I led Twilight and Rainbow Dash to a secluded spot where there was no one to listen in on this conversation. And I paid very close attention to the sources of emotions all around us, so I would know if anyone tried to eavesdrop.

“Taylor, what’s going on? Why do you seem upset?” Twilight asked, uncomprehending of the situation.

“Forget that! What the hell are you two doing here?!” I half shouted, trying not to raise my voice too much.

“We’re here to help? I thought you might be getting into a dangerous situation again, and you just didn’t want any of us getting hurt on your behalf. Or something like that.” Twilight responded uncertainly.

“If I was going into something dangerous and I didn’t ask for help, that would mean there’s a damn good reason why I don’t want anyone else involved! Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, following me into a situation like that might get you killed?! Especially when I don’t expect you to be there in the first place!” I demanded.

Twilight’s ears were pressed flat against her head as she shrunk back under my tirade. Worry and some small amount of shame radiated from her.

Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and stared at me, not backing down in the slightest. “Are you?” She asked.

“Am I what?” I asked, still pissed.

“Getting yourself into a dangerous situation?”

I hesitated for a moment. Technically, yes. I was. But that wasn’t any of their business. “It doesn’t matter!”

“So you are! You totally are! You were right, Twilight!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“It doesn’t matter, damn it! Listen to me!” I took a deep breath and slowly released it, forcing myself to calm down.

“We’re listening, Taylor. There’s no need to get angry.” Twilight assured me.

“No, there’s plenty of reason to be angry. But it’s not going to help anything right now… Look, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, this is my business. Not yours and not Equestria’s. So I’d like to handle it by myself. Also, I’m going to be completely honest with you here, I don’t like the fact that you report on my every move. Back in the Crystal Empire you immediately reported that I had plans to go to Griffonstone to the Princesses when it was none of your business and none of theirs either. I’m not a kid. I don’t need a damn babysitter… Unless it’s to watch my eggs, I guess, but Queen Amore’s taking care of that right now… Whatever. Point is, I don’t need help for every little thing.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against her head and I felt guilt emanate from her. “O-oh… I… I didn’t think… I was just…” She sighed. “I just thought it was a bit odd you were heading here and I honestly didn’t think it was anything private, I just thought you were going there to try and make allies or something… But since you wouldn’t talk to me about it I thought you might be more willing to talk to the princesses and get their help instead since they’re more experienced with politics… Though, thinking back, I guess the fact you didn’t want to talk to me about it should have been a hint… I’m sorry, Taylor. I really didn’t mean to violate your privacy. I was just trying to help you as best I could…”

I sighed. I wanted to believe her that she was just trying to help but the fact she was here and everything she’d done up until now fit too cleanly with my hypothesis that she was a spy keeping track of me. “I get you were trying to help, but there’s a thing called boundaries. If I make it clear that I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t want help, don’t go behind my back and try and insert yourself into my business. Don’t go telling other people my business either. Everything I’m doing is to protect myself and my kids. That’s all anyone else needs to know.”

“So… You’re just here to get allies?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Twilight, what did I just say?”

She winced. “Sorry… It’s just, I don’t know what else you could want here. And if its allies, why can’t you talk about it? Like I said back in the Crystal Empire, we’re friends. You can rely on me, Rainbow, and the others. You don’t need to handle everything yourself. And well… I’ve actually been wanting to visit Griffonstone for a while now and, selfish as this might sound, I’ll admit this seemed like a really good chance to do it…”

“Yeah, seriously? What’s so important that you can’t tell us anything? Like, I get the whole thing about not wanting us to report your every move. And we don’t! Right Twilight?” Rainbow asked, looking at Twilight.

Twilight winced and rubbed the back of her head nervously. “W-well… Not her every move…”

Rainbow looked at her in surprise and I gave the two of them a flat stare.

“I… er… I just… I…” Twilight slumped. “Okay. I’ll admit, I usually tell the princesses generally what Weaver’s doing in my friendship reports. No specifics. I don’t tell them every little detail. Just the broad strokes so they know what to be aware of in case it might matter with the whole Chrysalis thing or in case it might help them with the political situation in Canterlot.”

Rainbow Dash face hooved. “Great… Thanks a lot, Twi. Really helping my case here… The point I was trying to make was that we can keep a secret if we need to. And if you were just up front with us and asked us not to say anything, we wouldn’t. We’re your friends, Skitter. You almost died trying to save our butts in the Crystal Empire. Sure, maybe I wasn’t in that ‘Shadow Prison’ thing or whatever with you and the others. But even before that! With the whole eating cursed crystals thing? So the least we can do is keep a secret for you if you need us to.”

I sighed. “Look, I understand what you’re trying to say, and I appreciate the sentiment. But it’s a matter of state. I can’t discuss it. And you can’t be involved. I’m dealing with international politics. You don’t expect the Princesses to tell you everything they do politically, right? You don’t know all of Equestria’s state secrets or agreements they make with foreign nations?”

“Well… no… I don’t…” Twilight muttered somewhat dejectedly.

“It’s the same thing here. I’m the Queen of a brand new hive which I am in the process of building and need to defend from a hostile foreign power. So there’s going to be things I need to do that I can’t tell you about and I can’t let you help me with.” I told them trying to ease the situation as much as possible.

“It would have helped if you actually told us that up front instead of just running off without even saying a simple goodbye.” Rainbow stated.

“I left a note telling you girls I was going to be in Griffonstone on business.” I stated.

“That’s not the same thing, Taylor.” Twilight stated.

“Fine. What do you want me to say? That I was worried you wouldn’t let me go without insisting on coming with me unless I left without talking to you? That something like this exact situation would happen?” I asked, frustrated.

“This situation could have been avoided if you’d talked to us! Communication, Taylor! What are we supposed to do if you refuse to communicate with us at all? I really thought you were going into another dangerous situation! And what was I supposed to think? It seems like every time you go off to do something it always ends violently. The situation with the Changelings derailing the train, then Sombra and the Umbrum. Not to mention your whole life on Earth Bet. And you have a severe tendency to self sacrifice which we saw on full display in the Crystal Empire. So I had no reason to believe you’d actually tell us if you were about to go do something dangerous where you might actually need our help but just don’t want to ask because we might get hurt.”

“Which you totally are! Don’t think I’ve forgotten, because I haven’t!” Rainbow Dash stated.

I sighed. Were I in my human form I’d be pinching the bridge of my nose, but I wasn’t so I just lowered my head. She was right, in a way. I seemed to be a giant magnet for violence for some reason or another. But that didn’t change the present situation. “Alright, maybe we both fucked up then. I screwed up by not saying anything and you guys screwed up by following me here when it should have been very obvious I didn’t want you to. Fine. Happy?”

“Not really, no.” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Well, neither am I. So at least we’re both equally unhappy.” I stated, annoyed by this whole situation.

“So… What now? Do you expect us to just get back on the train and go back home after coming all the way here? ‘Cause, there’s no way I’m just gonna leave now. Not since you pretty much confirmed you’re going to be doing something dangerous again.” Rainbow Dash stated giving me a stubborn look. She wasn’t going to budge on this. At least not easily.

I sighed and rubbed the side of my head in an attempt to ease my growing headache. “I never confirmed anything! You’re just making an assumption!”

“I’m not blind or stupid, Skitter! I saw that look on your face and that moment of hesitation when I asked if you were going to be doing something dangerous! Don’t bucking lie to us!” Rainbow growled.

“Great… Just fantastic… Alright, before I address this particular issue, how many griffons did you two ask about me? How many know you were looking for me?”

“I dunno… A few dozen maybe? We were kind of looking for you all day.” Twilight stated.

“Perfect. Just perfect. People are probably already talking about it. That’s going to do wonders for my image…” I grumbled in continued frustration.

“What image? Seriously, this is getting kind of old at this point.” Rainbow asked.

“State secret. Look, I have a thing I’m trying to accomplish here. Something vitally important to me. The literal protege of Princess Celestia herself looking for me with what I’m planning to accomplish here looks really bad. That’s all you need to know. You two being here has completely screwed with everything. I need some time to think about all of this and reassess the situation before I decide on what I can or can’t tell you. This would have been so much easier if you’d just stayed in Ponyville!” I sighed and shook my head. “But it's too late for that now… So, you wanna help me? Fine. I’ll let you be on standby for when things get out of hand. But I’m going to need you to trust me.”

“That’s kinda hard when you won’t tell us anything.” Rainbow Dash stated disapprovingly.

“I can’t tell you anything right now, Rainbow Dash! It seems like I keep having to say that over and over again! I’m not in a position to be forthcoming with my circumstances right now! That’s why I need time to think about what I can tell you! That’s all I need! Time! Is that so difficult?!” I growled.

“Please, both of you, just calm down. We’re friends. We don’t need to argue like this. Taylor, you need time. That’s fine. We’re willing to give you as much time as you need. Rainbow Dash, you want Taylor to communicate more. I get it. I want her to communicate more too. But this isn’t the way to accomplish that. We have to start out by showing her at least some trust. So, Taylor, how do we handle this situation?” Twilight asked me.

I huffed and shook my head. “I guess we start by finding a hotel to stay in. Preferably one that isn’t completely run down. This place is somehow more run down than Brockton Bay after the Slaughterhouse Nine attacked. And that’s saying something.”

“Jeez. That bad? I remember you telling us how bad it got in Brockton Bay.” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at the dilapidated city.

“Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe… It’s debatable… But it’s definitely worse than Brockton was after Leviathan attacked. If you heard the same things I did about the state this place is in, it wouldn’t sound so outlandish. Seriously. Griffonstone is barely hanging on by a thread. It’s one bad day away from complete collapse and dissolution.” I told her.

“Can you tell us what you’ve heard about the state of Griffonstone at least? Not in regards to whatever you’re doing here, but just in general. I just can’t wrap my head around how the greatest kingdom in the world got to this point.” Twilight asked.

I looked around. “I suppose…” I didn’t want to just say no outright, but the state of Griffonstone was closely related to why I was here in the first place. If I addressed this wrong, they’d see my plan coming from a mile away. Then again, if I didn’t tell them and they started digging through Griffonstone’s history to find out what happened, they’d probably figure it out anyways. This was going to be hard… “So, how much do you know about Griffonstone’s history?”

“Oh, plenty!” Twilight pulled a large book off the cart with her and Rainbow Dash’s sack of bits. “Have you ever read By Gone Griffons of Greatness? It’s super interesting! I highly recommend it!” She opened the book and held it out to me, flipping through some of the pages to specific pictures. “In ancient times, Griffons were known to be as greedy as dragons, always hoarding their bits and other treasures! But all that changed when King Grover found the mysterious Golden Idol of Boreas! Legend says the Idol of Boreas was made from the dust of golden sunsets, blown across the mountains by the north winds! Possessing the Idol of Boreas filled the Griffons’ hearts with pride! It’s said that that one great treasure is responsible for turning Griffonstone into the most majestic kingdom of all the land!”

I cursed mentally. She already knew about the Idol. How the hell was I going to work around this? “I, uh… Think this book might be out of date.” I told her, pushing the book away. “Okay, well, it all started with King Guto. The most recent king. During his reign, Griffonstone was attacked by a creature called Arimaspi. The Griffons beat it, but at a cost. This led to a civil war in which King Guto was overthrown. There were more civil wars over who would replace him. They tried forming a Council in place of the king, but they couldn’t agree to anything so it fell apart from infighting in just four months. Then they broke up all of Grifftonstone into separate nations, which went to war and started killing each other. Then their economy completely collapsed because of the wars. It was getting to the point where everyone would have no choice but to become refugees and flee to Minos or Equestria, abandoning Griffonstone entirely, or they would all starve to death. So the nations were forced to come back together to establish some kind of economic stability to prevent that from happening. And that’s where we are now. They haven’t recovered at all since then.”

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were staring at me in complete shock. It seemed neither of them could believe how utterly horrendous the state of this place was.

“Wow… Just… Just wow…” Rainbow Dash stated, resting her face in her hoof.

“H-how…? What…? I don’t understand. How could one creature have caused all of this…?” Twilight asked in complete disbelief. She then looked at me and I could practically see the lightbulb going off in her head. “Oh! That’s why you’re here! I’m sorry, Taylor. I know you don’t want us butting into your business but I couldn’t help making the connection after you told us that story. You’re trying to fix Griffonstone! And by fixing Griffonstone you’ll get friends and allies against Queen Chrysalis! But… Why go to all this trouble to keep this secret? I don’t get that. If anything we’d try to help you. And I don’t really see how this could be dangerous.”

“Twilight, she just told us how the Griffons have been fighting wars with each other over this for however long. So, yeah. It’s dangerous. I was totally right!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“W-well, yeah. She did just say that, but I’m sure she has a plan for how to do this without starting another civil war. Right, Taylor?” Twilight asked me.

I grit my teeth and just stood there. I should have kept my mouth shut. I definitely should have just kept my damned mouth shut. I thought not mentioning the Idol would be enough, but it wasn’t. Twilight figured it out regardless. But if I’d refused to tell them, Twilight would have tried to read up on recent history or something, or Gruff would have told them since he was the local historian, and she would have figured it out regardless. Damned if I did, damned if I didn’t.

“Taylor? You… did have a plan to avoid that… right?” Twilight asked me.

I slumped and sighed in frustration. At this point was there even any point in keeping anything else secret? They’d already pretty much guessed my plans… “Yes and no… I planned to dig up any dirt I could on people in power who could be a problem to expose to the public to get them arrested or run out of Griffonstone by an angry mob, or black mail them into compliance. Pay off others with money I took from the ones who got run out of Griffonstone. Or assassinate them, if I didn’t have any other options available to me. Among some other options… I wanted to end the civil war before it really began by removing the opposing factions all together. If the civil war did start at all, I planned to kill the leaders and generals one by one until the opposing factions completely collapsed from a lack of organization and leadership. I’m a changeling, with all that entails. With my powers I’m very confident I could end it all in a month, tops, using those methods. Hopefully with minimal loss of life on either side, save for the opposing leadership.”

“Sweet Celestia… What the buck?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. She then shook her head. “You know what? I don’t know why I’m surprised at this point…”

“I’m starting to see why you didn’t want to tell any of us… No. You’re definitely not doing that. There has to be a better way to solve this… Taylor, please let us help you with this. If we work together, I’m sure we can find a solution that doesn’t require hurting anypony. If we send a letter to Princess Celestia—”

“No. Absolutely not. I don’t want Celestia or the other Princesses involved in this at all. If you plan to ask them for help, that’s where this ends. I’ll know I can’t trust you at all. We can maintain a cordial relationship back in Ponyville, but I’m not trusting you with anything again.” I told her seriously. If she told the Princesses I was going to have to rush through this as fast as possible and trigger that civil war before the Princesses could intervene. That way they wouldn’t be able to stop me because it would already be in progress. I had to come out of this with an ally on my side. Not under the thumb of Equestria. This was too important for this to end any other way. I couldn’t let myself become a vassal or puppet of Equestria. I had to guarantee my future if I survived this war with Chrysalis. Gaining allies not under the Princesses’ control was the key to ensuring my continued freedom. I wasn’t about to give that up.

“Seriously? This is that important to you? You’d really be willing to throw away our friendship over this?” Rainbow Dash asked me. I could sense the hurt and sadness radiating from her. She was genuinely upset that I was willing to sacrifice our friendship for this. Or so it seemed.

“What would you do to protect yourself and your kids? Your foals? How far would you be willing to go? What would you be willing to sacrifice to protect your family? Would you be willing to give up your friends if it meant guaranteeing your foals safety and wellbeing?” I asked her. “Before you answer, try to put yourself in my position. You don’t know my full circumstances the way I do. So you can’t just say, ‘I would never have to do that’, or anything like that. This is a situation where you might not have a choice but to make those sacrifices to keep your family safe. So? What’s your answer?”

Rainbow Dash stared at me for a moment, struggling to find the words. Eventually she said, “That’s not fair!”

“You’re right. It’s not fair. But that’s how it is, regardless. Life very often isn’t fair. I had to learn that the hard way. So? Do you have an answer?”

Rainbow struggled for a moment longer before slumping and looking away. “I don’t know… I’d never want to be in that kind of situation in the first place…”

“I, for one, already sacrificed friendships to save the world once. Two years ago, when I turned myself in back in Brockton Bay. So, why wouldn’t I do it again to protect myself and my family? So yes, this is that important to me. And can you really blame me?” I asked.

“No… If you really believe that, I guess I can’t… But I don’t agree that this is that serious. I don’t get how or why this would be so important to keeping your hive safe. And I assume you aren’t going to explain. So, fine. I guess I accept it, but I don’t like it.” Rainbow Dash stated.

Twilight sighed. “Alright. We’re not asking Celestia then… What about Queen Amore? You trusted her with keeping your eggs safe. I’m sure you could trust her with this too.”

I shrugged. “It's been a thousand years. She probably knew the Griffons at the height of their kingdom’s history. Whatever experience she has might not be worth much here. Otherwise I might have talked to her about it while we were in the Crystal Empire. Besides, we can’t effectively communicate with her about the situation over the mail. So if we’re going to be doing this, it's going to be on our own. And I’m going to be the one doing all of the major leg work. If you two can come up with a decent plan that doesn’t end in war, great. I’ll do that. But if you can’t, then I’m going to have to go with my original plan, like it or not. This needs to get done one way or the other.”

Twilight took a deep breath and slowly released it, trying to calm her nerves. “Alright… Since you're at the point where you’re willing to let us help, maybe you could tell us your plan? That way we know what you have in mind so we can at least have an idea of what we’re actually trying to accomplish here.”

I focused on our surroundings again to make absolutely sure no one was in earshot before I began telling them my plan.

I seriously hoped I wasn’t making a huge mistake by letting them get involved. Then again, that choice had sort of been taken from me at this point. So I was just going to have to make do, for better or worse.

Author's Note

Another chapter I'm uncertain of. Hopefully the whole series of events makes sense and isn't out of character for any of them. I tried my best to handle this as logically as possible.

Just a heads up, I rewrote the previous chapter to address some of the issues that were pointed out to me over on SB.