"Celestia's son, huh? He doesn't look bad" Shining Armor muttered, one of the few to use the real name of the tyrant, having had a more personal relationship with her. It made the betrayal all the worse.

"Well, it is true that one of Chrysalis's horde attacked him in the gorge" Babs replied, frowning at the "interrogation" that was being held out.

"I guess we can keep an eye on him for a bit" Shining Armor muttered before stepping out of the interrogation room.

An eerie grinding noise reverberated in the otherwise empty barracks. Rock met something harder, breaking away to form something new. Applebloom's ears twitched as she heard the noise and she turned to see the room it was coming from. Sweetie Belle, as per the usual. The unicorn's horn was the only light in the room, chipping away at a large stone hunk. Sweetie's eyes were glassy, with no emotion. That was nothing new these days.

"Do you think Sweetie will be alright?" Applebloom asked of their resident doctor, Zecora.

"We cannot worry about her now, if we don't move from this area, you are sure to say "ow". We must escape this wasteland, find a place without sand" Zecora muttered, placing sigils and potions across the focal point of Tirek's horns, where the mobile fortress's power focused. "Besides, if the Element ceases to work for her, it is because Sweetie doesn't want to be a survivor. I cannot fix that, that is a fact"

Sweetie's room was filled with small likenesses of Scootaloo, carved from rock taken from any place where they stopped to get food or water. The eerie drilling was cut by a voice.

"So this is that friend pony you talked about?" Neos asked, carefully examining one of the smaller statuettes. Sweetie jumped a little at the sudden intrusion, but remained silent and kept working on a new rock.

"He said he wanted to talk to you" Babs grumbled, not feeling all to comfortable with the son of the monster who had ordered the deaths of so many.

"I've heard from everyone what terrible things my mother has done to you" Neos whispered to the unicorn. "I would expect you all to hate me".

"Neos..." Sweetie started, taking the statuette away from the alicorn.

"I simply don't understand. You're all so kind, why is mother trying to kill you all?" Neos said, for the first time changing tone and letting a sliver of sadness enter his voice. It slipped away quickly though, returning to the overly formal tone he had before. "And you, you're so strong, why do you want to die?" Neos added, pink eyes focusing on Sweetie's green ones.

"I'm not strong. I'm not..." Sweetie mumbled, turning away, cold shame burning in her heart.

"It's well made" Neos complimented, tilting his head towards the many sculptures. "I can tell how much you cared about this person. I'm sorry"

"You don't need to apologize" Sweetie said with a slight blush, her sadness ebbing slightly when she was given something to focus on. "Besides, I don't think Scootaloo would have wanted that. She was always laughing. No matter how tough it was, she'd face it with a smile" Sweetie explained, looking at Babs a little. "A while before we reunited with you, us foals tried to escape Ponyville. But there was a storm and the water trapped us. S-" Sweetie started before Babs flinched a little.

"Hey, I know this story...No, go on" Babs sighed, nodding a little.

"I was terrified that we'd drown, like the other foals that came with us. But Scootaloo pressed us on, saying "Onwards and upwards!" while laughing. I felt my magic stabilize and I drilled a tree to make a bridge. If it weren't for her, we would have died. It's always been like that. I can't do anything myself" Sweetie said, her voice cracking in certain parts of the tale, but mostly remaining dull and even like it had been for a while.

"That's not true" Neos urged, shaking his head at Sweetie's last comment. "You saved me, remember? No matter how much you like him, you can't bring back the dead, it's against the rules of the universe" Neos spoke, his voice rising a little and standing up to get a better vantage point.

"I know, that's why when I lost her, I tried to be like her. But I can't!" Sweetie snapped, the pain in her horn and chest growing even more.

"Of course you can't, you're your own pony! Don't be fixated on someone who's dead!" Neos replied, not yelling like Sweetie, but somehow, his words seemed to have just as much, if not more power behind them. Sweetie cringed and turned away, looking like a beaten dog.

"Enough" Babs interrupted, her face dark. "You can't possibly understand what she's feeling. You didn't even know Scootaloo" she growled, preparing to lead Neos out.

"But Sweetie can do things by herself. You're you, do things your own way" Neos debated, making Sweetie wince once more.

"I can't" Sweetie whimpered, tears building in her eyes. But they didn't fall, she couldn't cry. She had to be strong, like Scootaloo...right? Babs's hoof shot out, grabbing Neos by the wing and dragging him towards her.

"Listen, prince, don't talk like you're an innocent bystander in all of this" Babs snapped, just barely having enough self control to avoid using her javelin. "You damn well know whose fault it is that Scootaloo's dead, don't you dare lecture her!" Babs hissed. "And what about you? Huh? Are you perfect?!"

Neos's calmness shattered and he broke under the storm of Babs's anger, managing to reply, "I-i asked my mother..."Why was I born?"...The next time I woke up, I was in the canyon".

"And what's that mean?" Babs sighed, her anger calming somewhat, pity taking its place.

"I want to know more. About Sweetie, about Babs, about everything" Neos finally admitted, head bowed. The atmosphere was so thick, it could be cut with a butter knife. Then, war began once more. Starting with a bang Next Chapter: Reignited Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 3 Minutes