Dash stretches out, waking up with a yawn. It was rather early, after all. A glance over her shoulder lets her see that James was in the same position as last night, wide awake. "Good morning, James. How'd ya sleep?"

"I slept," James offers.

"Is that unusual?" A grimace conforms Dash's fears. "Well… how about breakfast?" Dash had made 'food' last night and left it heated, in the microwave. It looked like charcakes, scrambled… plants and pieces of flesh, in all honesty.

"Is that food, or is it Jack?" James quips dryly. He immediately winces as a memory comes up, one he'd rather not have.

"Jack?" The confusion is evident on Dash's face. She wasn't there, after all,

"Yeah. Day after we buried him, the chefs gave us a 'meat surprise'. Jack wasn't in his grave, either,"

Dash falls on her plot. "So… wha… oh..."

James laughs at Dash, or at least towards her. "Turns out they had him sent home in a coffin, but it's an old joke,"

"So, you guys joked about eating your friends?" Dash looked sick.

James laughs. "Oh, that wasn' the worst part. We also talked about how 'the recruiters 'n' the politicians were probably sleepin' with ou-'"

A loud series of knocks sound at the door. James reaches for his pistol and, finding nothing, picks up a knife and silently slinks into a hallway.

Dash sighs. "Come on in!" Looking to James, she says "It's just my friends…"

"Oh, yeah…" He puts the knife in his pocket. "Habits,"

"Now Dash, what was yesterday about?" Twilight asks inquisitively.

"Well…" Dash looks to James anxiously, who takes it as a symbol to attack. Just like boot camp. A grin replaces his straight lips.

Rounding the corner, James shouts, rushes forwards and shoves Twilight to the ground. Surprised, Twilight offers no resistance as he presses the knife to her neck. "Ha! Got 'em!" Looking down, a sudden realization shows on his face. "Oh… uh…" Shit, ain't she royalty?!

"Dash… who is this?!" Twilight barks.

"Remember the trial?" Dash asks apologetically. Twilight nods, still furious. "Who does this guy remind you of?"

"Why…" Twilight's face dances as she recalls his face. "...hey, are you the one who Celestia pardoned?"

"Maybe. Is that the sun one?"

"Yes," Turning to Dash, Twilight says 'Trixie still needs an apology, Loyalty," The way she talks leaves no room for disagreement.

Dash starts to stutter. "I… wha… ple…"

"Please what?"

"Don't call me Loyalty," Dash begs, a tear rolling down her face. Twilight, not expecting this, stands there. "I haven't earned it. All I did was fuck up and then fuck up some more,"

"Trixie knows you didn't fuck up with your assessment of her…" Trixie rounds the corner, smiling sadly. "In fact, you were dead right!" She lets out a crazy laugh. "Get it?! I should be dead!"

Twilight narrows her eyes at Dash. "Dash… what did you tell her?"

"I told her she was worthless! Ok?! I was jealous that she would shove us out, so I helped drive her off!"

"Well… I…" Twilight struggled to find a response. "So, you're telling me that causing a mare to go suicidal was worth a mere friendship?!?" Her face was one of rage.

"I'd do it for some food," James butts in. All three mares turn towards him, shocked. He shrugs. "Maybe a mag," He gets the same stares. Looking down, he mutters "Well, better than for nothing…"

"How about not at all?!?" Twilight sighs, turning to Dash. "Dash… if you said sorry and told me you were housing this stallion, we could have been fine! Now all of the girls think you're bad!"

Pinkie comes bouncing in the door. "Hello! Who wants to come to my 'Welcome James' party?!"

"Not me," James says, thoughtful. "Last party I was at was… not fun."

Pinkie looked taken aback. "A bad party?! This one needs to be twice as good then!!!"

"Pinkie, you do know where he's from, right?" Dash asks.

"Yeah, but the author was looking stumped, so I wanted to help him!"

"Author…?" James and Trixie begin.

"Don't ask," Twilight says. "When is this party?"

"Right now!"

"Some warning would have been nice," James stands up and sighs. "Fine,"

ROAD

"Hey," James elbows Trixie, getting her attention. "How fast can we get out of this mess?"

"Well, Trixie isn't sure…"

"What type of magic do you do? Fire? Dark, like necromancy?"

"Illusionary, actually,"

A big grin appears on James' face. "Ok, let me tell you what to do when I say go…"

This story does not have graphic sex. Therefore, no direct description of this night can be given. Note that it involved mares, stallions, illusions, and much disgust.

MORNING AFTER

Twilight was still very… unnerved… by James' imagination. He had made Trixie make some… suggestive… illusions. One photo invoking… her… and the Royal Guard. One she… totally… didn't want. Not at all.

"H-hey, Twi…" Trixie says. She looks very upset by what she had done last night. "Are you… mad?" A tear comes to her eye.

Twilight had been mad, but that melted at the sorry state of Trixie. "Why, no. You're clearly sorry. It's James that I'm mad at,"

"Really? Y-you don't hate Trixie?!" Trixie huhs Twilight as hard as she could. "Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Some more tears trickle down her face.

Twilight hugs her back. "No problem, Trix,"

Trixie suddenly let's go of Twilight. "No…" she whispers. "No!" she says. "No!" She screams. "Leave Trixie alone!" She runs into a corner, furiously emptying a cabinet.

"Trixie, what's wrong?!"

"You know exactly what, 'Twilight'," Trixie sneers. With that, Trixie hops into the cabinet and closes it behind her.

"No I don't! Did I say something wrong?!" Twilight starts to pound at the cabinet.

Trixie starts sobbing, making Twilight syop. "Trixie knows you're Chrysalis. Stop hunting me!"

"Oh…" Twilight feels like a plothole. "Trixie… how do I prove it's me?"

"Trixie or your other friends?!" Trixie sounds delusional.

"What do you mean?"

"Would you save Trixie or your other friends?!"

"Wha… Trixie…"

"Answer the question or Trixie will slit her fucking throat!!!" A clatter confirms Twilight's suspicions. "Trixie will NOT go through that again!"

"I… I couldn't choose, Trixie…" Twilight freezes, realizing what she might have done. A tear streams down her face.

The cabinet opens, and Trixie stumbles out with a knife in her hoof. "Trixie is happy that the real Twilight is here," she mutters.

Twilight takes the knife away and hugs Trixie as a knock sounds at the door. "Hey Twi… everything all right?" Dash calls out. "Is Trixie-"

"Trixie's fine!" An annoyed Trixie calls out.

"Fuck you, Dash," Twilight calls out resignedly, charging up her horn.

CANTERLOT

"Let the court begin!" Celestia announces. The attending ponies take a seat. "Now, first order of business-"

"Is the changeling kidnapping of an Equestrian citizen!" Celestia looks up, shocked, to see Twilight and Trixie standing there. Twilight was mad, while Trixie showed no emotion as she stared down.

"Twilight. This is my court session!" Celestia says. Then what Twilight says registers in her mind. "Wait… what?!"

"Trixie was kidnapped last week at the palace, and was tortured at a hive for a week. On day eight, she showed in my library, much like… you know who," Twilight looks down with the last few words. Celestia grows even more furious.

"Court adjourned!" As everypony left, mostly grumbling about delaying plans, Celestia approaches the other princess. "I will deal with this myself. Go to Cadence's palace, Twilight. She might need help,"

"Wait. Won't you ne-" Twilight blinks and sees that Celestia had already left, a trail of white behind her. She powers up her horn again. "Hang on, Trixie. You'll be fine," The mare snaps out of her trance at her name.

CRYSTAL PALACE

"Hey, Shiny, how's she doing?" Cadence whispers as she enters Flurry's room. Shining stands there, grinning as he watches Flurry. She seems to be sleeping quite well, but you could never be sure.

After the… incident, the two were reduced to figureheads for the time being. They would get their power back eventually, it was discovered, but that could be years…

"Yeah… let's get back to Luna now," The diarch had been sent with a letter, still sleeping, five minutes earlier as Shining was putting Flurry to sleep. As the couple leave their daughter, they lock the door, turning to see Twilight come down the hallway.

"Hey bro! Hey Cady!" Twilight nuzzles both of them. "Celestia sent me,"

"What happened?" Cadence frowns. With two other princesses here, that was likely bad news.

"W-well, Trixie was k-kidnapped by the Changelings," a trembling Trixie says as she reveals herself. Immediately the Amores rush to her.

"Oh my! Are you ok?"

"Y-yes, Trixie i-"

"No she is not," Twilight says firmly. "They made her think that she is worthless. I presented her case to… my step-aunt, I guess… and then she told us to come here,"

Shining sighs. "She gave us Luna, too,"

Trixie brightens at that. "L-luna's here?" She dashes into the next room. "L-luna!" She runs forward, face full of joy.

"Trixie… is that really you?!? I thought you had died!" The Amores and Twilight round the corner to see the two embracing on the couch Luna had been sleeping on. "Well, what happened?" Luna asks after they release their hug.

"Trixie almost died… twice… and then almost killed herself… twice..." The joy is gone, being replaced with shame.

"Aw, don't feel bad. You needed a good friend, and someone eventually got to you," Luna says. "I'm just sorry I couldn't be there, with the… well, you know,"

"W-well, Twilight is quite nice," Trixie admits. "She helped Trixie feel better… and saved her life…"

"Speak of the devil! How are you… step-step-niece?" The family tree is quite odd, but Twilight demanded they work through it, to everyone's detriment.

"I'm worried about you still. You seem to be doing better,"

I never will be better. Three will always be a burning void where there should be joy, but I can manage it, and even suppress it some times. It's how I have to live, so I deal with it. The sudden mentally transmitted outburst shocks Twilight. "I'm well. Anyways, how have you been?"

"Quite well, it seems", Cadence says, giggling. Shining puts two and two together, and then snorts.

"No way… you're serious?!" Cadence nods, and the two fall down laughing. "I… ok!" A snort. "I thought she had standards…"

"What?" Twilight seems anxious. "Wait… am I in love?!" Twilight could connect numbers.

Cadence giggles again.

"Great," Twilight mutters.

Luna looks thoughtful. "I… hm," She shrugs. "Dreams are my domain, so I suppose I'll see you later,"

FIVE HOURS LATER

"Thanks for the meal!" Twilight says as she and Trixie leave. Trixie looks better, but no one could truly tell.

"No problem! Take care, you two…" Cadence winks, then walks off.

"How weird… let's go home, shall we?" Trixie nods, smiling for once. The two disappear in a flash of purple.

Cadence sighs as she turns back around. It was a surprise to learn about her ste-sister's… interests.

Luna starts to whimper on the couch, catching Cadence's attention. "What's wrong?" Cadence asks as she moves closer.

"Luna doesn't know… she just wants her sister back…"

"Aw, don't be sad. Celestia will be back soon!" Cadence looks confused as she fully processes what was said. "Also, why did you refer to yourself in the third person?"

"Well… Luna found from Trixie that it makes it easier to hide pain if you talk in third person…"

"You can't hide it! You have so many ponies willing to help! Just let us know, ok?"

"Luna… will,"

Cadence sighs. "Better than nothing, I suppo-"

"Yet again, Luna is proven a burden,"

"I didn't mean that!" Cadence's eyes grow wide with shock.

"Well, Luna heard that… also, I can't use third person anymore. Too much work. But that means that I'm more me. And I'm bad," Luna starts to hyperventilate. "And no one loves me! They all hate me! I'm-"

"Sorry I couldn't be here sooner," Celestia says, having teleported in. "Had to have a… oh sister," Celestia moves to Luna's side. "I'm sorry,"

"Don't be. I don't deserve-"

"To be alone," Celestia says firmly as she hugs her sister. She looks apologetically to Cadence. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Cadence…"

"It was nothing. We were already watching Flurry, so..."

"Thank you," Celestia turns to her sister, talking quietly: "Wanna go home?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Ok" With a flash, the Mi Amore's were alone. "So… about Twi…"

"I don't dictate her life, so whatever I say doesn't matter,"

"No, your opinion, not approval!"

"Oh! Well…"

CANTERLOT

The mares appear in bed, thanks to the large magic skill of Celestia. "Hey, Luna, wanna talk?"

"I… sure,"

"What happened?"

"Well, I was fine, but then when Twilight left I started missing you, so I broke down and thought it was a good idea to use third person and then you came and I'm just a burden," Luna sobs.

"Hey hey hey, no one thinks that!" Celestia hugs her sister. "I will always think that you are worth the moon,"

Luna lets out a weak laugh. "Is that why you trapped me there…?"

"No, I was a fool and trapped NM there, thinking that you could come back. Luna… what can I do for you?"

"Make me do something worthwhile? No, then I'd fuck up and you'd hate me and then I would die and no one would care!" Luna sobs harder into Celestia's shoulder.

"Oh Luna, you're so wrong…"

"See?! I can't even get that right!"

"Here here, we can talk tomorrow,"

Through Equestria, all heard the weepings of Luna. Having nightmares put her in no place to dispell other's nightmares. This night was therefore plagued by nightmares, and would forever be remembered with fear by everyone who was alive.

Except for the two humans. They were overjoyed.

Author's Note

Writing ahead five chapters is a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, I can tweak the older content. On the other, I want to get this done with during the edit phase.