, yeah, I can understand why the pegasi didn't fight. Actually, like that it kinda sounds like the rebellion didn't expect them to be much more than airborne cannon fodder."

Twilight found a new page and smoothed it down before reading; "It's over. Without our Lady to guide us we fell to petty infighting, which led many to leave, declaring our cause to be hopeless. There are barely more than a couple hundred of us now, all hiding within our last bastion. It's only a matter of time before the Duke comes for us and ends us once and for all. Perhaps I too should leave before it's too late."

"I guess he left it a little too late," said Octavia.

"It does look like it's the last entry," Twilight agreed as she tried to separate more of the pages, but she was doing more damage than good and instead placed it in the legs of the pony who wrote it. "I wish we could learn more from it; I imagine some of it could be useful to us."

"Yeah, as a guide on what not to do," Trixie said sarcastically.

"Actually I was hoping for a hint on how to remove the collars if nothing else." Twilight turned and gazed out across the cavern, a sense of sadness enveloping her; these ponies may not have succeeded in their goal, but they deserved better than to be left here, forgotten. "When all this is over I want to give these ponies a proper burial. They deserve at least that much."

"Assuming we succeed," said Fleur. Twilight couldn't help but concede her point but was happy no one had dismissed her idea.

"So now what?" asked the filly. "We came all this way and learnt nothing. We haven't even seen a hint of a diamond dog."

"I agree," Octavia said, "there should definitely be more to this place than what we can see. I doubt Starswirl the Bearded spent as long as he did exploring the caverns if this is all he found."

"Yeah," Trixie agreed, "I was under the impression this distraction away from important things in Neigh Orleans wouldn't be a total waste of time."

"Actually," Fleur reminded Trixie, "we came here in the full knowledge that this might be a total waste of time, so don't try that silly argument. Besides, this hasn't been a total waste of time."

"Oh? How so?"

"At the very least we found out a decent reason as to why the last rebellion failed, even before the Duke issued his ultimatum to the Lady. We also found out there was an alicorn present if not the actual Lady if the armour made for an alicorn is any indication. Both important pieces of information."

"Fine," Trixie admitted with a pout. She noticed that Octavia seemed a bit confused, "The armour's over there," she said, pointing over her shoulder. "Come on, I'll show you." Trixie led Octavia away, followed closely by Summer who almost chased after them when she noticed Octavia was going somewhere. Twilight, Fleur and the filly followed behind because they had nothing better to do.

"You don't think Summer's getting a bit attached to Octavia do you?" asked the filly. "Can't be healthy."

"Not really a lot about it we can do," said Fleur. "She knows what she wants."

"We could all try and do things with her, so she gets used to dealing with ponies other than Octavia," Twilight suggested, "but we don't want to force her outside of her comfort zone either." They stopped at the armour, Octavia seeming suitably impressed with it. "Right now I just want to take a break from running all over the country, blundering from one mistake to the next."

"But there's no more cave to explore," the filly pointed out, "and unless you intend to camp out here for the fun of it we should probably head off."

"Not yet, there's something I want to try first." While Trixie and Octavia admired the armour, Twilight, much to the consternation of Fleur and the filly, raised her head and started to release a fine purple mist from her horn.

"Twilight, what are you doing?" asked Fleur, "You look ridiculous."

"I'm seeing where the air in here goes. If there are any hidden doorways with an air current going through it the mist will be drawn towards it."

"Then surely the mist would be drawn towards the entrance then, seeing as that's the biggest hole around here?"

"Not necessarily, if the air is going somewhere else then the mist will be drawn away from the entrance because that's where the new air would come from."

"And if the air is going to more than one place?"

"Then we'll have to investigate every place it goes." They waited, and much to Fleur's and the filly's surprise, the mist started drifting towards the back of the cavern, carried on a breeze so gentle that they couldn't feel it. Twilight couldn't help but look a bit smug.

"Alright, pat yourself a bit harder on the back, show-off," the filly said with a grin. They followed the trail of the mist, albeit slowly because the breeze was very gentle and not moving the mist any faster than a meter every ten seconds or so. After a short eternity they were led to the back left of the cavern, behind where Fleur and the filly found the remains of the rebellions stores. There was a pile of collapsed stones there, through which the mist was being drawn.

"Stand back everypony, this could get messy." Twilight started moving the rubble, a steady stream of rocks and pebbles floating through the air and forming a new pile several meters away. It didn't take long for the outline of a tunnel to become visible, but Twilight became concerned at what was in it. Rather than the tunnel collapsing, it had been purposefully filled in with larger rocks using a pattern like a bricklayer would use. "Well that's weird."

"I wonder why they blocked this tunnel up?" Fleur pondered out loud.

"I don't think the ponies did this. I imagine they would have sealed it up properly, with cement and bricks and stuff."

"You think the diamond dogs did it?" the filly asked excitedly.

"Mmm... Maybe... I don't know. From what I know of diamond dogs they would've just piled dirt in the tunnel and been done with it. I guess we'll find out soon enough." Twilight started levitating the rocks out, the process taking several minutes because she had to do it layer by layer, and the entire thing reached back quite a few meters.

Once the last rock was cleared Twilight sat down heavily in an attempt to catch her breath, "I really- shouldn't have- done that- in one..." she panted.

"Good job though," said Trixie, giving Twilight a sarcastic pat on the back, "if the whole princ-mmmph!" Trixie was rapidly silenced by a thin band of purple wrapping around her muzzle. A band made by Twilight who was giving Trixie the raised eyebrow treatment.

"You remember the list of things we don't talk about?"

"Mmhmm."

"That's still on the list."

"Mmhmm." Twilight released her hold on Trixie's muzzle before giving a cherubically innocent smile to the others, "Are we ready to go?" They all gave various indicators to their readiness and followed Twilight down the diamond dog hole, leaving the orb of light to fizzle out and return the remains of the last rebellion to their rest.

-0-0-0-

"Now this is more like a diamond dog tunnel," Octavia said as they cautiously trotted into the depths of the caverns winding tunnel system. The tunnels were all rough-hewn from the rock and were clearly no more natural than the entryway into the first cavern had been. Unlike that tunnel though, the diamond dog one changed shapes and sizes in the space of a few meters and regularly crossed over with over tunnels.

"How do the diamond dogs navigate through these labyrinthine tunnels," the filly said, earning herself another collection of strange looks.

"By scent I imagine," Twilight told her, although she didn't know if that were true or not. The ponies kept walking, following the tunnel that was always in front of them, but it was becoming clear that wasn't the best method of navigation.

"You think we should have left a trail for us to follow back?" Trixie asked, sounding a little nervous.

"I can't help the feeling that we're being watched," added Octavia.

"And is it just me, or is it a lot warmer down here than in the cavern?" said Fleur.

"Yes to the first two, double yes to the last," the filly muttered although she did nothing about it, leaving her cloak where it was. Octavia helped Summer remove her cloak though, since it was obviously becoming uncomfortably warm for her.

"Maybe we should turn back," Fleur suggested.

"No," Twilight said, sounding full of determination, "if we really need to get out I can teleport us back outside. Let's keep going for as long as we can; if we find nothing I'll port us outside, okay?"

They all agreed to those terms although with varying degrees of reluctance. They kept heading in the direction they had picked, but progress was slow as the nerves the others displayed started to rub off on Twilight. "It's fine, It'll all be fine," she whispered to herself. "There's nothing down here to be afraid of." She kept going but stopped when the floor beneath her began to echo weirdly, "What is that?"

"What's what?" Fleur asked her.

Twilight stomped lightly, the sound echoing slightly. "The ground, it's hollow."

"Maybe it's a tunnel crossing beneath us," Octavia suggested, although she couldn't help but stomp on the ground herself to find out what Twilight meant.

"Pfft, you're all overreacting," said Trixie. She reared up and prepared to stomp the ground a good deal harder than the others to prove her point. "There's nothing here-aah!" As she brought her forehooves to slam against the ground they went straight through the ground so that her chest and chin hit the floor with a solid smack.

That was a lesser concern though as the ground cracked around her, opening up into a hole which swallowed Trixie and swiftly spread to swallow the rest before they had a chance to move. Thankfully though they didn't have far to fall as the ground collapsed into a pit about twice as deep as Fleur was tall.

"Everypony okay?" Twilight asked as soon as she had recovered enough to do so.

"I think I landed on my face," Trixie groaned. "Twice."

"And yet half as many times as you deserve you fucking idiot," Fleur snapped. She took in her surroundings, seeing that the only way back out was to climb out. "Why would the diamond dogs dig a pit like this?"

"To trap silly ponies of course!" a voice from above them growled. The ponies looked up to see several diamond dogs in simple, yet robust looking metal armour pointing spears down at them. What caught their attention more though was what was stood beside one of the dogs. Wearing different amour that gleamed in the darkness and glaring daggers down at the six ponies, was a male crystal pony, sparkling in the gloom.

"What the what?" the filly said loudly, summing up their collective confusion quite nicely.

19. Twilight's adventures underground

"What's a crystal pony doing here?" Twilight asked in surprise as she gawped at the dark grey crystal pony.

The pony looked down on them with obvious disdain, "You're asking me the questions? Seriously?" Twilight folded her ears back and grinned sheepishly.

"Why is nopony else concerned that pony is made out of shiny crap?" the filly asked. "Am I seriously the only fucking pony worried about that." Summer gingerly held up a hoof, "Thank you Summer!"

"Relax," Fleur told her, "crystal ponies are ponies from the Crystal Empire where everything is really crystally, even the ponies."

"Oh thank you Fleur, that was really fucking helpful."

The crystal pony narrowed his eyes at Fleur, "How do you know about the Crystal Empire?" he demanded.

"Because I've been there. In fact... Hooves up everypony that's been there." Fleur held up a hoof, joined by Twilight and Octavia. "It was on my to do list," muttered Trixie.

"But that's impossible!" the stallion yelled. "The Empire vanished over a thousand years ago!"

"Mmhmm, and it came back last year." Twilight cocked her head quizzically, "Surely you would have noticed when your coats became crystalline again?"

"No, our coats have always been crystalline down here!" The stallion appeared to be on the verge of a few blown aneurysm.

"Really? How?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

"I. Am. Asking. The questions!" the stallion yelled at her. He took a moment to compose himself and in a far calmer tone of voice asked "What of the traitor king Sombra?"

"He's gone, destroyed by the Crystal Heart." Twilight told him, taking note of the relief that crossed the stallions features.

"The Crystal Heart is back? Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'm actually the pony that found it," Twilight said, although she felt embarrassed for saying it like that. The stallion fell quiet, the silence stretching out far longer than necessary.

"You wants we should toss 'em in the deeps now boss?" one of the dogs asked, clearly becoming agitated by the stallions silence.

"No! No... Get them out of that pit and put inhibitors on the unicorns and bind the pegasi's wings; we're taking them to the council." Two of the dogs dropped their weapons and set about digging a ramp that the ponies could walk up while two more dogs jumped into the pit, jamming inhibitors on Twilight's, Fleur's and Trixie's horns before pulling out some rope to bind Summer's wings; Twilight sighing in relief that the inhibitor didn't cancel the spell hiding her wings.

Octavia quickly interspersed herself between Summer and the dog, "You don't need to do that, she can't fly!"

"Huh, likely story," the hulking diamond dog said before roughly shoving Octavia aside. He stomped towards Summer who backed up until her rear hit the side of the pit before cowering down and sobbing, her wings locked tightly to her sides.

"Stop Bruto," the stallion said, the diamond dog backing off a few steps. "Can she genuinely not fly?"

"She doesn't know how; she was trained and kept as a sex slave her entire life and she used to be punished if she tried to fly. We literally only rescued her the other day and haven't even tried to teach her."

The disgust was evident on the stallions face and he nodded to Bruto. "Leave the pegasus unbound; she doesn't need to be traumatised further." Bruto growled and crammed the rope back into his armour before reclaiming his weapon and pointing it at the six ponies. "How do you intend on teaching a pegasus to fly? Especially in this country?" the stallion asked.

There were some awkward glances between four of the six ponies, a confused glance from the shortest one among them and Summer was still cowering on the floor, trying her best to stop shaking while Octavia rubbed her back. "We haven't worked that out yet," said Fleur. "We'll probably work on it once we get back to Equestria."

The stallion raised an eyebrow, "You're Equestrians?"

"Two of us certainly. Another two of us have lived there for some time."

The stallion shook his head and grinned, "The council are going to have a field day with you lot."

-0-0-0-

"How much further is it?" the filly whined, "We've been walking for aaggeeessss..."

"Stop whining little pony," Bruto behind them growled, making Twilight grin as she remembered how Rarity had dealt with the diamond dogs back home. Suddenly the haft of a spear struck her on the rear, causing her to yelp and limp for a few steps before walking normally again.

"What was that for?"

"Won't hit baby pony. Yet. So hit you instead because you find dogs pain funny."

"But I'm not a baaaby! Why are you so meeeaaannn?? What did I ever do to yooouuuu-aah!!" Bruto swung his spear so the bottom of it struck the filly squarely between her rear legs, sending her flying a couple meters, landing with her cloak over her head. She jammed one foreleg between her thighs and screamed while her other leg scrambled to move her cloak over her back, but not before Twilight noticed a strange pink line on the filly's back, devoid of fur.

The other diamond dogs set on Bruto the moment the filly had landed and proceeded to claw, bite and punch him, swiftly drawing blood. The stallion walked up to Bruto while Twilight and the others made a barrier around the filly. The other dogs ceased their attack, allowing the stallion to approach Bruto, who tried to stand up before being roughly pushed back down by the stallion. "Did I tell you to do that?"

"B-but sir! She just prisoner!" Bruto yelped as the stallion backhoofed him across the face.

"I said, did I tell you to do that?"

"No boss man."

"No, I did not, because I would never tell you to strike a filly. Even if I did I would never tell you to strike her in such a way. Try that again and you'll be cleaning latrines for the rest of your miserable life, got it?"

"Yes boss man." The stallion stepped away from the prone dog, allowing him to drag himself back to his paws, whining pitifully all the while.

"I'm very sorry about that, there's a reason people don't like Bruto. Besides his wondrous odour that is." The stallion tried to get closer to the filly but was swiftly blocked by Trixie and Octavia. "I'm not going to touch her, I only want to see if she's okay."

"Don't care," Trixie told him.

"I'm fine," the filly squeaked from behind Trixie. The young filly glared at the stallion, despite the tears still streaming from her eyes, "Just don't expect me to walk the rest of the way." The filly stood up, but from the way her back hunched up it was obviously painful for her. Fleur lay down next to the filly, allowing her to scramble onto Fleur's back with a bit of help from Twilight nudging her.

Fleur stood up and glared at the crystal pony, who took it as a hint to get back to leading them to their destination. "It really isn't much further now, promise." They set off again and true to his word, it was only ten minutes before they came to a large metal door that was guarded by another diamond dog and a-

"Vampony!" yelled the filly, delicately trying to back away without falling off Fleur's back. "What are you doing? It's a freaking vampony!" Noticing that nopony else was freaking out, although on Summer's part that may have been because she had no idea what a vampony was and that she should be scared of it; the filly stomped a hoof on Fleur's back. "Why is nopony else freaking out?" she asked, sounding like she wanted to cry.

"It's only a bat pony," Fleur told her, "she's not going to hurt you. There's no such thing as vamponies."

The filly buried her face in Fleur's mane, "This place is trying to kill me," she mumbled, "with its shiny ponies and half bat ponies and crazy dog people."

The dark grey bat pony mare gave her a lazy smile, exposing her fangs, "Actually we're quarter bat, and quarter dragon, and prefer the term 'thestrals.' Sooo... Anyway, Onyx, I see you made some new friends and holy shit what happened to Bruto?"

"Bruto happened to Bruto," the stallion growled. "I'm taking them to see the council."

"Really? Why? Couldn't you just toss them in the deeps like everypony else that intrudes down here?"

Onyx shook his head, "No chance Shadow, they claim to be from Equestria, well some of them anyway, and displayed knowledge of the Crystal Empire, saying it had returned."

"No kidding? Huh... Still, why would a bunch of Equestrians be traipsing around Mareitania?" The mare shrugged, "I guess that's something for the council to sort out."

"Uh, excuse me." Twilight waved a hoof, hoping to get the mares attention.

Shadow pointed a hoof at Twilight, "You in the purple fur!"

"Uh, yeah...um... You said you were quarter dragon right?"

"That do be right."

"Huh... Princess Luna never mentioned that..." Suddenly Twilight's space was invaded by the mare who shoved her nose up against Twilight's.

"So Princess Luna is back?" she asked. Twilight was unsure whether the thestral was happy about that or not.

"Um, yes?"

"And not Nightmare Moon..."

"Well, she was Nightmare Moon when she first came back, but me and my friends used the Elements of Harmony on her, restoring her to Princess Luna."

Shadow suddenly leapt away in a flying back flip, cheering wildly. "Yeah! Princess Luna's back! Wait 'til the others hear this!"

"They can hear about it after the council is done talking with them," Onyx reminded her. "Once the council is convinced of their honesty, then you can spread the news."

"Aww, you're no fun." Shadow pouted and folded her legs with a huff. She glanced at the ponies and her eyes suddenly widened when she saw summer, "Hey! Is that a pegasus? Haven't had one of your kind down here in...well, longer than I can remember anyway."

Summer dropped her eyes to the ground and rubbed her forelegs together nervously, "Sorry."

"Sorry? What the hell you apologizing for?" Onyx grabbed the thestral by her tail and dragged her back down to the ground, whispering something in her ear. Shadow quickly folded her ears back and muttered a swearword, "I guess the surface is still as shitty as ever." She took off again and flew over to the door, "I just want you to know that nothing like what happens on the surface goes on down here." She knocked three times on the door, an echo issuing from every strike.

A second later there was a clunk as something was unlocked and the doors ponderously swung open, pushed by another diamond dog and a crystal pony mare; "Welcome to the greatest city in Mareitania; Caverndown," Shadow said with obvious pride. The six ponies stood in awe of what they saw before them; an entire underground city built out of crystal. They stumbled through the door and found themselves on a ledge overlooking the city, the light shining from its facets almost unbearably bright after their time spent in the dark tunnels.

At the center of the city was a squat, domed building with a bell tower type structure in its middle. Around the dome the rest of the city was arrayed in way similar to the Crystal Empire. At the back of the city a waterfall fell from a ledge higher than they were, landing in a reservoir from which a river ran around the city before disappearing into another cave and in the roof of the cavern were dozens upon dozens of holes, the purpose of which escaped the six ponies until their eyes adjusted and they could see the thestrals flying back and forth, figuring the holes must be their homes. As a final touch the walls of the caverns were covered in clusters of crystal which shone as if emitting pure sunlight. "Pretty cool huh?" said Shadow.

Perhaps the most important feature of the city though was in its many streets; ponies, both crystal and thestral as well as diamond dogs, were walking around on whatever business they had like nothing was wrong with the world. Harmony did have a place in Mareitania, and it was called Caverndown.

"This place is amazing," Twilight said breathlessly. "Ponies living peacefully with diamond dogs. I never thought I'd see that..."

"Well, technically the diamond dogs were here first so it wouldn't have been very nice of us to just kick 'em out."

"Enough Shadow, we can answer their questions later. Right now we need to get them to the council." Onyx started to lead the ponies down a ramp that hugged the cavern wall when he stopped; "Bruto, take Shadow's post." The diamond dog whined but shuffled back out through the door which was quickly sealed up again.

Onyx led them down into the city, taking a route that led straight to the domed structure in the center. As they walked they were met by the curious stares of the ponies and diamond dogs in the street; a far cry from the outright hostile stares they would get from some ponies on the surface. "Why does this place look like the Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked, "Even if it's only a quarter of the size."

Onyx snorted but deigned to answer her question, "It was built to look like the Crystal Empire as a reminder of our late home. Admittedly it's lacking a giant towering castle in the center, but I've been told the rest is a pretty good imitation."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Onyx shrugged as he walked, "It's not like I've ever seen the Crystal Empire so I don’t actually know."

"Fair enough. When did your people come here?"

"I said your questions would be answered after you're done with the council."

"Aww come on Onyx," said Shadow, giving the stallion a nudge in the side. "There's no harm in answering a few questions."

"Ugh fine. My ancestors came here during the reign of King Sombra. They came to Maretania to escape from his clutches-"

"Why didn't they go to Equestria?"

"Because they thought that Equestria was going to be next on Sombra's list of conquests. Anyway, a large group of escapees came to Maretania seeking shelter, but the country was still pretty turbulent at the time, what with the pegasi only having just been subjugated. Rather than risk further enslavement they wandered until they found the caverns where they found the diamond dogs."

"Of course this was literally just a hole in the ground back then," Shadow added. "Diamond dogs don't exactly go in for fancy."

"So the diamond dogs took your people in?" Fleur asked.

Onyx nodded, "Yeah, the diamond dogs love of crystals meant that they were more than happy to take us in. Our people hadn't intended to stay for long though, but when the Empire vanished we had nowhere else to go and we ended up building the city here."

"But where did you get all the crystals from?"

"There were loads already here from what I've been told, but not enough to build all this from, so we grew them."

"You can grow crystals?" Trixie asked suspiciously.

"We aren't called crystal ponies for nothing. I'm not saying we built it quickly mind you; it took decades."

"Okay then," said Fleur, nodding approvingly. "What about you Shadow? How'd your people end up here?"

"Eh, it's not really a long story. After Celestia beat Nightmare Moon less than three minutes after the lunar rebellion had begun, we figured that Nightmare Moon's army of little monsters probably wasn't welcome in Equestria, so we scattered and most of us left. Through quite a bit of trial and error we ended up here where the crystal ponies and diamond dogs offered my folks a place to rest their wings."

"Hold on," said Trixie, who seemed amused by something; "what do you mean 'Nightmare moon's army of little monsters?'"

"Oh, well, you don't think Princess Luna decided on the spur of the moment that she was going to throw a hissy fit and bring about eternal night on a whim do you? She made plans, and one of those plans was making an army loyal to her and robust enough to take on the army loyal to Celestia. She did that by creating my people, the thestrals."

"Luna created your people?" Twilight asked in amazement.

"Well, yeah... Didn't you know that?"

"No! Luna's never mentioned that she created the thestrals! I don't know if Celestia even knows that!"

"Oh, well yeah, she created us. Half pony, part dragon and part bat."

"Why dragon?" asked Octavia.

"Because dragons are hella tough. Sounds like a good thing to have in your unstoppable army of the night. The bat part was mostly for show though; Princess Luna apparently did love them bats. It's also because of the dragon and bat thing that we all have wings, although I don't know why she didn't try to make alicorns..."

"How do you know all that?" Twilight asked, choosing to ignore the part about alicorns; she knew full well how alicorns are made.

"My dad told me, and he was told by his dad who was one of the first thestrals created."

"But that was over a thousand years ago!" Twilight blurted, "How was he there!?"

"Dragons live for, like, a really long time. I mean like thousands of years. Because we're part dragon we live for pretty long time too. My gramps was almost seven hundred when he died. Lore keeper Ebon is even older; he's seven hundred and eighty...something, I think."

"Who's Lore keeper Ebon?"

"One of the council," Onyx told her; "representative of the thestrals. Incidentally, he's here in this very building with the rest of the council so that's enough questions." Onyx had brought them to the building in the center of the city. He led them up the stairs and stopped at the entrance which was guarded by two mares, one a crystal pony and the other a thestral. "Why have you brought these ponies here?" the crystal mare asked.

"They have information I think the council would be very interested in; I brought them here for questioning."

"What kind of information?" asked the other guard.

"Information on Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and Princess Luna." The eyes of the two guards widened and they looked sideways at each other.

"You better not be kidding around with this Onyx," the crystal mare said, suddenly a lot less professional sounding; "the council will have your head if you're wrong."

"Yeah, I know." The two guards stepped back and opened the doors, one of them entering before allowing Onyx to lead them inside. The room they were led into was surprisingly empty, housing only some podiums and benches. There were doors leading into other rooms but they were far less important than what was floating in the center of the room inside the tower structure Twilight noticed on top of the dome; it was a crystal, shaped like a heart.

"Is...is that a crystal heart?" she asked Onyx, watching as the crystal gently spun on its axis.

"Indeed it is," was the answer she received, but it wasn't Onyx that said it. The group was approached by a crystal pony mare, who was distinguishable from other crystal mares by not her rose coloured coat, but by the horn adorning her forehead.

"A crystal unicorn!" Twilight exclaimed, "I've never seen one of your kind before!"

"Is Twilight about to have a fangasm?" the filly whispered in Fleur's ear.

"I see you know something of crystal ponies if you know how rare crystal unicorns are. Good, that'll make it easier to decide if what you're claiming to know is true." The mare must have noticed the confusion on Twilight's and the others faces and she bowed, "Councillor Quartz, representative of the crystal ponies, at your service. I'll be one of the people questioning you as soon as the others arrive."

"Who are the others?" Twilight asked.

"Lore keeper Ebon, the ironically named representative of the thestrals, and Chief Fishbait, representative of the diamond dogs; please do not laugh at his name. You wished to know about our crystal heart?"

"Yes please. How do you have one is all I really wish to know."

"Our forebears created it. Without the true crystal heart we lost our luster amongst other things, and a new one was made in its place. However, it was never as good as the original and without the magnifying and amplify powers of the Crystal Empire's castle it never will be. There are even parts of the caverns where it's effects do not reach."

"Couldn't you try to recreate the amplifying matrix of the Empire?"

"We don't know how. Believe me, I wish we could; things might not be so rotten on the surface if we could spread its effects further." A door thumped open, echoing around the room, "Ah, the others are here." First in was a snow white, male thestral, with a salt and pepper mane and tail and piercing red eyes. Behind entered a mottled grey and brown diamond dog, who, despite being a diamond dog, had a twinkle in his eye betraying an intellect perhaps greater than his fellows.

"I hopes this isn't silly waste of time like last meeting," the diamond dog said once he had claimed the left podium; "almost made me miss lunch."

"Calm yourself Fishbait," the thestral admonished the chief as he claimed the center podium; "I'm not sure this meeting will concern you too much as it is."

"Ebon, Fishbait, glad you could join us," said Quartz as she claimed the remaining podium. "Perhaps now we could find out what these lovely ponies know about the Empire and Equestria."

"What? Why do chief have to be here for this? This doesn't even involve diamond dogs!"

"Fishbait..." Quartz said with an unspoken warning.

"No no, go on; I listening."

Lore keeper Ebon cleared his throat, "Sentry Onyx, why have you brought these ponies before us?"

"We found them wandering the tunnels. As we apprehended them we found out that some of them are from Equestria and they claimed that the Crystal Empire and Princess Luna had returned. I thought it prudent to bring them here for questioning."

The thestrals eyes bulged, "Princess Luna? She's returned?"

"I know!" Shadow shouted excitedly, "Isn't it awesome!" The councillor narrowed his eyes at her and she took a step back, "Sir."

Ebon shook his head and readdressed his captive audience. "When did she return?"

"A bit less than a year and a half ago, your honour," said Twilight.

"And she was truly herself, not Nightmare Moon?"

"She was Nightmare Moon, at first, but my friends and I reclaimed the Elements of Harmony and cleansed her of her evil. She is Princess Luna once again."

Ebon sat back and rubbed his chin in thought, "Well I'll be... It was obvious that the mare in the moon was gone, but I never dared to hope that our true princess would be restored."

Fleur took a step forward, "Excuse me your honour, but are you saying you don't support Luna as Nightmare Moon?"

"That's Princess Luna to you, unicorn, and no, we do not support Nightmare Moon. Eternal night would be just as deadly to us as it would be to the rest of the world which is why we never moved to support the princess in her attack on Celestia. We are loyal to Princess Luna, our benevolent lady of the night; not that vile tyrant."

"Then why didn't you try to stop her!?"

"Because she would have done something drastic to make us obey if she knew we planned to betray her!"

"Me thinks you getting too excited Lore keeper, you missing important questions like what ponies doing in caverns!" The diamond dog turned to the group and growled, "What ponies doing in caverns?"

"We originally came looking for something called the long story," Twilight told him, "but I have always wanted to explore the caverns since I was a filly; to walk the same paths as Starswirl the Bearded."

"Oh great," Fishbait grumbled; "tourists. Bearded pony came long ago, found dogs and crystals and left us alone. Maybe you should do same, yes? Also long story load of hokum, it just ponies keeping records of things, not dogs."

"So you do keep a record of all that has happened in Mareitania?" asked Fleur.

"As much as we can, yes," Quartz answered. "However that doesn't mean ponies should come sneaking around down here hoping for a history lesson. What interest are our records to you?"

"We were hoping to find information on the last rebellion and the alicorn that led it," Twilight deflated a bit, "but I think what we found in the first cavern answered that question for us..."

"Indeed." Quartz leaned forward and squinted her eyes slightly, "What is your interest in the alicorn?"

"Mostly to know if she was real or not," said Twilight, "and to see whether it was the Lady."

Lore keeper Ebon barked a single laugh, "The Lady? The Lady is a myth! I don't know who it was that led that rebellion, but I assure you it wasn't her."

"Then who was it?" Twilight implored.

"As I said, we don't know. We might have shared the caverns with the rebellion but we had nothing to do with them. We only investigated after the grand army had slaughtered them, and then all we did was claim the remainder of their supplies and reseal the passage."

"You mean you left all those bodies there!?"

"It was the only prudent decision," Ebon said with a sniff. "We do our best to keep our existence hidden from the Mareitanians and digging a mass grave for a couple hundred bodies isn't a very secret endeavour!"

"But-"

"Silence!" Quartz shouted, silencing both Twilight and the thestral. "We are not here to debate decisions made four hundred years ago! Now please, could you tell me what you are doing in Mareitania."

"We are here on behalf of both Princesses' Celestia and Luna to bring an end to the rule of the Duke by any means possible."

"So not much then," Fishbait joked, although the humour wasn't shared by his cohorts.

"A fool’s errand if ever I heard one," Ebon muttered distastefully. "How do you intend to do that?"

"We... We don't know; we're still formulating a plan."

"Ridiculous..."

Quartz pursed her lips as she thought, "I regret that we cannot assist you in your goals. We have taken steps to keep ourselves hidden and safe, and aiding you would destroy that, especially if you fail. As we too would like to see the duchy brought down though, and since you have done us a favour bringing this news to us, I think we can give you access to our records," she looked to the Lore keeper who nodded; "but that is it. First though I think I ought to ask you about the Empire. Is it truly returned to us?"

"It is. It came back last year but unfortunately Sombra returned with it. Thankfully we were able to reclaim the Crystal Heart and activate it, both protecting the Empire and destroying Sombra. and now it’s part of Equestria and is ruled over by Princess Cadence."

"You mean to tell me you had a hoof in that too?" Ebon said incredulously, "Anything else you were involved in?"

"Uh, my friends and I might have helped stop Discord when he broke free of his prison last year..." Ebon's eyes bulged in disbelief.

"Maybe tearing the Duchy down isn't beyond you..."

"A few months later we intentionally released him again and reformed him. He now does his best to do good, albeit with the occasional slip up." No way was she about to let Discord forget Tirek.

"Purple pony for president!" Fishbait shouted joyously, "Clearly she can do anything!"

"Who is this 'Princess Cadence?'" asked Quartz.

"She's...the princess of love..." Twilight bit her lip, even she knew that springing the existence of new alicorns on these people might seem a bit far-fetched.

"Equestria has another princess? Truly?" Ebon said in a voice strangely devoid of feeling.

"Two more princesses actually; the princess of love and the princess of friendship, although she's barely been a princess for a few months."

Fishbait snorted, "Equestria sound like sissy place with princesses of 'love' and 'friendship.' What name of friendship pony?"

Twilight froze; her friends looked at her expectantly, except for Summer and the filly, and Trixie even gestured towards the council before making little flapping motions with her hooves. Twilight glanced up at her horn and shook her head slightly, trying to indicate that she couldn't reveal her wings because of the inhibitor. Not that she thought she should anyway.

"As I said she's a pretty new princess, so her name somewhat escapes me; Duskshine Sprinkle, or something like that." Twilight hoped to hell that the council bought her poorly thought up lie.

Ebon and Quartz spared a glance at each other while Fishbait picked his nose and flicked whatever he dug out away. "Are we so out of touch that we don't even know about two new alicorns?" Quartz muttered.

"Pfft, purple pony could be lying about new pony princesses."

"I doubt it," said Ebon. "What reason would she have to do such a thing?" He stared at the six ponies for a few seconds like he was deciding something, before speaking; "The council thanks you for your cooperation, but we have things we wish to discuss. Privately. Sentries Onyx and Shadow will escort you to the archives if you wish."

Twilight and the others bowed to the council members; "We are most thankful for your generous decision to let us see them."

"Yeah, and for not throwing us into the deeps," the filly muttered a little too loudly; "whatever they are."

Ebon gave the filly a stern look, "The deeps are a vast underground lake far below the caverns. The perfect place for doing away with inquisitive ponies."

"Isn't that rather brutal?" Fleur said, sounding shocked.

"Yes, it is. As I said, we take protecting our secrets very seriously. As a final thing, could I ask your names?" Twilight told him, pointing out the ponies the names went to, ending with the filly. "The filly..." Ebon deadpanned.

"She doesn't have a name for some reason," Fleur explained; "and for some reason we can't think of one suitable."

"I see." Ebon looked to Quartz and Fishbait, both of whom nodded, "Very well, this council is adjourned. Shadow and Onyx will take you to the archives and should we need you we will send for you."

-0-0-0-

Twilight blinked in the unnatural light the crystals emitted as they stepped out of the council chambers, "That went rather well I think."

"I disagree," said Octavia; "they claim that they wish to remain secret, which I can respect, but how could they have remained secret for over a thousand years? Especially considering that the crystal ponies came here openly, hoping for asylum."

"Are you questioning the council’s wisdom?" Onyx narrowed his eyes at Octavia who had the decency to look a little ashamed.

"Not at all, I just think that keeping an entire colony of crystal ponies, thestrals, and diamond dogs secret for over a thousand years would be next to impossible; there would at least be rumours of your existence, even if there was no proof."

"Oh yeah?" Onyx sneered, "There's nothing backing up what you're claiming either!" Even Shadow seemed put off by his defensiveness.

"Dude, chill out. They do kinda have a good point."

"Oh not you too Shadow. As I said, these ponies have no reason to doubt our claims."

"Yes we do," said the filly, an unusually serious expression on her face. "You have, what, a few thousand ponies and diamond dogs down here right?"

"Something like that," Shadow confirmed.

"What are they eating? I don't see any farms down here, and it's not like you can grow food without proper sunlight. So where's the food coming from?"

"Pfft," Shadow snorted, "That's easy; we gather some from the land and what we don't get from that we steal."

"You what!?"

"We steal it. That's why the crystal ponies and diamond dogs let us stay here, because we could go out at night and take food from the farms and stuff."

"Every night?"

"Yep!"

"You take enough food from the surrounding area to feed a few thousand ponies and diamond dogs, every night, without being seen and without ponies being suspicious about all that food going missing..."

"Um...yeah?" Shadow frowned and scratched her head; "Well, we must do, right?"

Fleur swept the filly up in her legs and gave her a nuzzle, "I gots a smart filly!"

"Enough," Onyx said with an air of finality. "We are going to go to the archives, and you are going to stop poking holes in our way of life." He walked off without looking to see if they were following and feeling that they had little choice they followed after him.

"Something about this place smells rotten," the filly said just loud enough for the ponies near her to hear, although judging by the way Shadow bit her lip it was clear she heard it too.

-0-0-0-

"Here we are," Onyx announced, "the archives." The crystal pony had led them to a building on the outskirts of the city. The only thing differentiating this building from the others was that it said 'archives' on the front and appeared to be backing into the wall of the cavern meaning there was no way to tell how big the building truly was.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to keep the archives in the council chambers?" Twilight asked.

"We used to, long ago," Onyx answered, "but we had to find a new place because the council chambers ran out of room. Of course this was about five hundred years ago so don't quote me on that."

"What could you possibly have so much of to record?" Trixie said sceptically.

"Mining records mostly," said a pleasant voice from behind them. It belonged to an elderly thestral mare, light grey with a white mane and tail. "Who are these ponies you've brought here?"

"My apologies Archivist," Onyx said to the newcomer, "I didn't realise you were out."

"Even I'm entitled to get out of that dusty building once in a while Onyx, despite what Ebon might think. Now introduce me to these ponies before I give you what for."

"Sorry archivist," he pointed to the appropriate pony as he said their name; "this is Fleur, Summer, Trixie, Twilight, Octavia and the filly."

"The filly?"

"Yeah, I don't have a name, just a description. Roll with it."

"I see. Well I am Archivist Script, Lore keeper Ebon's younger sister and master of these archives. How can I help you?"

"Hang on," said Trixie, "if you're the master of these archives then how come Ebon's the lore keeper and not you?"

"Because he's the oldest individual in the city and therefore must be possessed of a lifetime of wisdom like no other could hope to match." Script tried to keep her face serious but quickly failed, bursting into a smirk; "Or it could be that he's allergic to paperwork and gave me the job of dealing with it while he took all the glory. Now, as I said, how can I help you?"

Twilight took a step forward before speaking, "We've been given permission to look for information on the last rebellion and the alicorn that led it."

Script immediately rolled her eyes and sighed; "You came looking for the long story didn't you? Typical, the first surfacers to be allowed down here in as long as I can remember, and it turns out you're tourists chasing a myth. I'm not even sure why that stupid legend persists."

"What do you mean?"

Script walked around the group and stood in front of the archive building; "The long story was a bunch of chicken scratch scraped onto a wall by a diamond dog detailing how his people arrived in these caverns. All in all it took about five minutes to read, which might be long by diamond dog standards, but for the rest of us it only took as long as it did to read because it was written in pictograms and was very much open to interpretation. It was destroyed centuries ago, which only makes it all the more annoying when ponies come looking for it."

"What did it say though?" asked Twilight, who was slightly mortified that anypony could destroy an ancient piece of art like that.

"It basically said that the dogs came, saw some shiny crystals and decided to stay. Doesn't even say where they came from and why they came here. Now then, that's enough chitchat, you wanted information, so let's find some information." Script led them into the archive, and was about to shut the door when she noticed Shadow hanging back, "Are you not coming in dear?"

"Umm... No... My shift ended a while ago and there're some things I need to do." She spread her wings and crouched down, ready to take off.

"Shadow! Wait!" Onyx shouted, but it was too late, the thestral was gone. "Damn it Shadow, you're going to get in trouble for abandoning your duties again." Onyx snorted and headed inside, shutting the door behind him before turning and walking into Twilight's backside, not that she noticed because she was too busy taking in the atmosphere.

Twilight breathed deeply, sampling the musty smell of accumulated ancient knowledge. The archives did expand far back into the side of the cavern, carefully carved out of the rock until you couldn't tell you were inside a cave rather than a room, and inside that cave was a veritable collection of treasures. If you were Twilight anyway, the others didn't share her enthusiasm in the slightest.

"How are we supposed to find anything in here?" Trixie whined.

"By asking the archivist nicely I imagine," Octavia told her.

"Oh great and knowledgeable Archivist Script, do grant us your favour and show us where the history section is," Trixie bowed deeply.

"It's, uh...at the far end, where all the history is. Are you okay dear?" Trixie had started sneezing heavily and appeared to be having trouble stopping.

"Your f-f-f-floor is...is...a-a-ah-choo! Your floor's a bit d-d-d-dusty... Ah-choo!"

"Then that will teach you for trying to mock her," Octavia said. She nudged Trixie in the side and followed after Script who was leading them up through the archives.

Twilight looked at the rolls of parchment carefully stacked in their cubby holes as they passed, "You said most of this was mining records?"

"Yes indeed, the diamond dogs would mine even if we didn't record all this, so we figured that if it's going to happen anyway it may as well be organised."

"What are you mining for?" Fleur asked.

"Why, whatever we happen to find. Crystals and precious metals aren't that commonly found here anymore but we do have quite a bit of iron and copper down here."

"But what would you need those things for?" asked Fleur, "You hardly need them for building materials."

"And can't you grow your own crystals?" added Trixie.

"We have the occasional need for such things, but as I said, the dogs would mine them all the same." Script led them into a room that branched off at the end, a room that bore a little sign over the door saying 'history.' It wasn't a very big room.

"I thought there'd be more than this!" Twilight exclaimed before quickly covering her mouth in embarrassment. "Sorry, I just thought that a thousand years’ worth of history would require more room."

"Sadly not; you see, while we're safe down here in Caverndown we are rather cut off from the world. Events that are common knowledge on the surface might be missed by us, or lack a lot of detail. The gatherers bring back what news they can but that is not really a lot to go on since they can't stop somepony and ask them about it. We record what little we do find out."

"Why though?" Trixie gave the archivist a funny look, "It's not like what happens on the surface really applies to you."

"I don't know... The crystal ponies started the archives before my people even arrived here, and the ponies that started them are long since passed. I'm sure it's mostly for posterity." Script ran a hoof over the shelfs as she searched; "Aha, here we go," she pulled out a scroll and gave it to Twilight, "This should contain the knowledge that we have of the rebellion four hundred years ago, but feel free to look through the other scrolls here. After all, there's been more than one rebellion in the last one and a half thousand years. I'll be at my desk by the entrance if you need me; I'm writing up a scroll on what recently happened in Prance."

Script headed off, leaving the five of the seven ponies to exchange awkward expressions with each other. "Do you really think what she said about other rebellions is true?" said the filly.

"I don't see why not," said Fleur. "I doubt that ponies put up with the Dukes' crap for a thousand years before realising that they should maybe do something about it."

"But it seems odd that every one of them failed," Octavia added.

"Yeah," Twilight put down the scroll Script gave her and unfurled it slightly using her hooves since her magic was still inhibited. "I'm going to read this, you guys look for information on the other rebellions if they have any." Twilight settled down and started reading while the others spread out on their search. She couldn't help but grin though; it might not quite be a library but it was the closest thing to one she'd found since leaving Equestria.

-0-0-0-

"Are you okay Summer?" Octavia paused in her reading to address the pegasus sat stoically next to her. "You don't have to just sit there."

"I don't know what else I can do. I can't read so I'm useless right now." Summer looked so crestfallen that Octavia couldn't help but pull herself away from the scroll she was reading to hug the pegasus.

"You are not useless, and I don't want you to ever think that you are."

"B-but even the filly can read! I can't... I can't do anything..." Summer turned her head to look at her cutie mark of a sun covered by a couple of clouds, "I don't even know what that means... I don't even remember getting it!"

"It's probably a metaphor for something."

"What's a metaphor?"

"A metaphor is a...um..."

The filly piped up from the other side of the shelves; "A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, for example, saying somepony has a heart of stone means they're emotionally distant and not that they literally have a heart of stone."

There was a brief pause that nopony seemed to want to break until Onyx said "Is this filly for real?"

"My existence is not to be questioned thank you very much."

"Seriously though," said Trixie, "how you don't have a cutie mark in this stuff is weird; you sound like more of an egghead than Twilight sometimes."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with being smart."

"Trixie never said there was! Otherwise Trixie would be insulting herself!"

"Says the one who talks in the third pony as often as she can!" said Fleur.

"Trix- I told you I'm trying to kick the habit!"

"Guys!" Twilight shouted, "I don't know how long we'll be allowed in here so maybe we should argue less and read more!" They all grumbled but returned to their reading.

"A metaphor for us," Octavia whispered, "would be a herd of bickering foals."

Summer giggled lightly but her expression quickly turned serious again. "Can you teach me to read?" she asked after a few moments. "I want to read, I want to be useful."

"Um, okay. I'm not sure I'm the best pony to teach you but I'll do my best. We'll have to start with the basics though." Octavia motioned for Summer to lie down next to her, and using her hoof she carefully marked out the letters of the alphabet in the dust.

-0-0-0-

Twilight rolled another scroll up using her nose, lamented her lack of magic, and added it to the pile of scrolls she had already read. So far she had found nothing of use apart from a list of dates on which battles occurred and who had won said battles; mostly the grand army. There was nothing about the ponies themselves, what their goals were and what went wrong; the mostly destroyed diary they had found had been more informative. There was also an annoying lack of information on the alicorn, other than saying she was there and that she surrendered.

She stood up and stretched, taking note of the plate and small collection of glasses that had accumulated around her; she didn't even remember eating or drinking the entire time. She grinned happily; it had been too long since she'd had a research binge, and her mind felt slightly gooey. "What time is it?" she asked, hoping somepony was still there to answer.

"Don't know," groaned Fleur; "no sun underground so I can't tell. Suffice to say it's been a long time since we came in here. Please say it was worth it."

"I'm not sure... There's a lot of dates and suchlike but nothing truly informative. How about you guys? Find anything?"

"There have been a few rebellions over the years,” said Fleur, “but like you said, there's just dates and occurrences; nothing really telling us why those rebellions failed just as bad as the last one. Whoever made these records wasn't very good at it; the rebellion before the last doesn't even have a pony mentioned as its leader."

"The Duke at the time is mentioned though," said Trixie. "Helmcleave the Horrible. Apparently he liked to hang and draw his enemies, before beheading them in the noose and sticking the severed heads on pikes above above the main gateway of High Rock Keep. Really not sure why they went into such detail with that but whatever."

"Delightful," Fleur said sarcastically. "Octavia, you find anything?"

"I'm afraid not. There's a mention of a place called Manestone being razed-"

"Manestone?" Fleur said confusedly, "Never heard of it."

"Hence ‘razed.’ The town declared its independence from the duchy, it doesn't say why; and the Duke back then didn't take too kindly to that sort of thinking." Octavia got up and walked closer to whisper to them, "I did find something though, scribbled on the side of a scroll from three hundred-ish years ago; 'another shipment sent out to G.A.' I have no idea what it means though."

"Shipment sent out?" Trixie pondered out loud, "Sent out where? Caverndown doesn't trade with the surface-"

"Especially since their existence is meant to be secret," Twilight finished. "I wonder who G.A. is?"

"Usually that's used as shorthoof for the grand army, but that wouldn't make much sense in this situation." Fleur scraped at the floor, drawing a line in the dust; "I don't think we should worry about an abstract note on the side of a scroll right now. What we should find out is what we're going to do now."

"Well that's just it," said Trixie; "Trixie's been looking through all this hoping to find some clue as to what 'hail green son' might mean but so far has found nothing." Twilight bit her lip; she had been so taken with her research and everything else that she'd forgotten all about the clue.

"Hail green son?" said the filly sleepily; "Wha's that?"

"It's the clue the assassin gave us..." Fleur said slowly. "I'm pretty sure we told you. We talked about it after Octavia and Twilight got back from their little trip together."

"You mean the trip where the rest of us stayed behind and you gave Trixie a right royal rollicking? You never mentioned it while I was there."

"She was up the tree wasn't she..." Twilight facehoofed and ran the hoof down her face before groaning. "Filly, do you have any idea what 'hail green son' might be?"

"How's it spelled?" Twilight started to spell it out letter by letter before stopping. She searched around until she found a blank piece of parchment and a charcoal stick and wrote the words onto that instead.

The filly studied it for a moment and shrugged, "I don't know about any green son's or anything like that. You sure you're not just trying too hard and it's actually a lot simpler than you think?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked in the hopes that they weren't all about to be shamed by somepony much younger than them.

The filly traced her hoof over the letters, silently moving her lips, before speaking again; "Well for starters, this is an anagram of Neigh Orleans..."

Silence reigned for a moment until Fleur reared up and threw her forelegs into the air; "How dumb are we!?"

Trixie quickly raised a hoof, "Oo-oo-oo-oo-me-me-me-me! Trixie knows! The answer is very!"

"Bingo!" Fleur dropped back onto all fours and pulled the scrap of paper over to her with a hoof, "Did we seriously miss that because we were trying to be too clever about it?"

"Probably," Twilight admitted. "Best part is though, is that we were going to go there anyway, meaning that the clue is actually completely pointless."

"Unless," Octavia piped up, "the clue could have two meanings. Hooves up everypony that has been to Neigh Orleans before. Apart from Trixie that is." None of them raised a hoof apart from Summer who started to raise one before putting it back down. "Summer?"

The nervy pegasus ground a hoof in the dust, "I've kinda been there before but I didn't exactly see anything."

"Why not?" asked the filly.

Summer bit her bottom lip, "Octavia, what's a polite, not too much informationish way to say I was chained up and forced to...do stuff...to anypony that wanted to use me..."

"Uh... You were...indisposed?"

"Indisposed..." Summer nodded, "I was indisposed."

The conversation took an awkward turn after that but Octavia cleared her throat and pushed on, "As I was going to say, there could be something in Neigh Orleans that the clue is a reference to."

"So I guess this whole diversion into these caverns was a complete waste of our time," Trixie griped. "Why is Trixie not surprised..."

"You do remember where we are right?" Twilight said, gesturing vaguely in the direction she thought the city was; "I would hardly call finding all this and the remains of the last rebellion a complete waste of time. The small amount of stuff we learnt from that unicorn's diary was worth this diversion, as you call it."

"Ugh, fine... Whatever. To answer your first question Fleur, what we're going to do now is go to Neigh Orleans."

"Yeah, I've gathered that, but what I meant was what are we going to do right now, as in we're still prisoners here. Are they at least going to give us a bed for the night?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"Is Onyx still around?" Twilight asked since she couldn't see him.

"Don't know," said Fleur; "he went somewhere a while ago and he never came back. Maybe Script knows where he is." She led the way out of the history section and headed back towards the archives entrance, hoping to find Script at her desk. Instead she found Onyx sat inside the door, his eyes half lidded like he was trying to not fall asleep. Script was nowhere to be found. "Onyx?"

The crystal pony jolted, his eyes fully open; "I'm awake! I wasn't slee... Oh, it's you. Are you done in here?"

"We think so," Fleur said. "Where's Script?"

"In bed I imagine," Onyx told her.

"Why? What time is it?"

"Nearly midnight. I imagine you're wondering where you're going to be staying tonight?"

They all nodded, "Something like that," said Fleur.

"The council has provided you with temporary accommodation in the city. I've also been told to remove your inhibitors for some reason, so if you'll line up I'll take those off before taking you to where you'll be staying." He pulled something that looked remarkably like a spanner from out of his amour and set about removing the inhibitors from Fleur, Trixie, then Twilight, before placing all the items back into his amour. "Now, follow me."

He pushed the archive doors open and immediately stopped when he found Shadow outside, pacing back and forth outside on the stairs, a frown adorning her face. "Shadow?"

"Gah!" the thestral yelped and jumped into the air and hovered, giving the other ponies a good view of the saddlebags she was wearing. "Damn it Onyx! You scared me!"

"Uh-huh. Where've you been? We were both meant to guard these ponies."

"I was getting some shuteye so that I can guard them tonight while you get some shuteye. You're not going to be much use sleeping on the job."

"Fine," Onyx grumbled. "What's in the bags?"

"Just some snacks in case I get the munchies later on. Now come on, take these ponies wherever they're going so I can get to guarding and you can get to sleeping." Onyx grunted and led the ponies down the stairs and before heading left, sticking to the outskirts of the caverns. Shadow quietly brought up the rear, various expressions hinting at some kind or nervousness whenever somepony looked her way.

After a few minutes Onyx led them to a reasonably sized house built of crystal. It was even more apparent that this was somepony's house when he led them inside; it was furnished in a way that suggested 'family home' rather than the jailhouse it was currently being used for. There was even a family portrait on the wall, depicting a small family of four crystal ponies, two adults and two foals. "Whose house is this?" Trixie asked.

"It belongs to the ponies in the picture. They've let the council borrow it to house you while they stay somewhere else." Onyx yawned heavily, "I won't give you the full tour but feel free to use the facilities. The bedrooms are upstairs and if you need anything, ask Shadow who is going to be guarding you responsibly, isn't that right Shadow?"

Shadow sighed irritably, "Yes Onyx."

"Excellent. If there's nothing more I shall bid you all goodnight, and I shall see you in the morning." Onyx turned and walked past Shadow, who tried to keep out of his way the best she could, before heading out and shutting the door behind him.

"Jerk," Shadow muttered once he had gone.

"Are you okay Shadow?" asked Twilight. "You seem a bit..."

"Edgy?" "Neurotic?" "Paranoid?" "Nervy?" suggested the others.

"I'm fine. I just... I kinda learnt something and it's kinda... Well... Y'know what, it's fine. Goodnight folks."

"Wait!" shouted the filly. "How're we supposed to sleep when it’s still light out?"

"Hmm? Oh, well it's always light outside. Just close the curtains and you'll be fine."

"Okay, and you promise not to sneak into my room and drink my blood."

"Aww, but fillies are my favourite... Shoot. Okay, I promise to not drink any blood. Besides, as I said, I brought snacks." The filly nodded, satisfied, and headed upstairs followed closely by Fleur, Octavia and Summer.

"Are you sure you're okay? You can talk to us if you want,” said Twilight.

Shadow ran her tongue over her teeth as she thought and sighed, "Maybe later. I'm still trying to get my head around things." She turned and exited the house, leaving Twilight and Trixie on their own.

"She's hiding something."

Trixie gasped dramatically, "How could you tell? Was your friendship sense a-tingling?"

"No, my friendship sense wasn't 'a-tingling.'"

"Uh... You don't actually have a friendship sense, do you?"

"No." Twilight remembered her new role as the princess of friendship; "Or at least not yet, now come on, I'm hoping to get to sleep before you start cuddling me."

"For the last time, that isn't Trixie!"

20. Nowhere's perfect

"But auntie, I don't wanna go to school today," Trixie murmured in Twilight's ear; "my nose's the wrong colour and my hooves are too big..."

Poor excuse for not going to school, Twilight thought bitterly. She had done her best to get some sleep and had for the most part managed to sleep through Trixie's nocturnal embraces up until Trixie had started to talk in her sleep; that was too much.

She gently removed Trixie's limbs, a feat made much easier without an inhibitor making magic impossible; and climbed out of bed before stretching and tip-hoofing down the stairs where she found an anxious Shadow pacing back and forth in the living room.

"You should be in bed," Shadow said tersely, not even looking at Twilight to say it.

"If you ever have reason to share a bed with Trixie you'll find out exactly why I'm here. What about you though? Are you okay?" Shadow stopped pacing and finally looked at Twilight, her face creased with worry. "Please Shadow, tell me what's wrong."

"You and your friends should leave. This place, it isn't what you think it is. Heck, it isn't even what I thought it was..."

"What do you mean?"

Shadow sighed and sat on the sofa next to her saddle bags; "Yesterday, after we saw the council and you all decided they were hiding something and were suspicious of the food situation, I got to thinking; where does all this food come from? We've never been short, even during the winter when gathering would be near impossible, so I went and asked the gatherers."

Twilight sat down on the chair opposite to Shadow, "What did they say?"

"Well nothing much, but even they admitted that something didn't add up. One of them told me to go and look in the stores just to see what kind of food is in there because they’ve noticed that occasionally we have food that nobody seems to remember gathering."

"What happened then?"

"Well..."

-0-0-0-

Shadow slinked down the tunnels, sticking to her namesake as best she could as she headed towards the stores where the gatherers deposited what they had found. Normally there was no reason for her to worry about coming down here since her position as a sentry gave her full access to most parts of the caverns, but she had to admit to feeling nervous enough to not want to advertise her presence.

As she drew closer to the stores she heard hoof steps and the scratching sound that diamond dog claws made on bare rock, and hid the best she could behind a small outcrop of rocks, hoping that her grey colouration would blend in with both the stone and shadows.

"Gatherer ponies not find much last night," said a diamond dog; "makes me wonder how this place not starving yet..."

"Yeah," said another diamond dog, "if not for meat hunters dogs would have to eat pony food too! Then what ponies do?" Meat hunters? Shadow thought, Is that what the dogs really eat? Gross! Shadow had often wondered what the diamonds dogs lived on, but the diamond dog warrens beneath the city wasn't a place the pony population of the caverns were really tempted to go; even the pony guards tended to avoid that place, meaning the workings of the diamond dogs were a mystery to most ponies, although there was no lack of rumours.

"Will you two be quiet," said a refined yet masculine voice that Shadow suspected belonged to a stallion of some description; "you know there's always plenty of food here so cease your whining." They were approaching her hiding spot now causing her to push up against the rocks as hard as she could and squeeze her eyes shut since they were the most noticeable part of her in the dark.

She chanced a quick look as they passed, taking note that the stallion was a crystal pony, and that none of them wore the armour of the guards; if they're not gatherers and they're not guards what are they doing here? She also recognised one of the dogs, Jackspot, whom she had had a run in with previously when he had said something derogatory about her friend, causing Shadow to correct his attitude by bucking him in the balls as hard as she could.

It was also Jackspot that nearly blew her cover when he stopped and sniffed the air; "You smell dat?" he asked. "It smell like pony."

"So?" said the other dog with a grunt, "What that supposed to mean? Entire cavern smell like pony!"

"And?" the stallion said dangerously.

"And nothing. I just saying that smell of pony extremely common."

"I smell something," Jackspot murmured, ignoring the other two; "a presence I've not smelled since..." He suddenly covered his privates protectively, "Nevermind, it not important; let's go," he said hurriedly, walking off quickly with the others following after him.

Shadow slowly released a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding and scolded herself; "Why am I so on edge about this? I'm a guard, I'm allowed to be down here!" She shook her head rapidly in an attempt to banish the sense of unease she was wallowing in but the feeling stuck with her.

Moving on it wasn't long until she arrived at the stores and started to walk among the large crystal bins where the different types of food were stored separately, hoping to find what it was that the pony that told her to come here had meant.

She kept walking around the bins, a small idea percolating in her head as she noticed that very few of the bins were full apart from ones containing sprouts and alfalfa, which looked like they hadn't been touched in a while, not like that was any surprise.

She sat down in the shadow of a tall grain bin and started on a laughable attempt at math. She could tell there wasn't much food here, even less so with winter barely having ended meaning that all the food were things that would keep; nothing fresh. Spread what there is around a few thousand ponies and you were...barely two, maybe three days away from starvation.

"This can't be right..." She tried another estimate of the food situation but arrived at the same conclusion. "But this is impossible! We can't be on the verge of running out of food without someone mentioning rationing!" Her breathing became heavy and she grasped her head in her hooves as her mind kept running laps around the same question; what the fuck is going on here?

There was a bang from the far side of the room making Shadow quickly duck down out of sight. She poked her head around the edge of a bin and was surprised to see the door recessed into the wall opening which was impressive considering the bar and chains sealing it shut, although now she was looking the bars and chains opened with the door, not hindering its movement in the slightest.

A female diamond dog stepped out and shuffled towards the passage back to the city, leaving a very confused Shadow behind her. She was almost one hundred percent sure that the area behind that door was restricted to everyone because the tunnels beyond it were unstable and dangerous. Now though, she wasn't so sure.

She waited a couple of minutes to see if anyone else was going to come through it before quickly flying over and examining the door. It didn't take long for her to realise that the solid oak door gave a good impression of being completely impassable despite previous evidence. She noticed a raised bump of rounded crystal in the door and peeked through it, although all she could see was a pinpoint of grey; clearly the crystal was meant to be used from the other direction, probably so whoever came out could check the coast was clear and not reveal the door’s secret. Obviously they were a bit lax about it if they missed Shadow having a small existential crisis.

She pushed at the door until her hooves slid on the floor but the door didn't even creak at her attempts, let alone move. Admitting temporary defeat she took a step back and studied the door again for some clue towards getting it open. It didn't take long for her to notice that there were a lot of dints and scratches at the bottom of the door, all centred around a bolt set into the wood. Cautiously, she pushed at the bolt, which moved a little but did nothing more until she turned around and kicked back at it. There was a clunk as the bolt pushed in, and the door swung out, smacking her on the rear as it went.

She poked her head around the door and nervously looked at what was behind it, but the suspense was ruined when all she could see was a rough-hewn passage that went around a corner. She stepped through the door and saw a button on the wall with Open/close scratched over it. She pushed it and the door ponderously swung shut again, Shadow noticing that the whole thing was on a hydraulic ram, which seemed a bit excessive but would definitely stop anyone from accidentally pushing the door open.

Shadow nodded to herself, mostly as a gesture of comfort and certainly not because she suspected that what she was doing was crazy and bound to get her into ridiculous amounts of trouble, and set off down the passage towards whatever she might find.

-0-0-0-

"Well, what was it?" Twilight asked a little languidly. As interesting and worrying as the lack of food in the stores was, the story had an excess of detail about the door and getting through it; she wanted to move on.

"I was literally about to tell you when you interrupted me."

"Sorry, but you were going on about that door an awful lot and I really sort of wanted you to move on, with, for example, telling me what you found..."

"I'm telling the story!" Shadow eyed up Twilight who easily returned it; she had been practicing on beings made of much sterner stuff than Shadow, although she had yet been unable to match Gummy's stare. That little toothless alligator was just too good.

"Hey! Are you paying attention!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Right... Anyway, as I was about to say..."

-0-0-0-

It was another cavern, a big one. Not as big as the main cavern by a long stretch of the imagination, but still pretty darn big. There was also an awful lot of carts, which was odd considering that Caverndown had no use for such things. Shadow spread her wings and leapt into the air, deciding that aerial reconnaissance might be the best thing for her to do, especially considering that the cavern ceiling was certainly high enough for her to do so.

She quickly flew up and did her best to hide amongst the few stalactites lining the ceiling, hoping they, and the darkness, would keep her out of sight of those below. She scanned the cavern, her keen eyes piercing the gloom around her.

Spreading along one side of the cavern were several large bays containing what appeared to be piles of dirt and rocks, but even Shadow knew well enough that they were piles of different ores that the diamond dogs had dug up. As she watched a couple of diamond dogs dragged a cart over to one of the piles and start filling it.

This drew her attention to the other carts, several of which were also full of ore and had been dragged next to a low tunnel that led to somewhere Shadow didn't know. There were other carts that looked like they had just been dragged in, and were being unloaded by a couple of diamond dogs under the direction of a thestral. It was what they were unloading though that caused her the most concern; baskets of food ranging from potatoes to carrots, parsnips, those vile little things called sprouts and more.

"What is going on here!?" Shadow said to herself. As she tried to think of an answer the last basket was removed and the cart was dragged over to one of the bays where it was filled up with more ore. It was obvious that this was an exchange of some kind but Shadow had no idea who with. Her suspicions kept leading to the Duke but there was no way they could have agreed to trade anything with that bastard. Or could they? Shadow needed proof of something, one way or the other.

As she was deciding how to obtain such proof a twinkling of lights caught her eye from the far end of the cavern. Flying in that direction she found that beyond the bays of different ores were smaller bays containing what looked like uncut gems, although this wasn't what had caught her eye since uncut gems didn't twinkle and looked like rocks. What had caught her eye was a crystal pony working under lamplight, trying to nail the lid down on a crate, cursing around the hammer in his mouth.

Once he had done that he picked up something and laid it down on the top of the box before picking up a paintbrush and painting over whatever it was. He removed the thing again and Shadow saw that something had been left written on the crate; P.E.C's, which was clearly an acronym for something. Once he was done a couple more diamond dogs shambled over, picked up the crate between them and carried it over to one of the carts which the crate was unceremoniously thrown into.

Shadow turned her attention back to where the stallion had been working, seeing heavy scratch marks on the floor that led back to a small entry; clearly a lot of crates had been dragged along there over the years for it to mark the rock like that. Shadow glanced around to see if anybody was near, and seeing that nobody was she flew down and quickly, yet quietly entered the passage.

It led to a room that clearly wasn't natural judging by its squared off corners and flat sides. It was also full of benches and tools, making it obvious that this was some kind of workshop. Thankfully nobody was around giving Shadow plenty of time to poke around. One bench held a collection of cut and uncut gems; clearly this was where the gems were cut if the jeweller’s tools were any indication. Shadow reached out to run a hoof over one of the cut gems and was very surprised when the gem sparked and gave her a small electric shock.

"What the hell!?" she said before sticking her hoof in her mouth and sucking on the small burn mark the gem gave her. As she did that she saw the padded gloves on the table and felt a bit of an idiot.

Moving on she found that somepony was making small metal rivets if she knew her stuff. On the bench opposite was a small box of locks that didn't appear to be used on anything she recognised, and further up the row of benches someone was making straps made of thick canvas.

Shadow kept going, her confusion growing with each different little thing she found being made here. At least, that was until she found the last few benches where all these items were assembled into one thing.

"Oh no..."

-0-0-0-

"What was it? What are they making?"

Shadow didn't answer but instead reached into her bag and pulled something out, throwing it onto the coffee table in front of her, allowing Twilight to take a good look at the offending item.

Twilight peered closer before reeling back in horror, "Is that... Is that a pegasus collar!?"

"Yep. They're making them and exchanging them and the ore for food." Shadow hunched up and hugged herself, not quite sure how to feel about it. "I also imagine it's why this place is kept so secret by the duchy."

Twilight felt sick, just when she thought she had found the one decent place in Mareitania it turns out to be a huge lie. "We have to tell somepony."

"What! No! We can't tell anyone about this! It'd be chaos!"

"But we can't just let this keep happening."

"Yes, we can. Most people down here have no idea this happening; we can't go and tear their lives down like that. Besides, even if news got out, what do you really think would really happen?"

"But it's wrong! We can't let all these ponies and dogs live in a lie like this!"

"Yes Twilight, we can." Shadow shook her head and sighed, "You and your friends need to get out of here."

"Why?" Twilight asked, sounding more than a little bitter.

"Because you're Equestrians plotting to overthrow the Duke. The same Duke that supplies this place with food. Do you realise how much of a threat to the status-quo you are? I'd be surprised if the council hasn't already informed the Duke of your intentions."

That set Twilight's head spinning, the last thing she expected when she came down here was to be sold out to the Duke. "Wh- What should we do? How do we get out of here!"

"Patiently. If you try to escape now it'd be obvious that you were running from something. You should wait and hope something crops up, allowing you to escape."

Twilight nodded forlornly, the idea of waiting for an opportunity to escape sounding risky. "Why would they remove our inhibitors if they intend to hoof us over to the Duke?"

"Hmm... I don't know... Maybe they're trying to create a false sense of security for you?"

"Yeah...maybe. Are you sure we shouldn't tell anypony?"

"Twilight, what do you think would happen if we did? Even if we stopped trading with the Duke it'd only be a matter of time before he marched an army in here, or, if he has any sense he'd wait until we were starving and then march an army in. Either way we'd all be slaves and the collars would be made anyway; at least the people are free down here," Twilight couldn't argue with that. "Besides if you overthrow the Duke and free the pegasi we won't have to make them anymore, and we can finally stop hiding underground.

"I suppose. I guess this all counts on whether we can get out of here now..."

"Yeah, by the way, I have a gift for you."

"A gift? Is that really appropriate right now?”

"Depends how you look at it. I know we can't realistically stop the production of the collars so I did the next best thing." Shadow reached into her saddlebags again and pulled out a scroll of paper, "I stole some blueprints on how the collars work, and the tools needed to activate and deactivate them;" she pulled out a couple of thin rods with gems attached to the ends, "Could be useful right?"

Twilight snatched the plans in her magic and unfurled them on the table, "Shadow! This is- This is really confusing... Hmm..."

"Yeah I know. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't look at it here though; fuck knows what would happen if Onyx or someone came in here and caught you going over those. Have a look at them once your outta here. Anyway, I'm going to get back to guarding, and you should get some sleep."

"Okay," Twilight rolled the scroll up and picked it, the collar, and the keys up. She was about to go back upstairs when she paused, "Thank you for this Shadow, truly."

"Yeah, well... I'd rather wish I had nothing to tell you because there was nothing to tell."

-0-0-0-

Twilight's mind was chasing itself in circles and it was pretty clear that sleep wasn't going to be much of a factor in her life right now. Luckily Trixie had rolled away from her and seemed content to suck her hoof and murmur in her sleep, so at least Twilight had the time to herself.

She was also feeling a tiny bit guilty that she hadn't asked Shadow if she was okay; the poor mare was bound to be feeling torn over her discoveries. Maybe she should go check if Shadow was alright rather than lie where she was thinking about it.

Or maybe she should be looking over those blueprints and trying to work out how the collars operated; try and see if she could find a way to disable them en masse.

Or maybe she should try and get some sleep... Nah. Maybe a letter to Sunset? She hadn't replied to the one Sunset sent the other day although Sunset had implied that she would write the next one. Maybe not then. I wish I had a book to read.

In the end Twilight just lay there, unmoving, but unfortunately not unthinking. Her mind turned towards the filly and those marks on her back; they couldn't possibly be scars could they? If so how did she get them? Just as the temptation to sneak into the filly's and Fleur's room was building a muffled thumping came from downstairs followed by the sound of a door opening, "Morning Shadow."

"Ugh, hey Onyx. Does this mean I can go to bed now?"

"Not yet; the council wants to see our guests."

"What? Why?"

"Something about providing them with passage out of Caverndown." Twilight's ears folded back; hopefully that meant what he said.

"Well... All right then..." Shadow sounded a bit suspicious herself, "I'll go wake them up." There was the sound of hoofs tapping up the crystalline stairs followed by a knock on the door to their room, which seemed unnecessary seeing as how Shadow walked straight in anyway. "Onyx is here," she hissed; "he's going to take you to the council!"

"I know, I heard."

"Then you heard about the passage out of Caverndown thing?"

"Yeah, and I hope that it's what it sounds like."

"What're you two talking about?" Trixie mumbled. "It better be worth waking Trixie from her beauty sleep."

"The council wants to see us," Twilight told her, even if Trixie already knew that part; "so we need to get up."

"Trixie remembers when she could stay in bed as long as she wanted... Trixie misses those days." Trixie rolled out of bed and promptly fell over as her hooves failed to grip on the crystal floor; "Whoever decided that crystal was a good building material was a moron," she groaned from her landing spot.

Shadow snorted to hide her amusement, "Yeah, we get that a lot around here. Apparently crystal pony hooves are better at gripping this stuff than others. Anyway, I'll go wake the others."

"Wait!" Twilight said hurriedly, "You wake Octavia and Summer and I'll wake the others."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Twilight followed Shadow out of the room and along the landing to where the others rooms were located. She knocked timidly and entered, which she felt silly for after seeing as how she was going in there to wake them up. Apparently she didn't need to try anyway seeing as how Fleur was already awake. The filly though, was still sleeping.

"Good morning Twilight," said Fleur, who was immediately shushed by Twilight. "Huh?"

"I want a look at those marks on her back while she's still sleeping," Twilight whispered. "I doubt she'd let us do it while she's awake."

"That's probably because it's a secret or something," Fleur whispered back, although she couldn't deny her own curiosity. "Fine, but let's be quick about this." She pulled the covers off herself and the filly, exposing the fact that the filly had apparently slept with her cloak on; "She always does that," Fleur explained.

Twilight bit her lip and gently lifted the filly up off the bed in her magic, taking care to not move the filly around too much in case she woke up. Once she was high enough Twilight unwrapped the cloak enough to expose the filly's back.

Fleur gasped when she saw the collection of scars the filly had on her back, but none were as large as the two large parallel scars just back from her withers, exactly where a pegasi's wings would be. "She couldn't be... But... What?" Fleur murmured, her mind rebelling over this discovery.

"But she is," Twilight confirmed, her stomach churning. Suddenly the filly started thrashing and screaming like she had been set on fire, "Get off me! Get the fuck off me!" Surprised Twilight dropped the filly who bounced off the bed and onto the floor where she backed away slowly, tears filling her eyes as anger and betrayal vied for supremacy on her face.

"It's okay, we aren't going to do anything- wait!" Fleur shouted but it was too late, the filly had bolted and was thundering down the stairs. Thinking quickly, Twilight teleported downstairs and erected a barrier over the door just before the filly got to it, the filly running full pelt into it and bouncing off.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to do tha-"

"Let me out Twilight! Let me out!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Twilight asked as Fleur and the others came down stairs. Onyx was sat on the sofa with a half-eaten bagel in his mouth and looking very confused.

"Waff voeing on?" he asked before swallowing and trying again, "What's going on?" Shadow poked her head out of the kitchen, slice of toast in mouth, to listen in.

"Let me go Twilight!" the filly shouted again before bucking ineffectually at the barrier over the door.

"Not until you tell me why you're trying to run away."

"Because you're going to hate me now!" the filly wailed, her tears coming faster.

"Hate you?" said Fleur, "Why on earth would we hate you?"

"Because everypony does!" The filly collapsed to the floor, finally giving in to her tears and distress.

"Um, sorry to be a bother," said Octavia; "but I rather feel that an explanation would be useful to those of us who have no idea what's going on."

"Yeah," agreed Trixie, "what she said but with less fancy."

Twilight looked to the filly to see if she was going to offer an explanation, but the filly didn't move, except to cover her eyes with her legs. "Um... I'm not sure how to put this, but the filly's a...well, she's a pegasus."

"Pfft," Trixie snorted, "is that all? I thought something bad had happened."

"Are you kidding me?" the filly screeched. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" The filly pulled off her cloak and threw it at Twilight, showing her scars to all the ponies around her. "Go on then! Get a good look at how much of a fucking pegasus I am and get on with hating me!" A mixture of expressions passed across the faces of the ponies assembled there and Summer launched into a choking fit.

"Why do you think we're going to hate you?" Fleur asked imploringly as Octavia smacked Summer on the back.

"Because everypony always does. Every time I get found out about being a pegasus everypony turns on me even though I don't have any fucking wings!"

"But that's stupid, why does it matter if you're a pegasus?" Trixie asked before suddenly realising her own answer, "Right, Mareitania. Sorry."

"Trixie's not wrong though," said Fleur; "you being a pegasus doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to us."

"And what could you say to make me believe you?" The filly was panting now, looking more like she wanted to attack instead of flee. Fleur said nothing though, instead pointing at Summer who flinched slightly from the attention.

"We don't hate Summer do we."

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "and we all know ponies back in Equestria who are pegasi; two of my best friends are pegasi!"

"And Twilight has wings so it's not like she can judge," said Trixie.

"Trixie!" Twilight, Fleur and Octavia yelled, making Trixie crouch down wearing a grin that could have gone 'baa' at any moment. "Heh... Sorry?"

Seeing as how the game had been given away Twilight focused and dispelled the illusion hiding her wings, spreading them for all to see. "There's no way I could hate you for having wings."

"You got to be fucking joking! A unicorn gets to have wings! I get mine cut off and you get to have some? A fucking unicorn!?"

"Actually I'm an alicorn..." Twilight mumbled, feeling bad for having shown her wings to the wingless pegasus.

"I don't care what you are! This is so unfair! And you lied to me! You've lied to me all this time about having wings!"

"She's also a princess," Trixie offered helpfully. Twilight pointed her horn at Trixie and cast a spell, a door appearing from thin air and slamming itself shut in Trixie's face, "Ow."

"Stop saying stuff Trixie!" Twilight yelled, her voice cracking slightly. Her ears folded back when a hoof tapped her on the flank.

"An alicorn and a princess?" Onyx said accusingly. "Anything else you wish to tell us your highness?"

"Yeah," Fleur said loudly, "Trixie likes to hug ponies in her sleep!"

Trixie gasped, "No Trixie does not!" she said from her hiding spot behind the door. "She denies all these spurious accusations made against her about nocturnal snuggles!"

Onyx rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I don't care. This is serious stuff Twilight; I'm going to have to inform the council."

"No! You can't!" Twilight begged. "This has to stay a secret, please!" She recast the spell to hide her wings as emphasis."

"No, the council needs to hear about this."

"Aww c'mon spoilsport," said Shadow, batting her eyelashes at him; "let them have their secret. It's not like the council really needs to know is it." Around him the other ponies simultaneously gave him either puppy eyes or fluttered their own lashes at him. Except for the filly who was throwing a measure of confusion into her mix of emotions, and Summer who had the expression of a dog learning a new trick.

"Fine..." Onyx said grudgingly. "I don't know why it's a problem if the council finds out though."

"Let's just say some secrets are best kept secret," said Shadow, giving a knowing look to Twilight.

"Have I gone completely mad?" asked the filly. "One moment I'm having my privacy extremely intruded on and my secrets laid bare for all to see, and the next Twilight's an alicorn princess; whatever an alicorn is."

"I'll tell you what an alicorn is later," Fleur said to the filly. "For now I only want to assure you that we think no worse of you for being pegasus, and I hope you can forgive us for-"

"Sticking your muzzle in where it's not wanted?"

"That's what she said!" Shadow exclaimed, holding a hoof up. "Come on! Somepony? Anypony? Don't leave me hanging! Onyx? No? Fine..." Shadow pouted and kicked at the floor.

"Uh...yeah... Anyway, we're sorry."

The filly glared at the floor and ground her front right hoof a bit, "Fine, but this doesn't mean I forgive you. Pull another stunt like this and you won't be seeing me ever again." She picked her cloak up and threw it over her back and was halfway back upstairs when Trixie stopped her.

"Wait, since you're secretly a pegasus does this mean you also secretly have a name?" The filly stared coldly at her for a few seconds before finally answering.

"Yeah; Swift Wings. Seriously though, never call me that. Ever." The filly continued upstairs and out of sight.

"Ooh, ouch," muttered Trixie.

"For once in your life, be quiet," Octavia said, giving Trixie a light cuff around the back of the head.

-0-0-0-

The journey back to the council chamber was rather quiet and sullen, apart from the quiet murmuring of Fleur and the filly, who were behind the rest of them; Fleur explaining what alicorns are and why it was so important that Twilight being one remained a secret. The entire time that went on Twilight swore she could feel the filly glaring at the back of her head.

Soon enough they were led into the council chambers where the councillors were already assembled. "There you are," the Lore keeper said. "We were expecting you sooner than this."

"Apologies Lore keeper," Onyx glanced at the filly, "but we had some unexpected occurrences this morning."

"No matter," Councillor Quartz said smoothly. "Did you find what you were looking for in the archives?"

"Not exactly..." Twilight admitted awkwardly. "The archives aren't the most...complete source of information I've come across..."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lore keeper Ebon asked, looking down his nose at Twilight.

"It means we're wondering how you came upon a title like Lore keeper," the filly said sarcastically. She was quickly shushed by the others but it was clear from Quartz's and Fishbait's amusement that the comment wasn't totally unwelcome.

"You're a precocious little thing, aren't you," Ebon said darkly. "I'm so very sorry our little archive is so very far below your lofty Equestrian standards. Perhaps it would be best if you left the caverns and found a library in Mareitania somewhere."

"Sorry about that your honour," said Fleur; "It's been a trying morning for us."

"Indeed? It may come as a surprise but we intend to remove you anyway. It is not our custom to have guests in Caverndown and it is high time you left."

"So, what?" Trixie protested, "You're just kicking us out?"

"A detachment of sentries will escort you out," Quartz explained.

"Yeah, and if Bruto get too physical again just kick him inna nuts," Fishbait added. Six diamond dogs wearing sentry armour walked into the chambers behind them; the filly tucking her tail between her legs at the sight of Bruto.

"It's time for you to leave," Ebon said, "and if you should attempt to return you may not find us so welcoming. Good day." The six ponies turned and filed out of the chambers with Shadow bringing up the rear as Onyx led them; the diamond dogs walking on either side of them. Now more than ever they felt like prisoners as they were being escorted outside.

"Does this feel wrong to you?" Octavia whispered as they were led through the city.

"Yeah," Trixie agreed. "Yesterday they were all like 'welcome to Caverndown, we hope you enjoy your time here,' whereas today they're all like 'get the fuck out.' Weird."

"I think you remember that wrong," said Fleur; "they were more like, 'you know stuff? Maybe we won't toss you in the giant underground lake.'"

"Meh, details. Whatever it was it was less intimidating than this."

"I'm sure it's nothing guys," Shadow whispered, joining in the conversation; "it's not like they're refusing to let you leave or something silly like that."

"She has a point," Twilight added; "I'm sure if they had bad intentions they wouldn't let us walk out the front door." Twilight suspected that if they did have bad intentions they would be leaving through the back door. In chains.

The guards led them out of the city, graciously giving the ponies a final chance to take a look at the underground city; the effect ruined for Twilight since she now knew the cost of keeping this place alive.

Once the ponies were done looking they were led back into the tunnels, weaving their way through them by the light of the torches the dogs had for what seemed like hours until they got back to the semi-welcome sight of the last rebellion; Twilight's eyes lingering on the pristine suit of armour as they passed it.

"It’s time to say goodbye Shadow," Onyx said, stopping at the last tunnel to the outside world.

"Aww," Shadow pouted, "fine... Well, it's been a blast guys. Good luck with the whole stopping the evil regime thing you got going on. I would say that if you're desperate you could always come back, but apparently you're not welcome here anymore so...probably not the best idea..."

"Bye Shadow." Twilight gave the thestral a hug; "Thanks for everything. I don't suppose I could ask your full name?"

"I never told you it? Huh... It's Shadow Seeker." She nodded at Onyx, "His is just Onyx for some reason." The others said their farewells, with Octavia taking a moment to help Summer put her cloak back on, before slowly starting up the tunnel, the six diamond dogs falling into line behind them.

Twilight's horn lit up as the tunnel seemed to suffocate the torches now being held behind them and it didn't take them long to find the first hint that something was wrong, she could see light in the tunnel ahead but she remembered the tunnel being longer than this so there was no way they could be seeing daylight yet. She looked behind them to see if Shadow and Onyx were still there, but they seemed to have gone so she looked forward again and swallowed nervously, heading towards the light in fear of what it could be. She was not to be disappointed.

Waiting in the tunnel in the light of several torches were a dozen members of the grand army, fully armed and amoured. The lead pony sneered at them before talking to Bruto, "Are these all of them?"

"Yer, dese dem," the dog said back dumbly.

"Excellent. Come quietly ladies and nopony gets hurt." Several of the soldiers stepped forward and lowered their weapons so they pointed straight at the six ponies while a couple of soldiers came from behind the rest, bearing several sets of chains.

Twilight backed away, her rump bumping up against Fleur behind her as the diamond dogs pushed them up against the others, forcing them towards the soldiers. "Twilight! Do something!" Trixie hissed.

Twilight looked around wildly, her mind trying to form a solution as panic set in. She saw her chance when she noticed that the tunnel beyond the soldiers was clear. She focused her magic and, taking care to not leave anypony behind, teleported the group to the other side of the soldiers before sending a telekinetic blast back up the tunnel, sending the soldiers' rear guard flying into the others.

"Run!" Twilight shouted before sprinting down the tunnel as fast as she could while making sure the others didn't fall behind. She saw the filly was struggling to keep up so she used her magic to pick the filly up and place her on her back.

"How did they know?" Octavia shouted as they ran, the clatter of armour and hooves and the baying of the diamond dogs not far enough away for any of their liking.

"They sold us out!" Fleur shouted in reply, "They fucking sold us out!"

"But why? They have nothing to do with the Duke! Do they?"

"It's complicated!" Twilight shouted, "I'll happily tell you about it later, but right now we need to get out of here!"

"How do you know about it?" Trixie shouted accusingly.

"Shadow told me this morning! Seriously, I'll tell you later!" There was a snarl behind them and they looked around to see that Bruto alone had caught up to them, running on all fours like an ape. He leapt and reached out, managing to grab one of Octavia's rear legs, stopping her instantly as he landed on his front.

She kicked back with her other leg but he caught that too, "Help!" Octavia shouted as she struggled to free herself. Nopony was prepared for the scream of pure rage that came from Summer as she sprinted towards the diamond dog, spun, and bucked him in the head as hard as she could, his helmet flying away with a clang.

Bruto yelped and released Octavia and was trying to cover his head but didn't have the time as Summer reared up and dropped her forehooves onto his head, again and again until her hooves and chest were splattered with Bruto's blood. Octavia tried to pull her away but the pegasus seemed almost feral as she stamped again and again until finally, there was a sickening crunch as Bruto's head caved in.

Even the soldiers that had caught up were shocked into motionless as they saw this small blue pony beat a diamond dog more than twice her size into a bloody pulp. "Come on!" Octavia shouted at Summer, pulling on her tail until the pegasus got the message.

They continued sprinting down the tunnel, heading towards the distant glow of daylight. The light blinded them as they ran out, and they slowed down to compensate for their blindness which was a good thing because it allowed them to spot the semicircle of soldiers pointing spears at them before they ran into them.

They stepped back and Twilight, wary of the soldiers still behind them, formed a shield all around them, strong enough to resist the blows that the soldiers laid upon it. The soldiers from behind them filtered out of the cave and joined the semicircle allowing the ponies to get a glimpse of the baleful yellow eyes of the remaining diamond dogs glaring at them out of the darkness.

"What do we do now?" Fleur said out of the corner of her mouth. "Can't you teleport us away from here?"

"You could 'ave a go," said a voice from behind the row of soldiers facing them; "but you'd only hurt yourself with this thing 'ere." The soldiers parted, allowing two earth ponies clad in dark iron armour to walk towards the edge of the shield; one a stallion and the other a mare.

"What thing?" Twilight asked.

The mare rolled her eyes, the expression visible through the narrow slot the armour provided for vision. "He means an anti-teleportation field generator. The way he said it implies you can see it, which I know you can't."

"I mean that black glowin' rock over there," the stallion said helpfully. "Now then, we've got orders to capture at least one o' ya unicorns alive and we ain't too picky about which one."

"However, if you surrender you all get to live."

"Fer now anyway. So what'll it be?"

"I'd like to see you get us from under here!" the filly shouted, full of confidence.

"They always want a demonstration..." the stallion muttered. "Okay then, you asked fer it."

The stallion stepped up to the shield and placed a hoof on it, a blue rune that shifted like a glowing ember flaring to life on the armour covering his hoof. Twilight grunted, a half-scream escaping her as the rune burned like cold fire on her magic, but for the sake of her friends she held on.

"Hmm, I'm impressed," the mare said; "not only a unicorn that can make a shield, but a strong one too."

"We'll show you strong!" Trixie yelled, shooting a blast of pink magic that admittedly wouldn't have done much in the best of circumstances, but did even less to the mare in the black armour. The blast struck her and a series of blue runes flared to life across her armour, dissolving the blast into nothingness.

The mare snorted, "Strong? Really? If your purple friend there had done that it might have tickled me, but that? That was pathetic." The mare reared up and placed both forehooves on the shield, the stallion adding his free hoof.

Twilight screamed and collapsed to her knees, unable to stand as the runes cold fire burned at her mind. She maintained the shield but she knew it would only be a matter of seconds until they broke through. "Trixie," she hissed through gritted teeth, "make some illusions."

"Illusions? Of what?"

"Of us, as many as you can. Have them run away from here as fast as you can when I say so." Trixie nodded and got to work fulfilling Twilight's requirements while Twilight set about working out a spell of her own, despite the pain she was in.

Twilight collapsed the shield with a cry and her two assailants fell back onto all fours, "Definitely a unicorn t' look out for this un," the stallion said approvingly. "No' bad at all."

Twilight suddenly stood, her horn blazing with a new spell as she teleported the very earth from beneath the two black armoured ponies, who fell into the hole with a shout. "Now Trixie!" Trixie unleashed her own spell, dozens of illusions of them charging away from their position, into, and often through the soldiers who tried to attack the illusions coming towards them with no effect.

There was a thud as the giant clump of earth Twilight teleported fell to the ground just outside the ring of soldiers, distracting them enough to make them break rank. Twilight pushed them aside, glad to see her magic still worked on them, and made a hole in the semicircle of panicking soldiers. "Go go go!" she shouted, leading the way as she knocked back any soldiers that came near to them, Trixie and Fleur doing the same, though with lesser effect.

"After them!" the mare screeched from her place in the hole as her quarry ran as fast as they could. Whatever soldiers were left after the brief but confusing melee where almost all the wounds were caused by them hitting each other instead of illusions, chased after the six ponies.

"Twilight! Can you teleport us out of here?" Octavia asked as they ran, taking care to watch her footing on the rough ground.

"Need...to get...further...away!" Twilight gasped. She was very close to hitting her limit and the run from their attackers was only depleting whatever energy she had left that should have been used on a more long term form of escape.

"How much...further?" Trixie asked, out of breath herself after producing so many illusions.

"They're catching up!" Fleur shouted, delicately prancing over a fallen tree; she even makes fleeing for her life look elegant, Twilight thought in her semi delusional state of magical exhaustion. She turned her attention away from Fleur and back to getting away; she was trying to think of a place to teleport to that wasn't too far away but the only place she could think of was in Caverndown or the clearing they had briefly occupied after leaving the riverboat.

"Twilight!" Octavia shouted; clearly she was just going to have to go for it. She pictured the clearing in her mind and focused on moving her and her friends there. Her horn burned with exhaustion and through fighting off the lingering effects of the anti-teleportation field, and it took her several attempts to get the spell right in her overtaxed mind. Finally she had the spell in her mind and unleashed it, teleporting them away. Not that she was sure where to, all Twilight could remember after casting it was a flash, hitting the ground too hard and somepony shouting her name as blackness claimed her.

-0-0-0-

"Ya look ridiculous," the stallion said as he watched his female counterpart scrape mud off her amour.

"Shut up Breaker! I'm not in the mood for your shit right now!"

"Aww, did lil Pearly get embawwassed in fwont of the soldiers? After all your boastin' and confidence too."

Pearly pulled off her helm, revealing a beige coloured pony with a brown mane and sparkling blue eyes. "And what about your own showboating you idiot! Did you forget that too?"

The stallion pulled off his own helmet and shook his long tan coloured mane out. The stallion had light grey fur and green eyes which were perched not far above a lazy grin. "Oh aye, but ya have ta think about it; when's the last time we went up against a unicorn that's actually a challenge? Let's face it, she bested us fair and square."

Pearl snorted and turned to address the nervous looking soldier trotting up to them, "Well? Did you capture them?"

"Uh... No, they got out of range of the teleportation field and teleported away; we don't know where to."

"Idiot!" Pearl grabbed her helmet in her hoof and smashed it around the face of the soldier, knocking him over. "I want soldiers in every town and city looking for these fugitives! I want them found!"

The soldier whimpered his confirmation to the order and ran off, Breaker smirking at him as he went. "I can't even remember the last time we actually needed the anti-jump stone. Kudos to that unicorn, she really knows her stuff. That blue unicorn weren't too shabby either."

"I know, and it concerns me that this unicorn, this 'Twilight Sparkle' knows such things. I hate to think what they're teaching these unicorns in Equestria."

"Aww c'mon honey," Breaker kissed Pearl on the cheek, "You really didn't expect to catch somepony like that first time did ya? C'mon, it's my turn to cook dinner tonight and the kids asked for that fancy ravioli they're so fond of. You know folding those stupid lil things takes me ages with these big, fat hooves." He kissed his wife on the lips this time and she gave a halfhearted kiss in return; she wasn't interested, for her, the chase was on.

21. Into the bayou

Twilight awoke with a groan, feeling like somepony had taken a hammer to her skull, repeatedly and vigorously. She cracked an eye open, squinting in the harsh light of the campfire burning nearby. "Murgh-appuh," she mumbled. She was attempting to ask what happened but apparently speech wasn't her forte at this moment in time.

"Twilight? Was that you?" Fleur asked in a quiet voice.

"Mmhmm."

"Oh thank goodness! If you'd have been out of it much longer I think we'd have been in serious trouble."

Twilight was about to ask how long she had been out of it but instead she noticed how horrifically parched she was. "Wa'er," she mumbled, running a parched tongue over dry, cracked lips.

"Oh! Of course!" Fleur knelt down next to Twilight and propped her up as much as she could before holding a canteen to Twilight's lips in her magic. Twilight gulped greedily on the water, half of it spilling down her chin and front, but she didn't care. It was wonderful; truly water was an underappreciated substance.

"Thanks," she said once she'd had her fill. Fleur let her lie back down again and Twilight took a few minutes to recover as some of the fuzziness left her, leaving her instead with a steady throbbing that seemed to originate from the right side of her head. She also realised that her right eye was in darkness.

She gingerly reached a hoof up to her eye and felt it, finding that it, and most of the right side of her head and around her horn, was covered in a thick layer of bandages. "Fleur, what happened? Why's my eye bandaged over?"

"You're eye's fine Twilight; we couldn't get the bandage to stay on without covering your eye."

"Oh, phew." Twilight sighed with relief that her eye was unharmed, but that still raised the question of why she needed to have a bandage at all.

"Are you okay Twilight?"

"My head hurts..."

Fleur gave a mirthless chuckle, "Yeah, I imagine that head-butting a rock at full gallop would do that to a pony. I'm honestly surprised you survived it; I guess alicorns must be pretty tough."

"I hit a rock? When? How bad was it?"

"A real mess; you were falling over before you hit the rock which is probably why you came off as bad as you did. Though if you had hit your horn straight on at that speed it probably would have snapped clean off. Even so, you were still in a bad way and I'm pretty sure you...died...at one point..."

"What? That's impossible!"

"You don't need to tell me that. You stopped breathing and I'm sure your heart stopped which are pretty much the two qualifications you need for being dead. We were about to give up when suddenly you started gasping for air and you had a pulse again. I'm willing to admit that you might have had a pulse the entire time and I just lost track of it, but it's still weird."

"Was the filly okay? She was riding on my back if I remember correctly."

"She's fine. She was catapulted off your back and into a bush, but yeah, she was otherwise uninjured."

Twilight sat up, making her head spin, but it was worth it as it felt like she had been lying down for ages. She stretched her wings, glad that they were seemingly undamaged if a little stiff. She took stock of her surroundings, noting the others were all asleep which was sensible seeing as how it was apparently night time. "How long was I out?"

"Three and a half days. You've been in a coma, or whatever it was, for the entire time."

"Three and a half days!?" Twilight was shocked to think she had been unconscious for that long; no wonder she was so thirsty. "What have I missed?"

"Not much. First there was the mad scramble to fix you up and stop you bleeding out, and then you possibly died anyway but got over it. We worked out we were in the clearing by Hoovendale so Octavia and the filly went to town for medical supplies so we could patch you up as best we could; might have been easier if one of us knew first aid."

Twilight felt the bandage on her head again, "You seem to have done okay for ponies with no medical knowledge."

"Not really, all we did was stop the bleeding and wrap it up. We had no idea if you were okay or even if we were doing the right thing. You could have been brain dead for all we knew."

"Not that you could tell the difference," Trixie murmured in her sleep.

"Doesn't miss a beat does she?" Fleur said with a grin. "Anyway, once we were fairly certain you were in a state of non-imminent death we decided to start heading to Neigh Orleans because it's the biggest place around here and therefore the best place to get help for you if you hadn't woke up by the time we got there. We commandeered a cart-"

"You mean stole."

"No, commandeered, get it right. We commandeered a cart to carry you and the last three days have been spent walking; we're now a few miles outside Neigh Orleans."

Twilight nodded, but quickly stopped as waves of nausea washed over her. "What about those soldiers? Have they been following us?"

"Not so far; I'm willing to bet that the guards have been told to look for us so for now we're staying out in the countryside. Incidentally, while we were looking for your map we found a pegasus collar, some gem tipped rods and some blueprints; care to explain?"

"Shadow gave them to me. I was going to tell you guys about them but I never got the chance. Soon as everypony is awake I'll tell you how I got them. Unfortunately though I haven't had a chance to study them yet so I can't tell you much."

"Actually Trixie has been going over the plans and says she has some ideas about how they might work."

"Good, that's good." Twilight bowed her head as she tried to piece together her memories of what had happened three days previous when memories of two black clad ponies came to the fore; "Fleur, those ponies in black; who were they?"

"I don't know," Fleur admitted; "I've never seen or heard of anypony dressed in that kind of armour or having that kind of power. What did it do to you?"

Twilight didn't know. Other than the searing pain and the feeling that the runes were so cold they burned, she had no idea how they worked; did they absorb magic? Or destroy it? And how could she feel them through her magic? "I don't know, but it hurt and it...scares me. I really hope there aren't a lot of ponies with that armour because I really don't think that's a fight we can win."

"Here's hoping." Fleur lay on her side and snuggled down into her sleeping bag, "I know you've been out of it for a few days but you should really try and get some sleep. We'll be going into Neigh Orleans tomorrow and we ought to be at our best."

"I'll try."

"Okay. Good night Twilight."

"Night," Twilight said half-heartedly; she had far too much to think about right now, and barely half a mind to think with thanks to her injury. She snuggled down into her own sleeping bag and shivered, but not from the cold. Maybe tomorrow she ought to quiz Celestia on what she knew about those runes.

-0-0-0-

Twilight awoke again, this time much more pleasantly to the smell of food cooking nearby. She raised her head and opened her available eye just in time to see a yellow blur jump on her and hug her around the neck, nuzzling her desperately.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" the filly cried, her eyes brimming with tears.

"I assure you that was never my intention," Twilight said as she returned the nuzzle. "In fact I could happily go my entire life without anything like that happening ever again."

"Which part," Trixie asked with a hint of sarcasm, "the part where we get attacked by ponies in freakish anti-magic armour, or the part where you do a long distance teleport carrying five passengers and subsequently smash your brains out on a rock?"

"All of the above, and then some."

"Good answer. How's the head?"

"Feeling like it's a couple of sizes too small for what's inside it."

"I thought that'd be a normal feeling for you."

Twilight smirked at Trixie, "If you're jealous, just say so." Trixie smirked back but remained silent giving Twilight a chance to drag herself to her hooves, which was a difficult process made worse by the fact that her balance wasn't too good.

"You know, most ponies would take more than three days being unconscious before getting active with a head wound like that," Octavia commented, giving Twilight a disapproving look.

"Most ponies aren't doing what we're doing." Twilight stood still, her legs wobbling and her head spinning; at the very least she could confirm one of her symptoms was a concussion.

"There's a very good chance I'm going to need that cart for a bit longer." Fleur walked over carrying a bowl of something hot and steaming in her magic, the smell of which made Twilight's stomach growl. She tried to laugh it off but the gesture just made her head spin more and she rapidly sat down to save herself from falling over. Fleur held the bowl in front of Twilight, clearly hinting that Twilight should take it.

Twilight tried to take the bowl in her magic but for some reason her magic refused to work. Her head injury might have had something to do with it but that didn't feel right; it was more like her magic was scared. Her horn managed a few sputters of magic but in the end she took the bowl in her hooves rather than keep Fleur waiting.

"I'm pretty sure medical advice says to refrain from magic after any head injuries," Fleur said, suspecting that might be the problem. "That or you're suffering from a burnout."

"Yes, but that same medical advice doesn't say magic should be impossible..." Twilight sighed and lifted the bowl to her mouth, drinking the porridge straight out of it; cutlery was widely regarded as an unnecessary unicorn invention by most other ponies and creatures with hooves.

"All the same you should give it time." Fleur returned to the pot of porridge she had lazily bubbling over the campfire and filled some more bowls; one for herself, Trixie, Octavia, the filly and Summer.

Summer! "You killed that diamond dog!" Twilight blurted out. Summer dropped her gaze to the floor and the others made various motions indicating that Twilight shouldn't go there. Not that Twilight noticed; "How could you do that!?"

"I d-don't know. I was just angry... I guess..."

"Angry? Angry!? Being angry is no excuse to hurt somepo- somebody, let alone kill them!"

"B-but he was hurting Octavia!" Summer hunched in on herself and started to cry. "I'm sorry mistress!"

"That's still no reason to kill someone! I would have gotten her away from him if you had given me a chance!" Summer sobbed, repeatedly mumbling "I'm sorry mistress," and Twilight felt some of her anger recede; Summer wasn't a pony she needed to be yelling at. Not least because Summer probably thought that Twilight was going to punish her.

"She doesn't really remember doing it," Octavia told Twilight, placing a comforting hoof across Summer's withers.

Twilight said nothing, instead sampling the stinging sensation that ran round the inside of her skull. She rubbed her head and tried to think of a solution but her friendship lessons were letting her down on the 'a pony I know just brutally killed someone' side of things. "Fine, but I'm not letting this go; we can't have this happen again."

"I really don't think she would..." Octavia tried to say in Summer's defence.

"No? Are you not curious how a pony too terrified to defend herself managed to kill a diamond dog three times her size in a frenzied attack all because you were being hurt? Not that I want it to happen but there's a fairly significant chance of something similar happening and I don't want to see that sweet little pegasus splattered with blood again."

"I'm pretty sure there was some chunks of brain too," Trixie muttered quietly, but not quietly enough when she noticed Twilight shooting her a dirty look.

"I'm glad you can joke about this Trixie," Twilight said; "because this-"

"Actually Twilight," Fleur interrupted, "I rather think you're being naïve about this. Yes it's unfortunate that what happened, happened, but I think you're overreacting."

"If you're about to lecture me on how it's okay to kill, I suggest you save your breath,” Twilight said in a low voice.

"I'm not about to suggest that it is, but this comes back to you thinking our mission can be done without violence. Did all those bodies littering Prance not suggest to you that violence, and killing, is going to be a factor? At least Summer did it in defence of someone."

Twilight folded her ears back; give it to Fleur to know how to bring her back down to earth. As much as it horrified her, Twilight was beginning to realise that violence would be a factor; even in the peace of Equestria her battle with Tirek had taught her that violence can be a solution.

"Fine," Twilight admitted; her desire for this conversation to go on had severely diminished. "All the same we should keep an eye on her in case it happens again."

-0-0-0-

Twilight lay down in the cart as they resumed their journey towards Neigh Orleans, playing with her hooves as an awkward silence pervaded the area. Twilight had to admit she felt bad about confronting Summer like she did; it's not her fault she has more issues than...than... Twilight had to admit that Summer was a new benchmark for issues and she wished Applejack was there to make a countryism about it.

Perhaps now would be a good time to have a chat with Celestia. Twilight pulled her bags over and rifled through them until she found the speaker stone and pulled it out using her mouth. She set it down in front of her and tried to coax her magic into co-operating, but she achieved little more success than earlier.

Rather than risk straining herself she admitted defeat and asked for help, "Trixie? Or Fleur for that matter; could I have some assistance for a moment please."

"Sure," said Fleur, "what's up?"

"Do either of you know how to infuse energy into a rune based magic system?"

"Uh... I think you best have Trixie help you with that; my talents lie with telekinesis and this," Fleur's horn glowed and suddenly the air around her seemed to shimmer and sparkle in a way that somehow enhanced the beauty of whatever was within the effect. Fleur pouted and fluttered her eyelashes before cancelling the effect, "Very few uses for that spell I assure you."

Twilight coughed in an attempt to hide her amusement, concentrating for a moment on the back of Octavia's head, watching as she pulled the cart. "Yes, well... Trixie, do you know what I mean?"

"Not really, but it can't be that hard. Can it?" Trixie bit her lip.

"Not at all, all you have to do is touch your horn to the stone and transfer some of your magic into it. Pretty simple right?"

"Right." Trixie picked the stone up in her magic and floated it over to her before pressing it to her horn. There was a brief spark and a moment later the rune changed colour, "There! Trixie knew she could do it!"

"Great job Trixie! Now pass the stone back and-"

"Hello?" said the voice of Celestia coming from the stone, "Are you there Twilight?"

"Oh! Uh...good morning your highness!" Trixie squeaked in surprise.

"Who is this?"

"It is I, Trixie!"

"Trixie? Where's Twilight?" Celestia sounded worried.

"I'm here!" Twilight shouted. Trixie grinned like she was planning something but returned the stone to Twilight's eager hooves.

"Twilight, why was Trixie talking to me?"

"I'm having some issues with my magic at the moment and Trixie had to activate the stone for me."

"Oh, I see," Celestia said sounding remarkably unsurprised. "Are you otherwise uninjured though?"

"Not entirely, but it’s nothing I won't recover from. I have some news for you, but first, I have to ask if Luna's there; she wanted to know what was in the caverns."

"She just left for bed but give me a minute and I'll send a guard to summon her." The stone fell silent, the only clue of its continued operation being the colour of the rune adorning it.

A few minutes later the stone spoke again, this time with the voice of Luna; "Good morning Twilight, you are finished with your adventures within the caverns?"

"Yes, and I have a lot to tell you. In fact," Twilight motioned the others nearer; "there are some things that everypony needs to hear."

-0-0-0-

Twilight described all of the events of the last few days, beginning with their discovery of the last rebellion, their capture by Onyx and his diamond dogs and their arrival at the crystal city of Caverndown. Celestia had expressed disbelief that such a place existed without her knowledge and Luna was surprised that a large number of thestrals had ended up there; a moment that quickly grew awkward when the filly mentioned something about vamponies and asked why Luna would create such a thing. Celestia had promised Luna a long talk about playing god before the day was over.

Twilight had then moved onto their trip to the archives where they had learned a whole lot of nothing helpful before moving onto the darker discoveries made in Caverndown; how Shadow had discovered the truth about them trading with the Duke for food.

"Is that why they wanted us out so fast?" the filly asked. "Because we had found out about their dirty little secret?"

"I wouldn't think so," said Luna, "Chances are that they informed the Duke of your presence as soon as that meeting was over and the Duke demanded you be turned over to him immediately when he learned that Twilight was there. It would seem your secrecy has been compromised; you must be extra careful from here on."

"That's not the only thing we have to be careful of," Twilight said; "when we were being taken from the caverns there were two ponies in black, anti-magic armour. Their amour was covered in weird blue runes that seemed to negate magic, and I was hoping you knew something about it. Is this a new thing? Is this why we never heard about it?"

"Actually," Celestia said, "it's quite the opposite; it's old, older even than Luna or I. I had thought it all but forgotten about if I'm honest."

"What is it? What are you talking about?"

"Runic warding. An ancient method of negating magic from millennia ago, back when the three tribes would actively war against each other. It was developed by the earth ponies as a weapon against the unicorns, a way to remove the severe advantage unicorns had over them of range. It was incredibly difficult to produce though, and as I've come to understand, never saw wide ranging use, apart from a few elite units."

"Then they must have found a way to reproduce it if those ponies had some," Fleur argued.

"Unlikely. As part of the ancient treaty drawn up between the three tribes, all of the rune warded armour and all knowledge of it was given to the unicorns. They would have been stored in Unicornia which is currently where the Duke resides. I imagine it was found long ago and returned to its original purpose."

"But why keep it so secret?" said Twilight. "Surely somepony must know of it after all this time?"

"Dead ponies tell no tales..." Luna said cryptically, making Twilight shudder with the thought. "Besides, considering the lack of magic education amongst the unicorns in Mareitania I imagine such armour would be wholly unnecessary until your arrival."

"Perhaps," Twilight conceded. "They're only immune to direct magic so it’s not as if we're totally helpless against them. I just wish I had realised that before pushing myself to near burnout trying to resist them."

"Are you feeling okay Twilight?"

"Not really. As we were fleeing I teleported all six of us quite far, which combined with my efforts against those ponies was enough to make me blackout. Apparently I almost killed myself when I hit my head on a rock at the other end of the teleportation."

"Twilight! You know better than to do things like that!”

"I know, but it was an emergency and I couldn't clearly picture anywhere closer!"

"Enough!" said Luna. "What's done is done. Perhaps we ought to end this conversation, especially since it's well past my bed time. What are your plans for the meantime?"

"You know that clue I told you about? Turns out it was an anagram of Neigh Orleans, which we were going to anyway. We're going there now in the hopes of finding this 'Pierre,' and possibly Trixie's parents too."

"An excellent plan. I would hope to hear from you once you have discovered who Pierre is."

"Don't worry, you will. Bye Luna, bye Celestia." The princesses said their farewells and the stone fell silent, but not before Twilight caught a snippet of conversation that sounded like Celestia saying "I can't believe you made the thestrals and never told me!" Twilight was curious what Luna's response would be but suspected she would never find out.

"So..." Trixie drew the word out like she had something on her mind. "That's what a conversation with the princesses is like..."

"Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Seemed a bit disappointingly normal to me." Trixie shrugged nonchalantly and carried on in silence.

"I guess we should talk about this collar business and how they work," said Fleur. "Trixie?"

"Hmm? Oh, right. As far as I can tell the collars work using the crystals to provide an electric shock if the pony gets out of range of the antenna they use-"

"Oh bravo Trixie!" the filly said sarcastically. "Did you also know that two plus two equals four!" The filly held a hoof to her mouth mockingly, like she had given away a guilty secret.

"Excuse me for warming up with the basics."

"Do you have any idea how they work then?" asked Octavia, surprising the others that she had actually spoken.

"Yes I do. It's all in the resonance frequency of the crystals they're using in the collars. When the crystals in the collar resonate at a certain frequency they hold onto their charge, but if they lose that frequency they release it, shocking the pony wearing the collar. The antenna contains a crystal which resonates at the non-electrocution-y frequency but it only has a certain effective range of a mile or so, so if the pegasus gets out of range of the antenna-"

"Zap!" said the filly.

"Exactly. The shock is delivered through copper contacts, which is why you can't see the crystals, and the lock contains a breaker thing so even if you're in range of the antenna you still get a shock if you try and take the collar off by force. That's what the crystal tipped rods are for."

"I hate to admit it," said Fleur "but that's really fucking clever. Perverse, but clever."

"Nice job Trixie," Twilight said, genuinely impressed with Trixie's work. Trixie buffed a hoof on her chest as she preened.

"The blueprints had notes on the frequency used so they can tune all the collars and antennas to use the same frequency range. Trixie has been trying to replicate that frequency with her magic but I have no idea how to check if it works or not."

"I do!" The filly grinned maliciously, "Put the collar on."

"That hardly sounds like a good idea," was Octavia's opinion, but the Trixie and Fleur looked thoughtful.

"Maybe we should try it," said Fleur; "you never know when having a spell that can do that might be useful."

"Quite, but who's going to be the pony that puts the collar on?" Trixie said as she looked around, hoping for a volunteer.

"It's your spell," said the filly, "you should put it on."

"What? No! There's no way Trixie is putting that thing on!"

The filly gave a heartfelt sigh, "Then I guess we'll never know if the Great and Powerful Trixie has truly created a spell that can fool the collars... Oh well..." They continued their journey for another minute but it was clear from the range of expressions crossing Trixie's face that she was fighting a battle between her sense and her pride. Sense never stood a chance.

"Alright! I'll do it!"

"I'm with Octavia when I say this is a bad idea," said Twilight, but her objections went ignored as Fleur lifted the collar and the rods out of her bags.

"Okay Trixie, take your cloak off and then start your spell thingy. I'll put it on once you're ready." Fleur stood with an expression of rapt anticipation as Trixie removed her cloak. Octavia unhitched herself from the cart and sat down, a carefully flat expression on her face.

"Okay, Trixie needs total silence for this bit." Trixie sat down herself and bowed her head as she lit her horn and preformed the spell she had been working on. Once it was ready to her satisfaction she stood and raised her head, allowing Fleur to place the collar around her neck. Fleur held the collar shut and everypony held their breath as she inserted a rod into its appropriate slot, turning it with a click.

"See, Trixie told you she could- Heurk-k-k-k!" Fleur had removed the rod and whatever Trixie was trying to say was lost as a significant number of volts hammered its way through her body. Trixie fell over and seized up while simultaneously spasming violently, a high pitched squeal coming from between her clenched teeth.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Fleur repeated over and over as she tried to get the rod into its lock with limited success as Trixie kept spasming and unintentionally knocking Fleur away. She finally got the rod into place and turned it, deactivating the collar, although there was little difference in Trixie who was still suffering from spasms.

"That went about as well as I thought it would," Octavia said without a hint of sarcasm.

"Are you kidding!?" the filly said gleefully; "That went better than I hoped!"

-0-0-0-

"Will you please stop kicking me Trixie?" Twilight moaned. After her unfortunate incident with the collar Trixie had found her ability to walk severely impaired, at least until the spasms stopped; and had been thrown into the cart with Twilight.

"Trixie can't help it; Trixie's legs aren’t working too good."

"We said it was a bad idea! Why couldn't you have listened?"

"But, in Trixie's defence, it could have been a very good idea!"

"No Trixie, it couldn't."

"You're just jealous because I'm burnt toast."

"Is that a literal description?" Fleur wheezed. After Trixie had put the collar on despite her warnings, Octavia had refused to pull the cart with both Twilight and Trixie in, leaving Fleur as the only pony capable of pulling it since nopony wanted to burden Summer with the task.

"No, it's from the song I'm making; don't mean to brag, don't mean to boast but you're a six course meal and I'm burnt toast."

"I'm pretty sure you got that backwards," Twilight said as she nursed the suspicion that she had heard something similar before, although she couldn't think when.

"I have not; Trixie likes burnt toast and you being a six course meal implies you're fat."

"You like burnt toast?" asked the filly. "I mean I've eaten out of the garbage before now but even I draw the line at liking burnt toast."

"It’s an acquired taste." Trixie started humming the song and suddenly everything clicked into place for Twilight.

"Trixie, does this song involve you having tricks up your sleeve?"

"It may do... Why?"

"Let's just say that you're not the first...individual, to have thought of this song."

"Somepony stole my song? Who? Do I know them?"

"Uh, no, not exactly, but you do share quite a lot of similarities."

"Well if I ever meet them, Trixie and they are going to exchange some very strong words!" Trixie went to fold her hooves but spasm'd instead, clocking Twilight on the jaw with her hoof; "Heh... Sorry."

"Agh, why can't things leave my head alone? I have an entire body that could take some instead!"

"Oh the things I could imply," Fleur smirked, but it soon faltered; "but won't because I don't have much breath to waste."

"Actually, I do believe you could have a break," Octavia told her; "We should probably change Twilight's bandages for something a bit more subtle before we head into town."

"Oh thank Cadence," Fleur groaned before slipping out of the harness and collapsing.

"Thank Cadence?" Twilight asked, "Why thank her?"

"You mean I'm limited to thanking only one of our four nigh immortal alicorn pseudo-goddesses? There I was thinking that 'thank Twilight' had a nice ring to it."

"Oh no, don't even think about it! I'm already having enough issues with this whole alicorn thing without ponies throwing that into the mix!" Twilight glowered at Fleur who grinned back disarmingly. "And I am most definitely not a goddess."

"Maybe in a thousand years’ time then?"

"Never, if I can help it." Twilight clambered out of the cart, her legs feeling a lot more stable than earlier, and lay down while Octavia slowly unwound the bandages from around her head. Slowly, light returned to her right eye and she swivelled her eyes around in sheer joy of being able to use both again.

"Now let's just take this off-" Octavia gasped, "Oh my!"

"What? What is it?" Twilight asked, a hint of panic entering her voice.

The filly dashed around to have a look, "Woah, freaky!" she said as Fleur also had a look, muttering similar sentiments.

"What is it? What's wrong with my face!?" Twilight shouted.

"That's just it," said Octavia; "there's nothing wrong with your face at all! It's completely healed!"

"What? But that's impossible." Twilight felt the side of her head with her hoof and was surprised when she failed to feel anything that wasn't there before except for a slight twinge as she touched something tender. "I need a mirror."

Fleur searched her bags for a mirror as Twilight kept touching the side of her head while her personal space was slightly invaded by Summer and the filly who were peering closely at her lack of a wound.

"Here," Fleur held a compact mirror in her magic, allowing Twilight to angle herself until she could see the side of her head. As Octavia had said there was no injury, just a faint pink scar running down in front of her ear and a bold patch in her mane where she had somehow lost some hair.

"Even though this is a good thing," Twilight said carefully, "I want to freak out so very much."

"So I guess alicorns get to have freaky healing abilities too," the filly commented; "lucky bastards."

"I wonder if she can grow limbs back if they're cut off?" Trixie asked, rubbing her chin with a thoughtful expression.

"We are not cutting any of my limbs off!"

"Actually Trixie was thinking of something less severe, like cutting off your tail."

"No! I need that for flying, and for...not looking like a tailless freak!"

"I was only suggesting..."

"Everypony calm down." Octavia waited until she had their attention before speaking, "Yes, while Twilight's recovery is quite astonishing, we can probably avoid making a big fuss over it and freaking her out with suggestions of cutting bits off to see if they grow back." She turned her attention solely to Twilight, "Is your magic any better?"

"I don't know." Twilight cast her sight around until she spotted a small pebble. Focusing all of her not inconsiderable will upon it, she, after a few false starts, managed to get it wobbling a few inches above the ground. "Hah!"

"Low and behold the mighty alicorn that fought Tirek to a standstill...levitating a pebble..." Trixie slowly clapped her hooves together; "Mag-nificent."

Twilight gritted her teeth, "You know, for a pony who unwittingly got herself electrocuted earlier you're being pretty. Damn. Mouthy!" On the last word there was a pop from the pebble as her magic crushed it. She dropped it in shock and it fell to the ground in a shower of dust and fragments.

"Okaaay..." Trixie backed up a step and grinned nervously; "Seems like Twilight's magic is totally fine. Also, I got electrocuted for science which is totally a legit thing to do."

-0-0-0-

"What are we looking at Trixie?" Fleur asked as they sat on a low ridge that overlooked the city of Neigh Orleans. Not that anypony was going to admit it but the place looked huge; apparently rather than building taller buildings the ponies that made this place had built sideways, and had difficulty deciding when to stop.

For the most part it was built on land and the waterfront stretched down one side of the city while the far side of the city stopped where the bayou began, the bayou itself almost as large as the city and was filled with trees so all it looked like from a distance was a big green blob. Adjacent to that was the Mareissippi delta which led out into Mareitania's only access to the ocean.

"It appears to be a city of some kind," Trixie snarked. "How should I know? For all I know this might not even be Neigh Orleans at all!"

"Surely you must know something?" Octavia implored. Trixie sighed and sat down before pointing at the city.

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you it’s next to the Mareissippi, but in all honesty it's almost built in it. The part where rich, fancy ponies live is the bit by the river where most of the interesting stuff is. Then there's the poor part that's back from the river and is actually bigger than the rich part; that's where my parents are supposed to have lived. Then there's the bayou that's basically a swamp with slums built in it; only the totally destitute live there, although there are some that take a weird sort of pride in it."

"That was an awful lot for a pony that apparently knows nothing about this place." Fleur nudged Trixie with her elbow; "You holding out on us?"

"It's only what my aunt told me mixed with some guess work."

"What now then?" Twilight asked. "I doubt it would be a good idea to walk in through the city gates in case the guards are looking for us."

"Then we head to the bayou," Trixie said; "the guards probably don't patrol there, not least because there's no solid ground to walk on and the natives probably wouldn't be welcoming."

"Then how do the natives get around?" Fleur enquired.

"How would Trixie know? Maybe they use their freaky voodoo magic to walk on water."

"Voodoo?" Twilight said questioningly, "Really?"

"So my aunt says."

"But voodoo's make-believe, like curses and-"

"My aunt said it’s a lot like zebra magic in that it uses potions and stuff, but with some unicorn magic thrown in."

"But that's shamanism!"

"So? You think a zebra's ever set a hoof in Mareitania to tell these ponies that what these ponies practice is actually a more magically inclined form of shamanism? Is it still shamanism when a unicorn does it? Besides, all those stories you hear about evil zebras and stuff, those can totally be applied to voodoo witchdoctors."

Twilight rubbed her temples, "I can tell that this place is going to get on my nerves so very much."

"Where are we most likely to find Pierre?" Octavia asked, trying to return the conversation to useful topics.

"Heck if I know. Maybe we could ask around in the bayou or the poor part, see if anypony knows anything."

"Anything else before we head in?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, you won't need your cloaks down here. My aunt said that even in the height of winter it was always warm enough here to go without dressing up."

"Nuh-uh, no way," the filly said; "I am not taking my cloak off."

"Do you still have your old one then?" Fleur asked. "It'd probably fit in better around here."

"No, I threw it away because I didn't think I'd need it anymore. Besides, forget about me; what about Summer; she's panting already!" They looked at Summer who gave a pitiful appearance as she sat there with her mouth open, panting.

"Are you okay Summer?" Octavia laid a companiable hoof on Summer's shoulder, noticing the pegasus sag slightly.

"'m hot," she whimpered.

"Twilight, is there no way you can hide her wings with magic?"

"Not that I can think of. If I knew how to cast the spell I use to hide my wings on her I would have long ago."

"Will they even care in the bayou?" Fleur asked, "They don't sound like the kind of ponies who would rat her out."

Twilight shook her head, "Too risky. Until we can find another way to hide her wings she'll have to keep the cloak. We'll have to make sure she drinks plenty of water just in case."

Twilight waited while the others readied themselves, thinking of ways to solve Summer's problem while she waited. She could use a spell to cool Summer easy enough if her magic was working properly; at the moment it could either do nothing, freeze her solid, or set her on fire in a fit of irony.

"Summer? You will remember to speak up if you start to feel unwell right?" Summer gave a small nod which Twilight could only assume was the entirety of her response. "Okay then; are we ready?" The others gave their affirmations, and they headed of towards the bayou, leaving the cart to whomever found it.

"Oh, there's one more thing about this place Trixie forgot to say; watch out for the snakes."

"Snakes?" Twilight asked with a slight quiver.

"Mmhmm, Aunty said this place is lousy with them. Poisonous ones too."

"Good! Great! Fantastic! I have a new plan; I'll wait here until you're done in town and you can pick me up on the way out!"

"Got something against snakes?" Fleur asked.

"And they possibly have something against me, so as I said, I'll wait here."

"Don't be such a wimp Twilight." The others kept walking, leaving Twilight to fret and stress on her own. After trotting on the spot a few times and almost chewing a hole in her bottom lip she hung her head and admitted defeat.

"Snakes... Why did it have to be snakes?"

-0-0-0-

The six ponies found themselves leaving the beaten path and instead heading down a less beaten, but still well used dirt track that led them to a small jetty where they found a swamp green unicorn.

"You folks heading into the bayou?" he asked.

"Sure are!" was the filly's rustic reply.

"Then I'm yer pony; name's Swamp Runner, though you can call me Swampy if ya want."

"How exactly does one run on a swamp?" Octavia enquired. From what they had seen of the swamp it seems to consist of mostly water with trees growing up through.

"With my giant boat shaped hoof, that's how. What kinda damn fool question is that? Ain't nopony that can actually run on a swamp. Now you getting on in here or what?" Five of the six ponies clambered into the boat, leaving Twilight who was staring in semi catatonic fear at the giant snake that was entwined around a tree branch above the jetty. "Twilight?" Trixie said, hoping to get her attention.

"Snaaa-sna-sna-snaaa-snaaa-snake!" she squeaked.

"Oh don't mind him none, he ain't gonna hurt ya; he ain’t got no teeth." The snake opened its mouth to show his lack of fangs.

Twilight wasn't going to mention that the snake was easily big enough to crush a pony to death but instead focused on the toothless aspect to distract herself, "What do you call him seeing as he's got no teeth?"

"Peter," Swamp Runner said, totally ruining Twilight's train of thought; "though he has been known to tolerate being called Pete."

"Oh, that's good to know." Twilight shuffled along the jetty towards the boat, making sure to always face the snake at all times. The snake himself seemed completely nonplussed, keeping his eyes on the weird pony below him, even when she fell into the boat because she was too busy staring at him.

"You okay miss?"

"Ow..." Twilight groaned, "Gravity sucks." She righted herself and settled down next to Fleur and the Filly. Swampy pushed the boat out and started moving them in the direction of what they could only assume was bayous inhabited parts.

"So where you folks going then?" They looked between each other but none of them knew what to suggest.

"We don't really know," Fleur admitted.

"So you're lost then?"

"I wouldn't say we're lost, we just don't know where we're going."

"I'm failing to differentiate between t' one and t' other there. How can you not know where you're going?"

"Well, we know know where we are, but not where we're going; there's an important difference."

"Yes, but you could have decided to not travel anywhere and reached the same conclusion, yet you decided to come be woefully without direction in this place specifically so you must have some idea of what you're looking for, meaning you ain't as lost as you claim to be."

"You're the one saying we're lost!"

"Actually," Twilight piped up, "we're looking for somepony, goes by the name of...Pierre?"

"Pierre huh? I've 'eard of 'im, heck, everypony round 'ere has. Don't mean I have a sodding clue where to find him."

"Oh, great." Twilight rubbed her head, "In that case can you suggest someplace to go?"

"I reckon I can; ain't nopony pass through these parts without going to see Mama."

"Mama? Who's Mama?"

"Mama Brew; she's like the wise old pony of the bayou. She might have some idea of how to get you where you don't know you're meant t' be."

Twilight looked to the others, none of whom had any objection beyond a shrug. "Does Mareitania run a monopoly on wise old mares or something?" Trixie asked in a whisper. "Specifically ones with matriarchal monikers."

"I really don't think anything in Mareitania trumps Equestria's wise old mares," Fleur whispered back. "You know who I mean; the millenia old ponies who rule the country?"

"Gee, thanks Fleur, that doesn't make me sound old at all; especially since you're older than me." Twilight groused to the sound of sniggers. They didn't say much more after, instead opting to watch the trees pass by as Swampy hummed a ditty. The only moment for concern came when a snake as long as three ponies swam past, causing Twilight to have a total freak out while the filly hung over the front of the boat to get a better look.

Soon though, they started to see signs of civilization on the swamp in the form of rickety huts poking out of the water on stilts; although the wizened old stallion playing a banjo on the one porch didn't suggest a particularly high level of sophistication. They also started to see an increased number of craft like Swampy's being propelled across the water.

After a few more minutes they were able to see where Swampy was taking them as an actual town came into sight; although calling it a town might be a touch generous. There were more huts standing out of the water on stilts, propped up against the base of trees, while above was a vast collection of tree houses. The entire town was connected by a crisscrossing of wooden walkways and rope bridges and looked one strong breeze away from falling over.

"I do believe this place would stretch Fancy Pants' definition of 'charmingly rustic' to its limits," Fleur commented as Swampy took them through the town.

"Don't even mention when he said that to me," Twilight said with a huff. "Didn't he realise that I was from Canterlot and that I'm not exactly poorly well known as Celestia's student? Not to mention how horribly condescending it is."

Fleur coughed awkwardly, "Yes... Well... If I had been there at the time I might have steered his choice of words somewhere else. I swear he's obsessed with charmingly rustic things while totally eschewing the application of such notions to himself."

"Mmhmm..." Twilight snorted in annoyance at the memory; to think that he was one of the better nobles in Canterlot was enough to make her want to spit.

"Swampy, where are you taking us?" Octavia asked as it seemed that they were heading straight through town and out the other side.

"To Mama's house; she don't live right in Swamptown, she lives just outside it."

"Swamptown," Trixie mused; "I guess that makes it easier to remember." She followed a line of rope bridges that went from tree to tree leading to a very old tree house a small way out of town. The tree house itself didn't look very impressive, although most of it could have been obscured by the hundreds of colourful glass bottles that hung from the branches of the tree.

"I guess you never want for a spare bottle in Mama's house," the filly said as she stared in wonderment at the riot of colours dancing above her.

"Trixie is wondering whether she emptied all those bottles herself."

"Stories do say that she did drink herself blind." Swampy shrugged, "O' course, stories say just about anything and everything 'bout Mama." He steered his boat to bump up against a jetty at the base of the tree and they climbed out; "I'll be heading back to town so if ya want t' get out o' here you'll have to use the bridges. Take care folks!"

"This places feels strangely welcoming," Octavia said as they waved him off; "almost like it wants us to go in and have a hot meal that's been prepared ahead of our arrival."

The others sagged with relief, "So it's not just me thinking that weirdly specific thought about how welcoming this place is," said Fleur. "I was beginning to worry."

"There is a strong positive energy here," Twilight observed, "so hopefully that means the planting of ideas like that isn't a prelude to a trap."

"You say that like you do this a lot."

"More than you Trixie, that's for sure. I once came across a dark magic door that trapped you in your deepest fears, and I don't mean an irrational distrust of wheels; I mean your deepest, darkest, innermost fears," Twilight shuddered.

"If you had to put up with wheels breaking on your beloved and otherwise trustworthy caravan, you wouldn't trust them so readily either." Trixie raised her nose in the air and huffed as she led the way up the wooden steps that spiraled around the trunk of the tree; Twilight thinking this oddly familiar after mentioning the door.

"Are we meant to knock or something?" the filly asked once they were stood outside the front door.

"Nah, you can jus' come in if you want," a female voice called from inside. Twilight pushed the door open and entered, the others following in after her. Apparently the voice belonged to a chubby white pony with a cloth wrapped around her head, through which the point of a horn was barely visible. She was standing over an old tin bath, stirring something with a wooden spoon held in her magic. "Hello?" Twilight ventured.

The spoon flicked up and sped across the room into Fleur's mouth, her eyes going wide in surprise. "You think my gumbo needs anything?"

Fleur swallowed, mostly out of shock, and gagged as the spoon was removed. She smacked her lips a couple of times, "It could use...a little, uh...cowbell?"

"Cowbell? Huh, guess I can't be right 'bout everything. Well come on in children, lemme get a good look at you."

"You're blind," Trixie pointed out tactlessly, earning her a sharp jab in the ribs from Octavia. Although now it had been said it was hard to avoid looking at Mama's milky white eyes.

"Ain't slowed me down yet," Mama said cheerfully. She peered closely at Trixie, moving her head up and down as if inspecting her. "You got a darkness in you child; you tasted power and then that power was taken from you. Be wary child, power rarely comes without a price."

She moved onto Octavia who merely got a smile and an approving nod before moving onto Summer and the filly; "two pegasi, both flightless but for very different reasons. I just want you to know you're welcome here and you don't have to hide under a cloak if you don't want."

"The cloak stays on," growled the filly, as Summer scrambled to remove hers.

"Suit yerself." Mama moved on to Fleur, saying nothing for a while as she studied her. "Being pretty ain't a talent, but I guess you already know that. I suggest you look into finding out what you're talent really is. And don't steal nothing off 'f the folk round here; they ain't got much to begin with."

Finally Mama moved onto Twilight, "Dang girl, what happened to you? Your magic ain't moving right, like an animal that's been injured. Maybe there's a lil something I can give that'll help." Mama didn't move and Twilight was about to say something to relieve her awkwardness when a snake wound down from the ceiling, depositing a bottle into Mama's magic.

"Don't worry none about Winder," Mama said as Twilight froze up with a whimper; "he's just my seeing eye snake." Mama swirled the bottle in her magical grip and held it out to Twilight, "Take a swig of this."

Twilight removed the cork from the bottle using her teeth and sniffed it before taking a cautious mouthful. Her eyes bulged as the liquid burned down her throat and she almost spat it back out, "What is this stuff?" she choked as fire pooled in her belly.

"Mama Special Brews' moonshine," Mama said proudly; "good fer what ails ya!"

"It's like drinking lava!"

"Trixie'll take a hit of that." Trixie took the bottle up in her magic with no resistance from Twilight and drank a mouthful. The effect wasn't immediately noticeable, although her mouth did appear to open in a silent scream.

"I don't know about you," Octavia said, "but I think I'll decline."

"Yeah, me too," said Fleur. They watched as Summer picked up the bottle and looked into it before taking a small mouthful. She quickly spat it out and dropped the bottle, which Fleur deftly caught in her magic. Summer's eyes watered as she coughed, putting a cautious amount of distance between her and the bottle.

"Can I have some?" the filly asked, full of hope.

"No."

"Aww..." Fleur passed the bottle back to Mama who drank a large mouthful of the moonshine before replacing the cork; "It ain't everyponies cup of tea."

"What's in that stuff?" Trixie asked, her voice a little strained.

"Heck if I know; I'm blind."

Twilight stared off into space, "I think, I think I can see the future... The future's colourful... Groovy."

"Don't ponies from Equestria drink much?"

"Not really," Fleur told her before twigging onto what exactly Mama had said. "Have we got a giant sign following us around saying 'we're from Equestria?' Are we really that obvious?"

"It's the way you carry yerselves; most of you don't look downtrodden enough to be true Mareitanians' even if most of you are from here."

"Hey Mama?" Trixie trotted around looking at the various bottles on the shelves arrayed around the room; "Have you ever met a pony called Grammaw?"

"Fat ole grey biddy, lives in Hoof-ridge?"

"Yeah! That's her!"

"Never heard of her."

"Huh? But, you just... What?"

"Now how about you nice ladies grab yerself some grub and let Mama tell you what it is you came here to ask Mama for."

22. Lost and Found