Twilight sat at the edge of her bed. The Castle of the twin sisters sang with the winds of the night. Barely perceiving the coldness, her shiver bore no relation to temperature. Her mind raced as she went over her choice.

"I chose Discord." She snarled to an empty room.

"What kind of Friend am I? To chose his power over their suffering." Her hands clenched as random bits of particulate began to glow. "What kind of Leader am I? To commit my people to this task so soon after their freedom!" as the glow spread to the floor her room began to shake. "What Kind OF MOTHER AM I?!!!! That I chose Discord over Spike, the son I should have always know I HAD!!!!!" She screamed, all the particulate scattering, pelting the walls, her breathing slowing, the room stabilizing.

A knock shook the door frame as a quiet male voice echoed into the room.

"Twi?"

"I'm Okay Mac." Twilight replied. Smiling to herself, she thought, "Always the big brother."

Outloud she lied, "I was just having a bad dream. But it's over now."

"Horse Apples." Came the stern rebuke.

Twilight's Eyes widened, as Big Mac continued to speak from the otherside of the door, his voice low and calming.

"Try Again."

Shaking her head she started again, "Mac, I really don't want to..."

"The Nursery's underneath you." Mac interrupted.

Twilight sat in silence for a moment, then she asked, in a quiet voice of her own. "What did you hear?"

"You doubting yourself."

"Well, How can I not? It was my leadership that got us enslaved in the first place. And What do I do as soon as we're free? Go for Discord, not any of my friends, not for spike, nor any of the other family or friends of anyone else still enslaved. To challenge Cloudsdale, or as its called now Iron Eagle Fortress. All in a vain hope that I can free the god of chaos and that he will be stable enough to help us. What about that is in any way intelligent or strategic? More importantly, part of what the Caribou said was true. You, Spike, Discord, indeed most males in Equestrian society were not valued as the mares were. Even the male nobles were more of a joke, none held any real power. Celestia saw to that, 'to minimize damage' she said. More importantly, Spike was my son in all but blood. My magic hatched him, left its mark upon him. I raised him as my servant, indeed saw and used him as such. I never treated him as anything other than my #1 assistant. I never valued all he or any male did."

Just two words echoed through the door into her room. "Why, then?"

"Why what?" She queried.

"Why Cloudsdale? Why Discord?"

"We don't have a choice."

"Explain." A simple one word question.

Twilight snorted, Mac was never one for wasted words. Still, his question deserved an answer. He was one of six men that had never bowed. They had been broken, yet even in their broken state, the six had never participated. As the first of the six to be freed and her second in command, his question deserved an answer. Respect demanded nothing else.

"If we go for Canterlot, we will be attacking The Breeding Grounds. Dragons and all the monstrous races, except for the changelings, have been sequestered there to 'produce stronger males.' Basically it's a place for the interbreeding of Monsters and females to produce super soldiers. We will be fighting all that live their. If we do so without taking out Cloudsdale, it will descend on us. The mares will be given over to the monsters as breeding stock and any males caught on our side will be sent into the catacombs to feed the brood of baby monsters. If we go for Manehattan, now called New Dainn City, the monsters of The Breeding Grounds will surround us, Cloudsdale will descend on us, and we will also be facing the strongest weapons manufacturing plant in Equestria. In summary same result as before. We go for Appaloosa, renamed Tombstone, we'll be facing all of the above, plus be getting hit guerrilla-style by the Buffalo that fell to the Caribou's sway. Same result."

There was a moment of silence, then Mac's voice echoed into her room once more. "Why Rush?"

Twilight sighed, this was a question she hoped not to answer. But she continued anyway, "First, it's only a matter of time before Ponyville's absence is discovered. Our only two advantages is that we can survive in the Everfree and the Caribou don't know any of us survived. This place hates the Caribou. Currently, it's indifferent to us. The Everfree will not protect us, she just won't take an extra effort to kill us. Regular effort sure, just won't go out of her way. So we have to act fast, lest some of the predators that protect us decide we look tasty."

"After Cloudsdale, what next?"

"I am going to personally make sure that the Breeding Grounds are wiped from the face of this earth, then I am going to use Cloudsdale and the Monsters that side with us, which all those free of the Caribou's taint will, to tear New Dain City apart Brick By Brick. I will proceed to make Tombstone into a graveyard. They hurt my friends. But more importantly they took my son from me. I am going to burn the Caribou from this planet." Twilight snarled.

"Well, Okay then."

The Princess shook her head and stared at the closed door. "What?"

Mac's chuckling answer shoved the darkness back. "Princess, you're not choosing Discord over anyone. You're getting everything you need to make sure that no female or male has to suffer under that mental enslavement. Besides, me and some of the boys want some payback for what was force upon us. For what we were forced to agree to do. I know that the women had it worse, but I want to show those pieces of garbage what real men can do. Get some sleep, I'll make sure you're not disturbed."

Twilight smiled, shaking her head she gave voice to the thoughts in her head. "Ever the Big Brother, eh Mac?"

"Eyep!" Came the cheerfully calm reply.

Giggle at hearing Mac's catch phrase, Twilight slid herself under her covers and feel into a peaceful sleep. Not caring that the night no longer gave her any answers. She still had friends, and they would be all she ever needed.

Author's Note

Next Chapter completed, hopefully this sets the stage a bit and brings more light to the situation.