Twilight glares daggers at us as we walk back into the room, whilst the others just seem slightly nervous. I simply ignore the unicorn’s feeble attempts to fight back and act like she isn’t doing anything as I help Skywalker tidy away the documents. We had just come back from his room at the barracks, where I accompanied the Colonel and let him change clothes; he now wears another beret, slightly different, and black rather than red, besides having put on some casual shirt.

My eyes scan a few of the ponies - and dragon - inside, and I realise that some of them read some of the documents that contained information about things even worse than death. I try to filter the gruesome mental images from my mind and focus on the present.

“What are you doing here again?” Twilight snaps at me.

“Please don't speak to me like that. You're lucky I haven't asked the guards to take you back to the dungeon,” I sigh.

“Oh, how about you stop threatening us and actually do something about it?!” She takes off the ring around her horn and slams it down on the table, preparing to cast a spell.

I simply raise an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, you bet I am, you-”

I don't hesitate. As I focus on my magic a wall of dark crystals forms around her, and her friends jump away in panic. She tries to blast the crystals with her own magic, but it has no effect.

“Ma'am,” Skywalker says hesitantly. “Remember what we discussed.”

“I know, I know, but I need to get her to listen to me.”

“This ain't the way to speak to her, though.” He smiles at Fluttershy. “I'm sure some of us here would like to see some mutual kindness, you know.”

Fluttershy nods in response and smiles back, and Rainbow Dash steps forwards to wrap a foreleg around her friend and show her support.

I decide to let Twilight go and the cage of crystals disappears. Almost all of her friends rush towards her to comfort her, but I notice with curiosity that Applejack stays on the sidelines.

“AJ?” Rainbow calls her friend's name. “Are you ok?”

“Ah'm fine,” she says, adding, “Just thinking about some stuff.” She walks over to the wooden box containing those documents that detail all of Celestia's worst moments, and bites her lip.

“Ok, now I know something's wrong, AJ. Tell me.”

She lowers her head. “All this about the Princess has made me confused. There ain't no way anypony coulda faked all this. Woulda taken too much time an' effort, and Ah woulda been able ter tell if somepony 'ad faked 'em.”

Applejack looks up at me and Skywalker. “Ah decided that you... ain't all that bad, actually. Yeh've got yer reasons fer bein' bitter, an' Ah'm findin' it 'arder and 'arder ter disagree with yeh despite mah sense of pride.”

“Applejack!” Rarity cries. “You had better not be saying what I think you're saying, are you?”

The country mare looks at her friends apologetically. “Ah still love you guys as mah friends, an' Ah still want ter be a good friend, but… Ah got mah own opinions, an' Ah'm sticking to 'em. It wouldn't be honest if Ah just went along with everythin' you said an' never gave mah two bits to the conversation.”

“Applejack, no,” Twilight pleads. “This isn't the way. She's using dark magic-”

“Twilight, now, listen ter me.”

The unicorn finally shuts up. Applejack takes off her worn Stetson hat and holds it over her chest as she takes a deep breath, tears in her eyes. “The truth hurts sometimes, Ah know. But bein' lied to is worse. Ah'm sorry, but Ah made up mah mind.”

Skywalker and I share a look. Whilst it would be rude to say anything here, inside I'm celebrating a little. They're finally listening. One of the Element Bearers is finally listening.

The seven of them stare at each other, trying to deal with the emotions running through their systems. Twilight and Rarity seem the most horrified by this; Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie look like they have mixed feelings but don't want to cast her out of their circle of friends; and surprisingly, Rainbow Dash doesn't seem all that concerned.

She speaks up with a calm voice, as if Applejack had merely said she couldn't make it to their next social gathering. “Well, as long as you still wanna be friends and you aren't gonna go all dark magic crazy on us, that's cool. It's not like we have to talk about this all the time, so what's the big deal?”

“Exactly, Rainbow. Precise as mah granny's zap apple jam recipe.” She puts her hat back on.

“What - what's the big deal?!” shouts Rarity. “Whilst I am not overall pleased with Celestia, mixing with the ponies who have kept us prisoner here is just wrong.”

“Rares, Ah ain't gonna abandon you, or mah family fer that matter. But let me make mah own opinions at the least.” She turns to me and Skywalker. “Mah guess is yeh're in here for a reason, so yeh might wanna talk whilst the others ain't heckling yeh. Ah'm listening.” She sits back down at the table and relaxes a little.

Skywalker clears his throat quickly before he explains his idea. “This is… optional, to be honest, but I thought perhaps a few of you might like to go on a walk before I take you back to your cells.”

“Nope, I'm not going,” Twilight says immediately.

“Fine by me, Twilight,” I respond. “You do whatever makes you feel better.”

She glares at me - and so does Skywalker, because of how rude I’ve been - but I ignore them.

The Colonel sighs and looks back at the group, “Anyone else?”

“Well, Ah ain’t got a problem with that idea,” Applejack chips into the conversation. “Rainbow? Ah know yeh been complainin’ about how claustrophobic that place is.”

“Yeah, sure. Any excuse to get out.” She stretches her wings.

“Oh, that sounds nice,” Fluttershy agrees. “I’ll come with you.”

“Me too!” Pinkie adds.

Rarity somewhat politely declines the invitation. “No, I think I’ll stay behind with Twilight today. I’ve had more than enough drama for one evening, thank you very much.”

“Understandable,” Sky replies with a simple nod.

That just leaves Spike, who is completely at a loss as to what to do with himself. He glances from Twilight and Rarity to the rest of his friends, trying to make his mind up which group to go with.

“Spike?” Twilight whispers, trying to sway his opinion.

“I’ll… stay behind, I guess,” he grumbles.

“Oh, Spike, thank you!” Rarity says with relief, hugging him. He blushes a little and seems slightly happier with the idea now. Unfortunately, it looks like he won’t do anything without Twilight’s or Rarity’s approval, so I’m not likely to change his mind anytime soon.

Then, with a “see you later” from their friends, the Bearers that accompany us proceed to walk towards the room’s exit, as I do. But I notice that Skywalker isn’t moving; as I turn backwards, I see his eye locked on the trio that stays behind.

“I suggest you let your friend decide on his own for once,” he comments.

“You have no right to tell me or him what to do,” Twilight glares back.

“Neither do any of you with him,” he replies, making me blink in surprise. “He may be your assistant, your best friend…dammit, might even be like a son to you, I don’t know. But that doesn’t mean you should influence his decision making, ever.”

“And what do you know, mister?” Ms. Marshmallow politely wonders.

“I only know I know nothing.” Darn, that’s philosophical. “But I wonder if you know that he’s a living being and that he’s got rights and opinions to be respected.”

She opens her mouth to give some clever retort, then quickly decides against it. Twilight mutters, “You can go if you want to, Spike.”

“…Thanks,” the dragon says. He leaves the two unicorns alone and joins the others.

I nod at the guards stationed around the room, with Skywalker telling them to treat the “guests” fairly before marching towards Twilight and Rarity, whisking them away to the dungeons again. The rest of us are left standing in the room together, and I feel slightly awkward.

“Welp, time to go,” the bat pony next to me sighs.

I turn towards the Colonel as he walks away down the hallway, I catch up with him and so do the others.

“Aren’t we…” I hesitate for an instant. “Supposed to have some guards for the Bearers?”

Sky stops. “Oh, right… I- I had forgotten about that.” The stallion looks at the remaining Bearers and sighs. “I hope you understand the circumstances to make such a decision.”

Applejack nods. “Sure thing, partner. Ah don't see it as a problem.”

“Yeah, that's cool,” Rainbow affirms. Pinkie nods in agreement with a smile.

“Uh, umm… as long as they don’t yell at us.” Says Fluttershy.

“Nah, no need to worry, Ms. Shy.” He reassures her. “If they hurt you in any way, I’ll sure as heck yell at them back.” He lets out a chuckle for a moment before a rather violent cough gets him by surprise and forces the bat pony to cover his mouth. This scares the shy pegasus, who immediately recomposes and trots at him - instinctively, I presume - before I can even make a single step and places a hoof on his shoulder as a show of support while Skywalker keeps letting out what could be worthy oxygen from his lungs.

“Are you ok?” I ask with concern.

He manages to compose himself and nods at me. “Yeah, I’m… in my best possible.”

“Good.”

I notice both Applejack and Fluttershy giving us dubious looks, but she doesn’t say anything. We walk through the castle almost in silence, save for Pinkie and Spike the dragon nattering away to each other, and Skywalker asking a couple of guards to keep an eye on us.

As we leave the castle and walk onto the dais, something strange happens. The five Bearers all stare at the spot where the Crystal Heart used to be kept, as if a memory has been triggered in all of them. I don’t read their minds because I don’t want to intrude, but it raises a few questions.

“Back ter square one,” Applejack says, looking around at the Crystal Empire. “Ah gotta say, Ah’m surprised. It almost looks like nothing ever happened here.”

“It looks very pretty from here,” Fluttershy whispers. “All the buildings have different colour crystals, and the sky is clear, and I can see the sunset.”

I look up at the sky. To the west the sky is streaked with red and orange, the sun still burning brightly; but to the east the moon is rising and the sky is deep purple, lit up by hundreds of stars. Celestia and Luna are probably still busy with the evening routine. I, too, feel memories returning, of the day that Luna refused to lower the moon and turned to the darkness.

Maybe it isn’t too late to convince her to try again.

“I wish we were here simply to sit around and admire it,” Skywalker interrupts my train of thought, “but I was under the impression that we were going on a walk.”

“Oh.” He’s right, it’s not exactly a terrible night for a trot around the city.

The others all follow Skywalker, and I walk a little way behind, with Spike. The tiny purple dragon is having trouble keeping up, and I feel a little sorry for him. Then a thought occurs to me as I remember what Twilight always used to do to stop him from being left somewhere, and I stop for a moment before leaving the city centre, turning to him.

“Can I trust you not to set my ears on fire?” I ask him.

“I, uh, what now?”

“If I let you sit on my back so you don’t get left behind, are you going to do anything to hurt me, or can I trust you?”

“I - I guess. I mean, I wasn’t exactly thinking of trying to hurt you, so…”

I lower one of my wings to the floor and allow him to - for lack of a better word - climb on. It feels unusual, but not uncomfortable. He sits down and I fold my wing back by my side, helping to stop him from falling, and we set off again. I catch up with the others quickly, and they smile at the sight of the two of us.

“Someone looks happy,” Sky chuckles.

“I guess I’m in a generous mood today,” I say.

“It almost looks like the Element Bearers were supposed to have an extra member.”

“Ok, that’s pushing it a little.” I can speak to them sensibly now, but I still don’t like what they did to myself and Luna, or what they tried to do to Sombra. “Besides, there’s only six Elements of Harmony. What would I even do?”

“Good question,” Pinkie says, jumping alongside me. “And besides, all of us are connected to the Elements by our cutie marks, and I’m pretty sure that none of them look like a star with four points or the moon, so that probably means that you’re not supposed to be connected to the Elements of Harmony.”

“Luckily.” I mutter under my breath.

“How do you know that?” Sky questions her. “How do you know that the Elements are connected to your cutie marks?”

“Huh?” Rainbow wonders.

“Are they connected, Ms. Dash?” The Colonel stops walking for a moment. “I don’t recall that they were.”

“Well… I”

“I mean, I may be one that never cared for cutie marks.” Sky admits casually. “But even I know that’s-”

I hear a gasp from Pinkie. “Wait, what?! But don’t, like, ninety nine point nine nine nine nine percent of all ponies love their cutie marks? I thought it was a hundred, actually, but apparently I’ve just met somepony who doesn’t, which means that Twilight’s crazy mathematical equation was wrong! I’ll have to tell her.”

The Colonel shakes his head while chuckling to himself. Then, turns at us and says. “Nothing is completely supported by the people. Never.”

“There’s always some awkward pony like us who doesn’t agree,” I add.

“Really?” Rainbow says dubiously. “But they’re awesome!”

“Well, I never liked them,” the Colonel shrugs. “And I honestly can’t see how anyone can let those marks define who they are.”

“They’re pretty accurate, though. I’m fast, good at sports, and the Element of Loyalty. My cutie mark shows it all.”

“Yours is-” he coughs. “Yours is a rainbow in the shape of a lightning bolt. That shows your talent - in your case, that you are fast, quick to think and very agile. In no way does that cutie mark represent ‘Loyalty’. Besides, would you call that a talent?”

“I would agree with you, except that the Element of Loyalty is also in the shape of a lightning bol-”

“In no way does that mean you were ‘destined’ to be the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty,” he interjects. “From what I read - and trust me, I read a lot - the Elements all used to appear the same when used by Sunbutt and Princess Luna. When you used them, they adapted to their new Bearers’ cutie marks.” He stops to clear his throat. “And you know why? It isn’t because of your talent or the cutie mark, but your personality; if anyone would have had the exact same attitude and personality, then the Elements would have adapted to those users. Likewise, if you ever pass the responsibility onto others in future, the Elements will likely take a new form.”

“I... I guess that makes sense.”

“Trust me when I say that destiny is never written, you write your own destiny as life goes on… or someone else does it for you.”

All of us remain quiet at his words, processing them all as he keeps staring at each of the Bearers, only for him to let out a heavy sigh. “Never mind. To you, I’m surely just an old, crazy stallion.”

We walk in silence for a while, all the time being watched by the guards, who follow a few paces behind. As we all do so, I can hear the occasional whisper coming from the vanguard of our group, but when I turn in the said direction, all I can see is Skywalker. Still a little taken aback, I look around at the buildings that shine ocean blue and turquoise under the light of the moon, the same hues as the aurora that now brilliantly lights up the skies above. Dusk is here at long last, with no sign of the sun anywhere on the west horizon, but the moon is high in the sky and I can see the North Star - my star.

The one thing that the stars never give me, though, is answers. Always I end up with more questions that need to be asked, whether they’re personal or related to the wider world.

“And you, uh, Yer Majesty?” Applejack asks.

I turn to her. “Pardon?”

“What do you think about destiny an’ cutie marks an’ all that?”

I glance down at the purple star and silver crescent on my flank. “I… I don’t know, honestly. My cutie mark seems to mean something else every time I look at it.”

“No idea at all?”

“Well…” My mind drifts to a subject that I have tried not to think about since Wishbone confided in me that day. A child of two guardians of Equestria, standing on the border between light and dark? So many half-truths, and I don’t know what to believe. The mare in that prophecy could be anypony whose parents were in the Royal Guard or served Equestria, not necessarily me. It might not even be true for all I know. Once again, too many questions and not enough answers.

But either way, that’s private. If they ever go back to Canterlot they could tell Celestia, and I don’t want to lose Wishbone’s trust again after everything we’ve been through already. That’s strictly between us, and it should stay that way.

“No,” I say finally. “I don't think so.”

She scrunches her muzzle and I know she knows I've just told a lie, but she doesn't question it. “Fair enough.”

“Well, I still think it was destiny that we found the Elements and used them,” Rainbow tries to talk.

“And use them on ponies without giving them a second chance?” I say with annoyance that turns to anger. “To tear a mother and daughter apart, and destroy the life of a kind and caring stallion without even finding out what he was like for yourselves, without speaking to those who knew him?! After all of this, are you really going to use ‘destiny’ as your excuse for everything you’ve done?!”

The others stare at me in silence, stunned. I immediately regret saying all of it. She wasn’t trying to upset me. It was all a mistake. Why couldn’t I hold my tongue?!

I backtrack as I feel the tears well up in my eyes and the pang of guilt in my heart. “I - I’m sorry, ignore me. I didn’t mean to say any of that.”

“And I didn’t mean to upset you,” Rainbow apologises.

“No, it’s fine, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just took it the wrong way.”

“Ma’am-” Skywalker tries to talk to me.

“Don’t apologise. I’m sorry, I just need some time to think.”

Feeling ashamed of myself, I walk away from the rest of the group to be by myself. Even though I still have Spike to contend with, at least I’m alone with my own thoughts in my own headspace.

Why am I so stupid? Why do I never think about what I’m saying or doing before it happens? Why can’t I learn just to keep my mouth shut? If I keep on like this I’ll never convince them to switch sides and help me!

Spike manages to jump back down to the ground and runs back to the relative safety of the group with the others. I don’t listen to their conversations; I don’t particularly care if they’re talking about me or not. Now, all I want is to go back to the castle and be with Sombra.

I take a leap into the air and spread my wings. I glide above the rest of the group, the cool evening breeze doing most of the hard work for me. It feels good to have my mane blowing in my face, to be up above everypony else and be free.

“Your Majesty?” Skywalker calls after a while.

“It’s Moonlight to you,” I correct him. “We’ve been friends for long enough now.”

“Moonlight, then. The guards are here for a reason. Whilst it is…” he hesitates, “…unlikely that anything would happen to you, it’s not advisable to put yourself in harm’s way, and somewhere that the guards would be unable to intervene if the worst did happen.”

Unfortunately, he has a point. I allow the breeze to carry me back down to the ground and land on all four hooves with ease. Begrudgingly I allow the group to catch up and walk at the same pace as them.

I flinch as I feel a hoof resting on my shoulder: it’s Skywalker’s. As much as I know he means well, I can’t talk to anypony sensibly right now. It’s been a long day, and I’m beginning to realise how tired I am now. When I turn to look at his face, his smile is sincere, comprehensive, but I can’t return it. I shake my head, and he lowers his hoof back to the ground as his smile fades. I feel terrible, but I don’t want to accidentally lose my temper with somepony else.

We’re on our way back to the castle now. I look up at the large crystal structure. It is one of the last buildings to revert back to its original form, the way it looked before Sombra and I came along. I wish I knew why our magic left such a scar on the landscape, so that I could stop it from happening again, but until then the castle will have to stay the way it is.

The stars and the moon and the aurora shine in the deep purple sky above, and nothing changes as we walk past the shimmering crystal buildings in silence.

Moonlight, my little bat?

My ears prick upwards as if I had actually heard his voice. Probably this surprises the others, but I don’t bother looking behind me to check. Instead, I continue to read Sombra’s mind. Yes, my love?

Oh, thank Luna! I was worried for a moment. Where are you?

Outside.

Outside?! He echoes. With the threat of an imminent Solar Guard attack hanging over our heads?! Whatever are you doing outside at this time of night?

…Oops?

Yes, Moonlight. I’d say oops.

Sorry.

How far from the castle are you now?

I look up at the Crystal Castle and tell him, A couple of minutes’ walk away.

Good. Now, promise that you will come straight back to the castle and explain everything to me.

I nod, but then realise that he isn’t here with me and so he can't see me. So I reply, I’ll be there in a moment. I promise.

Thank you.

For the rest of the walk, nopony speaks to me verbally or through magic. There is barely a sound save for those of the breeze and our own hoofsteps. I find my gaze fixated on the moon again, and think of Luna. I really, really need to talk to her again, but I don’t know when. She has royal duties and responsibilities too, and Celestia’s there in the background making everything twice as hard.

Finally, we reach the dais, and trot inside the castle, followed of course by the guards. Once we are all inside, they take the Element Bearers back down to the dungeon after we all wish each other goodnight. This leaves just me and Skywalker on our own. There is a moment of silence as the stallion by my side keeps his gaze at nowhere in specific, lost in his own world and thoughts.

“We, ponies, are so blind… aren’t we?” he sighs.

“Indeed,” I hear Sombra’s voice, preventing me from answering. Both of us look around for the source of his voice. Finally, he materialises from the shadows and embraces me, leaving a gentle kiss on the top of my forehead. For an instant nopony else in the world exists. Just me, just him. The two of us, together.

“Moonlight, you shouldn’t run off like that,” he whispers. “Just after I spoke to you about running off to the trenches for hours earlier today.”

“Sorry, Sombra. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I understand.” He kisses me, this time on the lips.

“I’ll be off, then,” says Skywalker. He nods at us and turns around to leave, then stops and looks at Sombra. “Oh, and… Your Majesty, please don’t scold her for being a little rebellious. It isn’t her fault we left the castle. It’s mine.”

The stallions regard each other carefully for a moment, then Sombra nods. “That is fine, and fear not; I have no intention of punishing her.”

“I didn’t think you did. Good evening, both of you.”

“You too,” Sombra and I say together.

He gives us a wry smile. “Were it so easy.” He turns around and leaves, not daring to look back.

Sombra doesn’t let go of me for a while. He holds me close, and I lean against him, listening to the beating of his heart. His hoof runs through my mane, untangling all of the knots for me that were made when the wind was blowing outside. The moment seems to last for an eternity.

“Moonlight. You need to get some sleep now. Even I am tired, so you must be exhausted.”

“I am,” I say quietly.

He lifts my chin with a hoof so that my purple eyes meet his red ones. “You have had a difficult day. Even without reading your mind I can see it in your eyes.” He places his hoof down on the floor again. “But now is not the time to worry about these things that have troubled you all day. Now is the time to relax and sleep well,” he smiles. “Come with me now, I want to make sure that you aren’t awake all night again. I don’t want you to become unwell.”

I lean forwards and kiss him, then I follow him upstairs to bed, to a peaceful night of dreamless sleep, protected from all harm by the loving embrace of my guardian angel.

Author's Note

Bronie312 and I spent a long while working on this chapter. Seriously. We spent an entire evening writing and editing it, a good two or three hours all in all, only for a computer glitch to erase the second half of the chapter. We had to turn to coffee for the sake of our sanity afterwards and spend another evening recovering all of the lost progress. This is the result.

Message from Bronie312: Mmm… Coffee.

But anyways… both Bronie and I hope this isn’t too terrible after the old chapter was incinerated by the computer and Google Docs refusing to autosave. *sigh*

~ Angel and Bronie312