Twilight sighed as she sat in front of a captive audience in the hospital room. The three sets of eyes were peering directly into her soul. They were looking for any sign that the message that she brought was false, that it was somehow anything other than the real deal, that she was somehow joking, or that it was all a lie.

It was not. How she wished it were.

She met their gaze, unflinching, staring at each of them in turn until they were the ones that looked away. Her force of will caused them each to immediately regret any sort of doubt that they might have had in her message, regardless how small that doubt might have been.

They all knew better, Twilight was not the type to make up stories or lie, especially when it came to news like this. Waiting something to not be true does not make it so.

Princess Cadance was the one that broke the silence, she had to know more, and being quiet was not helping any pony. “Is… is there anything that can be done for her? Anything more we can do to help Ataxia? I know you’re doing everything you can, but…” Cadance was the Alicorn of Love and knew that if there was anything that could set some pony off, set some pony on such a course, it would be what happened to Ataxia. Love is a very powerful emotion; with it one can move mountains.

If it is mistreated… the world could be made to pay. That is precisely what was happening now. She had no idea why Night did what she did. The Princess of Love had felt the spark between Night and Ataxia; it was real, and growing, growing into something more, something beautiful. Yes, the kiss was out of the blue and not really a smart move on Ataxia’s part; however, for Night to reject her like that and at a time like that? Even in Cadance’s worst-case scenarios, she never imagined that Night would suppress her own feelings the way she did, or that she would hurt Ataxia like that.

Cadance vowed to take Night under her wing someday soon, and show her what Love truly was. Love, it is a gift, regardless of what form it took.

Twilight simply shook her head. “Rainbow tried to reach her when they fought. She could only describe it as trying to talk with a rabid animal. Rainbow said that Ataxia has become a creature of hate. She hates us, all of us. It’s all she lives for. I ran my own scans when Night temporally put her down. She’s… she’s empowered with chaos magic, it’s bringing her back to life every time she dies, faster and stronger than before. I could feel a little of what Rainbow was talking about, too, Ataxia's mind is clouded, she can’t think about anything other than the hate she feels.”

“You couldn’t change her back?” Firestar asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

Twilight’s hoof instinctually went to her stomach. “No, if there is one silver lining in all of this, it’s that I’m pregnant. But… that is good news and bad. It seems this little bundle of trouble is starting off early. I can’t yet explain it, but he's able to block most of my magic. Any scans I try and do fail, almost as if he can cancel magic at will.”

Cadance’s eyes went wide at that news. Any other day, at any other time she would have been jumping with joy, another foal would be joining the group soon! Of course, those times did not include finding out that a mare she loved, a mare she helped raise, that Ataxia has become a monster, and is threatening all of Equestria with the possibility of being the instrument of Discord to kill every alicorn alive.

That kind of killed any thoughts of celebrating this new development.

“Wait? You’re pregnant? Again?” Radiant asked, his mind still trying to wrap his head around it. “How?”

“It’s a long story, basically a freak accident involving Ataxia, Night, Rainbow, and I. I’ll spare you the details.”

The look on Radiant’s face told Twilight that the stallion needed to wash his brain out with soap. Firestar saw it too and threw a pillow at him.

“I didn’t say anything.” Radiant said defensively.

“Yeah, but you were thinking it.” Firestar replied, blowing her husband a raspberry when she did so. Cadance just laughed. That surprised her, that she could find humor at a time like this. ‘There is always something worth fighting for in this world.’

Radiant smiled at his wife; he could no more deny it than to say the grass did not grow. That smile faded away as he looked back to his aunt. “Why… why do you think Ataxia will come here?” Radiant asked.

“I ran the trace yesterday, Night’s spell teleported her to the other side of the world, in the north quadrant. Don’t get me wrong, there is the possibility that she could stay on that side of the planet for a while. However, if her goal is truly to kill of all the alicorns, I have no doubt that she will make her way back to Equestria, and if she takes the most direct path, the Crystal Empire will be the first city she hits.”

“What are the odds?” Firestar asked. She knew enough about Twilight to know the mare had done the math.

“About, seventy-five percent chance that she will strike here first.” Twilight responded, she had run the numbers more times than she cared to count. They all said the same things, when Ataxia does come back, she would fly over the North Pole and the Crystal Empire will be her first stop.

“I can have Cloudsdale ready for war in three days.” Firestar said with pride in her tone of voice. Even bedridden, Firestar kept a tight ship on her city.

“No, we should move it. Equestria cannot afford to lose its source of weather.” Twilight replied.

“But…”

“No buts, I’m sorry Firestar; I know that you’re proud of Cloudsdale’s military forces, however, Equestria can’t survive without it. We can’t afford to risk it against her.”

“I gotta do something; we can’t just sit back and watch from the sidelines.” The look on Firestar’s face impressed Twilight. She was highly dedicated, even faced with impossible odds she would not back down.

“Actually, there is something I need you to do. Rainbow is currently scouting Ataxia’s location, when she gets back I want you to station three of your fastest flyers to keep watch on her as an early warning. We need them there just in case she regenerates faster than we thought.” Twilight sighed, she hated that Rainbow was not with her at that moment. She always hated being away from her wife, but mostly, she hated having to give that order.

‘Maybe Ataxia isn’t the only one full of hate….’

“Twilight, you know that’s a death sentence.” Radiant stated the obvious.

Twilight looked down at the floor. She hated any idea of sending ponies off to die, regardless how necessary it may be. The costs were never worth it. Still, she did not have a choice; a lot of ponies might die if they don’t. The scales of life and death… any way you look at it, ponies still died.

Firestar nodded. “Ok.”

Radiant turned to his wife. “You can’t be serious.”

“Radiant, use your brain for a second. If Ataxia does heal before we're ready, we need to know. It could save hundreds of lives and you know it.”

“At what cost?”

“The same your father paid.” Cadance said coldly.

“…” Radiant was speechless at that.

“Radiant, this is part of ruling, part of being the pony in charge. Twilight knows it, Firestar knows it, I know it, and now you know it. Sometimes hard choices have to be made to save the innocent, to save the next generation. Your father had to make that choice and as much as I hate it, I’ve never once doubted it. He took a small force out to head off a huge threat head on. His sacrifice brought time for reinforcements to arrive before they could reach the empire, before they could hurt the ponies he was sworn to protect, before they could hurt you.”

Twilight started crying again, memories of finding out about her brother that day came back to her mind. She had almost lost it, almost went out of control with grief. Almost, if it were not for a cyan hoof that wrapped itself around her.

The same one that was wrapped around her now. It did not surprise her that Rainbow had gotten back so quickly, the mare was the fastest in the world and she had a knack for knowing just when Twilight needed her by her side. Twilight turned and buried her head in her wife’s side. Rainbow just held her close, letting her listen to her heartbeat without interruption. For some reason it never failed to calm down the purple alicorn.

“Welcome back, Rainbow.” Cadance said with a smile.

Rainbow just nodded her head at the alicorn.

Radiant Star did a double take, then a triple. He could not believe that Rainbow had made it in here without anyone knowing like that. The large gust of air pressure that soon found its way in the room from the now open window showed her entryway. “How did you…? You know what, never mind.” He said with a disbelieving look on this face. One that his wife now shared, she was as equally flabbergasted as her husband.

Princess Cadance just smiled, she was used to Rainbow’s antics, more so than her son was.

“What did you find out?” Twilight asked her wife.

“It’s bad news.” Rainbow said with a straight face.

“We need to know.” Twilight replied, speaking with her head pressed against Rainbow’s coat.

“She’s healing, and quickly. I don’t think we have two weeks, Twi. I think we have one. I found her location. it’s deep in a cave on the northern part of the continent. I think you were right, she will be coming right here when she gets up.” Rainbow said with a sigh. It was bad news that Rainbow did not want to deliver; but that was all part of the fun of being a ruler.

“A week… will… will Night be back by then?” Firestar asked.

“She should be, I did not let my daughter slack off when it came to flying, and she’s good, if not great. Even accounting for her nonexistent training as of late.” Rainbow’s voice got low at that, she knew Night had been slacking on her training; she just was not sure about how much. “It should only take her a day to get to Warclaw, and about two days to make it to the Dragon Kingdom. Of course, after that it’s all up in the air. I have no idea how long it will take them to find the information she will need.”

“Will it really be helpful in getting Ataxia back?” Cadance asked. She could not bear the thought of Night being left broken hearted. Even if Night did not want to admit it to herself, Cadance knew, without a doubt, that Night and Ataxia loved each other. That much did not take the Alicorn of Love to figure out.

Although, she was kicking herself for not doing more to help it along.

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know, we have no idea if the prophecy is real or if this mission will even yield any new information. This may come down to simple survival.”

“What are the odds?” Radiant asked. Taking a cue from his wife’s earlier question, Radiant wanted to know what the chances were that they were looking at.

“I would say about seventy percent odds its real and thirty percent odds of them getting any information on it from this Dragon King; taking into account his odds of still being alive. With about a ten percent chance of us being able to use the information to help Ataxia return to normal.”

“Wait, we only have a ten percent chance of success with this?” Firestar asked, she was in utter disbelief that their odds of success were so low.

“I wish… we have a two point one percent chance of success with Night’s plan.” Twilight said with a straight face. One that seemed to kill any sort of hope in the room, but the truth is the truth, regardless how much you may not want it to be.

Again, Twilight felt three sets of eyes stare into her, their expressions differing from ‘You can’t be serous;’ to ‘we’re totally bucked’.

“That’s not encouraging, Twilight.” Firestar added.

“It wasn’t meant to be, but this is what we’re looking at. Facts are facts; I could walk you through the numbers if you want.” Twilight had brought an entire bag full of scrolls that showed her calculations, just in case some pony wanted to see them.

“That’s all right… I don’t understand though, if it’s so low why did you let Night go to the dragons?”

Twilight sunk into Rainbow’s embrace even more, half because they did not want to see her math and the other half because she let her daughter go to the dragons alone… that part bugged her more than she expected it too. Rainbow simply squeezed her wife tighter, never once let her go, nor would she. “Because, if I have to tell my daughter to kill the mare she loves, I want there to be no doubt that all other options had been exhausted.”

Only Rainbow had been expecting that answer, as far as the others went, they soon found all their jaws on a permanent spot on the floor. “I… I… I…” Cadance tried to get out, but it seemed nothing she thought of would allow another word follow her ‘I’s’ though.

“I know, I know it’s a horrible situation, one I wouldn’t even think about normally. However, this is what it has come to. Every time she died, Ataxia has come back stronger, tougher, and faster. It’s not something I want to happen or something I would normally think about. However, that’s where we are. Rainbow can’t even cut her anymore. After the last two times, magical blasts will be ineffective against her. Only an extremely powerful magical attack will work. And right now…” Twilight rubbed her stomach to illustrate her point. “Only Night is capable of such a feat.”

The silence permeated the room. It was only broken by Radiant.

“Couldn’t you just have her banish Ataxia instead?”

“That was my original idea. Night stopped it and teleported Ataxia away. What Rainbow filled me in on later was that when she first fought Ataxia, she attacked her wings to knock her out of the sky, and, well, Ataxia was going to teleport to the ground before Rainbow stopped her.”

Rainbow nodded her head, she had not known what spell Ataxia was going to cast at the time, she had simply resolved to stop it. It was Twilight who figured it out later, when she ran the test to pinpoint her location after Night teleported her away, she found traces of another teleport that had been attempted. Rainbow filled in the missing pieces.

“Ataxia… she might be powerful enough to teleport back from the moon.” Twilight finished her comment. “I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, whatever happens, I don’t want to put that on Night. I don’t know how she could live with herself if she had to do that… I don’t know how I could live with myself if I had to make her do it. She blames herself for all of this, and if her actions had to lead to her killing her friend….” Twilight trailed off.

“With any luck, Night will find out something useful, something that won’t see any more of the ponies I love having to die.” Twilight tried to smile. She tried to give them some sort of hope.

She was not fooling anyone, let alone herself.

She sighed again, no pony else was going to speak, she would have to continue on. “We’re going to Canterlot next, I need to have a talk with Luna and gather as many unicorn guards as we can. They might be able to help if… when the battle arrives. Earth ponies and pegasi, they would just get in the way, there are no weapons we can give them that will harm her now. As far as the evacuation of the Crystal Empire, Cadance, can I leave the logistics in your hooves?”

Cadance turned to look at Twilight. Twilight was every bit the mare Cadance knew she would become. That still made her proud, regardless what else happened. Although, Twilight’s question did raise one of her own. “Of course, Twilight. Although I am curious what you will be doing. It seems like this is something you would want to deal personally.”

“You would normally be right, but after we talk with Luna, Rainbow and I are going back home. I have a few ideas that might help, there may yet be some way out of this, and I intend to keep looking until I find it. When you hear anything, send a Wonderbolt to come get us.”

At that, Twilight took one look around the room. The writing on the wall was as clear as day. None of them had any more questions for her. “Radiant, Firestar, I trust you two can get the unicorns ready for battle?”

They both nodded.

Twilight gave Rainbow a slight nod of her head. Rainbow kissed her lightly and scooped the mare up in her arms. It was almost comical for the pegasus to be carrying a fully-grown alicorn in her arms, but Rainbow had long ago gotten used to the extra weight. She grew out her wings and flew the two of them out the window, heading straight for Canterlot.

It still amazed Twilight to no end; Rainbow had not said anything the entire time other than to deliver her initial report. She simply held her wife. Yet if it was not for that, Twilight seriously doubted she could have gotten through it.

………………

Cadance, Radiant Star, and Firestar all looked at each other after Twilight and Rainbow left. It was unreal to say the least. Ataxia was a threat; they had to prepare for her eventual return in less than a week. It was a lot to take; however, nopony felt worse about the situation than Firestar.

Firestar had been right about Ataxia, months ago she had warned her husband against the danger that mare presented if she were to ever turn. While in most cases, Firestar took great pride in being right, especially when she could rub it in Radiant’s face. At this time, in this case, she hated being right. She would give anything to simply be wrong.

“Did… did….”

Both set of eyes turned to look at the speaker. Radiant soon shut up, he did not have anything of real value to add to the conversation. The look on their faces was more than enough for him to realize that they were looking for someone to grant even the smallest amount of hope. The hope that Twilight’s words seemed to stop from even forming. It was depressing to say the least.

The silence returned to the room. It seemed to permeate the walls, the bed, and the very air. It became a living thing, something that took joy in oppressing everyone it touched.

Firestar had never felt worse in her life, she never felt more impotent, more useless. It was a lot, it was too much. She began feeling inadequate, a drain on every pony she loved. Her feelings of inadequacy soon turned to anger. “I can’t stay here.” Firestar moved to get up.

Both Radiant and Cadance turned to her and shouted as one “NO!” Firestar soon found her path blocked by Radiant’s magic.

She turned to her husband. “You heard her, Ataxia is a threat to us all now, and we don’t have a choice here.” Firestar glared at Radiant, an ‘I told you so’ look on her face.

Radiant did not care, she could be as mad as she wanted to be as long as she stayed in bed. “Yes, I heard Twilight,” He responded coldly. “I also heard that there is a seventy-five percent chance that when Ataxia does return the first location she will hit is the Crystal Empire, but that leaves a twenty-five percent chance that she won’t. I’m not letting you make a mistake you will regret the rest of your life on some odds.”

Firestar shook her head. “Even if that is the case, she will eventually come for Princess Cadance. We cannot be here when she does; I cannot be here when she does.“

Cadance had her own thoughts about all of this but it was not her place. As much as she wanted to let them out, she vowed to herself that their lives were their own; she would not interfere unless asked. She would let them decide their own fate.

Radiant began pacing back and forth, his frustration self-evident. “Yes, I understand that, but whenever Ataxia does return we will be ready for her. You heard Twilight and Rainbow, Shimmering Night is on her way to this Dragon King now. She will find out whatever we need to know so we can stop this once and for all. There is no need to make hasty decisions on the odds that Night won't make it in time.”

“Radian-“

“No, I’m serious Firestar. We are not moving you on some odds about Ataxia coming here or not. When and if she does come here, we will be ready for her. Until then, I’m not letting you do something foolish.”

“Radiant, there is no point in me staying here to keep our foals if I die before they are born.”

“I will die before I let that happen.” The conviction in his voice, the tone he conveyed, or the resolve he displayed. Firestar did not know which of these made her believe him, it may have been a combination of the three, but she did. Luna help her, she knew in her heart that he was making a statement of fact. It was obvious to the mare that Radiant would go to any length to protect her from Ataxia, her and their foals.

Of course, having the resolve to do something and the ability to do it were two separate things. “I don’t want you to die either.” She cried, tears flowing freely from her beautiful blue eyes.

It broke Radiant’s heart. Firestar was never the type… she never broke down like this, not even at her worst had he ever seen the mare cry like this. It was maddening to the unicorn. He ran to his wife’s bed and jumped up into it. Holding her in his hooves, he began lightly stroking her mane. Firestar pressed her face into his coat, letting her tears fall freely on to his fur.

She cried and cried, never knowing when it would stop.

Princess Cadance, Alicorn of Love, ruler of the Crystal Empire, Avatar of Eros, the God of Love, saw her opportunity. Cadance used her magic on the two ponies on the bed.

Some ponies believe that Cadance can actually make you fall in love, that her magic is a form of brainwashing to make you love someone you would never normally love. Such ponies are ignorant of the truth of love, and they could not be more wrong. Cadance’s magic does no such thing; her magic removes the guards you put up over your heart. It causes you to let yourself feel your true emotions for the one you already love, even if you cannot acknowledge it yourself. Allowing you to see past all the noise and only see what is truly important.

When her magic touched her son and daughter-in-law, the two paused and looked at each other, their gaze finding the other. Firestar’s tears stopped flowing. Princess Firstar, she saw, truly saw Radiant; she saw the love he has for her. She saw her own feelings reflected in his eyes a thousand times over.

Radiant Star, Prince of the Crystal Empire, saw his own feelings reflected back a thousand times in Firestar’s eyes. He saw the love she has for him, that she would do anything for him. He embraced his wife in a long-drawn out kiss, his hoof running softly through her mane. He loved her and she loved him, he knew in his heart that whatever else may come, their love would be enough to see them through this.

Firestar returned the kiss with every fiber of her being. Right then, at that moment, she wanted… no, she needed him, in every possible way. The feeling was mutual; he needed her just as much. There was no doubt in their minds that they loved one another, and that love was returned.

Cadance smiled as they went to work, a fury of kisses begun between the two. However much Cadance felt that sex was simply another part of love, something that ponies should celebrate, and not shame; she also knew that they would be happier if she gave them their privacy. As such, Cadance turned and left.

True, when they finished, their problems would still be there, but for now, at that moment, it could wait. They were two ponies who truly loved each other, and in the end, Cadance knew that it would be more than enough to overcome any problems.

………………………………………………………………..

“That is the situation at hoof, Princess Luna.” Twilight finished explaining everything yet again. For her part, Luna looked like she did on any other night. It was somewhat amazing to Twilight, that the night princess could be so unfazed by something so tragic. She supposed that with everything that Luna had been through over the years, it should not come as such a shock.

“So, Ataxia has turned evil?” Luna clarified.

“I… I don’t really know, she’s the new big bad, that’s for sure, but it’s impossible to tell. When I scanned her, she seemed off. Like she was being consumed by her hatred. Like she couldn’t have any other emotion in her head, she couldn’t focus on anything else save that hatred.”

“That’s what I saw too!” Rainbow chimed in. “it was like looking at hate, like it was all she could concentrate on, like it was consuming her from the inside out.”

Luna nodded at that, “What is your plan, Princess Twilight?”

“Actually, we’re going with Princess Night’s plan. She is on her way now to the Dragon Kingdom. Lord Tirek showed Ataxia a vision that might be able to explain why this is happening several months ago and Night is going to talk with some sort of ‘Dragon King’ that may have been there during it.”

“Lord Tirek? Twilight, you should know as well as the next pony that he was nothing more than a silver tongue liar. He’d say anything simply to get what he wanted out of you.”

Twilight sighed, these were the same arguments that she went through in her head a thousand times over. “I know princess, believe me, I haven’t forgotten. I didn’t forget that he actually out tricked Discord, nor will I forget that it was him that blew up my library.” Twilight said with a snarl.

Rainbow simply laughed to herself, she knew it was always a sore spot with Twilight, but Rainbow could not figure out why. After Tirek destroyed her library, Twilight had, almost immediately, been given a castle as a replacement house to live in. To Rainbow, it was like getting a promotion at work and then complaining that you lost your old job, even though the new one was better in every way imaginable.

“It’s a long shot but we have nothing else.” Twilight paused, allowing her thoughts to catch up with her. “You weren’t there Luna, Ataxia died, she died three times, each time she came back from the dead, stronger than before. She’s practically unstoppable right now. I bought us some time, but at most, we have about a week. There has to be a reason why, and right now Night is the best chance to find that.”

Luna seemed to consider these words. Her thoughts turned to the young alicorn princess. A smile appeared over her face as she considered this. “Very well, we shall put all our hopes on Princess Night.” Princess Luna looked Twilight directly in the eyes. “What can we do to prepare?”

Twilight let out a breath she had not known she was holding. It relieved her to no end that none of the other princesses was fighting her on this. It was an unfounded worry, but as they say, emotions are not logical. “I’ve ran the numbers, there is a seventy-five percent chance that when Ataxia does come back, she will strike the Crystal Empire. I’ve already told Firestar to move Cloudsdale, she will relocate it above Canterlot. However…”

“However, Firestar herself cannot leave the Crystal Empire without serious risk to her unborn foals.” Luna finished the sentence for her.

Twilight just nodded. “We’ll make our stand there. I won’t stand for the loss of any more foals before they have even had a chance to be born.” Twilight said, her memories going back to her lost grandson, Orion Knight. “Not again, never again.” Her thoughts went farther back, back to when she killed the reaper to save Rainbow, and all the foals that had died in Equestria alone. She had personally apologized to every family that lost someone, but that did not make it any easier.

Rainbow lay her hoof on Twilight's stomach, the action surprised the mare. She had almost forgotten that there is one more foal she needed to worry about. She looked up and smiled at her wife, a deed that Rainbow reciprocated with joy. That reminded Twilight of one more piece of news she had yet to tell Luna. “You should also know, Princess Luna. I’m pregnant again.”

That got Luna to raise an eyebrow, but before she could ask how, Twilight cut her off. “It was a freak accident. I’ll spare you the details, although… this little guy is stopping me from accessing Gaia’s power. I’m not sure how, but he seems able to nullify my magic.”

“That’s why you weren’t able to solve this issue?” Luna asked.

Twilight just nodded before continuing. “I know… I know there is some way to save everypony… there… there has to be.” Twilight was almost in tears at that. She could not bear to lose anyone else.

Luna walked up and hugged the alicorn. Despite herself, Rainbow could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy at that. It was her job to comfort Twilight, not Luna’s. Rainbow did her best to dismiss that thought. Although the feeling would not go away, not fully anyway, the green eye monster always seemed to strike at times like this.

When Luna let Twilight go, it was an action that caused no small amount of relief in Dash. “We shall make full haste to the Crystal Empire and do what we can to assist in the evacuation of its citizens.” Luna commented, falling back into the use of the royal we.

“Thank you, Luna.” Twilight said with a smile. “Take all the combat ready unicorns you have. Whatever is going to happen, magic is the only real weapon we have against Ataxia.”

Rainbow nodded at that, “After she came back the first time, my wings wouldn’t even cut her.”

Luna seemed to consider this. “So, it comes down to magic and physical force?”

“Best we can tell, Night was able to stop her twice, although the level of magic she used… I’ve only seen its like when dealing with the Gods.” Twilight commented.

Luna cringed at that, the day Twilight killed the reaper, she would remember that day for the rest of her life. Although, it did give Luna another idea, something that Twilight might not have thought of.

“Here’s a question, do you suppose the Gods might be willing to help us?” Luna asked.

Twilight facehoofed, she had not considered that.

Rainbow intervened before Twilight could start thinking of ways to try that little trick out. Regardless what may happen, those were three ponies she never, ever wanted to see again. “The last time they were out, they almost left the entire planet for good. They seemed to regret everything that had happened from their interference. It seems like they take interfering with the lives of mortals very, very seriously. I highly doubt they would ever do so again, not even to help us.”

Twilight sighed, her idea cut off before it even had a chance to come to light. Rainbow almost laughed; somehow, she knew that Twi would have already started on a plan. “Besides, Gaia has the ability to come out as she wishes, the fact that she hasn’t is a dead indicator that they want nothing to do with this.” Rainbow added as she wrapped a wing around Twilight.

Luna nodded at that, it impressed her and Twilight how smart Rainbow could be at times. Rainbow was a lot smarter than she let on, even if she would never admit to it.

“Very well then, we shall make all haste to the Crystal Empire. I will bring the entire complement of royal guard to help with the evacuations. I shall have the unicorn guard join with Radiant’s and began joint training drills at once. Perhaps his little maneuver against the Titan will once again prove useful.”

“What maneuver?” Twilight and Rainbow both asked at the same time. Luna just smiled; she had forgotten that the two of them were not present for the final Titan fight several months ago.

“You will have to see for yourself.” Luna said with a grin, one that left the two mares very unnerved. “I trust you two have some research to get to?” She asked the two. There was no doubt Twilight wanted to run a million tests on something or another. Luna knew that Twilight’s mind was already thinking about fifty things that might help them in this crisis.

“Yeah, we should get going.” Twilight said, taking one last look at Luna before turning to Rainbow. For her part, Rainbow just smiled as she picked up Twilight and flew her out the window. “Too bad we can’t lure her to Stalliongrad.” Twilight said.

Rainbow wanted to facehoof. Unfortunately, with a pregnant wife in her hooves, the opportunity was not there. “Twi, Stalliongrad is practically destroyed. They are still in the process of fixing it. You kind of caused a lot of damage last time.”

“Oh, right.” Twilight replied to her wife. Rainbow’s increased grip on her did not go unnoticed by the alicorn.

Rainbow squeezed her wife tighter. “Don’t worry, Twi. We’ll get through this the same way we always do. This time is no different. Yeah it may be some big bad, something intent on killing everyone, but how many of those have we faced off against? This one is no different.” Rainbow said the words, she did not quite believe it though. Something did feel different this time around. Something she could not quite place a hoof on.

“That’s just it Rainbow, this time is different. We’ve never faced someone we love before.” Twilight added.

“Oh yeah, what about Nightmare Moon, or Nightmare Rarity, or Twilight Night? Do they not count? What about all the other times over the last forty years? What about when Spike lost control? Or when Bright Dawn got possessed? Don’t they count?”

“Those times were possession; the revenants were using them… and me, against the ponies they loved. When it wasn’t a revenant, it was some other form of control. This time… this time, what if it’s really Ataxia, what if she really hates us that much?”

Rainbow finally understood what was really bothering her wife, it was not the big bad; it was the prospect of having to hurt somepony she cared about. “First Twi, I don’t buy it. I don’t believe that for a second, and I know you well enough to know that neither do you. Ataxia has always been a troublemaker, I’ll give you that much, but I know that she loves us all. She’s just… she’s just confused right now, she just made a stupid mistake and needs our help to get back. What sort of family would we be if we didn’t help her, if we held a stupid mistake over her head?”

Twilight was not convinced by that. It was not the logic of Rainbow’s argument, she could not find fault with that. It was the cost… “I just worry what the price will be.” The remark was the wrong thing to say. Yet she could not carry the weight of her worry by herself anymore.

Rainbow stopped in midair. The sudden deceleration caught Twilight by surprise. When her stomach settled, she looked up at her wife; tears were falling from Rainbow’s eyes. Twilight’s heart sunk to know that she was the one who caused those tears.

“Rainbow I…” Twilight knew what Rainbow was thinking of, as it was the same thing she was. Twilight just had not known how it would affect her wife. She knew what she was thinking of because it was always on their minds, the one name they never spoke of, the one that would ruin any day if said aloud, the one that was no longer with them.

“Never again.” Rainbow stated the words as if they were a law of nature, something that was simple fact, which could never not be true.

“Never again, I won’t let it happen. Not again.” Rainbow restated. The conviction in her voice was self-evident to Twilight.

Twilight reached up and hugged Rainbow. They both sought comfort in each other’s hooves. “I miss him too.” Rainbow buried her head in Twilight's embrace.

After a few minutes, Rainbow removed her head from her wife’s mane. Twilight looked up at her face; it was the same face that was always so damn cocky, the one that was always so sure of herself. The one Rainbow wore because she knew she could do anything simply because she knew she could do it. The circular reasoning was almost funny to Twilight.

Right now, with the setting sun catching her face at just the right angle. Twilight could see the resolve in Rainbow’s face. It was plainly written on every muscle, slight twitch, hair, and the tears that fell from her eyes. She would save her family, her entire family, or die trying.

It was the last part that worried Twilight.

…………………………………………………………………………

Princess Cadance hated this; she hated it worse than she thought she could. Here she was, forcing her citizens from their homes. It was akin to a death march, making them leave behind everything they loved, and forcing them to relocate to Canterlot or other parts of Equestria. There was nothing worth celebrating… nothing at all.

“Best of luck princess!” The happy crystal ponies shouted as they walked past her to board the train. Most of them were carrying bags, beach balls, or other assorted objects for them to take on this vacation.

‘Yep, akin to a death march… ok, maybe ‘death march’ is a little bit of an overstatement. Still….’ Cadance thought to herself.

Yep, she hated this.

Ponies from all over the empire lined up in a nice orderly file to board the train, most of them with happy smiles on their faces. They had all been informed of everything; preparations were already completed in Canterlot. They all had nice homes willing to take them in at no cost at all. The ones with families in other parts of the country more than happy to take them in; for the ones without family elsewhere, there was no shortage of volunteers that offered to share their homes. None of them had to worry about not having food or blankets as ponies from all over Equestria donated everything they could to ensure that no pony would go without. Truly, they were donating too much, most donations had to be rejected due to overflowing warehouses full of stuff ranging from pillows to entire carts worth of food.

It was their complete and utter faith in their princesses that even when told how bad the situation was, not one of them looked worried. To most, this was nothing more than a paid vacation. It was their chance to get out and see the world or go visit friends and family in other parts of Equestria.

Never mind the fact their homes might be gone when they came back, assuming there was anything to come back to. Although, even if that did happen, provided there was anyone left, their homes would be rebuilt brand new.

‘Maybe there is nothing for them to worry about? Well, other than if we fail and Ataxia kills everypony.’ That thought almost caused her to chuckle. Amongst everything that had happened, all the different scenarios that she had played out with Firestar, Radiant, and Luna. Failure was never one of them. Not one of them had ever actually believed that the worst might occur. That they might actually lose.

Cadance realized that if she was being honest with herself, truly honest, she did not either. There was not a doubt in her mind that they would stop Ataxia. The only thing she did not know, the only thing that troubled her more than anything else, was what the price would be.

Thinking back to everything that had happened, there was always a cost, always a price to be paid, the butchers bill as they say. Last time it had been the life of Spike and Rarity, both of which died when Ataxia battled an unknown foe outside of Ponyville. Before that, it had been Orion Knight and Emperor Siros. When Rainbow defeated Blood Dawn, she kicked him into the sun. That had been a lot to deal with…. Too much at times to think about, that monster… he had killed an unborn foal.

Cadance choked back a sob. How she wished she could simply let it out at times. Yet she needed to be strong, needed to put on a brave face for all these ponies. Least the crystal ponies start panicking about being forced from their town.

“Kick his butt, princess!”

‘Buck it, I’m not needed here.’ Cadance thought to herself before taking flight. She had intended to provide moral support for all the Crystal Empire’s ponies as they boarded the train, she even managed to convince herself that such actions were necessary.

It was a lie, they were perfectly happy to follow these orders for their own safety. It was a mark of the trust held in their prince and princess. They did not doubt for an instant that it was for their own good. They had full faith that their rulers would not let them down.

So, she left, taking flight Cadance made for the one place she knew she could find somepony who knew the gravity of the situation and was not so bucking happy about it. She could find those ponies in their unofficial command center; The Crystal Empire General Hospital.

When she flew into an open window, the first thing that stuck Cadance was the fact that the place was deserted. It was strange, none of the normal sounds she associated with a hospital hit her; there was no beeping, no PA calls, no nothing…. It was a little off putting to say the least. Especially with how many times she had been here before.

Well, it was not completely deserted, a handful of ponies stayed behind, three doctors and two nurses. Despite a tenuous objection from their patent, they refused to leave Firestar alone, just in case the worst should happen and they were needed. Of course, those were just the five she acquiesced to; all of them had wanted to stay. Cadance drew the line at that. She did not mind the thought of an emergency staff staying behind, but she would not let all of them needlessly risk their lives like that.

The rest of the hospital was empty though, lights shut off where not needed. In truth, this was probably the safest building in the empire right now and that was for a very specific reason.

“Well, you were right son.” Cadance said to that reason.

“I told you so, mom. The crystal ponies do not require a lot of coddling, they believe in us, one hundred percent. There was no need to worry yourself for their moral, as long as we don’t let them down they will always believe in us.” Radiant Star said with a smile on his face from his wife’s side.

“Yeah, I… I know.” Cadance said, defeated. “The last train leaves in ten minutes. We will have a hundred percent evacuation than. Well… almost a hundred percent.” Cadance looked at all the ponies that were staying; sadly, they were the ones she cared about the most.

“Twilight would be proud of you, Cadance.” Firestar said with a warm smile. Cadance could easily see what Radiant saw in her, that smile was worth any costs.

Cadance just grinned back. “So… when did Luna go to sleep?” She asked, noting the alicorn’s absence from the room.

“About thirty minutes ago, she stationed the royal guards to run drills with my own soldiers; they’re practicing my maneuver until they get it right.” There was no small hint of annoyance in Radiant’s voice. The guard’s performance with his maneuver was pathetic to say the least. They did not seem to understand that the formation and timing was key. It did not help matters that he was not out there with them.

“I know you’re upset.” Firestar tried to calm him down but it did not work. Radiant blamed himself, had he been at his post he would have drilled it into the soldiers personally.

That was not the case though; he was attending to a much more important matter, looking after his wife. Worse, he could not even serve as the focal point this time around. If the formation was needed, it would be Luna or his mom acting as the source; he had to teach two alicorns a very new trick, while he would be staying in the hospital to keep the shield up while the attack was going on. He did not doubt their ability to do it, but it still bugged him to no end.

‘I wish Dayspring was here.’ The thought came to him, unheeded and unwanted. He pushed it back down. Such thoughts would do no one any good.

He sighed, there was no reason to be upset, yes he could not be down there himself, but if he was being honest with himself, truly honest, there was no other place he would rather be. Sure, he had to sit this one out, but he did so to keep his wife safe, he did so to protect his unborn foals, and in the end, that was his number one job. As both a stallion and a prince, after all, if he could not keep his family safe how could he be expected to keep the Crystal Empire safe? Why would anyone ever count on someone to protect them when they could not protect their own family?

However bad Radiant might feel, he knew that Firestar felt worse. This situation was an anathema to her. It went against every fiber of the mare’s very being to be stuck like this, to be bedridden at a time like this, to be a burden at a time like this. Yet she stuck it out, sure, he had to talk her into it quite a few times, but that’s what they were together for; to help each other, to be there for each other when times were good and bad.

It was then that he realized he really was not upset at all. As long as she was by his side, nothing else mattered to him.

He turned to his wife and kissed her on the forehead. “Truly, there is no place I would rather be than by your side.”

Firestar looked up at him and smiled. He loved that sight, the cute way she grinned, those big, beautiful blue eyes. They were worth the world to him.

Part of Cadance was both amazed and pleased at these two. Unlike Rainbow and Twilight’s reconnection, Firestar and Radiant had gotten together completely on their own, during a crisis no less. She had done nothing to help it along either. Yet here they were, completely devoted to one another.

That’s what she loved about love, it could form the strongest bonds between two souls completely out of nowhere. It struck when you least expected it and made both parties stronger for it. Sure, there were some bad things, but the good was always so amazing that it was more than worth the price.

………………………………………………

“Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?” Rainbow asked, gulping when she saw what her wife wanted to try. She did not know what it was, per se, but she knew it was not safe. The shear amount of safety precautions Twilight had taken told her that much.

That part made Twilight reconsider, not that Rainbow was worried about her safety, that was normal, but that Rainbow had not called her Twi. She only ever did that when she was really worried, when she was truly fearful. Twilight went over her calculations a fifth time; it was simple math as far as she was concerned.

The natural state of any matter is for it to be in its original form.

Magic worked on the same sort of principles, when you transform a pony, it is only through magic that it stays that way, if you remove the magic, than that pony should transform back, she should become normal again. That was the way her transformation spells worked, it should also be the way that Ataxia’s transformation worked.

True, there were a lot of unknowns in that equation, but it was all Twilight could think of.

Needless to say, variables are an unknown, unknowns are risky, and that risk was what Rainbow was afraid of. Twilight sought to reduce her wife’s worry as best she could. “Rainbow, I’ve checked all the calculations five times now, we should be fine.”

“Should be fine?”

“Ok, like ninety-five, ninety-seven percent odds of being fine.” Twilight gave Rainbow her best warm smile.

“Can you do better?”

Twilight thought it was somewhat cute how Rainbow assumed you could do better than that. When it comes to science and magic, those are the best odds you can get. “No Rainbow, that is the safest I can make this process. What are you worried about anyway? I haven’t blown up a lab in years.”

“So you’re due.”

“Smartass.” Twilight playfully punched Rainbow in her shoulders.

“Ok, as long as you’re sure.” Rainbow said as she rubbed the spot where Twilight hit her, trying to act like it actually hurt. Twilight did not buy it one bit.

“You know, if you’re that worried, you can always go upstairs.”

“Yeah Right, sorry but no. I’m staying right by your side.”

“Suit yourself,” Twilight said with a sly grin, she did not admit it, but the reason why she gave it such a high safety rating was because Rainbow was right there. She was simply offering Rainbow a way out. She turned and picked up a vial in her magic.

“What’s that?” Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof at the vial of blue liquid that Twilight was holding up in front of them.

Twilight sighed aloud, as much as she wanted Rainbow right here with her, she also did not want to have to pause and explain everything every five minutes. “That is the magical residue of my own magical power. I put it in a circular transponder to liquefy it into a concentrated state.”

“Oh, ok…. What’s that?” Rainbow gestured at the graduate cylinder on the table with a green liquid.

“That’s the anti-magic isotopes I liquefied off a magical inhibitor ring.”

“Oh, ok…. What’re you doing with them?”

“I have to mix them in just the right qualities, to figure out just how much residue can be nullified by the isotopes; doing so will let me determine the proper ratio needed to nullify Ataxia’s power. If I don’t get it right, it will do nothing at all or worse…”

“Worse? Worse how?” Rainbow asked, suddenly unsure if she really wanted to be present for this or if she even wanted to risk letting Twilight attempt this.

“The magical residue could reject the isotopes, completely overpowering them causing a cascade out of control reaction that will nullify the magical fields of the table, the lab, and the castle… depending on the strength of the reaction, of course.”

“Of course… and that’s bad?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, that’s bad.”

Twilight went to begin pouring, she concentrated on the vile, seeking to only poor in five ounces. Her concentration was interrupted one more time. “Ah, Twi?”

“YES RAINBOW… what is it?” Twilight caught herself.

“How do you know how much to pour in? Seems like something you have to figure out before you do it.”

Twilight was taken aback by that, she had not realized Rainbow had been paying attention to some of her other experiments to know that. “It’s a mathematical formula, Rainbow; I did the calculations on the chalkboard over there.” Twilight gestured with her hoof.

Rainbow took a look at the chalkboard and quickly gave up any hopes of understanding the gibberish she saw within five seconds of looking at it. She had no idea why there were letters in what should have been a math problem. Rainbow simply nodded her understanding at Twilight, her understanding being if Twilight said it was good, than that was good enough for her.

“Ok, here goes.” This was the hard part; she had to mix the correct ratio of magical residue with anti-magic isotopes she acquired from the inhibitor ring.

‘I’ve taken every precaution, this cannot possibly go wrong.’ Twilight thought to herself confidently as she began pouring the residue.

Starswirl the Bearded was once quoted as saying; ’The difference between something that can go wrong and something that cannot possibly go wrong, is that when the thing that cannot possibly go wrong inevitably goes wrong, it usually does so spectacularly and in the worst possible way.’

It was a lesson Twilight had never quite learned.

……………………

Outside it was just a normal day, the sun was out and the weather was great. For the ponies of Ponyville, they did not have a worry in their heads. After all, what did they have to worry about? Their town was the home of two of Equestria’s greatest protectors, and the most powerful ponies alive.

Well, they did have one thing to worry about. True, Rainbow and Twilight were very powerful and would protect them from any outside threat, but there was no pony around to protect Ponyville from them.

The tree-castle exploded two hundred hooves in the air. Just as Twilight predicted, the concentrated residue easily overloaded every safeguard she put in place, the ones around the table, the lab and even the castle. It was a mark of the castle’s construction that it was still together when it landed. Truly, the Elements of Harmony were quite powerful. When the castle landed back on its spot, magical residue radiated out of the open windows, the shockwave from the explosion broke every window in Ponyville, temporarily deafening the ponies that were closer to the castle at the time.

The guards in Canterlot were quickly placed on high alert that day, the explosion echoing all the way to Celestia’s Palace. Until the letter to stand down arrived by pegasus with a sincere apology from the princess responsible for said explosion.

……………………

Rainbow slowly, ever so slowly, unwrapped her wings. She was more than cautious, not wanting to risk her wife’s safety in case there was a secondary explosion. Rainbow poked her head out first, checking to make sure that nothing was on fire and that there were no more eminent threats. When she saw there was not, she let loose a breath she had not been aware she was holding in.

“Is it, is it safe?” A small voice asked from beneath her wings. Rainbow looked around another three times, if the worst came to worst, she would grab Twi and simply fly them out of there, but it looked safe. Although looks could be deceiving, life had taught her that much.

Rainbow waited another five minutes before unwrapping her wings and letting the alicorn go. Twilight looked around the lab, it was completely destroyed. “I…” She tried to speak.

Rainbow shook her head. “Ninety-five percent safe? Huh, and you wondered why I told you to do it here instead of at home.”

Twilight started looking around the room; to say it was destroyed would be a gross overuse of the word destroyed. There was nothing left that was in any way shape or form usable. Her notes were gone, incinerated in the blast. Her table, destroyed, all the supplies were wrecked. Whatever had happened resulted in a massive setback for the alicorn.

Her mind started racing about different possibilities of how she could have gotten this so wrong, she needed to get back to testing as quickly as possible. As such, there was only one more option, one more place to go in order to get started again.

“Rainbow… I can’t continue here.”

“Yeah, and the sky is blue. What’s your point?” Rainbow wondered why Twilight had stated the obvious.

Twilight shook her head. “I can’t continue here, I have to move my testing back home…” Twilight said under her breath.

“What was that, Twi?” Rainbow sincerely hoped that she misheard what she thought she heard in the last part of that sentence.

“Rainbow, the only way to continue is to use the lab in the basement.”

“Buck no! Twi, you already destroyed this place; I’m not letting you destroy our home too.”

“Rainbow… we don’t have a choice. It will take days to get this place up and running again. It’s already been three days since Night left, that means Ataxia is due back, at the latest mind you, in four days. I cannot lose the amount of time it would take to get this place up and running again.”

“We also can’t lose our house!” Rainbow yelled.

“I’ll limit the experiments I do inside the house, when I do something that might be dangerous, I’ll take it outside.”

Rainbow thought about that for a while, it was true, they really could not afford such a delay, still, she had a very different definition of what ‘might be dangerous’ meant than Twilight did. “I don’t know…”

“It’s the only way to keep our promise.”

“Fine…” Rainbow sighed; Twilight had won that one. She could only watch as Twilight began gathering up what she could. Not only did she have to start her experiments from scratch, but she had to figure out why this one went wrong.

“This is going to be fun.” Twilight said to herself. The prospect of having yet another mystery to figure out causing her some enjoyment. After all, in science, you learn by failing, and there was nothing better to Twilight than to learn something new.

Well, other than Rainbow of course.

“Fun, yeah, right.” Rainbow replied with a sigh. Then, oddly, she started to smile. ‘Never change Twi.’ Rainbow thought to herself.

Whatever happened, whatever life throws at them or whatever events they went through, Twilight would still be Twilight.

And Rainbow would not want her any other way.

……………………………………………….

They evacuated the Crystal Empire several days ago, Cadance remembered her first time here, the streets, the houses; even the very air all had an aura of oppression to them. As if Sombra’s very presence simply suffocated everything. His evil permeated the air, killing off any sort of hope.

Princess Cadance would give anything for it to feel like that now.

Now, it felt like nothing, it felt abandoned, empty, lost… the air carried no sound, no patter of hooves. Not a thing. The troopers were resting; their long day of training was over. She actually missed the noise they would make during their training at that moment.

At least it was a sign of life, unlike what was in the wind at that moment. Still, it was better that no pony was here as opposed to them being in danger, even if it did make this place seem dead with their absence.

“I wonder if…” Cadance said aloud.

“Wonder if what?”

Cadance turned around, she had not expected another pony to be up on top of the roof of the hospital, and much to her surprise, it was the last pony she expected to see. “Spitfire, you should have left with the others. You know it’s not safe to be here.”

“Tell me Cadance, if you were a pegasus again, would you leave your son here alone? Regardless what the danger was?”

Cadance sighed; she could not argue that fact. As a mom, she would never leave her son to face some threat like this alone, not if she had any say in it anyway. “No, I suppose not.”

“What do you wonder?” Spitfire asked.

“I was just… just wondering if things will go back to normal, you know, this time.”

“Don’t they always?”

“No… not always, you know that.” Cadance’s thoughts were on the ones lost, the ones that could not be replaced. Buildings, towns, even a castle could be rebuilt. Lives? That was another story altogether.

“Cadance.” Spitfire jumped up on the railing and sit facing the princess. “That’s life, let me tell you something Celestia once told me, in the end, in the grand scheme of things, no pony will last forever. Even the oldest, wisest, and bravest of us, will, eventually, be forgotten. There will come a time when nopony can even remember any of this. Sure, it may not happen for a million years, but nopony is immortal. None of us live on forever.”

Cadance just looked at her. “Auntie Celestia never said that.”

Spitfire just smiled, “True, I just thought it would sound wiser if I said it came from her.”

“You’re awful, you know that?” Cadance said with a smile

“Yeah I know, still, it doesn’t make it any less true.”

Cadance thought about it. She glanced up in the sky and watched the celestial bodies move across the sky, Night was setting the sun and Luna started raising the moon. That made her smile for three very different reasons: One, that wherever she was, Shimmering Night was ok, the proof being that she was lowering the sun to make way for the moon. Two, Luna was awake and would soon be joining them. Three, it proved Spitfire wrong.

“You’re wrong.” Cadance said with finality in her voice.

“How do you mean?”

Cadance pointed a hoof at the moon. “You see the moon?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Even in a million years, even in a billion, ponies will always wonder what happened to the moon. True, the truth may be lost, they will come up with all of their own stories and legends about how the moon broke, but it will always be broken. The one who broke it, Rainbow Dash, she left her mark on this world, forevermore. Not even her death will change that.”

Cadance paused to allow that to sink in before continuing. “You see those two stars.” Cadance pointed to the two new stars visible in the night sky. Although, new was a relative term, the first one had been there for over forty years now. “Those are the magical energy of Twilight Sparkle and Shimmering Night. Each one created in response to somepony they loved being killed in front of them. There will never be a time when those are not visible in the night sky. Ponies are already forming new constellations around them and they bear the names of the ponies that created them.”

Spitfire looked confused, “What’s your point?”

Cadance just laugh at that, “Those are their claims to immortality. You’re right about a few points. I do believe there will come a time when no pony knows the names of Starswirl the Bearded, Celestia, Luna, or even me. They may forget who Shimmering Night was, who Twilight Sparkle was, or even Rainbow Dash was. However, the marks they left on this world, those will be around forever. Those are events that can never be forgotten because they will always be here, always be around. Those cannot be forgotten.”

Spitfire thought about it. She laughed a little, “I suppose you’re right.”

“Enjoying my night?” a voice came from behind them.

“Auntie Luna, did you have a good day’s sleep?” It was always a little weird to ask that question, Luna slept during the day, so she never had a good night’s sleep.

“Well, it’s not as comfortable as my bed back in Canterlot, but given the circumstances, we can’t complain.” Luna walked over and joined the two at the edge of the roof.

Cadance laughed, “I thought you stopped using the royal we, auntie?”

Luna just shrugged, “What can I say, it slips out sometimes.”

“Ah, girls, something’s coming.” Spitfire said, her concern evident in her voice as she pointed a hoof towards the north. Both alicorns immediately turned their attention to the north. A streak was indeed approaching, and fast. It was small, small and quick.

“Something’s wrong.” Luna stated.

“That’s… that’s a Wonderbolt.” Cadance said before flying up to intercept the pony.

The Wonderbolt was coming in and quick, too quick. It was obvious whoever it was; they were not going to be able to land, they were going to crash land. Cadance caught the poor pony in her magic seconds before impact and laid them on top of the hospital’s roof.

From the looks of her, she had been through Hades and back, half her face covered in first-degree burns. Second-degree burns ran down her side, it must have caused her untold amounts of pain.

“I’ll get a doctor!” Luna yelled before running off.

“Don’t bother….” The pony said through bated breath. Each one coming with a cough that brought up no small amount of blood.

“You shouldn’t talk right now.” Cadance spoke to the mare, “Save your energy.”

“The… the others… they died so I could deliver this message….” A coughing fit overtook the mare.

“What message?” Spitfire asked, no small amount of concern in her voice over seeing one of her daughter’s Wonderbolts in such a state.

“A… A…”

“It’s Ataxia isn’t it? She’s up and coming here.” Cadance asked with a serious tone in her voice. She half expected it when she first saw the Wonderbolt, but expecting something and knowing something were two very different things.

The pony looked at Cadance and nodded, thankful that she was able to fill in the blanks. The cost of talking was too much for her to pay anymore.

“How far behind is she?” Luna asked. It was obvious this pony was going to die, her and her squad mates had given their lives to get this message to them, and it would not do them any honor for her to fail at that moment.

“Th… thir…”

“Thirty minutes?”

The pony nodded one more time before the light went out of her eyes. She lay there, unmoving, still, dead. Princess Luna used her magic and closed the pony’s eyes. Allowing her to rest in peace. “Thank you. Your sacrifice shall not be in vain.”

“Luna, this is bad. It’s only been four days; we should have had another three before she was here.”

“You have a knack for stating the obvious, niece, but these are the cards we were dealt. How fast can your fastest flyer get to Ponyville?”

“About an hour.” Cadance answered honestly.

“I can make it in forty-five minutes.” Spitfire said proudly.

Cadance and Luna both looked at Spitfire in disbelief. She merely smiled and stretched out her wings. The obvious neglect she had shown her wings was anything but. They were pristine; the two alicorns could easily tell that she had preened them every single day. With not a feather out of place, it was easy to see that the neglect she displayed was nothing more than a ruse.

“Go, let Twilight and Rainbow know.”

Spitfire nodded, but before she took off, she turned around and looked at Cadance one more time. “You’ll protect her, right?”

Cadance nodded, “Of course.”

Spitfire simply smiled and took off at full speed. Rainbow might have surpassed all of them when it came to flight speed, but even in her old age, Spitfire was no slouch.

…………………………………………………

“Night, you suck; you suck worse than the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. You suck so hard, stallions must be lining up around the block just to be in close proximity to you. Simply because you suck that hard. If they gave out bucking medals for sucking, they would have to ban you for life from ever competing, simply because there is no one else who can suck as hard as you.”

Aurora circled around her younger sister, who, once again, had to pause to catch her breath. To say Aurora was infuriated with all these stops would be the understatement of the century. Every bucking hour for the past two days Night would make an ‘emergency’ landing before she crashed and they were forced to wait while she regained her strength.

“Buck…. You….” Night replied between deep breaths.

“No thanks, you’re my sister.” Aurora said sarcastically. ‘Although, Icarus might like that.’ She thought with a smile. One that went away as soon as she looked back at her sister.

Shimmering Night was lying on her back, sweat pouring down her brow. her wings spread out on the rock.

Anger once more took hold of Aurora. “How in Hades did Rainbow let you get this out of shape. I mean, come on! I doubt you'd even qualify for the Wonderbolts at this point.”

“I… I think the real question is how in the hell are you still able to fly that fast?” Night looked up, Aurora had always been impressive in the air, but this was bullshit as far as she was concerned. The mare was several months pregnant, showing a huge baby bump, and easily kicking her ass. Night wanted to call hacks on this one.

‘At least the mystery of where all the cookies go has been answered.’ Night jokingly thought to herself. That was the only thing she could think of that gave Aurora that much energy.

“I’m telling mom.” Aurora said. They both knew the implications to that threat. Night start to panic.

“Aurora! No!”

“Yes. This is pathetic Night. Rainbow would never put up with this and you know it.”

“Sister… please….” Night started hyperventilating.

“Don’t sister please me, you did this to yourself.”

“You don’t understand, you know how much cake they feed me? They won’t stop making it! Something about having stockpiles of them, they don’t want them to go to waste! Besides, I have to rule all by myself, well during the day anyway. It’s hard work. I… I don’t have time for it!” Night knew it was a lie, but she tried anyway.

Aurora landed right next to night. “You got to be bucking kidding me; you’re using that excuse, against me? Really? You really want to go there?”

“What? You got Icarus to help you?” Night pleaded.

“Night, Icarus is an idiot! I swear he cannot even get up in the morning without me tossing his ass out of bed. All he bucking does each day is train. I run the empire. The only reason he even makes an appearance is that I drag his ass to work each day! It’s easier to do it on my own than to get his ass to do anything! So tell me, what’s your next excuse fat flank.” Aurora gestured to Night’s stomach, she did her best to keep it in, but exhaustion easily won that battle.

Night was not fat… per se, but she was definitely not fit.

“Oh… really…?” Night said with a frown.

“Really, now get up. We’re about there.”

“Are you still telling mom?” Night asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

“Oh yes.” Aurora’s eyes were completely unsympathetic to the alicorn’s plight.

Night just looked at her, she gave Aurora the same look Aurora had when Icarus dropped her cookies two nights ago.

“Doesn’t work on me Night, you’re the one out of shape and that’s pathetic. You deserve everything Rainbow is going to do to you and you know it. Now suck it up.”

“But… but…”

“No buts!”

Night cringed, memories of growing up and facing five a.m. flight drills; of being forced, over and over, to do weighted wing pushups (or wing-ups); and worse, the dreaded obstacle course. She had passed of course, in the end they all had. There really was no other option; Rainbow ran them all through that damn course. Even Twilight did not get out of it.

Still… that was years ago, she was done, and she should not have to do it again.

Night knew she was going to have to. It had been coming for a while, small cuts in her morning routine, nothing major at any one time. Simple laziness if she was being honest with herself. A little here, a little there, it all added up and sadly, it added up to what was slowing them down.

Fay Light landed next to a pissed off Aurora and Night, the latter of which was on the verge of tears. He turned to look at Aurora.

“What do you want, captain?” Aurora asked, she had intended to leave him in the dust, instead she only managed to leave her sister behind, and that was something that infuriated her to no end. If Night looked bad, it reflected poorly on all of them.

“Empress, we should get moving.”

That caused both mares to look at him. “Oh, are you giving orders now, captain?”

“Just a suggestion.” Fey stated.

“Why’s that?”

“Because we’re here.” Fey gestured over to the south. Aurora turned and looked with her own eyes; sure enough, she could make out large reptiles flying in the distance.

“Dragons.”

Author's Notes:

Night and Aurora have arrived at the Dragon Kingdom. Will they find anything useful? Can they get back to help in the fight against Ataxia? Can the Crystal Empire last fifteen minutes without Rainbow and Twilight's help?

So many questions, I can't wait!