The Twilight Province

Unbelievable, inconceivable, unforgivable! Who did this mare think she was? What was her plan here, and why wasn't he briefed on it?

Maple Nut practically stomped his way down housing district D. The houses here were as... rustic as he expected them to be, but what caught his attention was just how tired everypony looked. All around, earth ponies and pegasi were shuffling along the dirty roads. Every once in a while, he would see a pony lying on the ground and would be unsure as to whether they were even alive.

Just another one of the many charms of Craterhold.

He knocked roughly on the flimsy wooden door, not entirely caring if it might fall over and break. It wouldn't surprise him. As much as this house was cleaner and more aromatic than its ilk, it was, at the end of the day, still a broken down old hut. The roof was the same slapdash arrangement of wood boards and grass thatch as all the others, and the crude wood walls allowed one to see into the interior of the home quite easily. Honestly, if Fizz was going to be so blatantly uncaring with her magic usage, you'd think she'd put a little more effort into fortifying her home, which wasn't in the middle of nowhere.

He continued to knock to no response, which only made him angrier. Now she planned on ghosting him? What made her think she would get away with all of this, what in all the pits of Tartarus was her problem?

Luckily, he didn't need to wait much longer, as he could feel the unmistakable sensation of a magic mental needle piercing his consciousness.

Fizzy spoke with a fraction of the annoyance that Maple currently felt. "Is there a justifiable reason behind you attempting to bash down my door, Maple?"

"Do you want me to list off just one? Cuz you'd better believe I've got a whole damn list of the ways you've screwed up!" he shouted at the door. Yelling at a door while listening to Fizzy's voice in his head wasn't exactly the way he intended this discussion to go, and it only added to his annoyance. "Could you just open the door already so I can see that stupid, smug little face of yours?"

The door flew open, and Maple could finally see her lying on an odd piece of wood. Her face was just as condescending as he expected it to be.

"What could you possibly be so upset about? It's not like the Twilight Guard would be on the lookout for a messenger spell while an incursion's only a few days away."

"Oh, is that so? Then you'll definitely be able to tell me why there's twilight guards outside surveying everpony in town?" he restrained himself from shouting at full volume. There were still ponies outside after all.

Fizzy's face scrunched up in thought. Maple eagerly awaited to see her explain herself out of this one. Fizzy was a pretty consistent troublemaker, but what she did crossed every line that she made.

Finally, her voice sounded again. "Have you seen an influx of twilight guards anywhere around the southern edge, any higher ranking guards, anything that would prove this is undeniably more than just a simple census?

Maple stood for a moment. "... No, I guess not."

She gave him an indignant look. "Did you seriously invade my home just to berate me over some threat that hasn't even been proofed? How are you a coordinator when you're this airheaded?"

Maple's face changed from a dull brown to a deep maroon. Were he not as angry as he was, he might've worried about popping a blood vessel.

"I'm already sending a squad to investigate the edges of town as well as the crater outpost. In a couple of hours we're gonna see just how benign this census really is," he gave Fizzy a critical stare as he spoke.

Fizzy returned the glare with interest. "Well I'm overjoyed to see that the fate of every life in Craterhold is in fantastically capable hands. Now if that's everything you wanted to discuss with me, I'd like to get some rest and heal up."

"Oh don't pull that with me, You know exactly what I'm here for."

Fizzy raised her head in confusion. "Perhaps it's due to my current condition, but I don't believe I understand what you're saying."

Maple shook his head in bewilderment. Did she seriously not even realise what she was doing?

"Fizz. I... Wh... you... ARE YOU SERIOUS!? You send your sister out to our hub, expect her to talk with Shiver and I, all while she doesn't know a single thing about what we're doing? Does that not sound like complete negligence to you?"

"Oh relax, It was just to ensure she had someone capable nearby to protect her in the situation that I'm too busy to do so myself. Besides, between you and I, she could desperately use some friends." She appeared unfazed by what she was saying, which forced Maple to use all of his strength in order to prevent himself from throttling her.

"If I had showed up a minute later, I'd guarantee you Shiver would have made sure that your 'sister's' only friends were the everfree branches."

Previously appearing quite bored with the conversation, Fizzy snapped to attention at Maple's inflection of the word 'sister'. "If that is evidence of anyone's negligence, it's yours. You call yourself a coordinator, but no one's going to believe in that title unless you start acting like it. The very fact that you have ponies like Shiver acting no better than those cloaked creatures outside seems to prove to me that you are not deserving of any position higher than errand boy, so you'd best watch your tongue."

At Fizzy's response, Maple actually smiled, a slow, creeping smile that exuded smugness and superiority.

"What's the matter, Fizz? You upset because I can coordinate of hundreds of ponies and you can't control one pegasus who, by the way, isn't even related to you?"

He didn't flinch as Fizzy suddenly lunged forward and stood upright to stare him in the eye. He could feel the spiked, rippling waves of Fizzy's rage in his mind as she rhapsodized loudly.

"It would benefit you to keep your mouth shut about Gradient. Whether or not you like it, she is my sister, regardless of blood. You have no room to speak about her. I have guarded Gradient for her entire life, and I will not tolerate some drunkard questioning my role as her guardian."

"Maybe if you were a better guardian, I wouldn't HAVE to question you!" Maple fumed. "Maybe you shouldn't expose your own 'sister' to a group of justifiably paranoid individuals like those in the resistance, constantly abuse the very thing that has the Twilight Guard on our doorstep right now, and act like none of it is a problem because you don't believe it is!"

The two stared at each other for a moment. Maple could hear the quiet but consistent hum of Fizzy's horn, and her intense glare pierced through him like a focused attack. To him, it looked like she was trying to think of a response that would make him look like an idiot so she could squeeze her way out of taking responsibility for her actions. Sometimes he really hated Fizzy.

Having just about enough of this, Maple turned to walk away with a huff. Unfortunately, before he could open the door, he could feel the sensation in his mind again and groaned.

"What?" he snapped.

"Where is Gradient right now? She's not-"

"She's working right now. At the lumber mill I believe, if your assumption of her schedule is to be trusted." Maple cut off Fizzy before she could finish her rhapsodizing.

"Good, splendid. I want to have a talk with Shiver Sweep then, if that's alright with you." Fizzy responded slowly, likely still absorbed in thought.

A confused expression graced Maple's face. "What exactly do you want to discuss with Shiver?"

Fizzy caught on to Maple's mild trepidation almost immediately. "Don't worry, I'm not going to pick a fight with your 'friend'. I want to talk with her and the other coordinators about inducting Gradient into the resistance correctly."

"Well that was a pretty rapid change of heart. What gives' Fizz?" Maple asked sarcastically, deciding to ignore Fizzy's jab at his current relationship with Shiver Sweep.

"I realize that you're right. I know that we don't agree on most things, and we tend to lock horns quite often. Pun intended," She tapped her horn with her hoof and giggled slightly. Maple rolled his eyes as Fizzy continued her rhapsodizing. "But if there's one thing I don't want to put into jeopardy, it's the safety of my sister. With the coming incursion, the resurgence of the Twilight Guard, and the degradation of this town, I can't help but be terrified of her future. If there's a way I can ensure her future is safe and happy, I guess I must listen to what the resistance tells me... for once."

"Uh huh, well I'm concerned about what the queen might be planning. If she really does suspect that there's a unicorn roaming around unchained in Craterhold, the Twilight Guard won't hesitate to turn everything and everyone in Equestria to dust until they find you."

"All the more reason to prepare her. I believe Gradient could be of good use to the resistance. She's smart, perceptive, funny, friendly. She would make a fantastic addition so long as we go about this the right way."

"If you say so Fizz. Although, she is pretty damn keen. She nearly figured out about the resistance all on her own, and she definitely would've caught me if she weren't late for her work."

"Don't tell me you were you trying to convince her to join you despite the fact that you knew that she was utterly unaware of the resistance?"

Maple chuckled nervously. "Well, we insurrectionists take whatever chance we can get."

"Evidently so," Fizzy shook her head. "It would be foolish of me to expect anything else from you. And hey, it is nice to see your vocabulary is expanding, albeit slower than I would've hoped."

"I guess since I'm forced to check up on you so often, your annoying floweriness has started rubbing off on me. I'm gonna need to scrub myself for a week just to get it off."

Fizzy giggled at Maple's joke, though Maple found it hard to tell if it was genuine laugher or if she was just being sarcastic again. Whatever, at least it seemed like Fizzy was finally doing something right for once.

Fizzy slowly walked past Maple to the door. she creaked it open slightly, quickly casted a spell to disguise her horn, then opened the door fully.

"Shall we?"

"I guess we oughta. Do you know how long until Gradient gets back?" he asked.

"She gets back in five hours, which is more than enough time for me to speak with the other coordinators, figure out how to best induct Gradient into your ranks, discuss what we're going to do about the incursion and then kick your sorry rump out the door and away from the two of us."

"I feel like you'd take a lot of pleasure in bucking me out onto the streets," Maple remarked with a smirk.

"What? Me? Never! It would strictly be to keep appearances. Where would you get the idea that tossing you into the street as hard as I can would give me any amount of satisfaction? What do you take me for?" Fizzy replied with a frankly unsettling grin.

"You want an honest answer?" Maple chuckled quietly, making some extra space between himself and Fizzy. Just in case.

The duo walked the dilapidated streets in peaceful silence for a while until they reached the corner where Foamdribble's stood. As he walked through the door, Maple clacked his hoof on the small wooden sign twice. The sound travelled easily through the quiet of the bar. Fizzy, who was right behind him, did the same. Shiver Sweep, having heard the din that the two had made, stood to attention.

"Back so early? Kinda expected ya t' come back later, what with Greymane makin' all that trouble earlier." She spoke in her groggy voice.

"No, we're actually here for-"

"I know whatchur here for, I heard th' knocks. Gimme a second," she croaked. she turned to two other ponies, who were quietly keeping to themselves and nursing their drinks, and shouted as best she could. "Alright everyone, Bar's closed. Git a move on!"

The two other ponies slowly got out of their seats, their heads hung low in a mixture of exhaustion and forlornity. Shiver stood for a short while, listening intently to make sure that both of them had walked far enough away.

When the slight clopping of the other ponies' hooves finally faded away into silence, Shiver began to look down below the counter. For a minute, she shuffled through the shelves of drinks she had hidden underneath it, After which the sound of clinking glass and sloshing liquid was suddenly enveloped by the clank of metal, the creaking of wood and the crunch of dirt as a small segment of the wall behind her extended outwards and fell to the floor. twin chains on either side of the entrance went slack as the wooden platform fell to the ground with a quiet thud.

Maple and Fizzy walked through the small gateway, with Shiver trailing slightly behind. As the pegasus entered through the small passageway, the chains magically pulled taut, and the platform slammed closed behind them.

That particular doorway was the culmination of over two month's worth of enchantments, at least that was what Fizzy said. If Maple had to guess, she was making up an excuse for the fact that she spent an awfully long amount of time just staring at that wall. Still, it seemed like her spell had done it's job.

The three ponies walked though a small dirt passageway, reinforced by wooden beams that were illuminated by dandelion veins that ran through them from top to bottom. As Maple walked, he could pinpoint the occasional small pebble covered in flecks of yellow luminescence. As he walked, the yellow radiance became more common. the yellow pebbles were now being complemented by dazzling citrine soil. The support beams, at first crude wooden planks with only hints of yellow, were now glittering, smooth pillars of an ethereal yellow material. He had to admit, if only to himself, that when Fizzy actually put her mind to something, and actually tried to work hard, she could do some impressive work.

After a short moment of quiet walking, the yellow radiance that surrounded the group began to fade away back to the darkness of the dirt passageway. Maple didn't entirely understand why the physical passageways had to be so long, but Fizzy insisted that it would 'aid in the connection process', whatever that meant. Maple felt like it would be difficult for Shiver to explain to any nosy little twiguard vermin why she had a twenty foot tunnel in the back oh the tavern, but the other coordinators loooooooved Fizzy, so of course the tunnels stayed. He had no idea why the coordinators were so enamored by her, she was a bona fide demon when she didn't have to act professional. Maybe she was mind controlling them or something. he definitely wouldn't put it past her.

Shiver walked ahead of Fizzy and Maple as the group reached a dead end in the form of a stone wall. The pegasus approached the barren stone and extended one of her wings, pressing it against the smooth rock. The wall reacted immediately. With a single pulse of yellow light, the granite barrier receded into the dirt below it, leaving only a strip of grey stone exposed on the ground, signifying the border between the dirt tunnel that lead back to Foamdribble's and the meeting hall of The Resistance.

There was one table in the meeting room, illuminated by a large lantern that hung from the slate ceiling. It's fire burned with a glistening yellow ember, ensuring that the coordinators would not have to worry about it extinguishing and enshrouding them in darkness. Evenly spaced around the simple but large wooden table were ten ornately whittled chairs. All of them were beautifully crafted, polished and laminated to perfection. The chairs were mostly the same, tall and flat, but embellished with small gems, as well as impressively carved spirals and arches. Only two chairs obviously stood out from the rest. One was was the color of rosewood, and in each of the small carved spirals, swirls and lines, yellow magic pulsed like blood.

The other was Amberjack's seat. It was the tallest of them all to be sure, and instead of a curve like the rest of the chairs, the top of Amberjack's chair was carved in the shape of a monument that Maple did not know of, though he vaguely remembered Amberjack mentioning that it was a mountain of some kind.

Maple could recognize his own chair on the far side of the table. He could see his cutie mark carved into the section of the chair where his head would rest, and just under it read his initials. He walked over to it and sat down. Shiver did so as well, taking her place two seats down from Maple. The image of a crown of feathers denoted its status as the chair of coordinator Shiver Sweep Shakedown.

Fizzy took her place, her own chair engraved with the symbol of a star filled with a sizzling liquid. Normally, she took her time before she fully sat down, allowing the rest of the assembly to take in her magical magnificence and her oh so wonderous powers. It wasn't like they were doing just fine on their own, all she did was add some horrid, strawberry scented flair to an already established group. However, try as he might to make the others see her for the blatantly hazardous donkey that she was, they remained spellbound by her. Whatever, it's not like the Resistance listened to Maple before Fizzy joined anyway, why should he care now.

Unlike usual however, Fizzy seemed anxious to get this meeting to start. she quickly sat down and wasted no time in beginning.

"I would like to take this time to apologise for interrupting you during work hours, Shiver," she addressed the pegasus, who simply nodded in response. "However, it has come to my attention that an incursion will be arriving in approximately two and a half days, give or take. With this impending danger approaching, an opportunity to enact our plan has shown itself.

"However," she continued, "I cannot ignore the fact that I have neglected to mention my own sister, Gradient Swirl."

Maple grumbled slightly, and Shiver let out a cold sigh.

"Fizzy, you've been very helpful these past three years, but I'm a li'l bit miffed at th' fact that ya never told us 'bout her before hand," Shiver grumbled.

"I'm aware, and I am willing to admit that it was my mistake to assume that you would be receptive to her, considering the current state of both the Resistance and the Twilight Guard, and especially considering I had also neglected to inform her of the Resistance," Fizzy explained.

"I can't help but think that you just wanted to toss her into the Resistance just so you wouldn't have to explain it to her yourself," Maple added.

"I... cannot deny that your accusation is based in truth. I want my sister to be safe, but I feared that telling her now after waiting so long might betray her trust. However, the moment has come where I can no longer afford to keep my sister in the dark if we as a group wish to move forward and finally begin to fight against her 'majesty'."

"Well you'd better tell 'er fast then, cuz if we're really thinkin' of enactin' this plan of ours, Amberjack 'n' the rest of 'em are gonna need to be here for it, and they're gonna need t' know if some black 'n' white pegasus is gonna end up being a part o' the plan," Shiver pointed out.

"Of course, I have already sent a messenger spell to all remaining coordinators. With any luck, our constituents will be here shortly," Fizzy responded.

Maple's face scrunched in incredulity. "Why are we even involving Gradient in all of this? It's because of her that we're now in a scramble to make this plan work when we already had it ready for the past month. If you ask me, as much as it would be nice to add another member to our ranks, we should just forget about her and continue our plan like normal."

Fizzy frowned. Maple already knew what she was gonna say before she opened her mouth, but that didn't make it any less infuriating to hear. "I understand the consequences of the mistakes I have made, but I cannot 'forget about' my sister."

Maple stood up from his chair. Shiver gave him a sideways glance before letting out a small sigh.

"You mean to tell me that you would rather jeopardize our entire mission, of which we have been planning for months, as well as throw your sister straight into the frontlines rather than keep her safe in Craterhold with the Resistance?" Maple questioned.

"If the queen were to get her hands on us, where do you think she'd strike first if she found out where the Resistance came from? I might be jeopardizing the mission, but I am not going to jeopardize the safety of my sister. Gradient's survival is my utmost priority, and if you don't agree with that, you are more than welcome to leave!" Fizzy spat.

"Why did you even join the resistance if all you were going to do was watch it fall apart just so you could keep your bratty little sister safe?!" Maple roared, slamming his hooves on the table.

"At least I am not so confoundingly incompetent at my job that I can't make a backup plan, or even need to just because of one pony!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A JOB! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FLASHY LIABILITY WHO'SE VERY PRESENCE ENDANGERS ALL OF US!"

"Alright, enough, both of you!"

the three ponies turned to stare at the archway to the tunnel. At the entrance stood five other ponies, a mix of pegasi and earth ponies. Leading the pack was a reddish grey earth pony. His dark carnelian hair was decorated with several small braids. Some were held behind his ears, while others hung limply, swaying softly as he moved his head to look at each of the three ponies seated at the table.

"Evenin', Leaden Lantern. Guess Amberjack's busy?" Shiver asked.

"Yeah. He's been trying to establish a contact route with Phillydelphia and Las Pegasus. So far, nothing's come through. I think everyone's too scared to try and collude, queen's been anxious recently," the red haired pony spoke casually.

"I couldn't tell..." Maple muttered under his breath as he slumped back into his chair.

The rest of the coordinators each took their places at their respective seats. Leaden Lantern took a spot at the tallest chair in Amberjack's stead, right next to Maple.

"So what are you two arguing about now?" a moss green pegasus asked with all the energy of a sleepless parent.

"It seems that Fizzy-" Shiver began.

"Fizzy wants to bring her sister into the Resistance as part of the coup party, despite the fact that she's never even heard of the resistance, and she wants to-" Maple fumed before he was interrupted by Leaden Lantern raising his hoof.

Leaden, dwarfed by the imposing height of the chair, turned to Shiver with a calm expression. "Shiver, you've been here for the whole discussion, right?

Shiver nodded, and Leaden gestured his hoof towards her. "Then would you be so kind as to give us an impartial perspective of our current argument?" he asked politely.

"Sure," she croaked. "Fizzy's apparently got a sister. She's been keepin' it real quiet, tryin' to keep 'er safe I guess, but now with the incursion 'n' all that, she wants to bring 'er sister with 'er as part of the coup party. She's afraid that if the coup party gets caught, and the queen reads our minds 'r somethin', then she'll figure out where 'er sister lives 'n' kill her, but if she brings her sister with her as part of the group, she might get a runnin' chance if shit hits th' fan."

Leaden nodded. "Ok, ok. What does Maple think of this?"

Maple raised himself onto the table to speak, but one stern look from Leaden made him sit back down.

Shiver continued. "Maple's upset cuz now we're going to have t' reorganize our plan. If we add Fizzy's sister to the group, then we're gonna have to initiate 'er, catch 'er up on our plan, and find a place for 'er so we don't spend our entire trip luggin' around a piece o' dead weight."

Maple watched Fizzy shuffle in her seat at Shiver's words. Was she feeling uncomfortable with this idea all of a sudden? Took her long enough. Maybe the rest of the coordinators would actually agree with Maple this time.

several sighs resonated through the room. The green pegasus facehoofed. Even Leaden, the most collected of them all, visibly frowned as he took in Shiver's story.

Leaden took a deep breath before he spoke. "It seems this problem is more relevant than we were expecting. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in you, Fizzy. This problem wouldn't have arisen if you had told us about your sister a month ago. Now I'm not sure if I speak for everyone here, but I myself am a little hurt that you didn't trust us enough to even mention your sister before, much less ask for something so monumental as having your sister join not only the Resistance, but the coup party."

"Yes yes I am aware of the insolence of my mistake. I understand that forcing Gradient into our plan was a rash decision at best, and a life threatening blunder at worst, but Gradient's safety is, and always will be, most important to me. However, I am more than happy to rectify my mistake by listening to what the rest of you have to say. Perhaps we can find a compromise that can benefit us as well as our plan," Fizzy retorted.

Fizzy's statement, unsurprisingly, caused quite the uproar amongst the other four coordinators. For once, it seemed like the rest of the Resistance's leaders were on Maple's side. Unfortunately, the coordinators' disagreements, in all their vitriol and Turbulence, began to overlap each other, and Maple had the sinking feeling that his voice would yet again go unheard.

"Traitor! You're here to kill us all!" a dull yellow earth pony shouted.

"We're already struggling enough as it is, and now this..." the green pegasus lamented

"This puts our whole plan, all of our people at risk, for just one pony?" a dark purple stallion growled.

Fizzy attempted to look unperturbed by the harsh words of the coordinators, but Maple could make out the faint glistening of sweat on her brow. "I am aware of the effect my current choice has on our plan, but this is my stance. Either both of us are part of the coup, or neither of us are," she spoke calmly.

"You don't deserve to be part of the revolution! You don't deserve to sit in that chair!" the purple pony shouted.

Maple looked over at Leaden as the coordinators continued their verbal assault. He leaned over to Maple and whispered quietly. "Have you talked to Fizzy and her sister at all?"

"Yes. Fizzy tried to assign the task of adding her sister to the resistance to me. I haven't told her anything yet," Maple responded.

Leaden sighed "Fizzy's really screwed us over this time. I'm glad Amberjack isn't here to see this."

Maple nodded. "Agreed."

"So, does her sister have any useful qualities? Any helpful information or knowhow?" Leaden asked, not putting much effort into keeping his voice down. After all, it was unlikely that anyone would hear anything over the shouts of the coordinators.

"She's a pretty fast flier," Maple said.

"Please. As much as I'm sure she's a great flier, I don't think anyone would be able to top Amberjack. Besides, we have dozens of fast pegasi. We need something that'll convince the others to listen to her," Leaden retorted.

Of course Leaden was siding with Fizzy. What a shock that was! Maple was almost compelled to say nothing, just to stick it to Fizzy. But, as he watched the coordinators howl at her, as he watched her start to shrink in her chair from the crushing pressure, he decided against it. As much as he disliked the unicorn, she was still a coordinator, and she didn't deserve the pain of having to leave her sister behind to an uncertain fate.

"She's pretty observant. I haven't told her about the resistance, but I might have given her some hints. I wouldn't be surprised if she already suspected something," he told Leaden.

"Was this 'hint' the story with Shiver and the dragons?" Leaden questioned with an unimpressed look on his face.

"Well... yeah," Maple said abashedly.

"And she believed it?" Leaden asked with surprise.

"I doubt it, she accused me of lying before flying off to her work."

"hmm." Leaden leaned back in Amberjack's chair, fiddling with one of his braids as he thought deeply. "A pegasus of keen mind would be helpful... but..."

Maple leaned forward towards Leaden. "If you want my opinion, she's young, younger than any of us. Sprier and more agile than most pegasi I've known, and definitely more so than any we have currently," Maple said, making a passing glance towards Shiver. She was sat still, her eyes shut in an expression of resignation. Upon looking at her, Maple felt a sudden, fleeting pang of sorrow mixed with guilt.

"What's better," Maple continued, "she hasn't seen anything from the outside world. As far as I know of, she's been living in Craterhold her whole life."

"How is that a positive? Surely she knows about the Twilight Guard to some extent, but there's more things out there than deranged retainers and broken-minded lunatics. It's going to be a hassle to try and keep her safe if she's uneducated about all of the dangers of the outside world," Leaden stated.

"Well... what if we don't have to educate her?" Maple asked.

"What do you mean?" Leaden questioned Maple with an air of suspicion.

"we've been trying to figure out a way to cover our tracks ever since we first devised our plan, and this might be the exact opportunity we need."

As Maple talked, he noticed the loud arguing of the coordinators begin to die down. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see both Fizzy and Shiver staring at him attentively. Imbued with confidence, Maple lifted his front hooves onto the table with a quieting clack.

"We all know that one of the biggest problems we've faced with this mission is the threat of revealing the Resistance to Queen Twilight and her guard. It's true we've taken as many preventative measures as possible, but with a mission so direct, we can't afford to take any risks." Maple spoke loudly, hoping that his words would finally reach past the other coordinator's ears.

"We already have more than enough preventative measures. Fizzy said that she was working on a memory erasing spell thingy." The purple earth pony protested.

"Not only is that meant as a last resort, but we already know the queen's capacity for draining magic as well as negating it altogether, Starfinder. If we were to get caught, we would have to be unfathomably lucky for me to be able to perform such an exhausting spell in the undoubtedly short time frame I would have to cast it on everyone, including myself." Fizzy explained to the lavender stallion.

"Exactly! We can take all the preventative measures we want, but in the end, we can't be one hundred percent sure that Twilight won't find a countermeasure to stop us. What better way to prevent the Resistance from being discovered than to have the coup know as little about the Resistance as possible," Maple added with mounting excitement. They were listening to him!

"What are you getting at, Maple Nut?" the green pegasus asked.

"I'm saying that we don't need Fizzy to solve all of our problems. We shouldn't hope for an unreliable and irreversible spell to save our asses, especially when doing so could mean the Resistance's destruction. If we induct Gradient as part of the revolution, we won't even need to-"

"We wouldn't have to tell her anything. We could use her as a risk free information transport!" the yellow pony exclaimed, interrupting Maple.

"Just a cursory introduction and a summary of our plan, we wouldn't even need to tell her the details. We could just strap a bag to her, fill it with all we need for the trip, tell her which direction to go and have the rest of the uprising follow her lead," the green pegasus added.

Fizzy raised up in her seat to respond, but the yellow pony beat her to it.

"We shouldn't give her such important cargo if she's just going to be twilight fodder. What we should do is gear her up for combat. We could give her potions, hoofblades, wingblade extensions, and then just toss her at the guards. Then, while she's fighting, we get out of there with all the important items."

"I would rather not have-" Fizzy attempted again to speak.

"Why didn't we take this idea into account further? We could have had a whole platoon of warriors to keep us safe while Fizzy and the rest sneak in! It would have been perfect!" Starfinder hollered.

"I am not letting my sister-!" Fizzy tried again to put in her word, but it seemed the coordinators couldn't hear her.

"I've seen 'er already. She prob'ly couldn't keep balance with a wingblade. She's real scrawny." Shiver noted.

As much as Maple would have liked to take in the blissful irony of this situation, he couldn't help but notice the small arcs of yellow lightning that were positively spewing out of Fizzy's horn. He had to do something fast before this argument turned into a scuffle. He had the feeling that a fight against an enraged unicorn wouldn't be a very long one.

Maple leaned over to Leaden and pointed to Fizzy. he quickly took notice of the escalating severity of the situation, and clacked his hoof on the chair in response. The rest of the table quieted down almost immediately. In the quiet that followed, the only sound that could be heard was the faint flickering of the lantern above and the zapping of Fizzy's horn.

Leaden motioned for Fizzy to speak. She nodded, but neither her grimace nor the sparking of her horn subsided.

"As much as I am relieved by all of your efforts to append my sister into our assembly, my sister is not an object to be used and discarded with apathy. I stand by my previous statement all the same, but it appears I must make an addendum. Fizzy must be an equal member of our team. We can discuss the details regarding how much information we divulge to her, but she is to be treated with respect, or you will find you have one less unicorn in your party."

The mustard pony scoffed. "Unbelievable. We've already given you a compromise, and you're still complaining? It's not like we're going to feed her to the forest like we're a bunch of Lunarkin. After all, she's going to be our most important member if she's going to be the one to fend off the twilight guards-"

"I'm pretty sure we've come to an agreement for the time being," Leaden interrupted before the yellow stallion could finish his sentence, "but in case I'm mistaken, does anyone in this party believe that... Gradient... shouldn't be inducted into the Resistance as part of our revolt against Queen Twilight?"

Shiver and Starfinder raised their hooves. Leaden nodded his head solemnly.

"I understand that we are still not all in agreement on this topic, but I'm sure that we all can agree on the importance of this revolt. As much as some of us would like to believe, we are reliant on Fizzy for our plan to work, and as divisive as this decision may be, we cannot deny that. So, for the time being, we will adjourn this meeting," He spoke with authority.

Maple doubted anyone would go against Leaden's word. Not even Starfinder would challenge the vice leader of the Resistance, even when it was apparently obvious that he held more than a little resentment for the current state of affairs.

"I'll be transcribing this conversation to Amberjack. Hopefully his insight will allow us all to come to an agreement. Parchment Paper, you've got everything down?" Leaden asked the green pegasus as he stood up from Amberjack's throne.

"All committed to memory. I'll write it out once I get home and have it sent to you as quickly as possible," Parchment responded. She let out a groan as she heaved herself out of her seat.

The coordinators one by one began to leave their seats and head to their respective homes. Shiver lingered for a short while before she left, but Fizzy and Maple remained, still firmly sat in their chairs.

"I'm leavin' th' door open fer five minutes. Miss it 'n' yer walkin' home," She warned. she followed behind Leaden as the stone door to the dirt hallway closed behind her.

It was just Fizzy and Maple now. She stared at him for a moment, unblinking, unmoving. Maple took particular notice of the small enchanted flames that burned above him. The faint glittering pops and cracks of the yellow lantern were the only sound he could focus on. The sparks that were once flowing from Fizzy's horn had slowly ebbed away, but he could very easily tell she herself had not cheered up in that time.

Fizzy continued to stare at Maple with an uncaring, almost regal expression that he could imagine the queen herself wearing. She sat quietly for a moment, as if expecting Maple to say something. He didn't budge. Nothing he was going to say was going to reassure her in the slightest. He knew that. He knew that he had upset her greatly, but if she wanted to address it, she would have to do so herself.

And address it she did.

Fizzy took in a deep breath before speaking. "So... do you have any apologies you would like to make right now?"

Maple had to hold back a laugh. Of course when she was outnumbered and unheard, she was quiet and professional, but now that she held the advantage, she could afford to be as petty as she wanted to be. Maple hated when she did that just as much as he hated almost every other aspect of her personality.

Fortunately, with the rest of the Resistance's leaders gone, now he could afford to be just as angry with her.

"I do... I feel sorry for your sister. I can only imagine the pain of having to be stuck in a dingy house with you for my entire life," he said with a smirk.

The low hum of Fizzy's horn overpowered the quiet shimmering of the fire above. Fizzy's horn glowed with a bright yellow sheen, her enraged face shining with its luminescence.

"You're despicable. You scold me for attempting to keep my sister safe, only to advocate for tossing her into the frontlines and letting her get torn to shreds? Is there something wrong with you?" she hissed.

"Fizzy, I wouldn't sit here and ask that an innocent mare get sent into the middle of a war that she doesn't even know exists," Maple spoke defensively.

"No of course not, I'm sure that your idea to have Gradient be our personal pack mule was made solely for the purpose of convincing those dolts to agree with me, right?"

"Yes, Fizzy. I don't know Gradient all that well, and I may not be the most noble pony out there, but do you really expect me to be so heartless? I admit that the discussion went in a pretty grim direction, but I for one don't want this war to end only for us to look down at our hooves and see rivers of innocent blood," Maple explained.

Fizzy's scowl did not disappear, and so Maple continued. "Amberjack will know what's best. He'll make sure that Gradient is safe, secured, and just as important to the team as you or me. Besides, the rest of these guys are just a bunch of shams, who cares what they think?"

The humming of Fizzy's horn quieted. "Easy for you to say," she growled, "It's not like everyone expects you to have all the answers, and is ready to tear you to shreds when you don't."

"I might not, but I do know what it's like to be lesser, to be expected to not know any of the answers just because..." Maple didn't bother to continue. He was almost certain that Fizzy knew what he meant, probably because he was describing her exact thought process. At least he believed that's what she thought. That was what everypony thought.

Fizzy sighed a long, tired sigh. "... I just want to keep my sister safe, Maple."

"Well, if by some miracle Amberjack doesn't let Gradient in, or he gears her up as Twilight fodder, I'll at least try and keep those other bozos in their place," he assured.

"Including Shiver?" Fizzy asked.

"Ach, I think she's just as concerned about ending an innocent life as I am. I can talk to her once we get back if you want."

"That... that would be nice, thank you." Fizzy said quietly.

The two raised from their seats and headed towards the stone doorway. Maple placed his hoof upon the cold slate, and with a pulse of magic, the barrier began to sink into the dirt.

The two ponies walked along the bright yellow road on the way back to Shiver's bar. They were quiet as the wooden beams became glittering topaz pillars and the dirt ceiling opened up into a bright dandelion sky.

Maple heard Fizzy take in a breath, and tried not to groan. What was she going to say now? Was there some way that he had managed to disappoint her in the minute that they had spent doing literally nothing except walking?

"Do you think this is gonna work? The coup, I mean."

He turned to her in confusion. "Are you having second thoughts about this?"

"No, of course not. I want this to happen more than anything, especially if it means a safer world for Gradient..."

Maple caught on to her hesitation. "Ok, what's the catch then?"

"What if something does go wrong? What if, even after all our planning, we do get caught, and our plans fail?"

"Then someone else will take our place, know our mistakes, and try again I guess."

"Is that it? We fail, and someone else tries again? What if I die, and that someone else ends up being Gradient?"

Maple chuckled. "Then I'd be pretty surprised. She doesn't really scream resistance leader if you ask me."

He let out another laugh, but quieted himself upon seeing Gradient's malignant expression. "Sorry."

She sighed. "You are right. Maybe I've sheltered her too much. It would have been wiser to tell her sooner, but I feared what would happen if I did."

"Well if you tell her now, she's probably not gonna be happy that you held it from her for so long."

"I know that! I-... I don't know if I should tell her now. Our deadline is so close, I don't want her to have to deal with the stress of this mission so suddenly."

"Yeah, I hear ya. If it makes you feel any better, I know there's a really small little village near Neighagra Falls we could drop her off at on our way to Canterlot."

"It's a nice idea and all, but I'm just concerned about dropping her off in an unfamiliar and untypical town in the middle of nowhere and hope she doesn't die."

"Well what do you expect, Fizzy? If we take her with us, you're upset. If we leave her, you're upset, and if I try and think of a solution, you're upset."

"I know I know. I Want to keep Gradient safe but... but..." She sighed again, holding back tears as she did. "I just hope Amberjack will know what to do."

"It'll work out," Maple awkwardly patted Fizzy's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "He's not the leader of the Resistance for nothing. If anyone could find a use for a pony like Gradient, it'd be him."

Fizzy stepped away from Maple, letting his hoof fall to the ground. "yeah, you're probably right."

The two stepped out into the still empty bar, where Shiver was nowhere to be seen. Fizzy closed the gate behind them while Maple looked around for his friend.

"Shiver, where'd you run off to?" He called out.

"She wouldn't have gone far if she left the door wide open. Maybe she's outside?" Fizzy guessed.

Maple looked all around the bar for the blue pegasus, but found no trace of her. he turned back around towards Fizzy after a minute of searching.

"Yeah she's definitely not inside any-woah!" Maple tripped over a wooden board and slammed his chin on the harsh dirt floor. He felt a sharp pain in his mouth as he fell, and his vision was plagues with flashing white shapes. He could hear a faint, low rumbling as he regained his vision. Fizzy laughed out loud as Maple stood back up and rubbed his sore jaw.

"Good to know there's a way to cheer you up after all."

"Slapstick's only ever funny when it's on you." she wiped the tears from her eyes as she walked over to the brown stallion.

"Whatever..." Maple looked down at the board, and realised it was one of several laying in a small area on the floor. He looked up to see a large hole punched through the ceiling of the tavern.

"That wasn't always there, was it?" he asked Fizzy.

"No, I don't believe so. Shall we investigate?"

Maple barely had time to respond before one of the boards floated under his forehooves. Another gave his hindhooves a firm perch to stand on, and as Maple steadied himself, the boards raised him up towards the ceiling and out of the hole.

Maple carefully stepped of the floating boards and onto the roof, being especially mindful of the tavern's many other weak spots. Fizzy wasn't far behind him, standing elegantly on a gaudy looking, topaz colored platform.

"Watch it, princess. Let's not attract any guard's attention, alright?" Maple warned.

"You need to have more faith in me, Maple. I've done worse than this before."

Maple rolled his eyes, then the two of them scanned the disheveled roads below in an attempt to look for Shiver. There was the occasional earth pony or pegasus, but none of them remotely resembled the raspy bartender.

The buzzing in Maple's ears seemed to only worsen, and he rubbed the side of his head. At first, he believed it might have been the fall that caused it, but he could see Fizzy rubbing her ears as well.

"You been hearing something too?" he asked.

"I'm not sure what it is, but it hasn't gone away since we exited the gateway."

"Did you melt our eardrums or something?"

"I wish, then I wouldn't have to hear your voice ever again. But no, I did not."

Maple growled slightly at the unpleasant sound. he shook his head in annoyance when he noticed something in the sky. A little ways above them was Shiver. She wasn't moving, and she seemed to be looking at something in the clouds.

"Shiver! Hey, down here! Shiver!" Maple yelled as loud as he could.

Shiver seemed to snap out of her trance, and flew back down to the tavern with a concerning look on her face.

"What's going on Shiver, are you alright?" Maple questioned.

"Look. Canterlot," was all she could spit out. She pointed to the faraway city.

The dazzling metropolis, once bathed in waves of harsh crimson, was now complimented by a bright violet beam that jutted out from Twilight Castle and pierced into the umber clouds above like a bright, magical needle. The light that emanated from the thin pillar of lavender magic was painful to look at directly, and Maple guessed that the low buzzing was likely to be coming from the laser. It was moments like these that made him glad he hadn't moved there.

Fizzy leaned forward and squinted to better see the light "What is that? I've never seen her concoct a spell of that nature before."

"It's not even clearing day yet... and it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Maybe it's just another one of her power displays or something," Maple responded.

Fizzy huffed. "Usually her displays are more... ceremonial. It's never been this sudden before."

"Well it hasn't blown up or set something on fire yet, so it's probably not an attack."

"Look, both'a ya. th' clouds," Shiver croaked.

Maple stared up into the thick, unmoving haze above him. At first, he didn't notice anything wrong with them, but after a couple moments of careful observation, he noticed the occasional dark spot flickering in and out of view as it stayed hidden among the clouds. At first it was one small spot, but then it was two, then five, then the spots began to clump together into wide blotches that spanned a decent distance along the sky, each of them occasionally flickering with small pops of purple, giving the clouds the appearance of polka dots as the spots all began to converge toward Twilight's laser. Maple stared confused at the occurrence as the splotches began to leave the cover of the clouds and descend onto Canterlot. Then he realized what all those spots in the sky really were.

They were clouds of Twilight guards. Tens of thousands of Twilight guards. Like flies they swarmed to the radiant lavender pillar of light. The swarm of drones swayed and folded in the wind as the thousands of tiny individual ponies circled the beam. The cumulative buzzing of countless wings pierced air, water, steel and stone to place itself firmly, and annoyingly, in Maple's ear. He scratched his ear again, though still mindful and attentive of the slowly diminishing darkened blobs in the clouds. Finally, the last small gathering of twilight guards freed itself from the murky folds of the clouds above, and found its place among the titanic throng of Twilight's mindless followers.

As soon as the last piece of the swarm took position, the beam flickered, wavered, and then disappeared altogether. The irritating buzzing of the guards' wings disappeared not a moment later, and the cloud of ponies dropped like a boulder as the guards perched upon the rooves and steeples of Canterlot's buildings. Maple breathed a sigh of relief as the noise finally subsided.

Shiver, on the other hoof, stared at the distant city with mistrust.

"I have my worries about the implications this particular event has. What do you think, Shiver?" Fizzy asked, carefully levitating her way over to the pegasus.

Shiver's eyes squinted even further. "She ain't never called th' entire guard before. What's she up to?"

"Maybe she found where the dragons are hiding?" Maple suggested.

"Don't be silly, the dragons are just as likely to have been exterminated as the changelings. If they really were still alive, one of our Outrider's would have disclosed such a fact by now," Fizzy derided him, making that dumb face that she wore when she felt superior. Oh how Maple wanted to wipe that dumb expression off of her face.

"Well if it ain't the dragons, what could that be then?" Maple huffed, pointing to the faraway silhouette of Equestria's largest city.

"The Hippogriffs maybe? Perhaps they angered her?" Fizzy wondered aloud.

Maple barked a laugh. "Please, they probably ran back into the ocean once they caught wind of what happened to the rest of us."

Fizzy nodded solemnly. "Well, not all of them at least. Let us be thankful for the exception we have been given in that regard."

"Yeah yeah, let's git back to the probl'm at hoof here, you two," Shiver sneered. "We need t'tell Amberjack 'n' the coordinators 'bout this."

"But we just left the meeting room. They're on the other side of town, it'd take forever to walk there undetec-" Maple gasped at the realisation.

Fizzy turned to him with a confused expression, but he was beyond words, instead he fervently pointed all around him at a myriad of things that probably made no sense to her.

"Maple, take a breath," Shiver croaked.

Maple inhaled deeply, then spat out his thoughts all at once. "Shiver, you gotta find Amberjack and Leaden Lantern as quick as you can. Tell 'em this is a meeting of utmost importance. Now that the guards aren't here, this might be our only chance to fix Fizzy's problem. And Fizzy, you need to get your sister right now."

Both of them stared at him with bewilderment, but Fizzy spoke up first. "Get her right now? I thought we were going to wait a day until we-"

"Now is not the time to wait! We may never get this opportunity again, and we need to utilize it as best we can! If Twilight's moving all of her guards somewhere, this might make for a perfect chance to enact our plan! We need to do this now!"

"Alright ok ok I'm going!" Fizzy leapt off the roof and cast a magical cushion below her, uncaring of whatever looks it might've brought her way. After all, it wasn't like some poor little earth pony would try and square up against a unicorn.

Maple turned around to address his friend, but she was already soaring away by the time he did so. Good. Ok. Now all he needed to do was get some beer... and the rest of his things of course.

He couldn't believe it, the day was coming. All the time they spent making sure everything went perfectly, only for Fizzy to flip it all on it's head, only then for circumstance to give them a miracle like this! It was perfect... maybe too perfect.

Maple hopped back down into the bar, his landing a wobbly one due to the loose boards that littered the floor. It was alright though, the holes in the ceiling didn't really matter any more. He rooted around in the back of Shiver's counter, looking for the best cider he could find on such short notice. Most of the bottles were warm and covered in a mixture of dirt from the floor and dust from lack of use. It didn't really matter to him though, if it made him forget, it was good enough for him, even if it did taste like trash.

Deciding not to waste time pondering over the dozen or so dirty bottles that were scattered across the shelves, Maple decided to grab the biggest of the bottles, a wide green jug engraved with the same symbol that branded every house, flag, and guard in Craterhold. It made him sick just looking at it, but it would have to do.

With jug in hoof, Maple left the bar behind as he made his way back home towards the Commercial District. Throughout the dingy streets, ponies gazed at the far away city, trying their best to see what all the commotion was about. None of them cared as he strutted, then galloped, then sprinted his way down the streets of the housing district. Pegasi flew up into the sky, many of them already realizing the absence of any guards. As he ran, Maple saw more and more ponies begin to celebrate while they could. Earth ponies grouped together, drinking their dirt poor drinks, shouting and singing in the streets while the pegasi flipped, twirled, and danced their elaborate dances high in the sky. Were it any other day, Maple might've joined in, but his mission was at hand. The coupe was at hand, and Maple was not going to let it pass him by.

The Commercial District was surprisingly empty when he arrived at its well kept streets. Whenever the Twilight Guard was in town, most of the guards congregated here, so every building and road had to be well maintained, and banners and flags bearing the tyrant's cutie mark were hung at all hours of the day. However, now that all the guards had been summoned to Twilight's castle, and all the vendors were busy making the best out of the current state of affairs, the many shops and vendor's tables were completely empty. Not even the scouts Maple had sent out earlier today showed themselves, though he guessed they would remain under cover until they returned back to the meeting hall. Still, Maple had never seen Craterhold so quiet, and it disturbed him.

It didn't help that the Twilight Tower loomed over him, it's shadow swallowing the streets, houses and all of his hope along with him. It's impressive purple exterior, covered with thick violet plates of steel, reflected the bright crimson rays of the sun, making the tower look as if it were spattered with blood. Even though the Twilight Guard only showed up in Craterhold every once in a while, the tower stood, forced to be upkept while the guard scoured the land in search of any undocumented survivors or towns that had yet to be pillaged.

Remembering his mission, Maple shook his head and refocused. He bolted down the smoothed concrete street and turned onto a humble little building. Unsurprisingly, a small white pony stood in front of the polished wooden door with a grimace permanently glued to his face.

When Maple approached, the little pony gave him a small nod. "Shivah told me you's was comin'." He looked at the bottle in Maple's mouth. "I see ya even brought ya's forget-me-lots, eh?"

Maple placed the bottle in his hoof to speak to the stallion. "Yeah, you know how it is. Never know when you might run into somepony who wants to poke through your thoughts, y'know?"

"Ah hear that, just wish you'da brought me one'a them drinks too. Ah could do with a little forgettin' mahself while them things are off in the queen's castle."

"I dunno, Bottleneck, I don't think Solar Spark would be very happy if he caught you drinking on the job," Maple warned the small, white earth pony.

"Pfft, he's prob'ly drinkin' right now. He'sa hypocrite like that, you's understand."

Maple chuckled quietly. "Don't I know it."

Bottleneck let a small smile escape from behind his scowl. "Alright, bud, you's is good to- SWEET SUN PRINCESS WHAT IS THAT!?"

Maple whipped around almost instantly, expecting a rogue guard or everfree branch, but instead was blinded by a bright light. He shielded his eyes with his hoof, forgetting about the bottle he was previously holding, causing it to fall to the ground. After the initial shock had worn off, and the blind spot had faded from his eyes, Maple looked to the sky. Far away, across the mountains and through the roofs of the Commercial District, Canterlot was yet again bathed in a mesmerizing twilight glow. It reached high into the sky, pierced the maroon clouds above, and dove back down in a perfect arc, where it found its mark atop the spire of Craterhold's very own Twilight Tower.

Maple and Bottleneck both stood still, watching in horror as the buzzing began again, and the thousands of twilight guards rose from the towers and houses of Canterlot to make their way to Craterhold.