After the frantic flight to reach Fluttershy, and nearly getting incinerated by Celestia's magic, the whole train trip felt very much like running away. Fleeing never sat right in Rainbow's heart, but with the entire population of Ponyville onboard, how could it be anything else? The need to move vibrated through Rainbow's wings.

As exhilarating as it was to be alive after being 'danger close' with an Alicorn holding nothing back, the question of what the buck was going on in Celestia's head would not leave her alone. Thinking about that was far easier than kicking herself for being too slow. It was not like she could have done anything if she had gotten there any sooner. Coward. A small voice whispered in the back of her mind, but she ignored it, even as a part of her wondered if exhilarating should be replaced with terrifying.

Her bones still tingled after the series of crazy teleports Little Star had thrown them through. That filly was practically a mini Alicorn on her own despite the lack of wings.

Once they were settled aboard Princess Cadance's personal war train, Gilda first checked over her weapons. The next was to use her nimble talons to strip them both of their flight suits. Rainbow had a few seconds to relish feeling the fresh air on her coat. Gilda did not give her time to savour it. She then practically smacked her in the face with an unkept wing, her glare demanding Rainbow do something about it. It was not the most pleasant thing to do, but looking after your wingmate's wings was hammered in since flight camp.

Loyalty, Duty, and Training, those three pillars could make things so simple if you let them. While nothing about the situation changed, with each of Gilda's feathers set right, some of Rainbow's stress melted away. Gilda, returning the favour, defeated most of the rest of it.

With all the amazing things Twilight had done recently, it was hard not to have faith that they would all get through this. Rainbow's eyes found her distorted reflection in the magenta crystal of Gilda's pendant. The crystal star that proclaimed her oath to Twilight. The off-hoof gift was the only reason they were both alive. Rainbow lifted her own with a wing tip and watched as the light shifted and shimmered over it as it moved.

A small splash of liquid fell down upon the pendent. Gilda's wing was around her before Raidbow even realised that it was her own tear. It was not the soft embrace of a pony, it was a forceful declaration that Gilda was here, that they were in this together.

"Enough of this sappyness," Gilda said before practically shoving a granola bar down Rainbow's throat.

"Alright, alright, I can feed myself, you know."

"Good."

A Sugar Cube Corner treat it was not, but right now, it did not matter. With how good the bland food tasted, she really needed it, even if she had to work to grind down the condensed food.

Not having pony teeth, Gilda left hers to soak in a mug of water so it could slowly become something that did not need construction tools to break apart. Out from her pack, she pulled a leafy wrap that smelled heavily of salt and fish. "Want some?"

"Nah, you need it more than I do."

After a bit of food, Gilda even tried a few half-hearted jokes, they fell flat, but the fact she could even try brought a smile to Rainbow's muzzle.

Then Starlight had stormed in and demanded answers. Answers Rainbow either did not have, or had been explicitly ordered not to give. That did nothing to make the journey any better.

With each word and worried look in Starlight's eyes, Rainbow would feel her own doubts creep back in. At least Captain Candice turned up before Gilda took a swipe at Starlight. There was no way that would have ended well.

Now, for better or worse, Starlight would get her answers. Even though the situation was very real, her mind kept thinking about what would happen next if this were in a Daring Do book. With all the crazy things that had happened since she had become the Element of Loyalty, it would have been hard not to file it away as fiction if she had not lived it.

Her wings twitched and ached to be used. She wanted to fly, to race through the sky to get to her friends, but two things stopped her. She was Twilight's first Knight, so she had an image to maintain. Her rushing around right now would only cause ponies to panic. The second was the little fact that she did not know where they were going, and even when she was just a Wonderbolt, getting lost was definitely not what awesome ponies did.

Gilda scooped but her weapons and brushed against her on the way past. Her quick glance back said, 'I'm here'. From her fellow Knight and oldest friend, it was more than enough to lend her a bit more strength. Rainbow nodded her thanks and forced her wings back under control. Gilda's eyes traced to Rainbow's wings. Rainbow followed Gilda's gaze and settled on one of the magenta feathers, the wings that were rebuilt and improved by Twilight.

Applejack… Pinkie… Rarity… There were more than just names, more than just ponies. Luna had said they had survived. Gilda was right, although 'survived' could mean a lot with what Twilight had proven she could do with what anypony else would have called a charred corpse. If they even had the slightest bit of life left in them, they would be good to race in the Running of the Leaves in no time. But first, Twilight would have to recover.

A skeletal Twilight going hoof to hoof with Celestia definitely brought the point home that a lethal wound had an entirely different meaning when it came to Alicorns. But the way when the danger was over, her burning mane flickered out, and she collapsed like a Nightmare Night puppet with its strings cut proved that whatever this counted as for an Alicorn, it was still serious.

If it had not been for Luna stating an off-hoof comment that she had recovered from worse, seeing her friend's body there without a single life sign would have broken Rainbow. Twilight had been through so much, it was not fair she had to go through even more.

Warmth spread into her foreleg as her blade lent its support in its own way. She brushed her hoof against it. Twi will be alright. It had to be true. It would be true.

As unbelievable as it was, given her state, Twilight was still alive. If that crystal skeleton were on the cover of a Daring Do book, it would have been awesome. With it being her friend and liege, it had been horrifying. Yet with just the crystal-coated bones. It was less so than that too-wide smile she had when she played with some mercenaries, all the while having a blade through her barrel.

Twilight-gifted magic was still there, a piece of an Alicorn's very soul made a part of Rainbow's own. That unique feeling of warmth in Rainbow's chest was still there. That piece of evidence was all she needed to reinforce her faith in her friend. It was enough to let Rainbow Dash keep her cool as she flew after the group.

On the other side of the window, hundreds of ponies swarmed about. The Ponyvillians were dazed and confused as the Crystal Empire ponies mobbed them with well wishes and support.

Small fireworks and fingers of light dancing through the air were the hallmark of Trixie as she did what she could to be there for the foals. The show mare looked out and caught Rainbow's eyes. 'The show must go on.' She mouthed before turning her attention back to her young charges.

If you had asked her a year ago, never in a thousand years would she have expected Trixie to become such a loyal and dependable mare. Sure, she was still an overblown show-off when she got a chance, but it's not like she could claim to be any different.

The Captain moved to the other side of the train. She paused and rested her hoof on the wall, and a moment later the window flowed into a doorway.

Starlight froze and seemed shocked, but to Dash, what was one more magic thing happening? Such a small change was nothing compared to what was happening to the city. Outside, the Crystal Empire had changed and was still changing. The view of the lush green fields beyond the city was being consumed by rising crystals. Walls and towers grew tall and formed siege weapons atop them.

Her training forced her to count them. Each tower had four cannons, eight ballistas and a trebuchet. A moment later, Crystal Guards took positions worryingly ready to use the new tools of destruction. Her eyes flicked between them as her mind pieced together the best way to fly through the defensive. Arcs of fire, likely tracking speed, even the expected losses the Guard would face trying to breach such a gauntlet. Sure, the Wonderbolts could do it, but nopony else could.

Things are getting way too real… Rather than sighing, she slowly let out a deep breath.

The clatter of hooves drew her eyes. Starlight hopped down from the train and trailed after Captain Candice. Starlight's walk screamed how worried she was. So much nervous energy was visible in the play of every muscle. It was surprising her horn was not sparking or something. The unicorn's eyes scanned over the new defensives before settling back on Captain Candice's marching form.

Starlight had to canter to catch up. It did not seem the Captain was in any mood to be delayed.

"How worried should we be?" Gilda asked as she slipped closer.

Rainbow shrugged "Probably more than we are. Twi got put down hard… and now this?" She had done drills for war before, saved Equestria multiple times, battled the blight with Gilda on her wing and it had been epic, awesome despite how terrible some of the situations were. As the defences continued to grow, she could not help but think there was going to be nothing awesome about this.

Rainbow glanced back in the direction of Equestria. One by one, the faces of the ponies she trained with so hard haunted her thoughts. Spitfire, Soarin, Surprise, Thunderlane, Icy Mist, Sky Stinger, Vapor Trail, Midnight Strike, Rapidfire. As each name went by, a weight built in her chest. Am I going to need to fight you?

Captain Candice led them through some back streets, taking a scenic route towards the central tower. It took a while, but in the end, Rainbow noticed something in the way Candice moved. The mare liked to be controlled and exacting, but this was taking it too far. It was almost like her personality had taken a hike. Unlike Starlight, there was no stiffness, no nervous energy. It was just that each movement was too perfect, emotionless.

Images of one of the few times she had seen Candice completely relaxed ran through her head. One night, during the Blight subjugation campaign in the griffon lands. She had only seen it because she woke up and just had to spread her wings before she could go back to sleep. The Captain snuggled with Twilight on the deck of the airship while stargazing. Rainbow would have had to be blind not to see the possessive affection Twilight had for Candice.

Of course she's hurting too… she's just not showing it. Unfortunately, knowing that did not offer any solutions.

It was only a few more minutes before they got to their destination. "A sports bar?" Starlight turned boldly to face Captain Candice. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Rainbow had to agree with the mare, a more modern-looking sports bar was not the sort of place she expected to be going, or even to find in the Empire. The only part of it that fit was just like all the other buildings it was made from crystal.

The door was pushed open by a crystal wing. The pony that it belonged to stepped out. "You're going to want a drink after this, so where's better?" She said to Starlight before practically pouncing Candice and pulling her into a hug.

"Umm," Starlight Started, but the literally-made-out-of-crystal pony ignored her as she dragged the non-resisting Captain inside.

"Come in and get comfy. I need a quick word with Candice… Luna will be down to see you soon." The crystal pegasus said as, under Starlight's suspicious glare, the two made their way upstairs by hoof.

Rainbow watched the way she moved, despite the carefree attitude, the crystal mare moved with a surety that only dancers or martial artists had. Add to that her powerful physique, and there was no way she was not a military mare of some sort.

Just before disappearing from sight, the crystal mare looked back to Rainbow and smiled. Today was not a day for smiles, but Rainbow let it slide, this still was nothing compared to how strange Pinkie could be.

Just like that it was just Rainbow, Gilda and Starlight alone amongst the plush cushions, strong drinks and inactive magic displays. It was a nice place. Rainbow could easily imagine herself having a few ciders, kicking back and watching a hoof ball game or a Wounderbolt performance whenever either event started up again.

What went wrong? Rainbow stared into the black crystal screen as if expecting it might have the answer. She knew it did not. All it showed back was a dim reflection of the room and its occupants. Her mind settled on the images of her friends and family, everypony from Ponyville, the Wonderbolts and even the mercenaries they travelled with in the griffon lands. These past few months had been too much, too many shocking secrets revealed, too many tragedies. But they had recovered from each one, gotten stronger and moved on.

Gilda's talons clicked on the crystal floor as she prowled over to the bar. "They got quite the collection here."

"You're looking at alcohol, now?" Starlight snaped.

"Look, chill, nothing we can do but wait." Gilda snatched two bottles and tossed one to Rainbow. "She said get comfortable."

It was simple to snatch it from the air. "Thanks, G."

Gilda nodded, popped the top with a click of a talon, and held up her bottle in a silent toast.

"Now you're drinking?" Starlight almost shrieked as her hoof scraped the ground as if she might charge at somepony.

Ignoring Starlight, Rainbow popped her own open and raised her own bottle. The scent was not as alluring as Sweet Apple Acre's best, but it still called to her. The chill from the bottle pulled moisture from the air, and the first few drops of condensation sparkled in the light as she drank. The sweet taste of berries and the crispness of a hard cider drew a content sigh.

"Be calm, Starlight." Luna's sudden presence had the opposite effect. As she regally strode from the shadows only for her wing to reach out to claim a bottle of her own. Only, her bottle was one shots were normally poured from and not just a fancy cider.

"Princess." Rainbow nodded respectfully.

Luna returned the nod with a shallower one of her own. She made settling on a couch look grateful, then threw it away by taking a large hit from her own bottle.

Starlight gorked in shock. Almost like the chain of events made no sense in her mind.

You fought the Blighted, and this is what shocks you? Rainbow kept her criticism of the mare unspoken. There was always a difference between a brave civilian that stood up to face danger and one who had been trained how to mentally deal with it.

Luna's deep breath somehow filled the room. The quiet sound somehow smothered all others and made it feel awkward to even risk the sound of exhaling. "Knights, Rainbow Dash and Gilda. We wish this meeting could be under better tidings. Starlight, although we have our doubts about you, Twilight claimed you as her student, so in this, we will trust in her decision. Do not make us regret this." The slight narrowing of Luna's eyes might as well have been an all-expense paid ticket to Tartarus for how Starlight took it.

"Of course, Princess, thank you." Her last two words cost Starlight to say, but the resolve and need to know the truth pushed aside the fear and indignation in her eyes.

Luna gave a regal nod. More graceful and yet colder than any Celestia used. "Then make yourselves comfortable. Due to the state of some individuals, and the need for upmost privacy, we shall arrive at the gathering through the dream realm."

Rainbow did not need to be told twice. She knocked back the rest of her cider and settled down. Gilda followed suit and took to lunging next to her.

Starlight opened her mouth to say something, but a raised eyebrow from Luna silenced her. A scowling but obedient Starlight made herself comfortable as well.

Luna's horn lit, and everything fell softly into the utter darkness of sleep.

Just like when we fought the Tantabus… see you soon, Twilight.

A groan escaped Rainbow. Waking up on a wooden floor was not exactly comfortable. Before her training, she might have even called it painful compared to the perfect softness of a cloud, but right now, what hit her the most was how different it was from the kinda soft couch she went to sleep on. The next thing to strike her was the lingering scent of fire, ash and hot metal. It was faint, but it helped snap her to full awareness.

When did I? Oh yeah, Luna's magic. Suppressing her normal urge to just go back to sleep. As she opened her eyes, she could not help but feel small. Despite the odd scale and the different layouts, her heart knew this palace well. Twilight's old library?

"That's right, Dashy," Twilight's soft voice said.

Relief and joy surged through Rainbow at just the sound. She snapped her head towards the speaker. "Twilight!" Her wings threw her towards the speaker.

As the distance between them blurred to almost nothing, her sharp senses shouted at her something was wrong. As much as she wanted to ignore the differences, they were there to see. The hints of fangs in the nervous smile, the bulkier, more feral build, the fact her mane flickered like fire, the horrendous scar that started at her neck and took a jagged path to disappear from sight on her underside.

This was not Twilight the librarian nor Twilight the Princess. This pony before her seemed more like a griffon or a lioness.

Rainbow flared her wings to brake and settled into a hover two lengths away from the mare that looked almost like her friend. "Twilight?" She asked, her voice with too much of a pleading edge for her liking, even as her training had her ready for battle.

Nearly Twilight's eyes shimmered with moisture as her ears dropped. "Not quite, Dash."

Those words hit like a blow to the gut, made her want to crumple to the ground, but that part had no sway over her. Chilling fear and creeping dread flowed through her body. A flick of her wings and she was muzzle-to-muzzle with the impostor. "Not quite? Not Quite? What the buck is that meant to mean?"

The impostor did not even blink, and that made the gathering tears all the more obvious. "You remember the story she told you of her creation?"

The soft, sombre tone stole away the fury from Rainbow's chest. In its place, memories came. Unbidden, that time in Twilight's castle, how happy she had been to see them all, the tears in Twilight's eyes as she told them she was not even the original Twilight. Even with the tightness in her chest, Rainbow managed to keep her voice level. "The whole mashing fillies together to make her?"

"Yes… My.. My name is Nova."

She knew that name. The question lept from her. Nova, power and passion incarnate, Twilight had said. "How…?"

"The Sunmare…" Nova closed her eyes for a moment. "Celestia did not care if I died… she..." Nova traced her hoof along part of her scar. "She simply ripped what she needed from me and discarded the rest, sealed me alone deep in the basement of my mind. Only the unwanted remains of my siblings she dumped in after me for company."

The unshed tears burnt off as flames danced in Nova's eyes, her mane and tail thrashing violently. Pulled back lips showed fangs far more dangerous than any thestral as anguish and rage warred in Nova's eyes.

It almost seemed like the mare might explode. Until, with a deep breath, she closed her eyes, brought her hoof to her chest, and then exhaled, pushing her hoof out in exactly the same motion as Twilight used. With each repetition Nova became less the fire hazard and more the collected and controlled pony.

"Where is Twilight?"

"Patchwork… the Twilight you knew sacrificed herself to save our friends." With a hoof, she pointed to what looked like three strange cocoons.

If it was not for the cutiemarks that adorned them, it would have made no sense. With the dread and relief competing in her heart, "What… What happened?"

"Moonlit Scroll's contingency… and then Celestia's betrayal." Nova looked down. "Although they both were likely just part of Celestia's plan," Nova growled out. The sheer force of hate in her eyes almost made Rainbow flinch, and it was not even directed at her.

As much as part of Rainbow wanted to deny it, wanted to claim Celestia was an example of everything good in the world, she could not. There had been too much evidence, too many comments from Twilight, and then there was the fact they were all here, held up in the increasingly fortified Crystal Empire. "Celestia's plan?" She asked in a voice that seemed lost between fruitless rage and hollow despair.

For a moment, Rainbow was there again, holding Gilda, hovering in the scorching air after the near miss with the solar beam. The utter devastation it caused below as even the Canterhorn had a molten hole cleaved through it. Her hoof found her star pendant. She saved us too.

Nova snorted. "How better to kill the princess of friendship than to put her in a position of saving herself or her friends?" Nova turned to face the three cocoons. "You can guess which ones she picked." The mare that was almost Twilight trembled with anger and only stilled with a snort and a heavy stomp of her hoof. She took three more calming breaths; the first flicked with flames, the last merely steemed with hot air. "As she knew she was going to die, she used every scrap of magic, every piece of her soul, to do everything she could. She saved her friends, attacked Celestia to buy us time to escape and restored my siblings." In the silence that followed, the sound of teardrops pattering on the wooden floor was as loud as thunder. "They had to die so she could live… Patchwork… Twilight reversed that exchange."

Rage twisted in Rainbow's gut, it howled and thrashed for something to lash out at, but one glimpse of the crying mare before her drowned it in icy water. There was no way was she going to explode on the clearly grieving pony before her. There was a pony that deserved to be Rainboomed in the face, but she was back in Canterlot.

Nova, looked and moved so similar to Twilight at times and yet she was not her. Despite that, the gifted warmth in her chest still knew her, still accepted her as Twilight. The oaths of being Twilight's Knight were still here, and they saw the object of their loyalty there before her.

Rainbow knew she was not one for mushy stuff or thinking things through, so she just did the first thing to come to mind. Being so close, she barely needed to move to pull Nova into a wing hug. There was a moment of stiffness, a hint of resistance, before Nova's powerful body returned the embrace. If looks had not tipped Rainbow off to the difference, the densely packed, muscled form that pressed against her now definitely would. Twilight was never this well built, never felt this powerful despite her impressive feats of both might and magic.

Despite how hot Nova's mane was, it did not hurt as somehow it too joined into the embrace. If anything, it was comfortable. It was almost like it was whispering how Nova cared for her, that she trusted her, that she needed her.

"I'm going to kill her." Nova whisper-growled in a totally-not-terrifying way that definitely did not shake the whole world.

And there goes the nice, cosy feelings. Still, Rainbow did not back away from the hug. She just kept stroking the traumatised pony on her back as her training on dealing with rescued ponies told her to.

It was not too long before approaching hoofsteps broke the moment. Nova had calmed, but her iron-clad embrace still had an edge of desperation to it. There was no way Rainbow was going to be able to escape short of learning to teleport herself, and a lack of horn made that more than unlikely.

The hooffalls drew closer. Something about the sedate timing of the stride and the weight behind the impacts told Rainbow who it was. She put on her most respectful tone and hoped to Tartarus it made up for the very much informal position she was in. "Princess Luna."

"Well, it seems like you two are getting along nicely," Luna said with an honest smile. "We are sorry to cut this short, but the others have all gathered."

Nova nodded and started to get to her hooves. Luna reached out and brushed a wing across Nova and guided her into a side hug as her magic set about taming the wild mare's appearance and removing any remaining hints of the tears.

Nova turned her soulful eyes to Luna. "I'll get the snacks I made." Her proud smile was still haunted by loss, but a filly-like joy tried to bury it.

"That would be delightful."

With that, Nova was up and galloping away.

"That mare is messed up," Rainbow pointed out.

Luna considered it for a moment, eyes still on the door Nova had darted through. "You are not wrong, Knight."

Rainbow sighed. "So… our Twilgiht's really gone?"

"Tis more complicated than that. Most of her memories, most of who she was, are now a part of Nova. The rest has been shared with Nova's siblings."

"This is bucked up."

Luna snorted. "Yes, one could say things are 'Bucked up' young Rainbow Dash, but we implore you to be there for Nova. She is Twilight now, just reforged and altered. She still knows you to be her friend, her loyal companion in her heart."

"Yes, Princess."

"I can see that hesitation in your eyes. So let us be clear, Alicorns are complicated, My .. sister has three minds that make up who she is, I used to have thousands before our sister … purged them from us…"

The sheer venom in Luna's tone sent a shiver up Rainbow's spine. But she was the Element of Loyalty. So, as with Nova, right now right here was a mare in pain, a pony that needed comfort. Just like Nova, Luna froze at first when Rainbow hugged her. Unlike Nova, Luna then chuckled.

"We thank you for your concern, Rainbow Dash, but tis an old pain, we are used to its weight." She briefly returned the embrace, then started walking towards the door. "Be there for Nova, she is Twilight's chosen heir, the one you will normally see behind those magenta eyes out in the physical world."

Obediently, Rainbow fell in with them and followed. It was time to go back to being the Knight.

As they walked, Luna continued. "An Alicorn is a collective of minds. It's what we become when we ascend. No single mortal mind could cope with either our power, nor the endless eternity that may lay before us. Old fragments fading and new ones forming is just a part of our existence."

It was weird as Tartarus, but it was clear Luna was not lying. But that did beg the question. "Was Nightmare Moon…"

"Yes, she… was a part of me, a defender, a ruler of the Dreams, the benevolent Queen that guided my other fragments, my protector and companion… I see the questions you are not asking… When Sister entered our mind and killed most of our fragments, we lost ourselves to our grief… Nightmare lost herself to her rage and I did not care what happened, and to her, making our sister pay was worth any cost, even the world itself."

"So… she was not the bad guy?"

Luna snorted. "When you faced her she was truly evil, mad and needed to be stopped. We still thank you for saving us, for bringing us back to sanity from the endless oblivion of apathy." Luna's muzzle twisted into a sly smile. "If Twilight had not taken you as her own we would have claimed you ourself."

"Err, thanks, Princess."

Luna chuckled again. "Far too many modern ponies get embarrassed far too easily. No, let's be about it. Nova should have her snacks prepared and We wish to sample them." With that, Luna extended her stride and Rainbow had to take wing to keep up.

With that thought, she considered something. Where the hay has Gilda gotten to?

Twilight's library never had a large conference room like this one. Well, the real one never did, but this one did. That was not the oddity that made her stop hovering in the doorway. It was the ponies inside that caused that.

Rainbow had no idea what to call a group of Alicorns, but she was leaning toward either an argument of Alicorns or a disaster. Starlight's open-mouth gawk clearly meant she had no clue either. Gilda just shrugged and, as carefree as could be, headed to the snack table.

There was Luna, Nightmare Twilight, Fiery Twilight, who was also known as Nova, Cadance and strangest of all, what almost looked like if Trixie had become a fashion model Alicorn. Then there was everypony else. Three Different Little Stars and five different not-quite-Twilights if you counted Nova. Add to that half a dozen crystal ponies, a toy-sized version of that crystal war train that was somehow eating a sandwich, what looked like a small Tantabus chasing a ball that a wingless horned Captain Candice kept throwing for it, and a large part of Rainbow demanded she should just take a nap and wait for things to make sense. Oh, and if that was not bad enough, what looked like a holeless sister to Queen Chrysalis was doing her best not to be noticed as she drank tea.

Then, if that was not enough, the Crusaders were here too, looking like they were having a little meeting of their own over cookies and ice cream. Unbelievably, with their red cloaks, they looked like the most professional and unified group of the lot.

A larger and larger part of Rainbow's mind was insisting somepony must have spiked her drink. If this was not a hallucination, it was something worse. In her time as a Wonderbolt, she had seen different branches of the military have to work together and how bad that could go. The rivalry between the Night and Day guards was legendary. All the arguments and compromises that had to be made to get anything done during joint exercises were enough to make any mare want to pull their manes out. It was almost impossible to be optimistic about how this would go.

With a tilt of her head, Luna directed Rainbow to head to one side where Gilda and Trixie were chatting with each other while Starlight seemed solemn and quiet. As Rainbow flew over, the chaos in the room started to make a bit more sense. There was order to the grouping of the ponies.

Nova was moving throughout the room with an animated plush toy helping her serve tea and snacks. Normally, it would be noteworthy, but today, it seemed the most mundane thing to have happened.

Princess Cadence stood and made her way to the center of the room. There was a hard gleam in her eyes and iron surety in her stride. As she moved, conversations died, and every eye turned to her.

"Thank you all for your attendance. As lovely as it is just to get this chance to finally meet you all and socialise, there are important things we must discuss." She scanned the crowd, only seeing nods in reply. "Then let this Conclave of Alicorns formally begin."

Anger, hate and grief were in far too many of the gathered ponies' eyes for this to go well. We’re bucked Rainbow thought.

As if she could read Rainbow's mind, Gilda settled next to her. Her still tall and flat look said that, yes, she agreed they were bucked.

Author's Note

Sorry for life getting in the way of this update. Well, this chapter is now finaily here so I hope you like it.

Thank you to all who spend the time to read this story and double thanks to those that comment.

All the best.