"Come on little squirrels, just try and eat and you'll feel better," coaxed Fluttershy, holding out a handful of nuts. The squirrels were curled together, cowering on the couch in the castle suite that they, and Pinkie Pie, were staying in. "See? Mr. Turtle, I mean Crush, is eating and he feels better."

It was partially true. The turtle was eating but Fluttershy could see he was still shaking. If this kept going these animals were going to have serious health problems from the stress alone. They hardly ate and slept even less. The lack of energy had at least slowed them down enough to get a few jumbled words out of them.

In those moments, they had been jabbering about "shadows" and "evil" and one squirrel just kept repeating "it's all over, it's all over!" Fluttershy couldn't make heads or tails of it, and frankly it had only succeeded in making herself even more scared than she was before.

The three squirrels finally took the nuts and began eating, much to Fluttershy's relief. She watched them carefully while they finished eating, and as they surprisingly went to sleep. She moved the turtle and the two birds, who were also dozing, onto the couch so that they had a soft spot to rest on.

"Pinkie? Could I ask a favor?"

"What's that Fluttershy?" asked Pinkie groggily. Pinkie Pie was still tired from the party she had thrown for the refugees the night before, and had been sleeping sprawled over one of the beds.

"Could you watch the animals while I go out and check something?" asked Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie nodded, before letting her head fall to the pillow again. It had been a spectacular party, even rivaling the one that she and Cheese Sandwich had thrown for Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy, satisfied they would be okay without her, walked out the door and down the crystal staircase. Over the last several days she had ran through her mind what could be the cause of so much distress. She had considered that maybe the Changelings were back, but upon inspection in the city library had decided that it was unlikely. Especially since she knew that Queen Chrysalis was currently imprisoned in an ancient castle along with her minions, under guard by a rather creepy Pinkie Pie costume that was enchanted by a riddle-speaking ghost.

Fluttershy often marveled how just a few years before her life was relatively normal and uneventful.

She thought about Dischord, but beyond the fact that he had been reformed and Fluttershy truly considered him a friend, this just wasn't like him. When it came to the kind of chaos Dischord made, it was always more out of an entertaining, almost silly brand. Even at Dischord's height of power he hadn't showed any propensity for causing war. That wasn't like him at all.

So what was it? She was convinced that something besides Luna or Celestia was causing her critters to panic, but for the life of her she couldn't think of anything. There wasn't snow so it wasn't Windigoes, and there was no other animals that she knew of that fed off or caused disturbances in the pony world on this scale.  She wished she could have Twilight's help as she looked for answers. Fluttershy was no idiot, but Twilight was a master of study and research. If only Twillight could see past what was going on and see the same things that Fluttershy was, they'd probably already know what it was.

But for now, it was just her. She often took these walks around the Crystal Palace, not just to take a break from the care she had been so embroiled in, but to let her mind run over these thoughts. She tended to stay inside the castle. More and more refugees were arriving from all over Equestria every day and the city was bursting at the seams. In the castle there was still plenty of space for the moment, though in a conversation with Shining Armor and Cadence they revealed that they were thinking about opening the west and south wings for families to stay in.

The news from outside was not any better. Though there hadn't been any big fights for a few days, there was absolutely no sign of this resolving any time soon anywhere. Fluttershy took comfort that it seemed that Rainbow Dash was alright despite being the middle of it all, and she did get a letter from Twilight that confirmed the same for the other three friends still in Ponyville.

Fluttershy stopped for a moment to gaze out of one of the high windows, the lazy clouds standing out against a blue sky to make an absolutely perfect day. Celestia's sun burned bright and warm, not hinting at the autumn that was soon to come. Fluttershy wondered if they would be able to hold a Running of the Leaves that year.

She reflexively shrunk towards the wall when she was startled by voices she heard just around the corner. It was a bad habit and Rarity had been working with her to help her get over it, but it didn't always go well. She relaxed a little as she realized that it was just Cadence talking to one of her many advisers, but hesitated for a moment, not wanting to be rude.

"For the last time, we will not get involved!"

Fluttershy stopped short again. Cadence sounded uncharacteristically unhappy.

"But your highness, we may have a certain level of autonomy but we are still a province of Equestria. It is our responsibility..."

"Not anymore!" Cadence cut off, the echo of her hoof stomping ringing down the corridors. The silence that punctuated the air allowed the sound to bounce back across the walls several times. The adviser was just as shocked as Fluttershy was at this haughty reply from the normally gentle Princess.

"This is a chance for the Crystal Empire to reform it's glory," the Princess continued. "Equestria won't be able to stand after this, and when the void opens the ponies will turn to us to lead them."

The tone of the Princess' voice was cold as ice, and sent shivers down Fluttershy's spine all the way to the tips of her feathers. She held her breath as the Princess and the quiet adviser walked off in another direction, hoping that they wouldn't discover that she had heard the conversation. She had never been frightened of Princess Cadence before, but then she had never heard her talk like that before.

Once she could no longer hear their hoof-steps, Fluttershy returned to her room as quickly as her feet could carry her, closing the door and hiding behind it. Pinkie Pie was snoring loudly and was thus undisturbed by the sudden entrance, and gratefully neither were the animals. She stayed upright on her back hooves with her back against the door for what felt like several minutes, taking in several quick breaths that gradually slowed to her normal, quiet rate. The security she had felt here in the Empire had evaporated in the space of a view seconds to be replaced by something a notch shy of panic.

Once that happened she walked across the crystal floor and looked out the window. She had a spectacular view of the city, and even with the sea of tents and ponies she could still recognize much of it. Her eyes stopped when they finally rested on the building she was looking for. She wouldn't have most of her friends with her this time, and she didn't have much experience, but she felt like she couldn't waste time.

She was going to the library. She scolded herself for being such a scaredy-pony. Even that thought had frightened her.

-----

Twilight's library was a wreck. Books were stacked haphazardly in every corner and on every table surface, most of which were taller than Twilight herself. She wasn't researching anything. She just reads when she gets the chance to relax. A good hour lost in Canter in the Sky by Jade Singer was always a good way to forget the world for a moment.

But the world was plopped right onto her front hooves in the form of a letter.

"Spike!" she whined. "I've told you not to do that while I'm reading."

"Sorry, Twilight, but it's marked urgent and you didn't answer me the last ten times I tried to talk to you," Spike defended.

Twilight shot a brief irritated glance before closing her book and picking up the letter with her magic.

It read:

Dearest Twilight,

It has become apparent that the events of the last moon will not reverse in the foreseeable future, and we can no long afford to work under that assumption. However I am confident that most of Equestria's citizens are willing to help us in the cause of restoring the harmony that Luna and her followers have disrupted.

Therefore I want you to organize an active volunteer efforts to assist the Royal Guard in suppressing Luna's Rebels and finally ending this conflict. I feel that so few have already because they did not know that they were able. It worked well with your friend Rainbow Dash and others in Cloudsdale. I have instructed other leaders around the land to do the same.

Please act quickly, for I fear without help the Guard shall not be enough.

Best of Luck,

Princess Celestia.

Twilight contemplated the letter for a moment, letting her head take it in. She took a deep breath, and called to Spike.

"Spike, we're going to the poster shop! It's time for us to start doing something useful!" said Twilight resolutely.

Two hours later, they had a healthy stack of posters announcing their intentions and a meeting to be held that evening, and a hoof-full of volunteers pinning them up around town. Twilight informed Mayor Mare herself in a brief meeting at which the Mayor seemed relieved. Twilight sometimes forgot the pressure the gray pony must feel even in the best of times to make sure everything goes smoothly in town.

Frankly she was feeling relieved herself in the way that she had a direction instead of just pacing around the town worrying about anything and everything that moved and breathed. Half the time she was convinced she was followed, but she never saw anypony.

She tacked her last poster to a tree that lead down the path to Sweet Apple Acres, and trotted back into town. She didn't have time to tell Applejack herself.

-----

Applejack ripped the same poster down not five minutes later, reading it quickly before galloping off to the Carousel Boutique. She was met before she got there by Rarity and three others.

"What do we do now?" asked Rarity. There was no panic in her voice. It was a straight question and the ponies waited for the answer. Applejack had already known what to do before she had even arrived in town, in fact since her meeting with the Princess Luna but a few weeks before.

"The lies end today," she replied resolutely. "Here's what we do...."

-----

Another two hours later, Twilight stood on the porch of the town hall, the mayor pacing in place next to her. Twilight felt like doing the same but was forcing herself not to. The meeting was to start but there was not nearly as many as she had hoped would be there at this point, perhaps only a couple dozen. In fact, most of the ponies she was looking for as the best candidates for helping were nowhere to be seen. Thunderlane, Carrot Top, Flitter, Vinyl Scratch, Big Mac, and Lucky could not be seen anywhere, not to mention Applejack and Rarity either.

"Twilight!" Scootaloo, who could now fly about a few feet off the ground, was buzzing slowly towards her. "I wanna join!"

"No way, Scootaloo," said Twilight, shaking her head with a small grin.

"But Rainbow Dash is out there helping Celestia and I want-"

Twilight cut her off, "Rainbow Dash is ten years older and about twice your size and on top of that has Wonderbolt training."

"But I-"

"No buts this time, Scootaloo," said Twilight. "You can help here."

Scootaloo didn't even try to hide her disappointment as she trudged over to Sweetie Bell and Applebloom, who were watching on the edge of the courtyard. Twilight hid her amusement as the little, orange pegasus plopped down like a sad puppy next to her friends without saying a word.

"Perhaps we should get started now, Princess Twilight," said Mayor Mare, gaining her attention with a hoof nudge.

"I think you're right, I'm sure the others are just late," said Twilight. "Ok everybody, lets get started."

Twilight began to explain the situation in full, much of which had been held back in the past so to not frighten anypony, though Twilight figured that they had long known anyways the details of what was happening outside the Everfree Valley.

"...and that is why Princess Celestia has saw fit to come to you for help. She needs ponies to enlist as volunteers to help restore the lost balance to Equestria," finished Twilight, to which the still small number of ponies in the square stomped their hooves in applause.

"Now, who will join me and Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight, sweeping her hoof dramatically and perhaps overdoing it a little bit.

"I AM AFRAID, CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, THAT I WILL NOT," boomed a voice from above. A familiar one. Twilight's head jerked upwards to see the most wanted pony in Equestria descending over the town square before coming to a rest on the roof of a store on the other end. A few ponies in the square screamed as Luna looked over them. Twilight was completely awestruck and couldn't even stutter a word.

"Hear my words, I have come to request your help," announced the Princess of the Night, her wings opened commandingly. Out of the corner of Twilight's eye she saw the Royal Guard line up in a semi-circle formation around the courtyard, including a guard on each side of herself.

"My Sister has ruled unjustly for too long. For too long she had placed herself above other ponies, passing restrictions that degraded and held back while convincing everypony that it was for their good. Now I need your help to change this for good. To make Equestria a true republic where equality is finally truly possible!" declared Princess Luna.

"That's not true!" Twilight blurted. "Celestia has always been fair and you know it Luna!"

"'Fraid I have to disagree, Twi."

Twilight's felt her heart sink like a stone at Applejack's familiar drawl. She turned to the farmer pony, who was coming out of an alleyway. The earth pony had a coat-tight black outfit with the head hood resting on her neck. Where the cutie mark would be there was a white crescent moon, though since there was no need to conceal anymore their tails were un-dyed.

"But Applejack....but....." Twilight could only stutter. "why?"

"Readin' the times, Twilight," said Applejack, though she wasn't making eye contact. "If things kept goin' the way the were fixin' to, my family woudn't be able to work no more."

Just then, Rarity, who was identically dressed, came up alongside Applejack, her expression equally grim.

"You too?"

"Forgive us, Twilight, we didn't want to involve you at all," said Rarity, coming to a halt. Several more ponies filed out of the alleyway, all ponies that Twilight had come to know during her time in Ponyville. Her head spun as she glanced around the square as more and more filed towards the courtyard, and dozens of pegasi landed on the rooftop. Also, about six of Luna's Royal Guards also flew in, landing next to the Princess. Celestia's Royal Guard were now surrounded and vastly outnumbered.

Spike ran from the crowd and hid behind Twilight's leg. Scootaloo looked just as shocked as Twilight as the realization as to why her two best friends had slipped off without her so often lately came to light. The pink-maned pegasus bolted to the steps of the town hall, squeezing between two backpedaling Guards. The Mayor ran inside, completely overwhelmed while the handful of ponies in the square looked around in horror. The Cakes held each other tight, not sure what was about to happen. They had stayed out all discussion about recent events, and had even considered leaving with Pinkie Pie. Twilight guessed they wished they had now.

"Listen, Twi, we don't really want to fight, and somepony has got to convince Celestia what she's doin' is helpin' nopony," said Applejack carefully, walking to just a couple of paces from the porch and the Guards. "Maybe you could help us do that Twilight and we could avoid a fight altogther."

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle. It is still possible to avoid a true confrontation," said Princess Luna from her high perch. Twilight felt panic rising in her chest as she looked from her black-clad friends to Luna to the Guards. She hadn't anticipated this at all, and was now unprepared. The Guards looked at her expectantly, wanting an order but obviously terrified of the idea of confronting this force. Applejack and Rarity looked on hopefully while Scootaloo was shooting a look somewhere between fear and anger.

"Scootaloo, come here," said Twilight quietly, and order that was quickly obeyed. "Hop on my back with Spike."

"Well, Twilight Sparkle?" asked Luna demandingly. Twilight looked away from her friends and found Luna's gaze. Something welled inside her that steeled her resolve.

"NO!" she yelled, before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky, with Scootaloo and Spike both holding on. She flapped her wings as fast as she could.

"No! Let her be!" she heard the command behind her. Glancing back she saw a handful of pegasi that had taken off to follow but were now stopped. Twilight didn't slow down, using every technique that she had learned from the speedy Dash to get as far away from her adopted home as possible.

"Twilight, where are we going?" asked Spike. "Canterlot."

That would make the most sense. That way they could alert Princess Celestia to what was happening right away and form a plan. Twilight looked back once again, and saw the golden-armored Royal Guard taking off en masse to the northwest towards the capital.

"No, Spike, we're not," said Twilight, changing course a little bit.

"Then where are we going?" asked Scootaloo. Twilight recalled a letter she had received the day before through the post mail.

There was only one pony she wanted to talk to more than Princess Celestia right now, and she had recently returned to her home after a successful trip.

"Cloudsdale," said Twilight. "We're going to Cloudsdale."

Rainbow Dash was not going to be happy.

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