Nightfall had come, stars shining in the sky. They weren't as wonderful as when Luna painted the skies, but Celestia did an adequate job. The small camp below the stars did not care of them and clanked mugs together, cheering loudly. It was a real party, full of ponies who had decided to join the resistance. Some had even made friendship avatars for themselves by sheer force of will. Scootaloo, oddly, wasn't taking part in the festivities. The orange pegasus merely sat on top of a rock, looking at the Moon intently. Her ears flicked, hearing Babs step up to sit next to her.

"Babs, we're gonna win. We have to keep on winning until they stop attacking us" Scootaloo sighed, the typical bravado in her voice gone for now. The pegasus was tired of this war, so tired of fighting. But no one but her knew about it. "Besides, I want to give foals a place where they can look at the Sun without worrying about some freaker killing them" Scootaloo added, rubbing her hoof across a rock. "That's our battle" Scootaloo affirmed, dropping the rock and taking out her sword to sharpen it against the rock.

"Even still, don't do anything crazy" Babs chuckled, giving the former Cutie Mark Crusader a soft smile. The two had bonded in the journeys across the desert and wastelands, to the point where one might say, they were more than friends. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle adored the brown Earth Pony, but Babs in turn, only had lover's eyes for Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle was a good friend, nothing more. "You scared me there for a bit" Babs noted, her chuckle disappearing as she looked across the camp. Scootaloo looked at the Earth Pony, looking regretful about having frightened her.

"Alright everybody, listen up!" Scootaloo announced, jumping down from the rock as the party was winding down. "I'm glad you could all make it" she thanked, looking at all the expectant faces carefully, seeing who would do what. "You all saw that big centaur, and you'll be sure he'll be back tomorrow...in which case I say, we steal his magic!" Scootaloo loudly proposed, causing a chorus of mutters and whispers from the crowd. "Once Sweetie puts herself in between his horns, we can hijack his magic to create and even bigger avatar, which will be our headquarters! Let's see how they like that!" Scootaloo boasted, puffing out her chest as the crowd wildly cheered, finally feeling hope for the first time since the Solar Queen had come to power.

"Ummm, but how am I going to do that?" Sweetie asked, her voice timid as she raised her hoof. Zecora, who was next to Sweetie, nodded.

"I have found that your Element has an odd power, as it is magic, it can take magic to make foes cower" Zecora informed to Sweetie, making the unicorn gulp. She was going to face that monster again? Alone?

Sweetie woke up with a shriek, feeling a tap at the base of her horn.

"What?! Babs!" Sweetie squeaked, panting as she calmed down from her scare, looking at the Earth Pony tapping her with the javelin.

"Morning, how you feeling?" Babs asked, smirking widely as she plopped an apple into Sweetie's lap. "Take this, if you are hungry, your avatar won't be at full power" Babs advised.

"Thanks" Sweetie mumbled, taking a large bite out of the apple. Babs pawed the ground awkwardly, mentally debating whether or not to tell Sweetie about her relationship with Scootaloo. She wanted to be honest, but random emotions might make Sweetie unstable, something they couldn't afford today. "You okay?" Sweetie asked, looking at Babs curiously.

"Yeah. See ya later" Babs said with a shake of her head, deciding that what Sweetie didn't know couldn't hurt her.

"Thanks for the fix on my javelins" Babs noted, running a hoof across the sharp edge and smiling as part of the keratin fell away.

"It's rare you let someone else touch them, they really are quite a gem" Zecora noted, sharpening the last javelin and giving it back to Babs.

"It's because we can't fail today" Babs grumbled grimly, walking out of Zecora's tent and towards Scootaloo, who had gotten on her rock once more.

"I need power, I need to focus on what's in front of me" Scootaloo said, bravado creeping into her voice. She could forget her weariness now, the morning of their plan. "That's why I need you covering my back and blind spots" Scootaloo smirked, well aware of the innuendo behind that. Babs rolled her eyes and moved her head forward, lips extending to give Scootaloo a kiss. Scootaloo let out a happy snort before pulling away, wings buzzing excitedly.

"I always watch your back" Babs joked, sticking her tongue out. Scootaloo retaliated with her own kiss, a deep one, wings curling around Babs. When the two disengaged, having shown each other their passion, Scootaloo smiled once more.

"I'll pay that back ten times when I get back" Scootaloo swore, making Babs roll her eyes.

"Wow, very romantic" the Earth Pony drawled sarcastically, giving the pegasus a playful bop to the ears.

"Bah, let's get out there and raise some Hell!" Scootaloo yelled, tossing on her cape and looking out toward the horizon.

"I'm looking forward to that repayment" Babs said, a smile on her face as they headed their separate ways as the plan dictated, Babs to get vantage points for sniping, Scootaloo to rush in with the Element of Loyalty.

What neither of them knew was that Sweetie was watching from the shadows, jaw dropped and shaking a bit. Only a few words made it through her poor head.

"No, wait, you can't take her from me" Next Chapter: Failure Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 36 Minutes