“Should we go over the plan again?”

The scowl that Fiddlesticks had been wearing all morning deepened in response to Straightlace’s question. “Why?” she huffed, stroking Nemel’s fur in a transparent – and futile – attempt to calm her nerves. “It’s not like that’ll make it any better.”

Thoughtful consideration is a necessary prerequisite for any endeavor, noted Ulespy from his perch atop Feathercap’s back, wings flapping slightly to stabilize himself as the colt climbed onto an empty seat in the middle of the train car. To revisit a stratagem prior to its implementation is time well spent.

“Not if it just makes us even more anxious,” murmured Cleansweep, flying upward to stow their belongings on an overhead rack, Venin curled tightly around her middle. “We might be better off just trying to relax before we arrive.”

“I’m not sure I can,” moaned Feathercap, fiddling with his binoculars before looking over at Fruit Crunch. “Are you sure we don’t want to bring anyone else along? The train’s not going to leave for another few minutes. If we hurry, we might be able to get Garden Gate or Constance or...somepony else to come help out.”

Our leader already made the decision not to bring them in, huffed Lyden, the wolf looking perfectly at ease from where he was curled under their leader’s seat. The proper thing to do is accept his decision and move on.

We must also recall that their efforts are needed here, added Altaer, claws digging into the headrest behind where Straightlace was sitting. Better that they should stay to maintain the fragile peace.

His use of the word “fragile” made Fiddlesticks cringe, stroking Nemel’s fur harder. “If something happens while we’re gone-”

“Tiddlywinks will be okay.” Fluttering over to sit next to the earth filly, Cleansweep gave her a hug. “My mom will take good care of him, just like always.”

And if all goes well, we’ll return with the Exalted Primogenitor, who will put things right, added Nemel, nuzzling Fiddlesticks.

“I’m more worried about what will happen if things don’t go well,” pressed Straightlace. “We’re heading right into danger, based on fourth-hoof information, all on the hope that if what we heard was right, and if we can get where we need to be, then maybe we can bring Lex back.”

The pegasus let that sink in for a moment, looking pointedly at Fruit Crunch. “We’re betting everything on a plan with a lot of maybe’s in it.”

Sometimes that’s all you can do, offered Venin. When a situation has grown dire, even a radical treatment plan is better than no treatment at all.

“I’m not sure House Call would agree,” murmured Feathercap.

“If any of you are getting cold hooves,” announced Fruit Crunch, not looking away from where he was staring out the window, “then you can head back before the train leaves. I’m staying.”

The blunt announcement made the other foals wince, shooting looks of concern amongst themselves.

Finally, Cleansweep took the initiative, leaving Venin with Fiddlesticks before crossing the train car to sit next to Fruit Crunch. “C’mon, Crunchy, don’t be like that. You know we’re all with you on this. We just want to make sure our plan will work.”

“It’ll work.”

Fruit Crunch’s reply was calmly stated, as though their success was already confirmed, but no one missed the underlying quaver of desperation in his voice.

“It has to work...we need Lex back...”

None of the Night Mare’s Knights said anything to that, knowing that things were on the verge of falling apart. Not to the point of monsters roaming the streets again, or ponies being forced to quarantine Vanhoover, but enough that everything Lex had built was now hanging by a thread, despite the best efforts of everypony to turn things around.

Except it’s not everypony, Cleansweep knew.

Quite the opposite, since the Hoofingfords had returned.

The third of the three families that had previously run Vanhoover, the Hoofingfords’ power had come from their control over the city’s maritime activities. Their authority had been rivaled only by the Banks, who were in charge of the city’s finances, and the McNeighs, who controlled its agricultural market.

But all of that had been swept away when the Elemental Bleed, with its subsequent ghoul infestation, had struck Vanhoover. The Banks family patriarch, Mounte, had died in the chaos, leaving only River and their son Piggy to carry on their family name. The McNeighs didn’t even have that; as far as anyone knew, Fruit Crunch – a distant offshoot from the main family – was the last McNeigh, and he had no interest in restoring the clan.

As far as Hoofingfords went, everyone had thought that they’d been similarly wiped out. Certainly, if there had been any survivors, they hadn’t returned to the city in the weeks since its recovery. Even when stories of Lex Legis’s heroic struggles to recover Vanhoover had spread all along the coast, not a single member of the Hoofingford clan had shown up.

Until four days ago, when a fleet of ships had sailed into the harbor.

Appearing from over the horizon, their approach had quickly attracted everyone’s notice, as much from the fact that there were over a dozen full-sized carracks as from the fact that they were sailing in from the open ocean out west, rather than following the coast up from the south.

But once the ships had grown close enough to see the flags they were flying, no one had doubted who they were, the familiar image – a feathery wing whose blue-and-white coloration made it look like a cresting wave, indicative of their being a pegasus clan who specialized in seafaring – being easily recognizable to the ponies of Vanhoover.

The Hoofingfords had returned.

And they’d quickly made it clear that they weren’t going to just roll over and accept the new regime that had sprung up in their absence.

Cleansweep had never met Captious Cabotage – or “Granny Hoofingford,” as most ponies in Vanhoover called her – but she’d heard people talk about how the old mare was as ruthless as she was bitter, lording over Vanhoover’s nautical activities with an iron hoof.

But she’d never imagined that Granny Hoofingford would have the gall to come back and try to reassert authority over the city she’d abandoned.

Especially when she could have saved so many other ponies, Cleansweep knew.

The fact that the Hoofingfords had run away when Vanhoover had fallen wasn’t anything to be ashamed of; everyone who’d been able to get out had done so. But by the time the Hoofingford ships had lowered their anchors in the bay, it had already become clear that they hadn’t simply fled in a panic.

The massive loads of cargo they’d been offloading – including barrels of nonperishable food, crates full of medical supplies, and enough spare lumber, rope, and sailcloth that they could have rebuilt each ship twice over – made it obvious that the Hoofingfords had taken everything they could get their hooves on before leaving the city.

With all that they’d taken, no one had wondered how they’d been able to stay out in the middle of the ocean for so many weeks, waiting for the situation in Vanhoover to improve.

Nor had anyone overlooked how there had been no ponies aboard any of the ships who wasn’t part of the Hoofingford clan, despite there having been plenty of room on their ships. As it was, Cleansweep had heard a rumor that several of the carracks hadn’t even had a full skeleton crew, and that several of the Hoofingfords had to fly between ships in order to properly sail them.

It might not have been true. There were a lot of upset feelings over how the Hoofingfords had taken so much and left everyone to fend for themselves, particularly among the ponies who’d been trapped in the city and remembered what it was like to risk their lives trying to find food and clean water. But even if the rumor about them not having enough ponies to sail all of their ships properly wasn’t true, it was undeniable that the Hoofingfords could have taken more ponies – a lot more ponies – with them.

Or, as Turbo had so bluntly put it, “the family of sailors hung us all out to dry.”

The fact that they’d come back and started settling back into their old business, as though nothing had changed, had further incensed everyone. Particularly when their ships had started blocking traffic from Tall Tale and Las Pegasus, citing how Vanhoover’s port was Hoofingford property, and anyone wanting to use it needed to deal with them. Only C. Shells’ quick thinking – having her existing Hoofingford permit from before Vanhoover’s flooding – had allowed her to defuse the situation, acting as a middlemare so the ships from the other cities could unload their cargoes and crews.

But it had been a temporary solution, and everypony knew it.

Particularly the Banks Sisters – to use the nickname that Slip ‘n’ Slide had given to River Bank and Cloudbank, and which had subsequently caught on, with how closely the two mares were working together now – who weren’t about to let a major portion of Lex’s city be stolen away on their watch.

They’d made a plan to cow the Hoofingfords into submission, putting out word to assemble the same ponies that had fought off Shining Armor’s invasion – including the clerical corps of ponies whom Lex had ordained before leaving for Las Pegasus, the fledgling mage crew that Constance had been teaching, Garden Gate’s police force, and the Night Mare’s Knights – to get ready to march on the city’s dockyards.

The entire thing had been finalized by sundown, with plans to move out at dawn the next morning.

Only for disaster to strike a second time.

That midnight, the Night Mare had ceased to grant spells to her worshipers.

The clerical corp had been beside themselves, and Cleansweep could distinctly recall how she and her friends – who had finally gotten used to receiving clerical magic from their goddess – hadn’t been much better. Only Cloudbank, who had also been praying for new spells, had managed to keep her head on straight, ordering a total lockdown of information while they tried to figure out what was going on.

But the fact that something was happening was impossible to keep hidden, particularly when Cloudbank had cancelled their march on the dockyards the next morning. Before the sun had cleared the mountains, Cleansweep had already been pulled aside by her mother, wanting to know what was going on. That had made it clear that the news would be impossible to contain, a point driven home by how the rest of her friends had also been quietly approached by the non-spellcasting members of Lex’s inner circle with similar questions.

Just like her, they’d had no answers to give.

Which meant that the clerical ponies had free rein to make wild guesses of their own.

Most of them agreed that it was a sign from the Night Mare, but couldn’t reach any sort of consensus as to what it meant. Some thought that they’d offended her somehow, while others insisted that it was some sort of test. A few had speculated that it was an indication that Lex really was dead, though after Fruit Crunch had launched himself at the pair of stallions he’d heard saying that, no one else had repeated that rumor...at least, not near Cleansweep or her friends.

The one bright spot was that she and the other Knights still had their spirit animals, and the powers they gave them, even though Venin and the others were equally mystified by what was happening.

But that had done little to reassure anypony.

Least of all Cloudbank. For all that she’d tried to put on a brave face – reminding everypony that they still had not only the Night Mare’s Knights, but that Garden Gate’s patrol ponies didn’t need magic to protect everyone, and that the order Constance had placed for the materials needed to make new spellbooks would arrive soon, at which point they’d be able to train more mages – it had been clear to everyone who knew her that the pegasus mare was deeply shaken by what had happened.

That she’d cancelled the march on the dockyards, despite all the ways in which they supposedly still had the upper hoof, had made it clear how their erstwhile leader really felt:

Defeated.

It was a feeling that Cleansweep could relate to.

First they’d lost Lex, not to mention poor Thermal Draft. Then, even after they’d managed to push back the Crystal Empire, they’d lost Sonata and Aria as well. With the Night Mare apparently having withdrawn her support for them, it seemed like the end.

Which had made the plan Fruit Crunch had outlined to them all only a few hours ago that much crazier.

“I agree we need Lex back,” murmured Cleansweep, knowing that Crunchy was in a bad place at the moment. He’d taken Lex’s disappearance harder than any of them, and the possibility that the Night Mare’s withholding their magic could mean that something had happened to him was obviously weighing heavily on the colt. “I’m just not sure this is the best way to try and make that happen, is all.”

“If you’ve got a better idea, I’m all ears,” he shot back, still not looking at her.

“Crunchy...”

“Not having a better idea doesn’t mean this one is good,” cut in Fiddlesticks. “I get what Venin said about a longshot being better than no shot at all, but Straightlace wasn’t wrong either. Breaking into Twilight Sparkle’s castle is a huge risk!”

“I’d also like to point out that the rumor about there being a portal to Everglow there is just that: a rumor,” added the pegasus colt. “I know that Turbo said he overheard Thermal Draft telling Cloudbank that she’d heard Spike say something about that to Soft Mane during Lex’s duel with Twilight, but that doesn’t mean that he heard right. Or that it’s even still there. Or that we’ll be able to use it to bring Lex back.”

“Feathercap’s been studying with Constance.” Just like before, Fruit Crunch’s response was clipped, continuing to gaze out the window. “Once we find the portal, he’ll be able to get it working.”

The colt in question somehow managed to turn even paler, which was a considerable feat considering how nervous he already looked. “I’m, um...I don’t know if...if I can...”

“You’ll figure it out,” replied Fruit Crunch, apparently not willing to accept any other answer.

“You do realize that Twilight’s friends know what we look like, right?” snapped Fiddlesticks, her combative tone making Cleansweep wince. “Lex had us guard them during his duel to make sure they didn’t interfere. If they’re anywhere near the train station when we arrive in Ponyville, they’ll spot us immediately. And even if they aren’t, I bet it won’t be long before they overhear someone saying how there were five foals all traveling with their pets.”

Shame on anyone who spreads such base gossip! scoffed Altaer. We are far more than mere pets!

“I’m more worried about Starlight Glimmer,” murmured Straightlace. “Twilight took her back to Ponyville, right? If she’s still there...”

Fruit Crunch gave a dismissive grunt. “We’ve been training to fight her in our dreams. We’ll be fine.”

“And if Twilight herself shows up?” pressed Fiddlesticks. “You remember that she fought Lex himself to a standstill, right?”

Fruit Crunch had an answer at the ready. “We’re not going there to settle scores. Our goal is get into Twilight’s castle, find the portal, and activate it so we can bring Lex back. If someone’s in our way, we’ll try and go around them first, and only go through them if we have to.”

Alarm bells were ringing in Cleansweep’s head. She’d known Fruit Crunch for almost as long as she could remember, and it wasn’t like him to be so clinical. He was an emotional colt, prone to blowing up when pushed, after which he’d calm down and apologize. This calm analysis was very unlike him, and it was starting to scare her.

“Crunchy, I know I said that going over things more would just make us all nervous, but maybe we should make some of those things, for if something goes wrong-”

“Contingencies,” murmured Feathercap, half-hiding behind his binoculars as though he expected their leader to explode into shouting at the suggestion.

“Right, contingencies,” agreed Cleansweep. “Like, say Feathercap gets the portal open and Lex doesn’t immediately come out of it. Then what?”

“Then we go through.”

“Then we go-, wait, to Everglow?! Us?!” yelped Cleansweep, her eyes widening.

“Like I said,” answered Fruit Crunch calmly, “if any of you want to stay here, you can. But I’m going.”

“Yeah, but I thought you meant stay in Vanhoover, not Equestria!” Cleansweep felt dizzy at the idea. The thought of leaving her hometown was daunting enough, but leaving the entire world? For one that was, from what she’d heard, far more dangerous than Equestria? “Crunchy, this is crazy!”

“No, it’s not.”

I’m afraid that I cannot agree, chimed in Ulespy. To dive into an unknown situation, with no preparation and no means of easily extricating yourself, is to court disaster.

Not to mention that we’d be abandoning our responsibilities to everyone here, added Nemel. This is no brief sortie, but an open-ended mission, one which could take weeks or even months...perhaps even years to accomplish.

“I don’t care.”

I worry that you’re confusing desperation for determination, offered Venin quietly.

“We don’t even know what’s on the other side of that portal!” squeaked Feathercap, shaking like a leaf. “What if it dumps us in the middle of the ocean, right where all those monsters that invaded Vanhoover came from?!”

“Then we’ll take them out and finish what Lex started.”

“Crunchy, that’s crazy-”

“Cowards.”

Her best friend’s rebuke was delivered quietly, but Cleansweep recoiled all the same. Feathercap cringed, trying to make himself as small as he could. Fiddlesticks looked shocked, while Straightlace’s face was turning red.

“How dare you!” snapped the pegasus colt. “It’s not cowardly to call out how irrational you’re being-”

“I’m being irrational?”

Finally, Fruit Crunch looked away from the window, rising to his hooves, and the expression on his face was enough to make Straightlace immediately quiet down.

Their leader was crying.

He wasn’t sobbing or sniffling. His lip wasn’t quivering. His expression was completely composed, looking almost supernaturally calm...save only for the single tear sliding down one cheek.

“We’re about to lose everything Lex helped us build, and all anypony seems to want to do is sit around and twiddle their hooves. And I’m the one who’s being irrational?”

He looked at each of them in turn, with only Cleansweep being able to meet his gaze, even though doing so made her tear up in turn. “Crunchy...”

“I don’t know what’s happening with the Night Mare, but I do know that it’s going to absolutely ruin everything if we don’t do something,” continued the colt. “You all heard how energized everypony got when they heard that Lex spoke to Coat Tail and Tranquila, right? Well this is going to be that in reverse. As soon as word gets out that the Night Mare stopped granting us all spells, everyone’s going to lose faith in her.”

He seemed to notice the tear sliding down his face then, reaching up to wipe it away. “Cloudbank’s been ready to throw in the towel since her girlfriend vanished, and this has already pushed her over the edge. She’s going to let the Hoofingfords have their way, and if she can’t find it within herself to stop them, there’s no way she’ll be able to stop the princesses the next time they march an army here.”

He paused then, shaking his head as he took a slow breath.

“We owe Lex everything. I” – for just a moment, his voice wavered, but he immediately caught it, forcing his self-control back into place – “I owe him everything. If I can’t find Sonata and Aria, then I’m going to find him. I don’t care how dangerous it is, I don’t care if I don’t have any spells, I don’t care how low the odds of success are.”

Holding out his foreleg, the one that he’d let Severance cut when he’d pledged himself to the Night Mare, the colt traced the scar tissue with his eyes.

“I’m a knight of the Night Mare. I swore to uphold her tenets, and that includes not being afraid of doing what needs to be done.”

Lowering his hoof, he sat back down. “Lex told Coat Tail that he’s on Everglow. If he isn’t back yet, that means that something’s keeping him there, so I’m going to go help, alone if I have to. End of story.”

No one could say anything to that, silence filling the train car.

Tentatively, Cleansweep sat down next to Fruit Crunch. “Crunchy...”

He didn’t say anything, he didn’t look at her, but she heard him hold his breath.

Slowly, she wrapped a wing around him. “I’m with you, all the way.”

He exhaled then, and in his reflection in the glass, she caught sight of the tiny smile he gave then. “Thanks, Dust Bunny.”

You should know better than to say you’re going into danger alone, chastised Lyden, though the statement was ruined by how his tail was wagging. Wherever you go, I go.

Someone is going to need to patch you both up when you end up injuring yourselves, giggled Venin.

“Like I’m going to let you go all the way to Everglow and leave me behind,” snorted Straightlace.

Perseverance in the face of daunting odds is the definition of courage, added Altaer. Many speak of it, but few can say they’ve lived it.

“I-, I’ll help too!” piped up Feathercap. “I mean, I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do, but I’ll try my hardest.”

The leader’s job is to act as the heart of their group, added Ulespy. Steadfastly maintain your faith, and allow us to act as your eyes and ears.

“You better end up making this crazy plan work, otherwise I’m never going to let you hear the end of it,” sighed Fiddlesticks. “Just promise me you won’t get yourself killed trying to save Lex, okay?”

Indeed, agreed Nemel. There’s nothing shameful in trying to save your loved ones, so long as you don’t lose others you care about in the process.

“I’m not planning on losing anypony.” Turning his head, Fruit Crunch glanced back at Vanhoover before looking back at his friends and nodding.

“Never again.”

Her teeth clenched around the handle of her basket, Bon Bon hummed a happy tune as she trotted toward the locomotive, the skirt of her maid uniform swishing.

Knocking on the door to the engine, she waited until it opened, waving at the sooty earth stallion who opened the doors. “Hi there! I thought you could use some treats before you set out!”

“Wow, thank you!” Smiling, he invited her in, and Bon Bon didn’t hesitate before stepping inside, despite how gritty the interior was. “The engineer just stepped out, but I don’t mind holding onto his share if you’re in a hurry.”

“I’m sorry I missed him,” answered Bon Bon, though in truth she was quite aware that the engineer had already left, rooting around in her basket. “Does he prefer chocolate or fruit-flavored candy?”

“Actually, I think he’s partial to mint.”

Nodding as the code word – mint – was used, she lifted a small box. It did have mints in it, but what was more important was the folded piece of paper underneath the candies. “And what about you?”

“I don’t have much of a sweet tooth myself, thanks. But I’m happy to deliver this.”

“Sweet tooth” was the secondary code, confirming that this was her contact, and Bon Bon gave a sigh of relief as she passed him the box. “Make sure you pass this along at the first opportunity. These mints have a short shelf life.”

Her contact nodded, reaching up to rub one eye, indicating that he’d understood her warning about this information being time-sensitive. “Understood. Thank you very much, miss.”

“Of course. Have a safe trip.”

Picking up her basket, Bon Bon exited the train and marched back toward the mansion, already thinking of ways she could prepare for what was going to happen next.

There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that once Princess Celestia found out that the ponies here were no longer receiving spells from the Night Mare, she’d move to reclaim Vanhoover from Lex Legis’s followers immediately.

Author's Note

Rocked by the return of the Hoofingfords and the loss of their clerical spells, Vanhoover’s situation grows dire, leading Fruit Crunch to launch a desperate attempt to get Lex back even as Bon Bon sends a message to Celestia!

Will the Night Mare's Knights be able to infiltrate Twilight’s castle and reach Everglow? Will Celestia attempt to retake Vanhoover?