My dreams are peaceful, but I have something important to do. Sombra has taught me a spell for locating other Dreamwalkers in the dream world, and I use it to tell Wishbone where to find me in the ever-changing labyrinth. She appears almost immediately and I throw my forelegs around her.

"Wish, I am a very stupid pony, and I'm sorry for everything," I say. "I hurt one of my best friends without thinking."

"You? I should have believed you! I was just as horrible to you as you and King Sombra were to me. Well, you two were quite a bit worse, but I can deal with it."

I chuckle. "You're not the only friend who's come out of the woodwork recently."

"Sombra's old friend, Radiant Hope. I can tell that you didn't get on too well when you first met, but you resolved it."

"All thanks to Cozy Glow. That filly is a real pest sometimes, but she's also really sweet."

"I wonder what she'll think of me when I meet her."

"She'll like you. So will Hope. She's a healer too. You'll get on with all the others like a house on fire. Wait, I know this is a lot to wrap our heads around, but would you be able to visit?"

"When were you thinking of?"

"Follow me."

I jump out of the dream and into Sombra's. He looks at the two of us and breaks out into a smile. "Moonlight! I see you have spoken to Wishbone. So, have you sorted everything out between you?"

"I've had a lot of time to think about things, and when I found Starlight, she told me all about you and how you've changed her opinions," Wish explains. "It's changed mine too, and I owe you an apology."

"Apology accepted. I didn't treat you too kindly either," he answers.

"Thank you. Moonlight was wondering when I could visit the Crystal Empire. I'm moving around a lot, trying to avoid Celestia should she come looking for me."

"Whenever you want to. We managed to house thirteen hundred changelings for three days, so I'm sure we can handle two unexpected visitors."

"Tomorrow morning, then. I'll probably be tired since I don't really have a sleep schedule at the moment, but I can teleport there, since my magic isn't restricted any more." She pretends to clear her throat.

He harrumphs. "Sorry."

"You're forgiven for almost everything. The one thing I won't forgive you for is stealing my best friend. I didn't recognise you, Moonlight. You scared the Tartarus out of me. Try not to do that again."

I grin, showing off my fangs. "No promises."

In the morning, Sombra and I tell the servants that an extra plates of breakfast are needed. However, there is a key difference between how most royals and aristocrats treat servants, and how we treat them. Sombra and I always carry the dishes back to the kitchen afterwards, and if there isn't much to do, I don't mind doing a bit of washing up. Today, Sombra really surprises everypony and offers to help prepare the meal. The maids politely refuse to let him.

"But I insist," he tells them.

"I don't wish to insult you, but you run a country, not a kitchen. I can tell you're in a good mood, but we can handle this," a silver-coated mare assures him.

"Just promise that you will not mess up. I have some very important ponies joining us."

Wishbone appears out of nowhere, wearing her saddlebags and carrying an additional two shopping bags of luggage. At first, the guards rush to surround her, but I dismiss them with the brush of a wing. "She's a friend now. Treat her as you would any other citizen of the Crystal Empire."

The guards leave, and the two of us trot into the dining room.

The cooks have really gone over the top. There are two large bowls of fresh fruit, a plate stacked with slices of toast and a selection of cereals to choose from. I would normally only have a small meal for breakfast, but there are so few occasions for celebration at the moment and I want to enjoy the reunion. There's more than enough food for five of us, and then Chrysalis shows up, asking what the commotion is and grumbling about being able to hear us even in the Hive. Thankfully, we have a large table. Sombra takes his place at the head of the table, and we all crowd around him from there.

"So, introduce me to everypony," says Wishbone.

"Everypony," I say, "this is my old friend, Wishbone Willow." I point at each pony - and creature - as I say their names. "This is Radiant Hope, Cozy Glow, and Queen Chrysalis, leader of the changelings. Obviously, you've already met Sombra."

"Is this the same Changeling Queen who crashed the wedding last year?"

"Yes, that was me," replies Chrysalis, smiling. "Had I not made a miscalculation, I would have sorted out the Royal Guard immediately."

"Oh, why's that?" Hope asks.

Chrysalis, Sombra and I share a look. "Hope, you've missed out on one of the highlights of Chrysalis' life and the failure of the Royal Guard. Who wants to tell her?"

Chrysalis explains, "Radiant Hope, my changelings feast on emotions. The best thing for us to eat is love, and we had been starved of it since Celestia does not like us. The royal wedding of Princess Cadance and the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armour, was approaching. This was not one of my best plans, but I hid Cadance in the caves below Canterlot and took her place. Only one pony noticed, and that was Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle. Nopony believed her, and she was even prevented from attending the wedding. Still, I decided that she was a little too large a threat, and sent her into the caves too. Unfortunately, she found Cadance there, and they revealed my plan, but otherwise not even the guards would have noticed anything was amiss. Then, when I was forced to reveal myself, my changelings and I defeated the guards and Celestia herself with ease. The only reason I didn't succeed was because Cadance used magic to banish the lot of us. Otherwise, I would have beaten King Sombra to taking over Canterlot and kicking out Celestia."

"Oh, Tartarus," Hope groans comically. "Now I'm beginning to see why you all hate Celestia so much."

"It's Sunbutt, actually," Cozy correct her. We all laugh, and continue eating whilst recounting our battles.

Afterwards, Sombra and I help clear up, whilst Cozy and Chrysalis dig out a chessboard and Hope talks to Wishbone. However, once we have all of the dishes, cups, bowls and cutlery in the kitchen, the servants promptly kick us out.

"Now listen to me," the mare from earlier tells us sternly. "You two have a country to run, and visitors to entertain. Go and do what you're go at, and we will do what we're good at. You'll have to throw all of us in the dungeon before we let you do all of the work in here."

"That can be arranged," Sombra jokes, then the two of us leave them to it.

"So, are you going to throw them in the dungeon?" I clarify.

"Of course not. I'm pleased that they are acting like this. It means they like us."

We return to the dining room, where everypony is enjoying themselves. I decide to play a little joke of my own, and as we walk into the room, I shout, "Come on now, we need a War Council meeting to discuss what to do with those Tartarus-forsaken Solar Guards. Pack away your chessboard, wrap up your conversations, let's go, go go!"

For about five seconds, they take me seriously, until Sombra ruins it by saying, "How dare you, Moonlight? You think that those Solar Guards are actually causing a problem?! Relax, everypony. If we receive news that things aren't going well, we will sit and discuss what we need to do. Otherwise, we can enjoy ourselves for an hour."

It earns me a few glares, but nopony can keep a serious face. Sombra and Hope sit down to talk to each other, leaving me and Wish together.

"I'm assuming it's not like this every day," she comments, looking around at the six of us.

"No, it's not usually this lively. Normally, I go on guard patrol around the Empire, teach the guards a few new combat skills, and help Sombra in court. It's still exciting. There's always surprises, both good and bad."

"Don't tell him this, but the two of you are good leaders."

"Thanks." I think about what to say next. There's something I really need to know, but how to ask without being intrusive? "Uh, Wish. I have a bit of an awkward question. About you."

"Just ask me. I won't mind."

"Well, I know what the, um, mind control spell does to creatures now. It shows them their worst fears. Finding out about that made me worry about what you saw when I-"

She says, "I don't know whether I'm the right pony to tell you."

"What do you mean?"

"I know, but the thing I'm scared of the most..." She pauses, probably to work out how to phrase her answer. "The thing I'm scared of is a prophecy. A prediction."

"Tell me more." Unfortunately for her, she's captured my interest.

"Can't."

"Wishbone, Sombra and I have a little rhyming rule. No secrets, no spies, no pain and no lies. We tell each other the truth, no matter what."

"Right," she says slowly, unsure as to what to do. She looks around the room. "I think I can tell you. It doesn't look like anypony's listening."

"We can go somewhere else that's a bit more private."

"I'd prefer that. You'll probably tell them later anyway, but I'd like to talk to you away from unwanted listeners."

I teleport the two of us to the lounge, and we sit on the sofa together. "Is this better?"

"Yes. Now, let me think. It's very complicated. It surrounds the Royal Sisters and an unknown mare. I can't remember it word for word, but I know most of it off by heart. Fear makes you remember things in more detail, I guess. Are you sure you want to hear this?"

"I'm sure that I'm sure, for several reasons. One, I need to know what you're scared of to help you get over that fear. You did the same for me, after all. More importantly, and I'm going to quote you here, this isn't about you alone. If this has something to do with Celestia and Luna, it could change this entire war."

"That's partly why I'm worried, but you have a point." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, running a hoof along the soft velvet sofa. She tells me, "For as long as time itself, there has been light and dark. They are supposed to be equal, and balance each other out. However, they are not. Each side is constantly at war with the other, trying to get even. This fight has divided entire kingdoms and even the Royal Sisters at times. One mare, the child of two guardians of Equestria, is willing to sacrifice herself and has the power needed to restore the balance between light and dark. She knows what the darkness and light really are, and is constantly stood on the border between the two, and sees the world with different eyes to the rest of us. Many may fall before her, but in the end she will be the one that matters most. Only she can call a world of warriors to battle, and only she can convince both sides to lay down their arms."

"A mare able to restore the balance between light and dark, the child of two guardians. What does all that mean?"

"Moonlight, I'm not supposed to be telling you any of this-"

"Who's supposed to be telling me then?"

"Nopony. I was told that if I told you, I would wish I was in Tartarus. Luna made me-"

"What?! Luna knows, and she said nothing. Again. Since Starlight is also a Dreamwalker, she probably knows too. Sombra might have even been told about this. But why?"

"Moonlight, I never take these decisions lightly, and neither does Luna. Starlight has no idea, and Luna only told King Sombra a few nights ago. I should have told you this before, but two months after I first found you and started taking care of you, Luna contacted me in the dream realm, and she told me that I was to protect you, no matter what. It's why I hated Sombra for so long, because I thought he was going to hurt you."

My ridiculously slow brain finally catches up. A child of two guardians of Equestria, somepony who can see the light and dark for what they really are. A child of a Princess and a guard, who has been around ponies who are considered enemies of Equestria. "That prophecy... it's about me, isn't it?"

"It's not."

"No secrets, no spies, no pain and no lies, Wish. I don't take these decisions lightly, either, but I am both a Dreamwalker and a pony with experience of using dark magic. Is it about me or not?"

She flies across the room, sits on the sofa next to me, and wraps me in a hug. "Nopony knows, but Luna thinks it might be. If it is, then you're in more danger than you know, and that's why I'm scared. You're a friend, and I want the best for you. All of your burdens are mine too."

"What about the dream before I smashed the Crystal Heart?"

"I wasn't going to let the guards kill you. It was a test to see whether Sombra was using mind control on you, and whether you realised how much danger you were in. You knew what you were doing, and yet sided with him anyway. After that, I was trying to convince you to walk away, because I didn't want it to start coming true. I was concerned."

"Let me remind you of something you told me once: this isn't all about you."

"But-"

Sombra, Cozy, Chrysalis and Hope all teleport into the room. Sombra steps closer to me and Wish. "Us four already know everything, Wishbone. You know our golden rule: no secrets, no spies, no pain and no lies. Admittedly, I broke the second part of that rule, but for a good reason. I needed to know what the two of you were talking about, and I now I know I'm concerned that she wasn't told sooner."

"I don't want her to-"

I interrupt them before things get out of hoof. "Cozy Glow, I realise how you feel when all of us keep talking and ignore you. Wishbone, back when Sombra first appeared in my dreams and you said the problem wasn't all about me, you were only half right. This isn't all about me, but clearly the world thinks I'm crucial to fixing things. I'm the child of two guardians, a Night Guard and a Princess who also protects ponies in the dream world. I've seen the light and dark for what they really are. I found that Sombra never meant to hurt anypony, and that Nightmare Moon just wanted respect, and that Celestia wasn't the nice mare she claimed to be. I've had to make the decision between which to follow, and I'm always on a thin boundary between the two. I can see why you wanted to shield me from this, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. If this prophecy is about me, and it's about how this war is going to end, I'm up for the job of kicking Sunbutt's sorry flank into next week."

"Did you miss the bit about the mare in question being willing to sacrifice herself?" Wishbone snaps, more harsh than what she probably intended.

"I heard that part, and that could mean a few things."

"I think Moonlight can do it," says Cozy all of a sudden. "I've seen her fly straight up to one of a Cerberus' faces without a second thought, and get away unharmed."

"But we don't even know if it is her," Hope argues. "I don't believe in destiny. When I was young, the Crystal Heart said I was destined to be a princess, and I threw that away. It wasn't something I wanted. Prophecies don't always come true. She has a choice." She looks at me. "What is your choice?"

"My choice is to stand with my friends, and see what happens. If anypony told me a year ago that I was going to fall in love with Sombra, I wouldn't have believed them. I don't know whether to believe a word of this prophecy right now. But I have you five, and Rutherford, Starlight, Blueblood and Luna. If it is true, I'm not going down without a fight. In my mind, that's all that matters at the moment."

Wishbone's golden eyes lock with my purple ones. "This is why we're friends. And I'm happy to support you."

Everypony else nods confidently.

"Alright, Celestia," I say. "I'll admit I'm worried about the future. But I have friends to help me. It's your move."

Author's Note

Bonus: A Note About the Prophecy

There you go. That's the bombshell I've been teasing you all about for weeks. A pony of light and dark with the power to stop a war. If you're clever, you should be able to work out what my plan is for the rest of the story from the hints I've dropped here and there. But if you can't work I out, I'm bit going to spoil it for you

Moonlight, little bat, you have a long journey ahead of you. But you're not alone.

~ Angel