Loyalty. What is loyalty? How can we be loyal in the face of insurmountable odds? When we are at our lowest, loyalty to the ones we love can save us. For it is in those times, the times that we are truly tested, that our loyalty gives us hope.

I often wonder what life would have been like if the ponies of old Equestria had stuck true to their loyalty. Would the war ever have made it as far as it did? I don't know for sure. Rainbow Dash stayed true to Equestria until the bitter end. Was she the only one? What about Twilight? Was she loyal to her own words? I still don't know what to think about the Ministry Mare in my head.

I consider the connection between myself and the Ministry Mare. What will happen if it disappears? Twilight said I might die if the connection is severed. I don't know what to think about that, but I can't let it get in my way. I have to keep moving forward, to stay true and loyal to my convictions. I will stop Spark, and save the Wasteland.

I have to. There is no other road for me. The only way out of this is forward.

“So... we're supposed to just... deliver this thing to the NCR?” Patch said as we trotted out onto the Luna line. She was comfortably perched on my back, turning the holo-emitter around in her hooves, peering intently at it.

“That's what Sunshine said,” I replied. “It's some sort of holo device. Supposed to let the Twilight Society talk to Kirby.”

“The NCR is preparing for war, and now they want to talk? Something's not right about this,” Violet said.

I nodded mutely. I was still reeling from my talk with Twilight. I glanced back at the device. Was there something up with the Twilight Society's intentions? I didn't know who to trust anymore. On one hoof, Sunshine Sky and Dusk Blue hadn't given me any reason to mistrust them personally. But the Society was responsible for my current predicament, if only accidentally. What if they were planning something really bad? On the other hoof, the NCR was trying to help, even if it was only in their unique brand of forced assistance. But there this was threat of war to deal with. Was the NCR trying to force the Society to use their super weapon? What kind of goal was that?

I faced forward as we pushed into the nearest Luna line station, moving the thoughts out of my mind and trying to focus on the task at hoof. We made our way down the stairs quietly as Patch focused on the holo-emitter. The green mare had seemed extremely interested in the device. Despite the fact that it was rather tiny, she had been sure there was some sort of opening on it, even if she had yet to find it. As we trotted along she spent her time turning it about and examining it with a critical eye.

“I don't get it,” she finally said after several long moments, breaking the silence.

I raised an eyebrow, looking back at her. “What's that?” I asked.

Patch sighed and motioned for us to follow her. She ducked into a nearby abandoned building, placing the device on the ground.

“This whole thing. It reeks of wrongness,” Patch replied, pointing at the device. “Look at it. I can't find a seam to crack it open to see what's inside at all. And the screen on it just keeps flashing the same numbers over and over. Whatever this thing is, it wasn't made for earth ponies to interact with.”

“You think that only myself or Star can make it work?” Violet piped up.

Patch nodded. I glanced over at Violet. She was staring intently at the device.

“Let's see what we can find out then,” I said. “Violet. See what you can do. Patch, you keep watch for anything bad.”

Violet grimaced and nodded, flaring her horn. She lifted the device into the air, keeping it floating in front of us. The device began to beep softly as her magic worked over its tiny buttons. The numbers on the screen began to cycle.

“That's... that's not good,” Patch said softly. “I've seen those kinds of number cycles before.”

“Where?” I said softly.

“On common timed explosive devices,” Patch said, gritting her teeth. “This thing is a fucking magic bomb, just a hell of a lot smaller and if I'm right, packed a lot deadlier. Violet... be careful. I think you just activated it.”

Violet's eyes widened as she looked at the device. “I... I don't think I did. I think it's been active. I think I just… turned its speed up,” she said. “I'm going to try and turn it off. Just... everypony stay back.”

“Be careful, Violet. Please,” I said. I blinked again. “Wait, you mean that the Twilight Society sent us out here with a bomb?” I said, glancing at Patch as we took a few steps back.

The green mare grimaced, and then nodded. I almost couldn't believe it. The gears started clicking in the back of my head.

“They wanted us to take out the NCR. Or at the very least, Kirby,” I said.

Violet grimaced and flared her horn again. “It's fighting any attempt at shutting it down,” she interrupted. “I need some help, Star.”

I narrowed my eyes, stepping forward and igniting my own horn, latching onto the device. Almost immediately my E.F.S. was filled with arcane matrices and runes. I looked about, seeing the symbols everywhere. They even covered the others. I glanced back over at Violet, nodding. I accessed my magic, touching a nearby rune. It reacted, and in the distance I heard the device begin to beep faster.

“Shit!” I shouted. “What did I do?!”

“You accelerated the timer,” Patch yelled back. “What did the symbol you touched look like?”

“I... I don't know... some sort of squiggly line? I can't do this!” I called out. “I am not a smart pony!”

“Star, focus!” Violet said. “I'm going to join our magic together. We need to work in tandem to shut this thing down!”

Her magic found mine in the void, intertwining with it and forming one singular beam of power. It was an incredible feeling, unlike anything I had ever experienced. I wondered why we had never joined together like this before. I closed my eyes and then opened them, seeing the runes in a whole new light. They actually started to... make sense. I could feel Violet’s mind behind me, a gentle teacher pointing out facts and naming the symbols. Holy bucking Celestia's plot... I thought. This thing is way more complex than I thought it was. The device was still beeping fast. We had to move quickly.

Star? Can you hear me? Violet's voice echoed in the back of my mind. I blinked. This must have been some sort of side effect of the magic.

Yeah... I can hear you, I sent back to her. What now?

We find the disarm trigger, Violet replied. We're looking for something subtle. It's not going to be a big red button saying 'Turn me off'. I also would expect some sort of kickback.

I grimaced and nodded as we began to poke around the runes and symbols floating in the air around us. A blast of magic erupted from one of the runes, striking us hard. I growled loudly against the attack. My side erupted in pain from the force of the blast. It had hurt for real!

Violet, what the hell is happening?! I thought frantically.

Violet's mind brushed mine through the magic, soothing the pain and calming me.

Star... cool it. We've gotta be focused if we're gonna find the trigger, she sent back to me.

I grimaced, and finally nodded. She was right. Panic and fear wouldn't help us stop this thing. I started looking about. One of the smaller symbols floated across a corner of my vision. I did a complete double take when I saw it. It was an exact replica of Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark. Of course it was her design. The Twilight Society could never have come up with a device as sophisticated as this thing was. Twilight herself had designed it, but why? Twilight didn't seem like the sort to design weaponry. Perhaps this thing was never intended to be a bomb? I reached out, touching the cutie mark. It rippled in the air, telling me it was some form of emergency shutdown rune. I grinned.

“Hold on!” I shouted. “I think I found it... Violet, it does have a big red button, we can shut it off!”

We sent a surge of magical power into the rune, gritting our collective teeth as the feedback from the rune flowed through our bodies. The device stopped beeping and the screen went blank. We both breathed a sigh of relief and set the device back onto the ground. I felt Violet's magic give mine a loving stroke and withdraw as Patch stepped up to the device and picked it up.

“So... the Twilight Society sent us out to blow up the NCR,” she said. “No wonder I didn't really trust them.”

“Why, though?” Steeljack said. “Why attack the NCR? Seems like a stupid move on their part.”

“I don't know why they would do this, but we can't let it happen,” Patch replied. “If the NCR were attacked so blatantly, it really would cause a war. We wouldn't be able to stop it. It would just escalate and escalate beyond our control.”

“Patch speaks the truth. The NCR would not let such an act go unanswered. They would respond,” Nixis said.

“But won't the Twilight Society figure out that the bomb didn't go off?” Lilith said.

“The timer was set very high, and I got the feeling that there was something watching it,” Violet said. “I'm willing to bet they already know we disarmed it.”

I glanced around nervously, wondering if we were about to be attacked. Nothing happened though. I sighed and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Alright, so what do we do now?” Steeljack said.

“We move forward with meeting the NCR,” I said. “If the Society expects us to deliver the device, we'll deliver it. Violet, do you think that you can rig that thing to just emit a little light?”

Patch cocked her head. “Why?” she asked.

“Because after this is said and done, I'm going to cast a spell to try and tell us who's responsible for this. If the Society is truly responsible then we've got a very big problem,” I said. “But I think it's only fair that Kirby sees it too. We can work it out with the NCR when we get there.”

“You can do that?” Violet said, cocking an eyebrow.

“Twilight designed this thing originally. I'm willing to bet that I can access her memories and figure out some form of divination spell,” I offered. “All we need to do is set up the intended effect and set up the timer. We'll make whoever did this think that the bomb is active again.”

“And when we present it to Kirby, then we'll explain who's really responsible,” Patch said. “That's... rather ingenious, even for you, Star.”

“Thanks – hey!” I said, my eyes widening. The green mare was chuckling. “That's not funny. I can think sometimes too, you know.”

“You did just say earlier that you weren't a smart pony,” Violet said nonchalantly.

“Yup,” Steeljack chimed in.

Lilith and Nixis merely nodded. I groaned.

“Okay, okay, you got me. Chalk it up to a lucky guess,” I said, grinning. “Now, are we doing this or not? We've got a fake bomb to deliver!”

Violet smiled coyly and flared her horn, dipping into the arcane matrix of the device once more. A few moments later her horn stopped glowing.

“It's done,” she said. “You turn.”

I narrowed my eyes at the device, closing them and dropping back into Twilight's memories to search for the spell I was looking for. Several moments of searching revealed a direction I could take. I opened my eyes, lighting my horn and grasping the device with my magic. The mish-mash of arcane runes appeared once more. I found Violet's patch-work spell easily enough, and wiggled a redirector around it, changing the explosive output of the spell matrix to a display. Confident that it was going to work, I poked the trigger spell with my magic. The device beeped softly once more and the correct numbers appeared on its screen. Dropping my hold on the device, I looked over at the others.

“It's done,” I said. “Patch. Press the button on the front of the device.”

“You're... You're sure?” she replied.

I nodded. Patch looked down at the would-be bomb and pressed the small button. A pinprick of red light emitted from the device, painting the picture of a pony against the nearby wall. I glared at the picture as it came into focus. Of course, I thought. The picture was of a familiar unicorn stallion.

“It can't be,” Violet said. “Why would...?”

“Dusk Blue,” I stated flatly as the light disappeared along with the picture. “No others. He's been playing both sides, trying to force a war. But why?”

“Power,” Lilith said flatly. “Like all ponies want. Just another power play in the Wasteland, with innocent ponies as the stakes.”

“If Dusk Blue really is behind this… He has access to Celestia One,” Steeljack said. “That can't be good.”

“We should get a move on,” I said, breaking into the conversation between the others. “Once we get to Camp Hope then we can sort all of this out with Kirby.”

My friends nodded in agreement and we made our way out of the abandoned building and back into the city. We walked in silence for a few moments before one of us broke the stillness.

“I just... I just thought of something pretty morbid,” Lilith said. “If that bomb was intended to go off when it did... it would have caught us too.”

My eyes widened.

“Dusk... he meant to kill us too.”

We holed up in an abandoned building off the beaten path, forcing ourselves to take a much needed break after a few hours. The disarming of the bomb was still very fresh in our minds and we needed to take a bit of time to collect our thoughts about it. Thankfully with the means of turning off the timer, we had time to spare before we had to meet the NCR. After checking the building for any signs of bloodwings or other Wasteland terrors, we settled in and built a campfire to cook off of. I sat apart from the others, poring over my thoughts.

I still couldn't believe it. Dusk Blue wanted to kill not only the NCR, but us as well? Why? What was his angle? How could the pony who once stood by me in Chicacolt want to kill me?

I wasn't sure why, all I knew was he was in the way of not only finding out what was wrong with Patch, but also preventing us from getting out of this city and finding Spark. I glanced over into my saddle bag, my eyes catching onto the memory orb that Discord had left me. I really really wanted to watch it, but I knew that I had promised Violet that I wouldn't until we left the city. I closed up my bags as my marefriend appeared next to me. The others were chatting amongst themselves next to the campfire.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she said softly. “You okay?

“Just thinking about things,” I replied.

Violet gave me that look. The look that says 'I know you're lying to me, so you'd better pony up and admit it'.

I grinned sheepishly. “Was also sort of thinking about looking at that memory orb, but thought better of it.”

“Ah, sweetheart. I know that it's hard, and I... I didn't want to say it before, because I wanted you to stop...” she said, her expression softening. “But you do know what an addiction is, right?”

“What? Are you saying that I'm... I'm addicted to those things?” I asked. I was mortified to think that might have been the case. “But... I can't be addicted...”

“I'm saying that it's a fair possibility, sweetie,” Violet said. “You do tend to stick your head in them whenever you have a chance.”

“But... they...” I stammered.

Violet pulled me close, smiling. “Honey. I'm not saying it's true. I just think it's something you should think about,” she said, nuzzling my neck. “I love you. And all I want is to see you safe. So if you want to talk about it, you can. You know that, right?”

I nodded, closing my eyes and burying my muzzle into her neck. Was Violet right? Was I actually addicted to memory orbs? I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't believe it.

Violet sighed. “I'm... I'm sorry I brought it up. I didn't mean to make you feel bad.”

“No...” I said. “You're right. Violet... I'm sorry. I just... with everything going on lately... I just don't know if I can handle it. Spark... Discord... Dusk Blue.... everything is just so crazy.”

“I know it is,” Violet said. “We'll get through it. I promise.”

“We could have died if we hadn't disarmed that thing,” I said. “Not to mention the kind of damage it would have done to the NCR...”

“Yeah... I'm rather concerned about that myself. Why try to kill us? Wouldn't that prove that he's bad?” Violet said, putting a hoof to her chin.

“I don't think so,” I said, pulling myself out of my love's neck. “The NCR thinks we're working for the Society, whether we like that or not. Maybe he meant for it to look like a suicide bombing.”

“But that's ludicrous,” Violet replied. “He couldn't be that sloppy, could he?”

“Unless he's actively trying to get rid of us, and wanted to get us all in one go,” I said, narrowing my gaze at the green mare. “Think about it. We split up to go out to Central Station, and he told us explicitly that Sunshine would be there, but she wasn't. He's denied all of our requests to leave and go see Dry Rot.”

“Yeah... but that's because we offered to help,” Violet said.

“You're right there. Why would he want to hurt us? We’ve been trying to help him.” I said, grimacing. “It doesn't make any sense.” To be fair, it really didn't. There was no logical reasoning why Dusk Blue would want to actually kill us. Even Sunshine didn't seem to belay anything other than her gratefulness for saving her life.

“Whatever the reason, we're going to have to confront him at some point,” Violet replied. “Hopefully we'll be able to get Kirby to listen to reason.”

“Yeah... hopefully,” I said, sighing. In a few hours we would see what the future would bring. For now, I tried to find some solace in the fact that we were still alive, and capable of changing that future.

The hours fled before us as we made our way around the perimeter of the city. Based on what Patch had told me from before, the NCR camps within the city wouldn't permit anypony to continue forward to Camp Hope. We were going to have to go the long way around Manehattan, and approach from the outside. I only hoped that my presence would lend some credence to the fact that we only wanted to talk to Captain Kirby.

The NCR encampment came into view sometime around the late afternoon. The NCR had certainly beefed up their reinforcements since we last had been here. Thankfully, we weren't shot at on sight. We trotted up to the gate leading into the camp. Two soldiers stepped forward. Both earth ponies, their firearms pointed at us from their battle saddles.

“Halt. Nopony enters Camp Hope unless they're with the NCR,” the first guard said.

I grimaced and cleared my throat. “I wish to speak with Captain Kirby,” I said. “We have important information for him.”

“No deal,” the other guard said. “You're with the Twilight Society. That's been made quite clear to us.”

“I am not with anypony,” I said angrily. “Unless you count the green unicorn there, and quite frankly that’s none of your business. But the Twilight Society? No. I'm not with them.”

“Lies. You want to gain access to the Captain so you can kill him,” the first guard replied.

“Are you... are you really that stupid?” I said. “I'm the Ministry Mare. I don't kill ponies.”

The guards shrugged. It did not look like they were going to budge at all.

“Doesn't really matter. We're not letting you in here, and that's that,” the second guard finally said.

“Privates!” a harsh voice barked from behind the two guards, causing them to jump three feet into the air. The familiar brown form of Captain Kirby loomed behind them, a tight grin on his face.

“Sir!” both guards shouted, snapping to attention.

Kirby flashed his grin at me and turned his attention to the two guards.

“You two. Didn't I make it explicitly clear that if Miss Star showed up that she would be shown the utmost courtesy?” he barked.

“Sir, but you also said not to let in anypony who wasn't NCR,” the first guard, a tan earth mare, replied. “They're not NCR.”

“I don't care what I said. You were ordered to show Radiant Star to me if she appeared. Now, she is here. And I find you berating her and telling her to leave?” Kirby said. “You're both relieved of guard duty. Go report to the mess to start your tours on Kitchen Patrol. GIT!”

Both guards saluted shakily before moving towards the center of the camp, but not before giving me and my friends a pretty hateful glare. I winked in response. I know, it was childish, but it made me feel good. I turned to look at Kirby.

“Come on, you lot. Let's get you out of the hot sun,” the old stallion said. He shot a glance at Patch, who smiled in return. “We've got some catching up to do and a lot to discuss.”

We nodded, following the unicorn into the camp and immediately to his tent. Along the way we received many more death glares from the enlisted soldiers roaming around the camp. None of them seemed to want to challenge the Captain's word, however. The tent belonging to Kirby was just as I'd remembered it, no furnishings other than the single desk and terminal. The stallion motioned for us to sit, stopping Patch before she could.

“You're looking well,” he said softly.

Patch smiled and nodded. “You too, sir,” she replied.

“Please, Patch. You're no longer part of the NCR. You don't have to call me that,” he said. “Come. I've got a pillow set aside for you. Sit.”

“I really don't need a pillow, Si - Kirby,” Patch said, rolling her eye.

“I insist,” Kirby said with a scoff. “You were one of my best officers, Patch. It's a damn shame the NCR pushed you out like they did.”

“I thought you were all for the NCR?” I said, feeling very confused. This was a high ranking officer after all!

“I am, but sometimes our internal politics goes a little too far,” Kirby said. “Old habits, I suppose. Not everypony follows the example of the Lightbringer. But you're not here to listen to this old stallion ramble on about politics. So why are you here?”

I glanced over at Patch. The green mare nodded reassuringly. I took a deep breath and began to speak.

“We were originally coming here to try and broker peace between the NCR and the Twilight Society... however, due to... recent events things have changed,” I said, removing the rigged would-be bomb from my saddlebag. I set it on the ground in front of the stallion, who studied it intently. With a brush of my magic, the device tweedled loudly and activated. Kirby nearly jumped out of his coat when the room was suddenly bathed in red light.

“What's the meaning of this?!” Kirby shouted. “Are you attacking me?!” I shook my head calmly.

The red light began to coalesce into the familiar shape of Dusk Blue. His image hovered in the center of the room.

“Dusk Blue,” I said. “Of the Twilight Society. I am not sure if he truly owes them his allegiance now or not, though. He intended this device to be a bomb, meant to kill not only you, but to kill us as well.” Kirby's eyes widened. I grinned widely, motioning over to Patch and Violet. “Suffice to say, it didn't take. We disarmed the bomb and set it up to show who was responsible when the timer ran to zero.”

“The... The Society intended to attack us?” Kirby said, narrowing his gaze at the tiny bomb. The former bomb chirped happily, and the light in the air collapsed back into the device. Dusk Blue’s image went with it.

“No. Dusk Blue acted alone in this,” I tried to stress. “Well, almost alone. He has accomplices within the Society, I'm sure of it. There's no other way he could have gotten this far without the Society intervening.”

“This device. It's M.A.S. design,” Kirby said. “The Society wouldn't have given up such a device easily, even to one of their own. Do you have any proof that this Dusk Blue is behind all of this?”

I gulped. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything. Just the arcane signature on the bomb and my gut instinct to go on. I shook my head.

“I suppose I don't, no,” I said, fearing the answer that would come next.

“Then we are at an impasse, Star. This kind of bold move is an open declaration of war,” Kirby replied.

“It's not,” Violet pleaded. “Not by the Twilight Society, it’s Dusk Blue trying to goad both sides into war. And it's a war that won't end well, for either side.”

The others nodded, including Patch. Kirby groaned, standing from his chair.

“You all don't understand. They tried to kill not only myself, but you as well!” he shouted. “Don't you get it? They sent you here to die!”

“Then ask the Society about it,” Lilith said, interrupting. “If they really don't know about it, they'll likely look into what Dusk Blue has been up to.” She glanced around at our bewildered faces. “What? Since when am I the voice of reason here?”

“That could be a bad idea,” I said. “If Dusk Blue catches wind that we're on to him, he'll escalate, and quickly. And he has access to Celestia One. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be fricasseed in the my own sauce.” I looked over at Kirby. He was still staring down at the device. “Kirby. We need to do something to get to Dusk Blue. But we need your help to do it.” Kirby mumbled something. “What'd you say?”

“I said, I'm ordering an attack on Tenpony Tower,” the older stallion replied angrily. “Clearly, you don't know one thing about what's going on other than that we were nearly killed by a fucking bomb. Who knows how many others this thing would have taken out if it had been allowed to go off?! Hundreds? Thousands? I don't even want to think about that, Star.”

“You're WHAT?!” I shouted, eyes widening. “You can't. That will just force Dusk Blue's hoof even further. Think about what that will do if we are right.”

“She's right, Kirby,” Patch said. “If Dusk Blue reacts to this the way I think he will, he'll use Celestia One. Then it won't matter how much you fire guns at the tower, you'll all be dead.”

“Don't try and guilt trip me, Patch. If the Society is stooping this low, it's a matter of time before they try something worse, like using Celestia One without provocation,” Kirby replied. “They'll do it, regardless of whether we do anything or not.”

“You have a point there. That's why I want you to let us take care of this,” I said. “We'll confront Dusk Blue, and force him to admit to his crimes. With any luck, we should be able to solve this peacefully.”

Kirby shook his head. “A peaceful solution is no longer an option here, Star. As of now, the NCR is at war,” he said. The old stallion's horn lit up, bringing a radio from his desk. It clicked on and Kirby began to speak into it. “Sergeant. Begin mobilization of the troops. This is a direct order. We are moving to attack Tenpony Tower. I repeat, we are moving to attack Tenpony Tower.”

“Sir?” the voice on the other end said. “Are you sure?”

“Are you questioning me, soldier?” Kirby barked. “Just do it!”

The stallion on the other end yelped affirmatively and clicked off. I glared at the stallion. He merely stared back and pointed at the entrance to the tent.

“If you aren't going to help me with this, Star, then leave. Because whether you like it or not, the NCR isn't going to take this sitting down. We're going to handle this our way.”

“So... what now?” Lilith said as we were being escorted out of Camp Hope.

I was being glared at by every NCR soldier we passed now. Was I missing some sort of memo or something? I thought back to my dealings with Discord. Had he caused all of this? No... he couldn't have. Not from his stone prison. This had to be all Dusk Blue's fault. He was playing both sides. And I had no idea what I was going to do about it.

“I... I don't know,” I said, shuffling out into the Wasteland. I looked back at the NCR camp. The soldiers were beginning to gear up. War was coming, whether I liked it or not.

“We've got to stop this,” Patch said. “If the NCR attacks, there will be no punches pulled between them and the Twilight Society.”

“I agree with Patch,” Lilith said. “I say we get in there and bash some heads in. If we can get to Dusk Blue before the NCR smashes things all to Tartarus we can blow this whole thing wide open.”

“As much as I hate to say it, or agree with such a messy metaphor,” Violet said. “She's right. We need to confront Dusk Blue.”

I looked away, feeling my marefriend's hoof upon my shoulder.

“Star... we can do this. We can stop this from happening,” she said.

I looked down at Violet and sighed. “You're right. We have to stop this,” I said. “We can't let this happen.” I ignited my horn, floating out Stargazer. “Let's go. We have a bad unicorn to stop.”

We started moving forward as one, Tenpony Tower floating off into the distance. We took shortcuts whenever possible, trying to keep ahead of the NCR, but with troops already entrenched in the city, it was difficult. I turned on the radio as we ran to get some idea of what was going on. The loud and brash voice of DJ-PON3 filled the air.

“Good evening, Wasteland kiddies! It's time for some news!

It seems that things are heating up in the city. NCR troops are on the move, and word on the streets is that they're headed to Tenpony Tower. If you're living in the city, stay out of the way kiddies. It might not turn out so hot for you.

As for the ponies living in Tenpony, I know you're scared, but keep positive my friends. I have no doubt that this will all get resolved peacefully and safely. All you gotta do is trust in each other, and the friendships you've made. Because fighting the good fight is all about staying true to your convictions.

Stay low, stay hidden, and keep each other safe. But if the fighting does start, give em hell!

And that my little Wastelanders, is the up to date news!”

I grimaced. We had to move faster. The NCR was going to be at Tenpony's doorstep within minutes. I growled loudly, flaring my horn. It had been a while since I'd tried a massive teleportation like this, but I didn't have any choice. We needed to be there quickly.

“Star... what are you doing?!” Violet called out. Her eyes widened as she recognized my magic working into overdrive. “Oh no no no no --”

I released the spell, the teleportation enveloping all of us. I felt the familiar warmth of the magic overtake me, dropping me out of this world and through to my intended destination – the Luna line. I grunted as I hit the ground on the far side of the teleport, hearing the *thud* of my friends behind me. I glanced up shakily, seeing Tenpony a lot closer. I grinned.

“I did it!” I shouted as the others pushed themselves off the ground. “I did it! I...” I turned around, hearing the roar of gunfire.

I was too late. The NCR were already here. And they were pissed. Large detachments of troops rolled a wagon into place below the line while numerous other soldiers made their way up into the former station. A massive slug was loaded onto the wagon's back and launched into the air by a team of unicorns. I grimaced, reaching out with my magic to grab onto it. I was able to deflect the slug, sending it slamming into another building harmlessly. My eyes widened when I saw the soldiers manning the wagon turn and point at us.

“Shit!” I shouted. “Bad day bad day!” I threw up my alicorn shield at the last minute, the bullets slamming into it. I shuddered beneath the force of their shots. “We're not your enemy! You have to stop this!” The soldiers shouted back, lifting their firearms and firing again.

“I don't think they want to listen to us, Star!” Violet shouted as I held my shield up.

“Alright. We're gonna have to get messy here,” I called back. “Everypony fan out, do what you can to try and stop the fighting. Don't kill anypony, disable only. Got it?”

“Right!” my friends shouted in return as I dropped my shield.

I lifted Stargazer, launching into E.S.A.T.S. and targeting the wagon behind the soldiers. I let loose a steady stream of bullets, turning the thing into a pile of wood and metal, stunning the NCR troops temporarily and forcing them to focus on their broken siege engine. I took the moment to glance up at the Luna Line. The NCR were already entrenched on the concrete line, now meeting heavy resistance from the forces of the Twilight Society. Unicorns blasted NCR troops with magic, knocking soldiers from the line to the ground below.

“Violet, you stick with me. Patch, find some place to hide and get there,” I said, motioning at the green mare.

Her good eye widened in anger. “Star...? I can fight, just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean –“she started to say.

“I said go!” I shouted. “I... I need you in a safe place to provide cover fire. You're the best sniper we have. We can argue about this later, because now really isn't the time.”

Patch hesitated, but finally nodded, scampering off amidst the chaos. I glanced over at Steeljack.

“Where do you want me?” He said. I grimaced. I was glad that he hadn't chosen to comment on sending Patch away. I was partially trying to keep the mare safe, while at the same time playing to her obvious strengths.

“Stick with Nixis. You two work on disabling weapons. Lilith. You work on disabling any siege engines,” I said. “Violet and I are going to focus on the Twilight Society. See if we can get this madness to stop.”

The hellhound and the earth pony nodded, moving to take care of their own responsibilities. Lilith spread her wings, taking to the sky.

“Bit harsh, don't you think?” Violet said.

I sighed. Leave it up to my marefriend. I motioned to Violet to hop onto my back. I spread my own wings, pushing off into the air.

“I did what I had to do,” I said shortly as I flew upwards. “It was the obvious choice. I have to think of everypony's safety.”

“I... I know, and I agree, but you still could have been a little nicer,” Violet whispered.

I nodded, returning my attentions to my flight up. I made a mental note to apologize to Patch at a future date, if there was one to apologize on.

Thankfully we had managed to evade the attentions of the NCR as we rose above the city. They were far too busy with the Twilight Society. I surveyed the damage. The NCR wasn't making much ground towards the Tower itself. The Twilight Society had managed to erect some sort of magical barrier around the entrance, preventing any form of access. I grimaced. This wasn't what I wanted. These ponies were fighting and killing each other because each side believed that the other had attacked them. They were all being played. The Twilight Society was merely defending itself at this point, and the NCR was doing its best to dig in as deeply as they could.

I banked down towards the Luna line once more, aiming for the side of the fight where the Twilight Society was holding their ground. The unicorns there were blasting away at the NCR soldiers, using their unique brands of magic to fend off any advances towards Tenpony Tower. I landed on the line with a *thud*, Violet dropping off my back and to my side, startling a few of the Society guards fighting.

“You've got to put a stop to this madness,” I said forcefully. “The fighting is only going to get worse the longer it's allowed to go on!”

“Ministry Mare. You will remove yourself from our line of fire, or we will be forced to remove you,” a voice called from behind us, interrupting the Twilight Society member that was about to open his mouth. I glanced back, seeing several NCR officers glaring at me from behind their lines. One of them had a bull horn in his hooves.

“I'm trying to stop you from fighting!” I shouted back. “Don't you ponies get it? This is wrong! You need to stop! You're all being played for fools!”

The NCR officer with the bullhorn shook his head and motioned our direction. The grunt troops lifted their guns and fired. I grimaced, throwing up my alicorn shield, a bullet deflecting off of it and striking a nearby Twilight Society unicorn in the head. He fell from the Luna line to the ground below and I shuddered. Too many ponies were dying. I needed to end this, and I needed to end it soon.

Unfortunately, the Twilight Society's front line defenses also saw our presence as threatening because my shield was beginning to get peppered by blasts of magical energy as well. I roared angrily as Violet leaped back onto my back. I took to the sky, using telekinesis to try and force away any attacks. A stray bolt of energy struck my side, and I howled with pain. My entire side felt like it had just been set on fire. I felt Violet shake a little bit on my back.

“You alright back there?” I called back.

“I'm fine, let's get somewhere safe!” Violet reported.

I nodded, beating my wings as hard as I could. I flew straight towards one of the nearby abandoned buildings, diving through a broken open window and coming to rest behind the cover of the cement wall. I took a deep breath while Violet tended to my side.

“You've got a nasty cut from that last blast,” she said, her horn glowing brightly as it healed me up. “What in the heck is going on out there? It's like they don't even want to listen to us. All they want to do is fight.”

“I know. It doesn't make any...” I said, my eyes widening. “No. It can't be. He can't have...”

“What, Star? What is it?” Violet asked.

I narrowed my gaze at her. “Discord. Maybe he's the reason why nopony is listening to us,” I said. “He's trying to force this war. He started it, when I was stuck in Sunshine's body.” I quickly recounted the details of our chess match, and what had happened that had caused Discord to win.

“You think he set this whole thing up,” Violet said after a few terse moments.

“You wouldn't be wrong,” a voice came from beyond the stairwell.

I glanced up, lifting Stargazer into the air on instinct. “Who's there?!” I called out. “Show yourself.”

A pink unicorn mare appeared in the door frame. Sunshine Sky.

“Don't shoot. I'm not here to fight you,” she said.

“You sure about that? Your friend Dusk Blue seemed to have no problem with trying to send us to our deaths,” I retorted with a growl.

Sunshine narrowed her eyes, but her expression remained serious.

“If I'd wanted to kill you, Radiant Star, I'd have done so already,” she said. “Dusk Blue however... he really does want to kill you. He's not under Discord's mind control like the rest of them are.”

“Discord,” I said flatly. “Mind control?”

The pink mare nodded. “He tricked us all,” she said. “But I got free. I think it happened when you and I switched bodies. It freed me from his mind control.”

“But why? Why did he do this?” Violet said. “I don't get it.”

“I do...” I said angrily. “He wanted to delay us. He wanted to go after Spark. The fucker lied to me. He still wants Spark and Twilight's power.”

“I don't exactly know what's going on here, but I feel like you should know... Dusk Blue was the one who brokered the deal with him. Discord gets free, and Dusk Blue gets Celestia One and Tenpony Tower,” Sunshine said.

“What happened? After you left Chicacolt?” I asked.

Sunshine sighed. “Dusk Blue... he became obsessed with power after he met you. He wanted the power to change the Wasteland, and he sees Celestia One as the ultimate expression of that power,” the pink mare replied. “The only way that he was going to get access to the megaspell was to trigger a war.”

“That's where Discord came in,” Violet said. Sunshine nodded in reply.

“Dusk Blue approached Discord. He somehow figured out where he was,” I said. “But he couldn't free him. He needed me. Why did he need me?”

“Spark,” Violet said. “It must have had something to do with you, Spark, and Twilight. Luna's spell must have held a concession that would allow the Element of Magic to free him.”

“But I freed him,” I argued. “Not Spark. I'm not the Element of Magic.” I was about to say something else before Sunshine interrupted the both of us.

“This is all well and good, but we've got a real problem out there. Not only is the NCR trying to lay waste to Tenpony, but Dusk Blue is convincing the Society to let him use Celestia One,” she said. “If they give him access to it... he will be unstoppable and there will be nothing we can do about it. He'll murder everypony.”

“Sunshine is right,” Violet said. “The how of Discord is important, but we’ve got to put an end to this now, before more ponies end up dead.”

“We need to get into Tenpony Tower, then,” I said, turning to Sunshine. “How do we get in without Dusk Blue knowing about it?”

“We don't. He's going to know when we enter, regardless,” Sunshine said. “About the best I can do is get you in. We should go now, before things get worse. The Society and the NCR aren't going anywhere, that's for sure. Listen... the fighting's stopped for the moment.”

I blinked, glancing out the window. Sure enough, the NCR and the Twilight Society had withdrawn back to their respective sections they had claimed of the Luna line. They were at least temporarily balanced. The NCR couldn't break through the Society's barriers and the Society couldn't repel the NCR. Still... the death toll was staggering. There were ponies strewn about everywhere. I grimaced as I scanned the city for our other friends, praying to Luna that they weren't among the dead. My heart leaped when I saw Steeljack and Nixis hiding beneath the line station. Lilith and Patch stood next to them.

“We've got time,” I said. “Let's get the others and end this before Dusk Blue does.”

“So... you're saying that Discord and Dusk Blue used you to start this little war?” Lilith said as we trotted into the back alleys behind Tenpony Tower. The streets were eerily silent as the NCR and the Twilight Society held their places on the Luna Line. Sunshine had promised us a way into the Tower, using the old sewer entrance. The pink unicorn mentioned the possibility of feral ghouls down there as well.

“Yes,” I said softly, averting my gaze from my pegasus friend. I wasn't particularly happy about Discord getting one over on me. I'd fallen for his trick hook, line, and sinker.

“Damn,” Lilith replied, looking down at the ground.

Violet placed a hoof on my shoulder, smiling. “It's not your fault, Star,” she said. “None of us could have been able to predict what Discord's plan really was.”

“She's right,” Sunshine Sky said. “Discord played all of us, to get what he wanted.” She motioned at the cellar door in the back part of the alley. “This is where we enter.”

I grimaced, reaching out with my magic before she could and ripping the door open.

“I made a mistake,” I said calmly, standing at the pieces of door gloating in my magic. “Made too many mistakes. This is the last. Discord is going to rue the day he messed with the ponies of the Wasteland.” I started down into the cellar stairwell, the others following closely behind me. They didn't say anything else, and they didn't need to. I wasn't going to accept any consolation. The only thing for me to do was to move forward and finish this. Get to Spark. Get to Discord. Figure out the rest after that.

The stairwell turned into a tunnel that was dank and disgusting. I ignited my horn, filling the tunnel with a bright light. I kept moving forward, with Sunshine Sky calling out the directions. We made a turn to the left at the first fork, coming out into what appeared to be a filthy cavernous structure.

“Where to from here?” I said.

“Down deeper into the cavern there's a sewer entrance into Tenpony's basement,” Sunshine said. “I'm sure that we'll run into some resistance there. If not ghouls, then there will be Society. Dusk has already gotta know we're coming.”

“Why hasn't he used Celestia One yet if he knew that?” Violet asked, her voice filled with suspicion.

“I agree with Violet. Why would he let us get even this far?” I said.

Sunshine shook her head. “I don't know, but I don't like it. It's too easy,” she replied as we continued deeper into the cavern.

We turned another corner, hearing the telltale sounds of feral ghouls in the tunnels up ahead.

“Sounds like it's about to get a little more difficult,” I said, floating Stargazer out.

Two ghouls rounded the corner ahead of us, howling with wild abandon. I took aim, reducing their heads to piles of rotting flesh on the floor before anypony else could even get a shot off. I was through playing games. All this was just in my way. I started past the dead ghouls before the others, intent on moving forward. A hoof grabbed my leg, forcing me down to the ground. One of the ghouls I'd thought I'd killed had latched itself to me. I struggled, bringing Stargazer around to bash it upside its head, which was strangely regrowing.

Then I realized just how stupid I really am when I heard the faint clicking coming from my PipBuck. Ghouls regenerate in the presence of radiation! The other ghoul was up too, leaving its fellow to deal with me while it went for my friends. A flash of green vines appeared out of nowhere, yanking the two ghouls into the air and holding them against the cavern ceiling. Sunshine Sky stepped up, lending me a hoof.

“Careful,” she said. “The radiation is minor down here, but still enough to cause regeneration.”

I grunted, my eyes falling past her on Patch. The green mare was glancing sidelong at Violet's clicking PipBuck.

“Patch,” I said calmly. “If you want to go, you can. Nopony here will blame you. We all want you to be safe.”

Patch glared at me. I felt the heat all the way across the room. “I'm fine. Sooner we get up into the Tower, the sooner we won't have to worry about it,” she said with an edge to her voice.

I grimaced. The way she had been looking at Violet's PipBuck worried me. Without knowing exactly what was going on with her pregnancy, I was genuinely scared for my smaller friend. Before I could say anything to rebuke her, Violet spoke.

“She has a point there,” she said. “We should keep moving.” My love looked up at the two ghouls plastered to the ceiling. They were still thrashing about. “What about those two?”

“Self-sustaining spell,” Sunshine said. “My specialty. They'll be up there until I say otherwise.”

“Why not just kill them and be done with it?” Lilith ask. The black pegasus bristled her bladed wings. I could tell she was ready to get out of here as well.

“Because the radiation would just regenerate them,” Sunshine replied. “We're better off just getting through here and closing off the door into the Tower.” More hisses and growls echoed from down the hall. “And by the sounds of it, we're going to be plenty busy just getting there.”

Sure enough, three more ghouls appeared out of nowhere. Violet stepped forward, throwing out blasts of silver fire into the air with Thunder Flash. A stream struck one of the ghouls, turning it into a gelatinous pile of silver goop.

“Regenerate that!” she shouted, taking aim and firing at the other two, but missing terribly. One of them got past her defenses, only to receive a face full of Stargazer's barrel. It staggered backwards, giving Violet the opportunity to lash the undead beast with more silver flame. A flash of green appeared to our side as another vine broke out of the ground, latching itself onto the third remaining ghoul. It snarled and snapped as the vine pressed it against the wall, holding it there. Violet grimaced as she brought Thunder Flash around point blank at its head. A quick press of the trigger and its head was gone.

Sunshine Sky motioned for us to follow her and we continued forward, taking care of ghouls in groups of threes and fours along the way. I was slightly concerned that the ghouls hadn't tried to attack us en masse. They had to have known we were here, since we were literally making enough noise to wake the dead. We arrived in the final tunnel, which appeared to be some form of old train station tunnel. At the far end of it was a crude but strong door, framed in steel and barred with rebar.

“That's our way in,” Sunshine panted.

Even with her unique talents, she was still just a normal unicorn, and the overuse of her sustained spells was getting to her. I recognized magic burnout from my all-too-frequent brushes with it.

“Sunshine, are you alright?” I said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“I'll be alright. Let's hurry, we don't have time to talk,” she said, moving forward. The pink mare put a hoof up to her chest, falling to the ground. She gasped for air, panting hard as Violet and I stooped down next to her.

“Shit,” Violet said, flaring her horn. Her magic scanned the other mare, lingering on her heart and the base of her horn. “She's really been stressing her magic. We need to get her somewhere safe she can rest.”

“Sunshine, can you hear me?” I said. The mare didn't respond, simply staring off into space. I shook her a bit which managed to get her attention. “Sunshine. We need to move. I'm going to carry you, alright?”

Sunshine nodded blankly as I helped her onto my back, laid across my withers. The pink unicorn groaned, clasping her forelegs around my neck. I grimaced, I was starting to feel like a pack mule today.

“We've got a problem,” Nixis said. The hellhound pointed at the tunnel behind us. The ghouls that had been restrained by Sunshine's spells were now free, and they were pretty unhappy with us. They filled into the tunnel, growling and snapping. There were even more of them than before, dozens or hundreds of the monstrosities driven out of the sewers and in our direction by their brethren. “I think perhaps, we should flee to see another day, as they say?”

“I don't know what he said, but I agree with the fleeing part!” Lilith shouted, turning tail and running past us towards the steel door.

I followed behind, flaring my horn and latching onto the obstacle. Sunshine Sky shifted on my back slightly, forcing me to lend a little bit of my magic to keeping her still. The door buckled under the pressure of my magic, forcing open with a *slam*. Everypony squeezed hurriedly into the tiny stairwell as I turned to face the growing horde of undead. I roared with righteous fury, my horn burning brightly in the dark sewer. No more death. No more. I was not going to let my friends die here!

“NO MORE!!!” I shouted, releasing the energy I'd built up in a wave of magic that slammed into the ghouls, knocking all of them to the ground in a heaping pile of necrotic flesh. I huffed and panted, turning to the door. The others were huddling just inside. I stepped in and brought my magic up once more, refashioning the barrier that had long held the ghouls at bay. Once I was reasonably sure it was stable, my horn darkened. Seconds later a slam of hooves against the door informed us that the monsters were at least temporarily contained.

“We're definitely not going back out that way,” Patch said, taking a breath and grabbing a few packets of RadAway out of Steeljack's bags. She passed them out to the others before taking a huge gulp herself.

“Are you all okay?” I asked softly. They all nodded, and I turned my attention to Sunshine Sky. “Sunshine?”

“Wha...?” she said, glancing up at me. I smiled softly and lifted her from my back to the ground. Sunshine blinked a few times. “What happened?”

“Magic burnout,” Violet said. “You need to rest.”

“But... I've never...” Sunshine said shakily before sighing and nodding. “You've got to leave me here then.”

“Not alone,” I said. “Nixis, Patch. You stay with Sunshine and stay out of sight. The rest of us will go on ahead to face Dusk Blue.”

The hellhound nodded silently, while the green earth mare cocked her head at me.

“I thought you'd want me to stay somewhere safe? What if that door doesn't hold?” she replied.

I gave her a soft grin. “Then I know you'll be able to give them hell, Patch,” I said. I sighed. “I'm... I'm sorry about before... I...”

“Say no more. We're cool,” she said. lifting a hoof. “I did promise to keep you in the loop, after all. And I wasn't exactly doing that. Now get going. We'll keep Sunshine safe, and catch up with she's feeling better.”

I nodded, standing to look at the others. “Let's go,” I said. “We've got an insane unicorn who wants to destroy the Wasteland to stop.”

“So just a typical afternoon?” Violet replied, grinning widely.

“Exactly.”

We raced up into the main lobby of Tenpony Tower, searching for any sign of where Dusk Blue’s whereabouts. Patch and Nixis had managed to get Sunshine into a locked side room off of the basement level to rest while they watched the door we had barricaded. I was planning on strengthening that door, but that would have to wait on Dusk

I was certain that if Dusk was trying to get into Celestia One, that's where he would be. I grimaced. We hadn't run into any opposition so far, and a quick glance out the window showed that the fighting had started up once more. How many more ponies were going to die before all of this was stopped? I had to do something.

The main lobby was barren. Where before there had been the posh elite of Wasteland society (which wasn't saying a whole lot either way), there was nothing. It was strange. Where were the guards even? Probably outside fighting. Fighting and dying, I thought morbidly.

“Wow,” Violet said. “This place... never seen it like this before.”

“Yeah,” Steeljack said. “Where is everypony?”

“Don't know, but we need to find Dusk Blue,” I said firmly. “Everypony keep an eye out. My guess is that he's --”

“I'm where?” a voice said from all around us, interrupting me.

I looked up, seeing the mad colt himself standing upon an open balcony. My friends fanned out on each side of me, glaring at the blue unicorn.

“Oh, look. It's little Radiant Star. I guess if you're here, that means you've figured it all out, right?” Dusk Blue said confidently.

“Dusk Blue,” I said, snorting. “I know that you're behind this. This war, Discord, everything.”

“It's a shame, really. I had so hoped to reign you in, Star. Properly controlled, your power would have been a force for greatness,” Dusk replied with a sigh. “But once I found out that the Element was no longer within you, you were meddlesome. You would have tried to ruin my plans.”

“So you tried to get rid of us,” Violet stated.

“Yes. We all saw how that worked out. Even better than I'd hoped. Even the mere threat of a bomb was enough to push the NCR into attacking,” he said, stroking his chin with his forehoof. “Now then. What to do about you... Killing you at this point would be quite easy. It will certainly cement my place as the ruler of this Tower.”

“I don't know what Discord promised you,” I growled. “But I won't let you continue this senseless slaughter.”

To my utter surprise, Dusk Blue merely laughed. Granted, it was a maniacal laugh, but still.

“Discord? He didn't promise me anything!” he chortled, his eyes widening. “All he wanted was to be free! It was thanks to him that I knew about where to find you in Chicacolt. I almost had my chance to absorb your power, but then you were surrounded by your friends.”

“Discord would have never let you take it,” I retorted. “He wants Spark's power too.” I unlatched Stargazer from its harness, floating it out. “Now... are we going to talk, or are we going to end this?”

“Hah! How quaint. You brought a gun to a magic duel,” Dusk Blue replied. “I'm afraid you're quite wrong. Discord's goal was simple. Freedom, and nothing else. You're grasping at straws, Radiant Star. I'm the one who wanted Spark's power from the get go. It's the entire reason I cast the spell that made you what you are today!”

My eyes shot open wide, and I nearly dropped Stargazer.

“You... you what?” I gasped, staring hard at the blue stallion.

Dusk grinned widely. “Yes... I was the one who cast Twilight's resurrection spell. I intended to bring back the soul of the Element of Magic,” he said. “I wanted its power. If I could have communed with it, I could have been glorious! I would have ruled the Wasteland with an iron hoof! But something happened that I didn't expect. The Element of Magic wasn't the only thing that came back.”

“Twilight's emotions, her memories... the link I have with her,” I said. Dusk Blue closed his eyes and nodded in reply. “It stopped you from pulling Spark to you. She came to me instead.”

“Yes... I am quite annoyed at that. Twilight's spell was relatively simple, but it required a... host body, a subject if you will,” Dusk Blue said. “That's why I kept Sunshine so close to me. She was to host Spark.”

My expression turned to pure rage. I snarled under my breath.

“You... you're a monster. You were ready to sacrifice your own friend for your sick goals!” I roared.

I kept running it through my head as I readied Stargazer. If Sunshine was originally supposed to die to house Spark's spirit, why didn't I need to die? What made me so fucking special? I wasn't special. I was just... me. I didn't have time to consider anything more as I lifted my gun into the air. Dusk grinned, his horn glowing. His magic lashed out, grabbing ahold of Stargazer and ripping it out of my own telekinesis, tossing it to the side where it clattered to the ground.

“I told you before. This is a magic duel,” Dusk Blue announced. He glanced down at my other friends, who were getting ready to attack as well. A flick of his horn and magical barriers lifted over them, preventing them from moving. “And to reinforce that concept, we won't be having any help from your friends this time.” The others were frozen inside the shield bubbles.

I glared up at Dusk. “Let my friends go!” I roared, flaring my horn and throwing a bolt of magic up at the unicorn.

Dusk lifted a hoof, deflecting it without a thought. He leaped off of the balcony to the ground floor, grinning.

“I'm afraid,” he said, an eerie hunger in his eyes as they flashed a sinister red. “That you will find that I am a lot stronger than you think I am.” His horn ignited, conjuring a baseball bat with spikes coming out of the head of it out of pure magic. The deadly object soared through the air towards my head.

“Shit!” I shouted, jumping back and emitting a blast of telekinesis to force the weapon back. It kept moving forward. I grimaced, reaching into the back of my mind and bringing forth a blade of pure magic. It met the spiked club before it could bash my face in, deflecting the weapon. Dusk cackled madly, bringing the club around in a vicious slash. I flared my horn once more, lifting the purple magic sword and blocking. Dusk retracted the weapon, grinning as he made it disappear.

“You're a fair fighter, Radiant Star. But you cannot match my talent in magic,” he said, his horn lighting up. His cloak shifted slightly, revealing a jingling amulet underneath. It was shaped like a unicorn's head, flanked by two silver wings. The eyes on the unicorn's head were tiny red jewels. In the center of the amulet a larger red jewel sat. “You see... this is something that Twilight Sparkle herself left in Canterlot originally. It took the Twilight Society many years to retrieve it from that festering hole.”

“So you got some shiny necklace,” I said, lifting the magic sword once more. “Big fucking deal.”

“This is no mere necklace,” Dusk said. “This is the Alicorn Amulet. It is very powerful magic, left by the great Twilight Sparkle!”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Again. Don't care. All I care about is stopping you,” I snarled. “So are we going to fight, or what? Because I'm getting really fucking pissed off right about now. And no matter what kind of magic you've got, I'm going to beat your face in with it.”

Dusk glared at my interruption of his monologue. I cocked an eyebrow. “What? You really think I was going to let you continue? That'd be way too cliché.”

I grinned, surging forward with my weapon at the ready. The glowing purple blade soared through the air at the stallion. Dusk's horn flared, creating a magical wall in front of him as he jumped to the side. I grimaced, slamming through the transparent wall and hitting the ground, causing my sword to dissipate. Pain surged through my body, like I'd hit a pane of glass.

Dusk sneered, summoning his own blade of magic and bringing it straight down. My horn shimmered and my sword reappeared, cross-blocking the shining blue blade. I pushed hard with my magic, knocking the other sword back as I scooted to my hooves. I panted, my body still feeling like I was on fire. What was up with his magic? It was brutally strong, and he seemed to know exactly what I was going to do next. I caught another glimpse of his amulet. That had to be the source of his power. Regardless of what I said to him, I had been listening when he went on about it. Anything that was tied to Twilight Sparkle could have very well been extremely dangerous.

A flash of memory caught me off guard. Another mare, one that I hated hearing in my head, shouting about the Alicorn Amulet. The Goddess herself. Trixie... she once wore it... I thought. Twilight had managed to get her to remove it. But... how? The memory didn't cover that part! I realized quickly that I'd stood too still, letting myself think when a deep blue magical blade came slicing through the air right toward my neck. I ignited my horn, quickly forming a teleport spell. I came out of it behind Dusk, bringing my sword around and going in for the kill.

Or so I thought. The magical blade came in, slashing downwards onto the unicorn's back, halting before it could go any further. A hint of blue magic surrounded it. I growled as Dusk turned his head.

“Nice try,” he said, his eyes flashing a sinister red. “But you can't catch me off guard that easily.”

He pushed back with a wave of his hoof, sending me flying through the air and into one of the lobby's support columns. I grunted under the force of the impact, and even heard a telling *crack* that indicated something had broken. I wasn't sure what, and I didn't quite have time to care, thanks to a bolt of energy flying through the air right at me. I rolled to the side, howling as my right wing starting started spiking pain directly into my head. Well, that explains what I just broke, I thought as I righted myself. Sure enough, my wing hung rather limply from my side. I wouldn't be able to fly at all now. Smart move. Disabling my wing like that, I thought. I can't even get a blow in and he's already wounded me. There's gotta be another way to beat him!

I looked over at my friends, still encased in their magical barriers. I couldn't count on them to get me out of this. I had to finish this myself. I briefly considered trying to contact Patch or Nixis somehow, but I knew it wouldn't matter. Dusk would just contain them like he had the others. I was screwed. I had bitten off way more than I could chew, without really knowing what was going on. I had effectively put myself into Dusk's trap.

Dusk fired another blast of energy at me and I ducked again, rolling to the side and feeling another blast of pain for my troubles. I had to do something to change the rules. My eyes rested on Stargazer, laying across the lobby on its side. If I could reach it... I could put up a better fight. I pushed off, tucking under and landing behind one of the support columns. I huffed, using my magic to try and float out some bandages to hold my wing in place. It could only manage a shitty job, but it would at least keep it from flopping around on me. Dusk continued to wildly fire, hitting the support beam I was leaning against. It shuddered against me.

“Hiding? I thought you were better than that, Radiant Star. The brave Ministry Mare. She doesn't hide from anything!” Dusk roared.

He hadn't seen where I'd jumped to? That was... odd. Perhaps there was some hope for me yet. I felt a surge of magic in the air as Dusk ranted in the center of the lobby. Even if he hadn't seen where I'd gone, I was sure that he'd know soon. I needed to come up with something, anything.

I sighed. There was nothing. No memories, no spell that Twilight had left me. No simple truths. I had fucked up, and I was going to pay for it. I hung my head.

“Star...” a voice from around me said. It was feminine, familiar. “Star...” I looked up. Nothing. The voice continued, reaching shouting levels in my mind. “STAR!!!” I blinked, realizing that it was coming from elsewhere. A shimmer of pink flashed into existence in the lobby, distracting the evil unicorn who was searching for me. Her voice echoed into my mind. “Star... you have to get up. You have to fight back. You can do this! I can only distract him for a short period of time, you have to finish this!” I grunted, pushing myself to my hooves.

Sunshine Sky was here, and she was here to save me from myself. The pink mare appeared across the lobby from Dusk Blue, grinning weakly. A trickle of blood was coming from one of her nostrils and her mane was ragged. There was a nasty flicker to the magic pouring from her horn, and it was clear to me that she was pushing her magic farther than she ever had before.

“Hey Dusk,” she said. “Miss me?”

She gritted her teeth, a fresh trickle of blood seeping from her nose as a layer of overglow erupted from her horn. Vines erupted from the lobby floor and wrapped themselves around the stallion. Dusk grinned as his magic sliced into the vines, freeing him.

“Sunshine...” he said. “I find it very interesting that you would show your face here. It was you who assisted the Ministry Mare in getting here, I take it?”

“I'm not under your control any longer, Dusk,” Sunshine growled. “I'm my own mare. And this mare is going to stop you once and for all.”

“Clever,” Dusk crooned. “But how do you plan on doing that? I have the Alicorn Amulet. My magic is far stronger than yours.”

“I don't plan on doing it by myself, silly,” Sunshine said, grinning. “It's nice to have friends, after all.”

Dusk turned his head just in time to see me charging right at him. I'd had plenty of time to close in, bringing my sword across to smack the stallion in the face with the flat of the blade. Dusk went flying back, slamming into the ground. I kept moving forward, jumping and landing onto the stallion hard. Dusk snarled and snapped underneath me, his horn flaring up for another wave of telekinesis.

“Oh no you don't,” I said, reaching out with a forehoof and smacking the unicorn's horn hard. It flickered out, cancelling whatever spell the evil stallion had planned on casting. I lifted the amulet from Dusk's chest and yanked, putting my all into the effort.

It wouldn't budge. The chain was taut, and wouldn't break no matter how hard I pulled on it. My eyes widened.

“Sunshine.... we've got a problem here!” I shouted, as Dusk grinned and blasted me back with a bolt of energy. I landed on the ground next to the pink mare, groaning in pain.

“What happened?” Sunshine asked. “Are you alright?”

“The amulet... It won't come off,” I said shakily, pushing myself to my hooves. “I tried my hardest, and it just would not come off.”

“Of course it wouldn't!” Dusk shouted as he strode forward. “Once the Alicorn Amulet is attached, it can never be removed except by its wearer!”

I scowled. How had I missed that in the memory with Trixie? Oh right... It didn't bucking play that part!

“I don't suppose you'll come along nicely and take it off then, right?” I asked jokingly, knowing full well what the answer would be.

Dusk chortled, his horn flaring. “Very funny,” he said. “Now then... I can destroy both of you with its power!”

A bolt of energy shot through the air, splitting me and Sunshine up and knocking both of us to the ground. I grunted in pain, craning my neck and looking over at the pink mare. She was back on her hooves already, her horn glowing. Several vines appeared out of nowhere, attempting to restrain the evil unicorn. Dusk snarled, reforming his magical blade and slashing the vines apart. Sunshine's magic reached out, grabbing the broken halves and swirling them around to latch onto Dusk's forelegs. She yanked down hard, sending the stallion into an undignified faceplant.

“Alright, Sunshine!” I shouted, pushing myself up and trotting over to her position.

Dusk was already ripping the vines away, his horn now spewing an angry red. The stallion stood, roaring loudly, forcing into existence two wicked red blades of pure magic. He charged forward at Sunshine and I. I snarled, summoning forth my own blade.

“I've got your back, Star,” Sunshine said. “But if we can't get the amulet off...”

I nodded. “I know. We're going to have to put him down,” I said, lifting my blade to meet Dusk's charge. I'd summoned the magical sword several times already. How many more before I could no longer do it? And what about Sunshine? She'd just been desperately close to magical burnout... how in the world did she recover that fast? She certainly didn’t look completely recovered. Her nose bleed had worsened, her muzzle covered in sticky red and drops splashing to the ground below. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her horn was sparking. She was running herself hard.

I didn't have time to ponder anything else before Dusk swung in with both blades. A flash of green appeared out of the corner of my eye and another vine shot out of nowhere, grabbing a hold of one of the swords and pulling it away. I struck, deflecting the other blade up as I rushed forward, leveling a hoof strike right at Dusk's face. The stallion reeled back, lifting his forehooves to try and block. Thankfully I was fast enough that my hoof drove right into his face, sending him straight into one of the lobby's support columns with a massive *crash*. The two swords he had conjured immediately dissipated.

Dusk Blue shuddered, a line of blood emanating from his mouth. He coughed, sputtering out a puddle of his life force onto the lobby floor as he stood. The amulet swaying from his neck gleamed. How much punishment could he put up with? One of his eyes were swollen closed, and his mane was hanging around his neck raggedly. He stepped forward, grinning bloodily.

“You cannot defeat me, Radiant Star...” he said from across the lobby. “The Alicorn Amulet bolsters my strength! With its power, I am nothing short of a god!”

“What you are,” I said, panting hard. “Is an insane unicorn with an amulet fixation. I mean, seriously... see a counselor, get a little help already.” I snorted, glancing over at Sunshine. “You alright?”

“I'm good,” she replied quietly, nodding. I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, I’ll be alright. I don’t have time to let something like limitations stop me from helping my friend.”

I grimaced. I was beginning to reach my limits, and Sunshine looked like she was fifty leagues past hers. And with no way of getting the amulet off of Dusk, we couldn't subdue him. I closed my eyes for a brief moment. There had to be a way to stop him short of killing, but how? How were we supposed to stop this? What about the Society and the NCR? What if stopping Dusk Blue didn't stop the war raging on outside of this very Tower? I couldn't worry about that just yet. I had to worry about Dusk, first and foremost.

I racked my brain for anything and everything, but it was just... empty. I breathed out deeply. The only other thing I could even think of was the zebra training I'd received from Envy. But it couldn't possibly work here... what good was a skill that required me to tap into natural energy that I was unable to even use! I'd been trying to keep up with my meditation, but ever since Grey's death... I'd fallen out of practice. Not that it mattered. Still, could I even try? My magic wasn't strong enough to defeat Dusk. We couldn't even get the amulet off of him!

“Sunshine, can you distract him? I... I want to try something,” I said softly. I had to try something.

Sunshine nodded, flaring her horn and summoning a wall of vines that wrapped around the evil unicorn trying to kill us. Dusk snarled, summoning his swords again with a flash and beginning to slice through the vegetation. I closed my eyes again, trying to feel the natural magic, trying to empty my mind. There was nothing. My mind couldn't even clear itself out properly. I scrunched my face, trying my hardest... but still nothing. Why was I such a failure at this?! I couldn't even meditate properly, let alone understand how Envy did what she did.

Mix your magic... use the six...

What was that? I thought as the words flittered into my mind. Scenes and images began to play forth in my mind. A zebra. The Alicorn Amulet. Twilight Sparkle. Trixie. The magic... The magic of friendship? Mix my magic? Use the six? What the fuck did that mean? There was another amulet. A trick that Twilight had played on Trixie. She had convinced the other unicorn to remove the amulet somehow, by making her... making Trixie want her superior power. Could something similar work here too? I opened my eyes once more. Sunshine was lying on the ground in front of me, panting hard but still alive. Dusk stood over us, his eyes flashing a horrible red. How long had I been trying to meditate? I didn't know, but the way forward was clear.

“Hold it,” I said, calmly. Dusk stopped moving forward, taken aback by the tone of my voice. “I'm... I'm done. I surrender.”

“Excellent,” Dusk replied, dissipating his magical swords. “You are wise to recognize when you are beaten.”

I grimaced, looking over at my friends. They were still encased in their magical barriers.

“I will relinquish my power to you, oh great and powerful Dusk,” I said. “But I warn you... it is a power you cannot wield, for it is greater than any power your amulet grants you.

Dusk cocked his head at me curiously. “Explain,” he said flatly.

I looked down at Sunshine. She was staring back at me incredulously. I smiled softly at her before glaring up at Dusk.

“My power relies on the magic of Harmony. Spark left it inside me when she left my body,” I said. I was lying, of course. Spark had left me nothing, but I had to do my best to convince Dusk to remove the amulet himself. “The Alicorn Amulet will not interact with it. At best you will do yourself harm.”

“You're lying,” Dusk said. Shit, well there went that idea, I thought. “You are just an alicorn. You have no real power other than your normal magic. I have the greatest power in the world, and I will use that power to command Celestia One, and then the Wasteland will see me as its ruler!”

“I'm not lying,” I protested. “You told me you wanted Twilight's power. The power of the Element of Magic. I can give it to you. You wouldn't even need Celestia One, then. You'd be able to command Magic itself. I can prove it.”

Dusk put a hoof up to his chin, pondering for a moment. I could see the gears turning in his head. He still wanted what Spark was. He growled, cursing under his breath before turning back to me.

“Fine,” he said. “Prove that your magic is greater than the Alicorn Amulet.”

I nodded, reaching into my saddlebags. I glimpsed the broken tiara inside, along with the explosive device that Dusk had planted on us. Could I… could I use it to deceive him? It was worth a shot. I surreptitiously attached the device to the inside of the tiara, and lifted it out, placing it onto my forehead.

“Witness the power of the Elements of Harmony, Dusk Blue,” I said, trying to keep my voice as even as possible. I closed my eyes and lit up my horn, dropping into the magic of the device and its glowing runes. They surrounded me at all angles, flaring every so often. My mind ran back to when I’d worked with Violet on disabling the device. I had to make this look convincing. I dropped over to the Twilight rune, the failsafe one. I grinned and had an idea. All the old stories and memories I had of the Elements being used were all accompanied by one singular thing, the presence of good friends. I pushed a rune in each direction, landing one on Sunshine, Violet, and Steeljack. I hoped that Dusk wasn’t too invested in the mythos behind the Elements to realize there were only four of us. It would have to do. I pressed the Twilight rune into the base of the crown and linked it to the others, activating it.

Power radiated from my horn, causing the gem in the center of the tiara to glow brightly. A blast of energy shot forth from my horn and landed where the other runes had gone, causing the forms of my friends to glow as well. I opened my eyes, covering them with a milky white aura to complete the deception.

“The Alicorn Amulet pales in comparison to the true power of the Element of Magic,” I said calmly, using some of my magic to add a bit of buzz to my voice. “I will use this power to defeat you, Dusk Blue. Prepare thyself for oblivion!” I closed my eyes once more, pouring more magic into the illusion. In the course of doing so, I felt… something. Something inside me. A pair of velvet eyes staring back at me from the void. What…? What was going on? I wasn’t actually casting anything, was I? The eyes were accompanied by a smile in the void, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.

The room around us lit up in a myriad of colors as I opened my eyes again, focusing on the unicorn stallion. He was enthralled at the display of magic, his expression turning into a cruel grin. He reached out with his own magic, grabbing the tiara from my head. I immediately let the spell drop, deactivating the rune so as to appear as if he had stopped me. The colors dissipated and I fell backwards. My feigned moan of defeat was lent authenticity by the stabbing pain from my injured wing. Dusk Blue brought the tiara over to his head, placing it onto his brow with a howl of triumph.

“Excellent! The Element of Magic, and it’s all mine! Now that I have this power, all the Wasteland will know my name!” His horn glowed a fierce red, the chain that held the Alicorn Amulet slowly evaporating. The amulet ripped away from the stallion's neck, the magic draining from his horn and eyes quickly. Dusk's eyes returned to their normal shade of blue and he stepped back as I shouted out to Sunshine.

“Now!”

Sunshine nodded and flared her horn, summoning several vines that latched onto Dusk's body and tossed him across the lobby far away from the Alicorn Amulet. I reached out with my magic and grabbed the amulet. The stallion yelped in surprise as he landed at the base of one of the support columns. He groaned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Sunshine snarled and charged at him, leaping into the air and landing on the prone unicorn. She roared and began to slam her hooves into him his chest. Dusk coughed and sputtered blood as Sunshine pounded. A blast of energy from his horn knocked the mare away and to the ground. The blue unicorn stood, growling.

“You... you bitch,” he said, spitting out a few teeth as he spoke. “You tricked me.”

I grinned slyly. “I knew that I had to offer you something you wanted. Something that you needed,” I said. “It was the only way to get you to take off the Alicorn Amulet.”

“Give it back,” Dusk snarled. “Give back my amulet!” His horn flared, firing a blast of energy at me.

I leaped out of the way, depositing the amulet into my saddlebag. There would be time to deal with it later. I returned fire with a telekinetic blast of my own, striking the stallion in the chest. He grunted under the blow.

“Never,” I said. “You're done, Dusk Blue. Your control over the NCR and the Society? Gone. Give up now, and come along quietly.”

Dusk sneered at me, his horn flaring to life once more. Sunshine snarled, rolling from her position to knock the stallion back.

“It's over,” she said. “Give it up, Dusk. The Society will be bearing down on us any moment once they realize that you've been controlling them.”

“Then I will destroy them all!” Dusk roared, pushing back with a wave of telekinesis that knocked both Sunshine and I to the ground. The stallion's horn lit up and he disappeared in the brilliant flash of a teleport.

“Where did he go?” I said, my eyes widening with fear. Several flashes of blue light erupted in the lobby behind us. I heard groaning coming from my friends. I turned, seeing Violet standing there.

“What happened?” she asked as I pushed myself to all four hooves. I grunted, looking back at my injured wing. The haphazard bandages had begun to tear, letting the wing flop about painfully. Violet's eyes found me and she gasped softly, trotting forward. “Star! You're... you're hurt!”

“I'm fine, Violet,” I replied with a wince. “That's not important right now. Sunshine, where did Dusk go?”

“My guess is to the Celestia One megaspell chamber. He still intends to activate it, even without the amulet,” she said.

I heard clattering up the stairwell, glancing over to see Patch and Nixis. Violet's horn flared, tending to my broken wing as best as she could. A fresh set of bandages was placed over it as the hellhound and earth mare made their way across the lobby.

“Star! The fighting's stopped,” Nixis called out. “The Society and the NCR... they're calling it off.”

I grimaced again. Even if the fighting had stopped, there was still a danger. Shouts came from the lobby entrance as several unicorns and earth ponies entered. At the head of the group was Captain Kirby, flanked by a familiar red maned unicorn.

“Life Bloom,” I said.

“Radiant Star,” he said. “You are responsible I take it for ending this unfortunate conflict?”

“It's not over yet,” I said calmly. “Dusk Blue... he had this. I believe it's how he was controlling you.” I lifted out the Alicorn Amulet.

Life Bloom grimaced. “I... I see,” he said, his horn glowing and taking a hold of the silver amulet. “I shall see to it that this... thing is put away where it cannot do anypony more harm.” I grimaced, grabbing the amulet back out of his magic.

“I don’t think so,” I snarled. “This thing caused a lot of trouble for us. It’s too dangerous to be left to be used by anypony else.”

Life Bloom stared at me like I had just told him his brother was actually a mare.

“Star, I must insist. The amulet is a relic of the Ministry Mare’s days, it must be preserved,” he said.

I shook my head fiercely. “Negative. I will not let this thing exist any longer,” I said, tossing the amulet to the ground before me. “It needs to be destroyed now, before it can do greater harm.” Life Bloom started to protest as I brought my hoof down on the amulet, intending to crush it. Nothing. Nothing happened whatsoever. I growled loudly, ripping Stargazer to me on a surge of magic. The Alicorn Amulet went into the air from the balcony and I dropped into E.S.A.T.S.

Every shot I could queue went to the amulet. The spell released and Stargazer erupted a gout of fire, sheeting its starmetal rounds into the amulet. Sparks erupted from the repeated impacts, and when Stargazer fell silent, the amulet cracked. It emitted a dull red glow, spitting sparks of its own when it hit the floor.

“Umm, I think we’d better get down,” Lilith said matter of fact.

I reached out and cast my alicorn shield over us as the amulet flared a bright shock of red light and exploded violently in the center of the lobby. A rush of wind and flame compressed upon itself and then disappeared, leaving nothing behind. The amulet was gone. I glared back at Life Bloom.

“That is how you take care of things,” I said.

Life Bloom sighed. “It is a shame that such a priceless artifact had to be destroyed, but I could not have stopped you from doing so, Radiant Star,” he said. “That only leaves one question... where is Dusk Blue?”

“That's the problem,” I said. “Dusk Blue teleported away. He was planning on using Celestia One. We need to stop him.”

“He's what?” Kirby interrupted. “That's not good.”

“Indeed, it is not,” Life Bloom said. “Radiant Star. I shall leave you to deal with the traitor. We have much to do to reinforce Tenpony Tower, and I have much to discuss with Captain Kirby here.”

I glanced over at Sunshine, currently being bandaged by a Tenpony medic. She nodded.

“Life Bloom,” she said. “I'm going to accompany Star.”

Life Bloom nodded his affirmation. He smiled softly as Sunshine stood to join us.

“Alright, let's go. We can't afford to waste any more time here,” I said. “Sunshine, show me to where the megaspell chambers are.”

The mare motioned for us to follow her. We made our way to the stairs and headed up. I grew increasingly worried as we trotted along, Violet’s warmth a pleasure against my side. What would happen if Dusk Blue got in to Celestia One? What if he already had? My mind ran over everything that I knew about megaspells. Weren't they supposed to be cast by multiple unicorns?

“Celestia One is just up here,” Sunshine said, pointing at the next level of stairs. “We should be careful. If Dusk is waiting for us...”

“Then we will fight, and end this once and for all,” I said, stepping onto the landing.

The hallway before us led to a massive set of double doors that were now hanging off of their hinges. Scorch marks lined the walls. I tread cautiously down the hall, pushing past the doors. Inside of the room was a massive circular chamber. In the center of it was a pedestal with a shining amber jewel sitting on it. On the other side of the room, behind a glass sheet was Dusk Blue. He was growling loudly as his horn sparked and sputtered.

“Dusk!” I shouted. “It's over. Give it up. You're never going to be able to activate Celestia One.”

“No... I will make the Wasteland see! I will make them... I will be the master!” Dusk roared, flaring his horn again. The jewel on the pedestal lit up briefly.

“Dusk, stop this madness!” Sunshine yelled. “You can't activate it. If you do... you'll die!”

Dusk Blue shook his head, continuing to try and activate his magic.

“Wait... did she say die?” Patch said. “I don't like that idea...”

“Megaspells are designed to be activated by multiple unicorns,” Sunshine said. “Activated improperly, it could backfire.”

“Backfire?” I said. “I'm with Patch, I don't like that idea either.”

“We have to get him out of here and subdue him,” Sunshine replied, looking over at where Dusk was still trying his hardest to use the megaspell. The jewel lit up a brilliant gold light. My eyes widened. It was working! I suddenly realized... Dusk knew he had lost. He had already moved to his end game.

“Everypony, out of here. Sunshine, you too. I'll stay behind and stop this,” I said. The others filtered out of the megaspell chamber and down the hall. I looked back up at Dusk Blue.

“You took away everything from me, Radiant Star...” the blue stallion snarled. “First you took the Element of Magic, and then the Amulet! Now I'm going to use this megaspell and decimate this tower and you for good!!”

“Dusk, you need to back down. It's over!” I shouted, lighting my horn and bringing up Stargazer. “Now stop this madness at once!”

“Never!!” Dusk roared, igniting his horn in a blaze of golden light.

I glanced around. The sides of the walls were beginning to light up. This was bad, this was really, really bad! I had to do something. I lifted Stargazer, letting off a burst of fire at the glass shielding. One of the bullets punched through, slamming into the side of Dusk Blue's horn. Raw magic sprayed out from it as the appendage shattered, causing the stallion to roar in agony. The magic in the room began to compress upon the blue stallion, leaching from the walls into his body. The unicorn's horn began to spark. Shit, I thought. I'd intended to disable Dusk, stop him from casting spells. But he wasn't stopping.

Sparks and light erupted from Dusk's horn suddenly, forcing me to close my eyes. I grunted, stepping back towards the entrance. Dusk lashed out, destroying the glass shielding and jumping out into the chamber.

“I will destroy you, Radiant Star... and then... then I will destroy everything you ever loved!” Dusk snarled, laughing maniacally as he forced more magic out of his broken horn. His entire body was glowing now.

I did the only thing I could think of to do. I reached out with my magic and pulled the doors to the chamber shut, much to the surprise of my friends who were standing in the hallway. I looked back at Dusk Blue.

“Then do your worst,” I said, reaching into the back of my mind and casting Shining Armor's shield spell. The purple bubble extended around me and the doorway as Dusk reached out with his hoof.

The stallion was no longer even blue. The magic had covered his entire body, coating him in a gold layer of energy. Dusk Blue roared, releasing the pent up magic all at once, his entire body turning into pure arcane matter.

Then he exploded. Magical energy burst from the stallion's body, expanding outwards in a wave that spread over my shield. I grunted under the force of the explosion. Within moments the energy had dissipated, and there was a scorch mark on the ground where Dusk Blue had been. The explosion hadn't even been big enough to do more than score the room. I lowered my shield, sighing as I stepped over to where the stallion had been. The door behind me opened, allowing my friends and Sunshine to enter.

“Star?” Sunshine said as she trotted up next to me. “What... what happeend?”

“Dusk... used up the rest of his magic to turn himself into a bomb. I think he thought he could kill me with it,” I said, pointing at the scorch marks. “In the end... he was so desperate for power...”

“He was so desperate that he sought power above all else,” a voice came from the door. Life Bloom was standing there, with Captain Kirby. “It appears that everything is well intact here. Thank you, Radiant Star.”

“For what? I never intended for him to die,” I said. “Not to mention whether or not he did any damage to Celestia One.”

Life Bloom chuckled. “Oh, this room isn't Celestia One,” he said. “That chamber is elsewhere.”

Sunshine glanced over at the red-maned unicorn, her eyes wide.

“What? This isn't... but I thought...” she said.

Life Bloom nodded, waving his hoof and igniting his horn. The room suddenly began to transform, changing into a regular looking hall.

“Celestia One's megaspell chamber is a secret only known to the highest level members of the Twilight Society, for security reasons of course,” the stallion said. “Dusk Blue was... misinformed.”

“How? If he had the Society under his control... then how did he not know?” I said.

“Because he never had us under his control. Many of the members of the Society have been away, and thus never fell under Discord’s sway,” Life Bloom said. “Trying to reach accords with organizations such as the NCR.”

“I've been told by NCR top brass to stand down the assault,” Kirby chimed in. “We're working towards a truce. Thanks to you, Star, we were able to see what was going on and stop it before it got worse.”

I hung my head low. “Doesn't change the fact that ponies still died over this,” I said. Or that I had been responsible. I was the reason Discord escaped. I'd fallen into Dusk Blue's trap. No matter how you sliced it, this was my fault.

“No, it does not,” Life Bloom said. “But this chapter is now closed, and our goal now is peace. Peace between our organizations, and our friends. Now... I believe that I have some business to attend to with Captain Kirby here. You may rest, and be upon your way as soon as you are feeling able.”

I awoke with a start, before remembering exactly where I was. Violet lay next to me slumbering peacefully. A day had passed since Dusk Blue's death and the end of the conflict between the NCR and the Twilight Society. The ponies of Tenpony Tower had returned to their normal lives as quickly as they had fled them, cleaning up the tower and getting things back in order to accommodate the NCR troops who had survived the battle. In all, several hundred ponies had died during the battle from both sides.

I felt like a failure. Like I'd let this all happen. Given the state I was in after the battle, I was sorely in need of rest. My wing had sustained some major damage, and was going to take several days to recover. I had wanted to leave as quickly as possible, partly because I didn't want to have to face Kirby and Life Bloom again as well as my own pressing need to get Patch to see Dry Rot. Unfortunately I lost that battle after Violet put her hoof down.

I pushed myself out of my bedroll, taking care not to wake Violet up as I made my way to the other room. I needed something to get my mind off of things. I wanted to drop myself into a memory orb as quickly as possible. I shuddered to think that Violet was right about my supposed 'addiction' to those things. I grimaced. There was no way I was addicted to them. They weren't even a chem! I pulled out my saddlebags, rummaging through for that last memory orb that Discord had left me. If it could give me even an hour of time away from the shit I'd been through in the past few days, it was completely and utterly worth any punishment Violet would exercise on me later on. Just as I found the orb, I heard a soft cough behind me.

“Star?” a voice said from behind me. Thankfully it wasn't the voice I'd expected. I turned, seeing Patch standing there.

I waved weakly. “Oh... hey,” I said as the green mare trotted up beside me.

“What are you...?” Patch said as she looked down at the memory orb in my hoof. She sighed. “Star...”

“I...” I started to say before hanging my head. I placed the orb back into my bags and looked back up at Patch. “I just needed to get away from things, Patch.”

Patch placed a hoof on mine, smiling softly.

“Tell you what then, how about we go out on the balcony and talk for a bit?” she said.

I nodded mutely, following the earth mare out onto our decrepit balcony. I slumped, looking out upon the city of Manehatten. It still looked like shit outside at least. We sat there for several minutes before I worked up the courage to speak.

“I'm... I'm sorry, Patch,” I said, causing the green mare to look at me curiously.

“What for?” she said softly.

“Because I... I fucked up. I tried too hard to protect you, and I feel like...” I said. “I feel like I owe you, Patch. It's my fault your unborn foal is screwed up, and I just...”

Patch sighed, smiling. “Star... I told you before that it's alright,” she said. “Whatever happens... happens. I accept that now. But that's not what you're really sorry for, is it?”

“I caused all of this, Patch. I freed Discord, and played right into Dusk Blue's hooves. He was going to use me to destroy the NCR and the Twilight Society, and I nearly let him do it,” I said, tears forming in my eyes. “It's my fault that Dusk Blue is dead. My fault that this happened this way.”

“No,” Patch said calmly, forcing me to raise my head and look over at her.

“H-H-Huh?” I said shakily.

“This is not your fault, Star. This is the result of a pony mad with power,” Patch replied. “What would have happened if you weren't here to stop Dusk, Star? He would have mastered Celestia One, and gotten his way. If anything, you saved millions of ponies from certain doom.”

“But I --” I started to say. Patch grinned widely and cut me off with a hoof.

“Star. You've been an inspiration to me and the others since I met you. For once in your life, be proud of what you do best, helping ponies,” she said. “Because that's what you did. You saved lives, Star. You did that. You saved me. You saved me when I was feeling the worst I'd ever felt in my whole life. You gave me hope, Star. Now, let your friends give some of that hope back to you.”

I blinked, the tears in my eyes storming out now like a waterfall that had burst a dam. I rested my head on Patch's shoulder, crying as hard as I could. We sat there for what felt like hours until my tears dried up and I could no longer cry. I looked back inside our room. The others had awoken and were getting things ready. Patch nodded at me slightly and I stood, stepping back inside. Violet looked up as I appeared.

“Sweetie, are you alright?” Violet said.

“I've got something to say,” I said, addressing my group of... of family. My friends, who had been there for me through it all. “I'm... I'm sorry. For acting as silly as I have been lately. I thought I could deal with everything myself, but I... I can't. I need you all.” I looked over at Violet. “Violet... I love you. So very, very much. There is no other in this world I want at my side. I know that no matter what, you'll keep me honest and true to myself.” My eyes drifted over to Patch and Steeljack. “Patch, Steeljack. You two are the most loyal friends I'll ever know. You've always been there for me, and I promise I will not rest until we find out what is wrong with your foal.” I turned to Lilith and Nixis. “Lilith... Nixis... you have been steadfast friends, and I am ever-grateful for your support. I know I've put you all through a lot, but I want to try to fix this.”

Violet was the first to embrace me, before the others joined in. They smiled and hugged me close, and told me that everything was going to be okay. For what felt like the first time in my life, I believed them. I truly believed that everything was going to work out. A knock at the door interrupted our bonding time. I trotted over, opening up to a smiling Sunshine Sky. The pink mare had several sets of saddlebags draped over her body and she was wearing a crude set of armored barding.

“S-S-Sunshine?” I said. “What's going on?”

“I'm coming with you,” Sunshine said. “There's nothing here for me now. The Society has everything well in hoof, and I want to help you find Spark. I figured that you wouldn't mind.”

“I... I guess that's fine,” I said, letting the pink mare inside of the room. “Everyone... Sunshine is going to be joining us.”

The others smiled jubilantly and chattered amongst themselves, each of them welcoming Sunshine into our little group. As I watched, I smiled. Despite our differences, and despite all we had been through... we were like a family to one another. It took me a long time to truly see that, and understand what it all meant.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye Patch. The green mare was headed towards the ruined couch at the far side of the room. She grunted under her breath, reaching out for support. She missed the arm of the couch and dropped to the ground with a *thud*.

“Patch!” I called out, making my way to the mare's side.

Violet was next to me in an instant, her horn glowing brightly. Patch was lying on her side, panting and breathing hard.

“I'm... I'm alright, just need to... need to lay down,” she wheezed. “Just had the wind knocked out of me, is all.” Violet grimaced, lifting a hoof to the other mare's forehead.

“She's burning up, Star,” she said. “Something's not right. I'm trying to do what I can, but she needs a real doctor.”

“Dry... Dry Rot,” Patch huffed, coughing heavily. She covered her mouth, coming away with blood on her hoof.

My eyes widened.

“Patch!!!!!”

Author's Notes:

Yahoo, another chapter down and another step closer to the end of Starlight as we know it. As you all well know, we are planning on Chapters 35, 36, and Epilogue to be the end of this shebang. As for how that fits into my writing schedule, our honest estimate at this point with steady chapter releases is February 2014.

Now then, this is a highly momentous occasion as this chapter officially crosses Starlight over into the “Over 500k” club. That's right, Starlight is officially over 500,000 words overall. Looking back at the previous 499,000 words, I am well pleased. This truly has been a blast and an honor to be a part of this sub-fandom and community. Because of this, I've got a special treat. A very awesome picture done by RinaSunshine, who is the most awesomest awesome who ever awesomed. Check it out!

I made a blog post about my experiences getting to meet my editor Wirepony, pre-reader McMesser, and a whole mess of other cool peeps from the FoE community. Check it out here!

As always you can continue to ask Star questions over at http://askradiantstar.tumblr.com

My story plug for this chapter goes out to the incredibly awesome Rollem-Bones, for his reposting and rewrite of an old favorite of mine... “Salvage”. Salvage is a fantastic story, and well worth the read. Not only that, Rollem is a great author and a genuinely nice guy. Check it out, his story deserves much love.

Again, all my thanks to Wirepony and McMesser for all they do. You guys really make this thing awesome, and I wish we would have had more time to hang out together, but such is life. It certainly wasn't the last time we'll ever be together under one roof.

And as always, much love and thanks to Kkat for creating this shindig we call the Equestrian Wasteland. It's a blast and a half writing here.

Editor’s Note: It’s good to be back! 27, if you’re reading these notes, was edited ‘in real time’ in volrathxp’s home, during a marathon sprint across the United States I did as a vacation. 13,800 miles in less than a month, and the best time was right there with Volrathxp, Luckystar, and The Smooze. I made it back home safe and sound, and it is SO nice to be home! 28 was edited in my familiar chair in Alaska, and it’s so bizarre to think there’s over five hundred thousand words of Starlight in the air, and probably just shy of a hundred thousand to go… Onward and upward!