Twilight woke up —again— in a place she wasn’t entirely expecting. She groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She was lying on a modest cot, staring not at a constructed ceiling but a natural one. Growths of blue crystal defined every surface, like the inside of a massive geode. It looked familiar, but an ache in the back of her head wasn’t cooperative with her faculties.

“Hey, you’re up!” came Rainbow Dash’s familiar voice.

Twilight groaned. “Ugh, my head. What happened? Where is this?”

“Yeah, sorry. Spitfire decided she wasn’t gonna waste time convincing you to come with, so she booted you in the back of the head.

“Where we are,” Rainbow trailed off, ears drooping. “Look, I know you’re our Twilight, but the big bosses want a doctor to check you out. Make sure Mandeville didn’t put some sorta tracker in your skin when you weren’t looking, like before.”

Twilight shook her head, fighting the headache as it pulsed. “Wait, what are you still doing here?! I told you, Mandeville’s probably already dispatching drones to kill the others! We’ve go—”

Twilight made to scramble off the cot, but found herself subject to the pressure of Rainbow’s surprisingly gentle hooves. “Whoa, easy Twilight, it’s okay! We’re all safe! Nopony who’s part of the resistance lives on the grid. Me and the others holed up at the resistance headquarters.”

“Resistan...” Twilight muttered. “Rainbow, I told you! It’s too late for all that! Everypony’s just gonna get each other killed! Even if you win, everypony’s doomed!”

“Twilight, it might be you, but it sure doesn’t sound like you. You’re just gonna give up, let Mandeville stay in charge and try to live with everything he’s done?”

Twilight pressed her eyes closed, shaking her head. “I don’t want him to win Dash, but it’s not up to me, or you, or anypony to decide ‘dying free is better than living as slaves,’ or something! Even if I wanted to take him down as some great ‘last act of defiance,’ it’s not my life I’m gambling with or throwing away! We can’t afford to be rid of him!”

Rainbow lowered her head a touch. “Actually, it may not be as bad as you think.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well, some options are getting discussed up top, and we have at least one backup if all else fails. It’d probably be best if you heard it from them though.

“But enough about all that. We’re safe, right now.”

Twilight sighed. “And you guys won’t let me go back now, will you?”

Rainbow shook her head, smiling. “With all your friends being wanted traitors to be shot on sight? Might as well stick around, huh?”

“But what about your families, Rainbow?! What about my family?! I’ve been locked up, but even I know what he’s doing to ponies that still fight back!”

“I told you, we all had time to get the word out before Mandeville had full control of the postal system. Everypony that didn’t just join up left Equestria altogether.”

“And my paren—”

Just then, the door in the nearby stone wall burst open, and in stepped a wide-eyed white unicorn mare with lighter white and purple mane.

She stood stock still as she stared at Twilight, who stared back as either’s jaw dropped.

“Twilight!” the mare shouted, before bounding over.

“Mom?!”

The distance between them closed so fast, even Rainbow Dash gave a surprised yelp as she was unceremoniously flung out of the way by the maternal mare. Twilight’s mother flung her forelegs around her daughter and wept. “Twilight, my little morning star! You’re alright. You’re alright.”

Rainbow stood up and made to stand by the doorway, only to find herself struck again as a wheezing blue unicorn stallion staggered in, followed by Princess Cadance.

“J-junior?” the stallion asked. “Junior, is that really you?”

“Pfft!” Rainbow scoffed. “Junior? He never said that at the...”

They all approached slowly, Twilight’s mother sitting back, clasping her daughter’s forehooves with her own.

Cadance frowned at Twilight. “We’ll know in a moment. Twilight? Sunshine, sunshine.”

Twilight smiled knowingly, engaging in the old ritual as well as her bandaged leg could handle. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake.”

Cadance’s frown withered away. “That’s her alright, Mister Nightlight, Missus Velvet.”

Twilight found herself crushed between the joint embrace of her parents, fussing over everything from her wounded leg to her mussed mane.

“Uh, hey,” Rainbow began, “not to ruin the moment, but can somepony explain the whole ‘Junior’ thing?”

Cadance quickly pulled her aside. “Her dad calls her that. See, her mom’s full name is ‘Twilight Velvet.’”

“Oh, okay, got it,” Rainbow said, before a manic grin spread over her features. “I’m still never letting her forget it though.”

“But I,” Velvet sniffed. “But I don’t understand! How did this happen?”

Twilight explained her ordeal, from leaving the battle to check on Luna, all the way until being found and rescued unwittingly by the Wonderbolts.

“By the way, Rainbow? Why are you wearing a Wonderbolt flight suit?”

“Oh!” Dash exclaimed. “It’s not quite what you think. See, we lost Breezie trying to defend Canterlot, and the Wonderbolts needed a temporary replacement. And, I’m it. It’s not really official or anything. The Academy is out since they all joined the fight, so they don’t have the kind of backups or recruits they’d usually choose from.

“I think it’ll help me in the long run though, y’know, after things get back to normal.”

Twilight smiled sadly. The naivete of Rainbow’s sentiment was almost a balm, given who it was coming from. “So, you’re all in this resistance? My entire family?”

“Twily, we... of course we are!” Velvet told her.

“Kiddo,” Nightlight began, “it was gonna be a cold day in Tartarus before I let that monster get away with the murder of my little girl. We were not going to lose both of our children in the same day, and take it lying down!”

A fire felt like it had started in Twilight’s brain. “Both your- Daddy, what are you— Where’s Shining Armor?! What happened to my brother, where is he?!”

Cadance’s features sagged as she gave a nod to Twilight’s parents. “After his shield went down, the tanks opened up on us. They had an idea where we were, and they wanted to stop the shield from being raised again. The overload hit Shining hard, he was out cold. I tried to fly him to safety, but the blasts. It was like being kicked in the stomach, that close. I fell out of the sky.

“W-w-when I woke up,” she continued, tears beading in the corner of her eyes, “I couldn’t find him. H-he was just gone.”

Twilight knew ‘missing’ was only barely better than ‘dead,’ but she let out a breath anyway. “I’m sorry Cadance, I never heard anything about this. But... look, this is a bit much for me! Suddenly, everypony I love is ready to take on a suicide mission, and... I never wanted anypony to die for me, okay! Not my friends, not my family!”

Rainbow almost imperceptibly flinched, but still opened her mouth to speak. “Twilight, you don’t get it. Mandeville’d already made this real personal before, but—”

“Twilight,” Velvet said, “we buried you.”

Twilight stared, about to ask a question when Nightlight elaborated. “The fake you, she means. Sure felt real to us though.

“You don’t know what it’s like, giving a eulogy for your own child. Watching that coffin close, seeing it lower into the ground, and knowing you’ll never see your little girl a... agai...”

Twilight only went flush as Nightlight buried his face in her mane. “Oh, Luna. Luna, if you’re still out there, please say it’s not a dream!”

Twilight patted his head, her lip quivering. “I’m here Dad. I promise it’s all real, for better or worse.” She took a breath. “And I promise, if stopping Mandeville is how we all stay safe, I’ll do whatever I have to. I just wish we had better options.”

At that moment a tall, bony, grey unicorn stallion stepped in. He crossed the room quickly, in spite of favoring his right legs. He wore a white coat, carrying a clipboard in front of him in his steel-blue magic.

“Doctor Minophen,” Cadance said, addressing the stallion whose harsh eyes were set on Twilight.

“We’ve run all manner of tests, X-Ray scan, metal detection. Looks perfectly normal, no foreign bodies. Entrance and exit wounds to the knee from a gunshot, but it looks like Equestria’s current leader has seen to its care.”

“You’re sure pony physicians can weigh in on this kind of wound?” Twilight asked.

Minophen stared, his expression stoic. “I’ve had to deal with almost nothing but gunshots, extensive burns and shrapnel since this whole stupid thing started. It’s different, but it’s not difficult. Non-magical damage is straightforward.

“No infection, healing normally, though I’d advise a fastened crutch to the upper leg. No wheeled supports. Doubt you’d be comfortable like that anyway. You’re clear to go, though I’d head for the war room. Smolder wants you and the other bearers together in an hour.”

“I can give her the tour,” Cadance offered. “We can get the others one by one on the way. Mom, Dad, I’m sorry to say this, but—”

“It’s the war room,” Nightlight said, nodding. “Official business only, we know. We’ll see you for dinner in the mess hall later, okay honey?”

Twilight hugged her father and mother once more. “Okay Dad. Rainbow, you coming too?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened a touch, before she glanced towards a wall. “Naw, you go on ahead. You’ll probably want to talk to the others on your own.”

Twilight nodded slowly, before Cadance beckoned her out the door.

Outside looked to be an antechamber, with two guards blocking an adjacent door. The natural stone and blue crystal persisted throughout. The guards let them pass as they saw Cadance, watching Twilight with unabashed curiosity.

Twilight let out a gasp of awe and understanding as she looked around to the inner sanctum: an enormous network of caverns, now strung up with lights, bustling with activity as ponies moved to and fro with equipment, scrolls and weapons through the chambers. Sheer drops into the bowels of the earth were lined with makeshift guardrails. Wooden platforms and scaffolds draped across chasms and uneven surfaces of the cavern floor. Old minecarts were pushed on rails, carrying ever more bulky equipment. Crystals gleamed almost everywhere.

Cadance chuckled. “Interesting place to find ourselves again, right?”

“You built the resistance headquarters right underneath Canterlot?” Twilight asked. “Right under Mandeville’s nose?”

“We’re more of a reconnaissance cell, staying close to Mandeville and keeping the entire Resistance up to date on what he’s doing. We’re also the first in line to act if we need to.”

“You mean there’s more than this?”

Cadance nodded. “Cloudsdale is where the bulk of our efforts have been delegated. When Mandeville took over, we tried to act before he could assume total control of the region. Cloudsdale moved off into the outer edges of Equestria, staying where Mandeville’s influence hasn’t reached. They’ve been roving from town to town gathering supplies and supporters, finding ponies in a position to still fight back.

“I won’t lie, it’s not everything we hoped. Mandeville is a monster, but he played his part well. His laws have scared most ponies from joining up, and we have to be careful who we trust. He made it so even withholding something you overheard can be a death sentence. Ponies are afraid for their families. In Cloudsdale, recruiting is easier, but here? We have strict rules about recruitment. Etherea has been meeting with our new finds personally, using all kinds of lie-detecting methods and mood-potions. We’re so afraid of letting a spy in here, she’s gone as far as wiping a month of memories from the ones she rejects, and she surprise tests our current crop all the time to watch for ponies having second thoughts.”

Twilight winced. “That’s pretty severe, but I guess I understand. The trains I rode constantly delivered prisoners to his facility. I can imagine somepony selling information to free their families.

“But how does this many ponies move in and out of Canterlot unnoticed? We got back to the chapel through where the caves met the old sewer system, but I think somepony would notice if the Wonderbolts kept crawling out of mareholes in the streets.”

Cadance nodded as they proceeded down the steps of a scaffold along a drop in the cavern towards the abyss. “The lucky thing is, these caverns are bigger than we thought. A few of us head into Canterlot when we need to, but we found routes to the surface that lead out into the hillside where the machines don’t patrol. We use those for larger deployments, like the Wonderbolts who found you.”

“And you’re sure none of them have followed you? I didn’t see everything, but that train I was on got hit hard. Mandeville wouldn’t ignore something like that, and the Wonderbolts can’t be doing everything. There have to be situations where earth ponies or unicorns are caught outside.”

Cadance giggled. “You’re right, Spotters tend to arrive a short while after the action. Usually we scout out places to hide-out before a major hit. Wait out the drones until they give up the search. But we found out something interesting: the machines can’t tell us apart.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks. “Huh? How...”

“I know!” Cadance whispered, as though in on a juicy joke. “It sounds crazy, but other than figuring out if we’re unicorns, pegasi or earth ponies, they’re only sure if they can match our cutie marks, and they don’t fire anymore if they’re not sure.”

“Anymore?”

Cadance’s ears drooped. “Well, back in our early tests to see how the drones react, we tried the cutie mark coverings when we realized they can’t tell our faces apart. From what we understand, when we took down a lone CID in the street and hid to see what happened, the drones tried to look for other ponies in the area with similar color patterns... and shot on sight.”

Twilight gasped. “Oh my gosh...”

“It... wasn’t a proud moment. Eight innocent ponies were killed. But the good thing to come out of that was that they never attacked on coloration again. Sounds like even Mandeville has some regard for pony life.”

Or, Twilight thought, the machine commanding the machines did. “So I’ve got it. You cover your cutie marks, do what you need to in sight of the drones, then take them off when the coast is clear again.”

“Works every time, provided you can win, or escape. Since Mandeville changed the make of his bullets, that isn’t exactly guaranteed. And it’s a capital offence to use unauthorized magnetic spells, not that they work now anyway. We don’t get that kind of handicap anymore.”

Twilight found herself musing, trying to think of other ways they could guard against such weapons, before conceding that it was unlikely she would think of something then and there.

“Hey boss!” shouted an earth pony stallion in a harness near the pit. “Tell us again why we aren’t just getting a pegasus for this?”

Twilight searched for the one he was talking to, only to hear a familiar accent echo up to her. “ ‘Cause Drag Chute’s in the infirmary an’ most a’ the others are doin’ drills. Have some earth pony pride, Flint. Since when’s an earth pony need a pegasus to shimmy down a hole? Now hop to it! Sooner we get this pump set up, the sooner we can all get water without headin’ up top.”

Applejack took the back end of the rope tied to the canary-colored Flint along with another mare in front, and slowly fed rope into the hole.

“Applejack?” Cadance called. “We need you, when you have a moment.”

Applejack glanced up, responding through teeth full of rope. “ ‘Eee, ‘rincesh?”

She did a double-take, pupils shrinking as she stared at Twilight. Her jaw went unconsciously slack, and the rope shot readily out of it. The merlot colored mare in front of her slid across her front hooves towards the edge before she too unclenched her jaw, gazing into the darkness as Flint shrieked. A splash echoed up to them, finally drawing Applejack’s momentary attention as the mare glared in her direction.

“Uh... take five,” Applejack declared, before slowly turning her gaze back to the one pony she least expected to be standing there.

“It might take a bit more than five,” Twilight said, before smiling. “Hi, AJ.”

“Uh, make that a lunch-break, y’all. N’ quit yer’ bellyachin’ Flint, I’ll send your box down.”

“I’m sorry Twi. I-it’s just a lot to take in. What happened to y— I-I mean yer double... it changed everything.”

Twilight followed Applejack, having explained the faux execution and all that had come of it. “What do you mean? More than everything else that changed everything?”

“Twilight, I always knew we could weather anything together, but with you gone.” She paused. “Not one of us took it well. Things plum fell to pieces before we were even sure you were gone. I mean, now you’re back I feel right about what I did, but—”

“Did? What did you do?”

Applejack sighed. “Don’t hate me Twilight, for this. You know you’re kin to me, all y’all are. But when I saw you, up there to be murdered in front of us, Rainbow made to save you.

“I didn’t let her.”

Twilight stopped and stared, trying to process what she was saying. “You...”

“Please Twilight, hear me out! Now Mandeville’d won, and we were surrounded by CID and Spotters. I knew if I let her fly off and snatch you outta the air, she’d just get killed. An’ I’m sorry Twilight, I just didn’t wanna see two a my best friends die.”

Twilight watched Applejack as she turned away, rubbing a cheek which bore a square bandage over it. “I understand. I wouldn’t have wanted any of you to die for me, Applejack, and I’m glad none of you died for a fake. I don’t think I can take anypony else I love leaving me.”

Applejack smiled, though her eyes were unchanged. “It’s somethin’ I wanted to hear you say ever since, but I never figured it’d happen. Like I said though, this group’s still seen better days. Rainbow won’t even look at me anymore.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Twilight said. “She can’t be sorry you stopped her now, right?”

Applejack was spared an answer as a transatlantic cry ordered, “PULL!”

“Um,” a faint voice whispered. “I’m not really pulling anything, but—”

“Would you please throw them, dear?”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy said behind a wall of sandbags, before simultaneously hurling three plates across the cavernous cul de sac making up a firing range. As they sailed across, two of the plates were shattered by arrows whistling through the air. The final plate was speared by a throwing knife, tipping its trajectory and smashing it against the adjacent cave wall.

“Smashing,” Rarity declared, giggling to herself as she set down her bow. “But I think that’s enough of the recurve for now. I need more practice with the cross. Twilight, would you be a dear and hoof that to—”

Rarity stood, gawking at Twilight with her mouth open in a way most unbecoming of a lady.

“Um, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked, peering over the sandbags. “What did you say?”

Even after the explanations were taken care of, Rarity and Fluttershy still clung to Twilight in a tearful embrace.

“Girls, I’m so sorry you had to go through all this!” Twilight cried, glad to see her friends so happy, but very very eager to be capable of movement again.

“U-us?” Rarity asked, clutching a sodden handkerchief in her magical aura, nearly black from her running mascara. “W-what about you? Held alone in the lair of that tyrant! Never to see your friends or family again, but you did it to keep us all safe! Oh Twilight, you’re so brave!”

“SO BRAY-HAY-HAVE!” Fluttershy bawled to the ceiling, before burying her face into Twilight’s neck again.

“It wasn’t all that bad, Rarity. He did want me to be happy.”

“I swear I’ll always keep you safe, Twilight! I’ve been training, look!” Rarity magicked a knife from a bandolier fastened to her left foreleg. “Diamond-tipped titanium, perfect to pierce CID armor, with spring loaded compartments full of lightning dust! It makes balance tricky, but it cooks the little tin soldiers in their own heartless shells! Isn’t that wonderful Twilight?! Those brutes will never touch you again! I’LL DIE FIRST, YOU HEAR ME?!”

“Th-that’s,” Twilight sputtered, eyeing the blade held inches from her face, “nice of you?”

Rarity reholstered the knife and finally gave her room to breathe. “I-if you’ve come back to us Twilight, perhaps Corey will find his way here too!”

“Corey?” Twilight asked. “You mean, he isn’t here?”

“Nopony knows what happened to him,” Applejack said. “Not a sign, goodbye note; just up an’ gone.”

“Like my brother?”

Applejack sighed. “I dunno. Maybe they’re together, but if that’s together with Mandeville, I wouldn’t hold much hope for Corey.”

Silence fell for a while, aside from the odd sob from Fluttershy, who still clung to Twilight like a remora.

“So,” Twilight said, breaking the silence, “where’s Pinkie Pie?”

At this, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack’s ears perked up. They glanced to each other.

“What fresh hay is this?” Twilight exclaimed as they entered a barracks, to find one of the many cots had been upgraded literally by patching together cloth into mismatched curtains and a low canopy. A modest bouquet of three balloons bobbed listlessly from one corner of the curtain-frame —made using a pool cue— the helium leaking slowly over the days.

Beneath the covers, the middle of a pony-shaped lump rose and fell beneath a hotel “do not disturb” sign.

“She’s been like that since we all got here.” Fluttershy told her, ears sagging.

“All this time?” Twilight asked.

“Well, we assume she must be doing something when nopony is looking,” Rarity answered, “or she’d have starved by now. That, and I suspect this bed would start to... smell a lot worse. But, yes, she’s refused to budge.”

“Oh Pinkie,” Twilight sighed, “I’m so sorry.” She began to stroke her friend’s back, but paused, frowning.

Without another word, she began pulling the covers off, to the gasps of her friends. At first they were scandalized gasps, but they grew into breaths of surprise. For beneath the covers lay not Pinkie Pie, but a medicine ball in place of a head, and a sidelong pillow in place of a body. Beneath the pillow was a lone bicycle pedal turning on its gear, propelled up and down like a piston on a Goldbergian contraption whose impetus for perpetual motion appeared to stem from a set of chattering plastic teeth. Somehow.

“What in tarnation?!” Applejack cried, as Fluttershy investigated further.

“Well,” Rarity began, “if she’s not here, then where is she?”

“Maregarita Hayworth?” Fluttershy pondered aloud.

“The...” Twilight turned towards her, finding the pegasus crouched down and staring under the bed. “Movie star?”

Fluttershy squeaked as Twilight magicked the bed up and to the side with her still peering beneath it. Indeed, laying upon the floor was a poster of the renowned starlet, thumbtacks pinning it to the floorboards.

Applejack frowned, idly brushing one of the curled corners of the poster with her hoof. “Kinda an odd place to put down a poster, don’tcha think?”

Taking the hint, Rarity pulled the corner, rolling it expertly to reveal breaks in the floorboards. The cavern floor sat below, a crawl space where the rock had been too uneven to build on directly. The four looked at each other, before silently agreeing and dropping down. Twilight took the lead, lighting her horn past a few shallow stalagmites and through a cluster of crystals, lighting them up the color of pink lemonade and casting caustic reflections everywhere.

She finally found a chantilly mound huddled in a nook, clasping a photograph. Her hair was flat and her eyes were red, lids half shut.

“Pinkie?” Twilight called, hushed yet clear.

“Oh,” Pinkie replied with a low, tired drone, “hi again auditory-hallucination-of-Twilight that my brain is creating to cope with my grief. Hungry?”

Twilight sat where she was, struck dumb as Pinkie failed to so much as look up. She hadn’t even flinched. She looked behind her to find her friends in similar sorts.

“Pinkie, I know this is gonna come as a shock, but you’re not hallucinating.” Twilight’s eyes turned down and leftward. “This time. It’s really me. Mandeville had it all faked, so—”

“Stop it. I can’t do this to myself, hallucination-of-Twilight. My friends need me, and I h-have to.” Tears rolled down her face. “I have to let you go!”

Twilight stared as Pinkie shut her eyes, and felt a small surge of pride for the party pony. “Oh Pinkie, that’s... I-I’m really glad you’re trying to help everypony, and yourself. But it’s the truth. Look at me.”

Pinkie’s eyes opened, and she dared a peek behind the curtain her mane had become. “Oh wowzers, you’re a visual hallucination this time. Well I’m not fooled, and I’m not gonna turn into a crackpot any more than I already have! I’m putting my hoof down! It’s time to pull on our big-girl horseshoes!”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said again, moving in on her, “could a hallucination do this?” Twilight wrapped a foreleg around Pinkie’s neck and pulled her in close. The result was not what she expected.

“AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH!” Pinkie shrieked every second at the highest pitch of her voice, squirming and wrenching herself from Twilight’s grasp violently, baby blue eyes reduced to pinpoints as she rocketed through the crawlspace like a spooked pig.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight cried, watching the mare in question practically inverting herself as she ran up stalagmites and kicked off the ceiling in a directionless stampede. Not keen on letting Pinkie hurt herself, she enveloped Pinkie’s body in her cerise glow and held her spinning her wheels in midair. “Please, it’s alright!”

“No it’s not!” Pinkie wailed as her limbs pranced about aimlessly. “I’ve cracked! It’s all over! Cart me off to the padded room before I embarrass myself!”

“A touch late for that,” Rarity muttered, receiving a glare from Applejack.

It was at that moment that Pinkie stared at Rarity, as if she hadn’t noticed her before, and that very well might have been the case. “Rare? AJ? What’re you all doing in my happy place?”

“This is happy?” Fluttershy inquired.

“Sugarcube, we came lookin’ for ya when Twilight came wanderin’ in, ‘cept you weren’t in bed.”

Pinkie Pie shook herself as her ears stood at attention. “Hold on! Do...” She paused, chancing a glance at Twilight. “Do you see her?”

“Dear,” Rarity began, “we do see her, because Twilight is here.”

Pinkie stared, the corners of her mouth and eyes twitching, as if desperately trying to force down a smile. “And everypony sees Rarity, right?”

The group said nothing, instead converging on Pinkie in a group hug. The smile finally shined forth, and Twilight found herself the center of the mare’s attention. However, she noted that Pinkie’s reaction was subdued. Restrained. Though she wept happily into her shoulder, Pinkie’s straightened tangle had not sprung back to its usual self.

At last the five mares navigated —or rather, spelunked— the cavern headquarters to the war room, whose entrance Cadance now stood before. With a nod to the guards, she waved them inside. Like everything else, the room was makeshift to the extreme, hay piles for seats and card tables offering support for maps dotted with chess pieces.

“Well I’ll be griffon-chow,” a gruff voice said as Twilight Sparkle made her way inside. Seated inside were General Smolder, Etherea and Spitfire, the former of whom had spoken. Rainbow Dash was seated next to Spitfire, looking oddly reserved. “There she is!”

“Or, at least, there is an impressive double,” Etherea offered, standing to peer directly into Twilight’s eyes.

“You have my assurance,” Cadance told her, “this is Twilight Sparkle.”

Etherea’s eyes narrowed, lips pursed. “You would forgive me, Princess, if I’m wary of the assurances of one who had a rather perfect double made of herself not long ago.”

“Mind who yer’ speaking to, mage,” Spitfire simmered. “She’s the last rightful princess of Equestria, and your ruler if we ever get out of this mess.”

Etherea regarded Spitfire with a smile. “I am all too aware of that, Captain. Real security being at a premium these days, I don’t take for granted that our betters are not being subverted as well as the recruits.”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Cadance chimed before Spitfire could rebut. “It would be a sorry way to start things off if I, or anypony else, are treated as beyond question.”

“‘Sides, I vouch for Twilight too!” Rainbow declared, standing up. “She’s passed every test we gave her. Knows stuff only she’d know.”

“Ah, but even so,” Etherea began, “perhaps her allegiances have changed in the intervening time?”

“Everything I’ve done has been to protect my friends and family!” Twilight growled. “I’d die before I let Mandeville take that away!”

Etherea only continued to peer into Twilight’s narrowing eyes. “And you wouldn’t trade their safety for information on the rest of us? You must forgive me Miss Sparkle, loathe though I would be to believe Mandeville’s claims of your treachery, I must consider all possibilities.”

“His claims of... What are you—”

“That was all a bunch of horseradish, n’ this proves it!” Applejack said, turning to Twilight. “Twi, when Mandeville trotted that fake out in front of us, he said you were bein’ had for treason. Some hooey nopony believed about you secretly gettin’ Mandeville to murder the princesses, then do likewise to him so you could be ruler of Equestria.”

“I...” Twilight trailed off, pondering this. She hadn’t figured Mandeville would embellish his reasons for killing her. “No, that doesn’t even make sense! I would know Cadance was next in line! Hay, even my brother is more likely! In what scenario would it be me?!”

“We believe you sugarcube,” Applejack whispered, nuzzling her before turning a glare on the room and speaking through bared teeth. “We... all... believe you!”

There was a brief silence, before Twilight addressed the room. “I understand your doubts, but it comes down to something Corey once said about me. I’m just no good at making the hard decisions. I want to save everypony. I can’t sacrifice some for others. The only sacrifice I can make is of myself, and that’s what I tried to do when I let Mandeville duplicate me. Even that I’m not sure about, because the duplicate was certainly alive enough to... t-to die.”

Cadance hugged Twilight in silence, until a loud snap filled the air as General Smolder whipped the table in front of him with a riding crop and pointed it menacingly. “Alright, enough’s enough! That’s not why we called this meeting!

“We called this meeting, because the survival of the bearer of the Element of Magic means a significant strategic opportunity. It means, the Elements of Harmony will still work.”

“The Elements,” Twilight repeated. “Do we have them here?”

Smolder sighed, turning his back. “No. But we’re better off that way.”

“Better off?”

“Yes, better off. You mocking me, or are you a parrot, Sparkle?”

“No no, I’m sorry. I just... don’t follow.”

Etherea drew herself up, sauntering to a scale model of Canterlot, indicating the throne room. “The Elements themselves were stored here, in a vault under the guard of Celestia herself. Sealed with a spell only her magic could break.”

“Or Discord’s,” Rainbow muttered.

Twilight nodded, understanding. “So, they’re in the vault.”

“Negatory, sunshine.” Smolder turned to face them. “Seal’s been broken. Recon reports the Elements are long gone, and there’s only one sonofabuck in Equestria that coulda’ gotten to em.”

“Mandeville,” Twilight sighed. “So how is that better?”

“Because,” Spitfire let out a snork. “If he hadn’t, they’d be useless and outta reach. Slim odds are better n’ none, kid.”

“Slim?” Twilight gawked. “Have you seen the place? That facility is surrounded by machines, and the inside is only going to be worse! We barely tore out of there last time with somepony who understood the basic layout. This... this time, it’ll be a blind march, and Luna only knows what’s different now! He was busy excavating half of the underground levels the whole time we were there.

“And even if somepony could get in without being seen, that would only last for so long with all the drones on patrol.”

“Yes.” Etherea nodded. “Distraction would be key. Draw the machines out while the Elements are searched for.”

Applejack stepped forward. “Beggin’ yer pardon, but just what sorta distraction would do that for us, for that long? Place is kinda big.”

“A full-scale assault,” Smolder’s reply burned in Twilight’s ears. “Make like we’re hitting them head-on from the air with enough force to draw his attention outside. We make measured strikes and hold out as long as we can.”

Twilight hadn’t realized she’d been leaning back, and stumbled over her own hooves. “That’s a suicide mission! That many ponies, up against the brunt of Mandeville’s forces —no protection from bullets this time— while we search the place top to bottom?! This won’t be a battle, it’ll be a massacre!”

“Hold on now, kid, nopony’s going into this that isn’t volunteering,” Smolder told her. “And we’re not as useless or few in number that we can’t make a dent.”

“And the distraction will be twofold,” Etherea added. “To enhance our apparent menace and safeguard our fighters, my mages and I will chiefly supply apparition spells.”

Her horn glowed, aimed at Twilight, who started as another Twilight leapt from her body and onto a spot beside her.

“Whoa!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Decoys!” Fluttershy uttered, staring as the two Twilight’s looked each other over. Twilight herself poked a hoof at the chest of her doppelganger, which promptly dissolved into smoke.

“Yow! Deja vu.”

Etherea smiled. “With enough of these flitting about, the odds of survival undoubtedly increase. It won’t shield us from harm in the direct sense, but it cannot be denied such measures will be sorely needed.”

Twilight nodded absently. “And we’re sure they’ll go for these? I know for a fact the machines don’t see the world the same way we do.”

“That was not lost on us, Miss Sparkle.” Smolder grinned, revealing a row of well worn teeth. “We’ve done all we can to watch these things, learn how they move, how they see. These tactics have been employed in our smaller operations, and the decoys have proven highly effective. I’ve no doubt they’ll be just as useful inside the facility as outside in the fray.”

“Okay,” Twilight sighed, partially relieved, “but this still sounds bad. It might not even matter if the drones are raining enough shots. We still need to do enough damage to thin the numbers. The decoys buy time, but we still need help! Where are our allies in all this? What about nations beyond Equestria? We must have sent envoys by now; this concerns them too!”

This time it was Cadance who stepped forward. “You’re right Twilight, it concerns everypony. But until they’re directly threatened, or the diplomatic process realizes the danger Mandeville poses, none of them are willing to invade the heart of Equestria to help.”

“Then we wait!” Twilight said. “We bide our time until we’re strong enough! We don’t have to do this alone!”

Smolder let out a grumble, before smacking a nearby map with his riding crop. “Mandeville is expanding his influence every day! Those trains keep bringing more drones to rail-bound settlements, and already surrounding townships are getting taken, and the wild frontier this resistance movement thrives on is shrinking!

“The window is closing fast. Soon, Cloudsdale will have to leave the country entirely or risk being caught inside the borders. The longer we wait, the more Mandeville fortifies his facility. We wouldn’t be the only ones biding our time or growing in strength, Sparkle! The options, unfortunate as they are, are few. And all of them do little but to tell us that we either do something soon, or there’ll be nothing we can do!”

“Then we leave!” Twilight said. “We go, we get out of Equestria and convince others to fight with us!”

“By which time,” Smolder said through his teeth, “the country will be in lockdown, and it’ll be a long bloody struggle just to get in as far as we are now, poised to fight!”

Twilight panted, wracking her mind for some loophole, a better way than the deadly path laid out before them.

“There are no ideal options left to us,” Etherea said. “Only bad options. It’s been clear to us for a while that any victory we achieve will be hard won, and require no small amount of luck.”

“That’s an understatement,” Rarity added, “If we’re truly looking for the Elements in all of that, there’s only one place that even comes to mind as to where they might be stored.”

Twilight nodded. “And that’s if Mandeville or CAIRO never realized we found it last time. And it’s assuming Mandeville has no idea what the Elements are and would just store them with the rest of his ‘lost and found.’ And that’s given we’ll be moving under low-magic means, unless we want to trip the magic sensors. ‘Luck’ doesn’t cover it: we’re gonna need a miracle.”

“Hold it there!” Smolder growled, raising his crop. “Who said anything about you being sent in? We haven’t said anything about who we’d scramble for an infiltration team, and what good would retrieving the Elements be if the operation gets one or more of the Element Wielders killed?

“Besides, I doubt if you’re going anywhere on that leg.”

Twilight fixed him with a stare, pursing her lips at the challenge. Without another word, her horn began to glow. As it glowed, the glow expanded, until it wreathed her entire body in a violet aura. The room’s occupants stared her way, brows knitting throughout the room. A few of them retreated a step or else scooted backwards, until at last they saw what she had done.

Like a marionette she rose over the ground, suspended by nothing but her own will. She glided soundlessly before the diminutive general, save for the shimmering tones of the ambient magic, and landed in front of him without so much as a stumble.

“I’ve had time to practice,” she told him, a touch of smugness overtaking her. He only stared back with his mouth open. Even Etherea’s eyes had visibly widened. “I can do this all day. Many of our number have that kind of mobility without sacrificing magic with an all-pegasus team?

“You need ponies that have at least seen the inside of the facility and know what to expect, and as far as I know, we’re the only ones that fit the bill. Besides that, you need ponies with a particular set of skills, and my friends have that in spades. Besides, if we’re already there we won’t have to wait to use the Elements. We can end this whole thing then and there!”

It was at that moment that some of the ponies in the room smirked, grimaced or else averted their eyes.

“Okay,” Rainbow huffed, standing up. “Twilight? First thing’s first, cause it’s gotta be said: there’s no way I’d let you go this without me, but...”

“But?”

“But there’s no way I’m working the same team as her,” Rainbow said, pointing a hoof straight at Applejack.

Twilight stared between the two and sighed. “Rainbow Dash—”

“She let you die Twilight! She wasn’t enough of a friend to even let me try! Flat out didn’t have the guts to try the odds and save her friend! And you think she’s gonna do us any better when the entire mission is against the odds?!”

“Rainbow, please! I’m touched, truly, that your devotion to our friendship runs that deep. But I don’t blame Applejack. I’m glad she stopped you from getting hurt!”

Applejack, who had been working herself into the background, finally stood forward. “RD, I know there’s hurt feelin’s an’ all, but ya can’t be sorry you didn’t die for nothin’! Ya can’t be sorry you didn’t die for a fake!”

“Except we didn’t know it was a fake!” Rainbow fired back. “You thought it was really her! You would have stopped me saving the real Twilight!”

Applejack gave a pained, exasperated groan. “You’d a been killed, Rainbow! I’m sorry I kept ya from yer death wish, but there was maybe one shot in a million of you makin’ off with the fake, n’—”

“See? See?!” Rainbow threw her forehooves forward, as if to show Applejack off to the others. “That’s what I’m talking about! You think this whole ‘all-out-battle to search for the Elements’ thing isn’t a one in a million?! Why are we doing it then?!”

“‘C-Cause,” Applejack stammered, “the only other choice is livin’ under Mandeville forever.”

“And we wouldn’t even have this plan,” Rainbow continued, nodding her head vigorously, “if Twilight weren’t alive now! So, maybe saving the Element of Magic was the one in a million shot I was banking on! Maybe the other choice of, ‘watch my best friend die while all hope circles the drain with her,’ wasn’t an option anymore than keeping Mandeville in charge is!”

Finally, Spitfire stood up, approaching Rainbow Dash as her patience ran its course. “Do you have a point rookie, or are we done launching a civil war in the war room?”

“My point,” Rainbow Dash said, leering at Spitfire over her shoulder, “is I am not her friend anymore, so maybe the Elements plan isn’t worth it anyway, because they just plain won’t work.”

“Well that’s simple,” Spitfire muttered. “Rainbow Dash, given you’re under my command, I order that you make up with Applejack.”

“What?!”

“No no, stop!” Twilight shouted at last. “Captain, while I appreciate that, I’m... partially with Rainbow on this.”

Mutters of confusion sounded throughout the room. Even Rainbow Dash herself gave a wide-eyed “You are?”

“Okay Sparkle, I’ll bite,” Spitfire muttered. “Why?”

Twilight took a deep, calming breath, before switching to her signature lecture-mode. “Princess Celestia has had me studying friendship for a while now, and we’ve used the Elements successfully twice in that time. If there’s one thing I know about them, it’s that the bond between the bearers has to be genuine. Friendship isn’t a thing you can force; you can’t coerce somepony to be your friend. Otherwise, it’s not really friendship at all.

“Given that, I really think forcing them to work together is going to do more harm than good.”

“Okay, then whad’ya suggest?”

Twilight sighed, looking to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, if this is really going to be a problem for you, then maybe we can figure it out after we get our hooves on the Elements. But if you can’t work with Applejack in the team... maybe you should stick with the Wonderbolts.”

Rainbow’s face fell, as if someone had hung a dumbbell across her neck. “Twilight, I’m not letting you do this without me! Come on, we’re still friends, right?! You’re not seriously siding with her?!”

“I’m not siding with anypony!” Twilight cried. “I love you girls! You’re both my friends, and I respect both of your actions with the fake! Don’t make this about choosing between you, because I’m not letting this rift wedge us apart any further!

“Rainbow, you’ll be of the most use in the air. It’s what you do! If I have to separate one of you in all this, I need to be mindful of whose talents work best where. With AJ, there’ll only be so much she can do in the battle, but there’s plenty you can do. Otherwise it could easily be you with the infiltration team. We’re on the same side, Rainbow.”

“She shouldn’t be in the team at all!” Rainbow shouted, her lip fighting to stay rigid. “I don’t get it! You’re all fer this plan, but—”

“I’m not for this plan!” Twilight shrieked. “I hate this plan! I hate this whole hopeless struggle! I hate knowing that no matter what I do, I’m not gonna convince anypony here to be realistic and accept that nothing is going to get better!”

Her voice rang off the cavern walls, as if it was as shocked as its occupants looked to hear her say this.

“Twilight,” Pinkie broached after a long silence, “what are you talking about?”

Twilight whirled to face her, the suddenness of the act compelling Pinkie to step back. “I’m talking about how I’m not here because I chose to be! That I let you all think I was gone to protect you!

“Rainbow, I wish you’d just left me where you found me. I wish you, my family and everypony else had just gone home and made peace with their new lives! I’m not here helping because anything better will come of it. I’m here because everypony I’ve ever called a true friend or known as family is here, and they’ve thrown their hats into the ring on false hope! But what choice do I have?! I can’t sit back and watch you all FAIL!

“I don’t want anypony else to die! I don’t want to fight anymore! Because if this all ends with Mandeville beaten, what happens?! Who controls the sun and the moon?!

“We beat him, and then the sun and the moon stay locked in place forever. The sunny side will burn, and the dark side will freeze. Nothing will survive, except maybe at a temperate zone on the sunset terminator. A single axis surrounded by death. Is that better? Is that really better than adjusting to the way things are?

“Mandeville might have ruined things, but I don’t want to go down as one of the ponies that really brought doom to the entire world! What was the plan!? Did anypony think that far ahead? Am I just crazy?!”

The room stood silent, the resistance leaders glancing towards each other. Finally, Cadance spoke. “Twilight, you can’t think we hadn’t considered that.”

Twilight looked to her, sullen and weary, enough to indicate that she was listening.

“I’ll admit, before we found you again, we faced the exact dilemma you’ve described. Without the Elements, we’ve been forced to gather whatever books remain in the archives, for anything that might help. Before you arrived, we justified our cause under a simple understanding. Because Twilight, you’re guilty of not thinking this through yourself.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed, but she maintained eye-contact with her.

“What happens, Twilight, when in a hundred years Mandeville finally succumbs to his age? If we all let him continue his abusive rule on the promise of life, building his fortress into an impenetrable bastion, and he one day dies? You and I both know there is no tonic for immortality. He will die, and we will have surrendered ourselves and all we stand for on the promise of borrowed time.”

“I...” Twilight whispered, her ears folding back as her eyes drifted from the face of her childhood friend. “I hadn’t considered that at all. Oh my gosh, I’ve been so stupid!”

“No, child,” Etherea cooed, “you simply care.”

“So,” Twilight began, “if we’re going with the Elements, just what are we going to do with them? I can see them beating Mandeville, but I thought there might be some plan to keep everything spinning.”

Smolder sighed. “No doubt under the proper circumstances, using the Elements, even on something as powerful as Mandeville has become, sounds well within their power. But I’d rather not have to deal with more variables than I have to. A lot can still go wrong.

“The foremost option to remove Mandeville and keep the sun and moon moving is to call upon the only other being we know to be capable of it: Discord.”

“What?!” Twilight shouted. Y-You, you can’t possibly be... This isn’t seriously...!? I mean, DISCORD?!”

“He reigned over the world longer than recorded history, ages before the tribes had even formed Equestria,” Etherea explained. “It is not unthinkable.”

Smolder grunted his agreement. “Sure thing is, something as powerful as Discord would have no trouble with Mandeville. A straight up fight wouldn’t even be necessary. He’d probably just snap his claws together and render him useless.”

“Assuming he wanted to do that!” Twilight argued. “Maybe he’ll decide it’s fun to watch Mandeville at work! Might I count the ways on how this could backfire?!”

“Easy there. So long as the Elements work, we could threaten him with ‘em and make him keep things orderly.”

Twilight cackled humorlessly. “Oh sure! Up until our backs are turned, and he gets his mitts on just one of the Elements and throws it into a volcano or something! I can’t believe we’re even considering this! Eternal... CHAOS!”

“History depicts Discord’s past doings to be far less frequent than when you met him, Sparkle,” Etherea said. “It was only after Equestria was founded on Harmony that the Princesses were forced to engage him directly. He considered Equestria’s founding a challenge, an affront perhaps. Or else, an entertaining target. You saw him ‘cut loose’ so to speak. Once he’s had his jollies, I doubt if it will be as wholly unlivable as you believe.”

“At the very least,” Smolder expanded, “his influence tends to be historically localized. Ponyville was the heart of the storm last time, and that’s because it’s where he happened to be. Plus, he’s not known for a vested interest in death.”

Twilight rounded on him. “He drove my friends and I to become the very antithesis of ourselves! I wish you’d stop trying to pretend he’s just misunderstood or something!”

Twilight stopped herself, winding down to find she was hyperventilating. Cadance and Rarity were quickly at her side, the latter dabbing at her forehead with a handkerchief.

“What would you have us do, Sparkle?” Smolder asked quietly. “We’re more than open to hear any alternatives.”

“I...” Twilight croaked. “I just can’t believe it’s come to this. Hand the world back over to Discord, undo everything Luna and Celestia ever stood for.”

She pressed her eyes shut, voice going as dark as her vision. “Like they never even existed.”

Twilight snorted derisively, speaking aloud to nobody as she walked away from the group. “Imagine it: the Elements of Harmony, used to the express purpose of killing harmony forever. I’m not sure what will destroy them first; the repugnance of the act itself, Discord, or the irony!”

None of them said a word. Smolder brokered no argument. Etherea offered no solace. None of her friends added anything, comforting or sobering.

Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed, and in a simple flash she was gone from the room.

The meeting was dismissed not long after Twilight had vanished into thin air. In the end, everyone involved was up to speed. Etherea however showed distinct interest in finding the Element of Magic, though the five friends and alicorn were way ahead of her. They fanned-out, searching in the unlikely event that their friend had abandoned them or else was working to sabotage the plan.

Princess Cadance was the one to finally poke her head into the chapel-sized room dubbed “Memorial Hall” by resistance members, and find her young sister-in-law staring into one of the photo-strewn walls.

Twilight found it by accident: adjacent walls holding photographs of smiling, happy ponies. One wall was marked by a crude but well-welded sign, labelled “Missing.” The opposite sign read “Lost.” And between the walls were a pair of great portraits on easels, portraying the visages of Equestria’s fallen princesses.

Bouquets of flowers and letters in scrolls and envelopes festooned the spots where the walls met the floor, but nowhere as dense as the shrines built for Celestia and Luna. It was this sight that attracted Twilight’s initial attention, and her eyes were still damp from the experience. But as she looked around, faces and images on the other walls jumped out at her.

On the Wall of the Missing, Shining Armor’s eyes found hers. Another image, crudely drawn in crayon, depicted a two-legged biped in black. She had to smile at that one, just a little. However, the smile vanished as she turned to the Wall of the Lost, to see something she wasn’t prepared for.

Her own face smiled back at her. In a frame propped against the wall was her graduation photo, from her time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Celestia had personally tutored her long before then, and long after, but this had been the end of her traditional classroom career and the beginning of her adult life.

The smile she wore glowed to nearly outshine the magenta aura from holding up her diploma for the camera. A sky-blue mortarboard sat atop her head, matching her numerous classmates milling about in the background. Completing the image was Spike, perched atop her back and hugging her around the neck. She knew this photograph to have come from her parent’s house.

At the base of the photo, several daisies were scattered around. She admitted to herself that it might have been coincidence —particularly given she preferred their taste to their appearance— but she guessed they had been placed for her.

It was surreal to behold it, particularly the scrolls and letters clearly addressed to her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to read them. It felt wrong, as though she would be reading one of their diaries. After all, it wasn’t as though they had expected her to actually read them. Did she want to hear her friends’ ungarnished thoughts, or realize the pain she had caused them with the lie she’d put them through?

Like the image of Corey on the opposite wall, another sheet of paper sat before the photo. It was this that she was staring at when Cadance entered the room. It depicted five ponies —and one tiny purple dragon— sitting on clouds, all but one wearing white wings and white robes, which were helpfully made visible by tan paper. Each were helpfully labeled, one violet unicorn simply described with “You!” in glittery pink crayon.

Spike, Celestia, Luna, Trixie and a unicorn she’d never heard of named “Double Time” joined her in the clouds, above a much larger caption that took up a quarter of the page.

“I’ll miss you Twilight. But now you can be a beautiful angel, like them,” Cadance read aloud, startling Twilight a moment before she began rubbing her eyes frantically.

“An-And ‘them’ has arrows on it pointing to Celestia and Luna,” Twilight stammered, mildly laughing as she did. “I-I’m not sure if she’s serious, or if she’s just confused about what an alicorn is.”

Cadance shrugged. “I thought it was sweet. Still, might be some old earth pony lore. The first run-ins between the three pony tribes created a lot of superstitions. I bet they saw pegasi and thought they were earth pony spirits. Like how sailors confused sirens for seaponies... the ones that made it back anyway.”

For a moment, silence swelled between them.

“I’m sorry I stormed out. I wasn’t sure what else to... I-It’s just everything, Cadance! Everything she was, everything she fought for!” Twilight turned to stare into the face of her mentor. “I can’t imagine she would want us to do this, I can’t imagine there’s not another way. But at the same time I have no idea what she’d do, what she knew that we didn’t.

“And then I start to get angry. Why is there no fallback for something like this, why didn’t she prepare for what might happen if an assassin got inside the palace?! I feel like we’re missing something, or that she was!

“Part of me wants to shout at her, for failing to stop him, for leaving us all like this! How could she lose?! I don’t even know what happened in that fight! And I wonder if I did something! Luna was already gone when I arrived, but I tried to stop the fight! And I wonder if I’m the reason she lost! And I can’t... I can’t...”

Cadance quietly started shushing her as more tears yet rolled down. A wing wrapped around her side as its owner leaned into her. “You did all you could. And at least you got to see each other one last time. That’s more than anypony else can say, Twilight. She loved you, you know.

“She never shared her failsafe plans with me, if there were any. And if she only shared them with Luna, it does us no better. I have to trust that Aunt Celestia wasn’t careless. If the methods for controlling the sun were at all capable of being stolen and abused, she would have guarded them closely. Or perhaps a different plan was simply never realized in time. I wouldn’t put it past her to lay plans entire decades in advance. Either way, it’s not like anypony could have predicted this.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said. “Yeah, I know. It doesn’t make this any easier though.

“So, I guess when this is all over... you’ll be the new leader of Equestria, won’t you?”

Cadance paused a moment. “I’ve been too busy thinking of how we get to that point, but if the ponies of Equestria want that, I suppose so.”

“Is that what you want?”

Cadance stared into the distance. “I don’t know. It’s an intimidating prospect, but I swore on my coronation that I would do all I could to serve the betterment of Equestria and our subjects.”

“Coronation?” Twilight asked, frowning slightly. “I thought you were born a princess!”

The last alicorn smiled at her. “Twilight, did I never tell you this as a filly? I was born a pegasus, an orphan. My adoptive parents found me in the woods when I was a baby.”

“I can’t believe I’ve never asked you about your parents,” Twilight said, ears folding back.

“It’s been a long time, Twilight, and you were just a filly before.”

“So, how did you...?”

“Change? It began with a cold, hard unicorn mage and the necklace she wore. The necklace was the last gift of her late fiance, and she wore it always. It was powerful, and she grew to treasure it more than anything else in the world.

“She was a weary soul, and didn’t realize the necklace amplified negative feelings as well as positive ones, a fact her lost love hadn’t been privy to. She had long become numb to the warmth of love. She did not immediately abuse her power, but the longer she wore it, the stronger the bitter corners of her heart beated. She grew to resent the happy ponies in town, to hate them, to revile them. What right had they to be together and be happy, while she was alone?

“Then at last, Hearts and Hooves Day arrived one year, and the last of her patience and restraint buckled. With the full power of the charm, she conjured a spell that began to sap the love from the entire town, hoping to take it for herself and feel something again. As sure as if changelings had swarmed them, the hearts of everypony grew cold and unfeeling.”

“What in the world did you do?” Twilight asked. “What could you do?”

“Somehow, I alone was unaffected by the spell. I was frightened, still just a little filly, watching as the parents I loved wilted in misery. I finally found her in the town square, victorious and bitter about it.

“She stood before me, confused and furious that I remained untouched. She told me to go, tried to scare me into leaving the town if I would not be subjugated like the rest. I refused, because I loved my parents too much. Because I loved my friends and my fellow townsponies.

“She then turned the full force of the spell upon me, but she was ignorant to the necklace’s power. The love and compassion I carried was more than the hate in her heart, and the effect of the necklace inverted. As if a switch had been flipped, the town practically glowed. I felt it, my parents felt it. But most of all, she felt it.

“All the hurt, all the love she had for her lost mate boiled to the surface, and she apologized, casting the necklace away herself.

“It was in that moment that I vanished, as the necklace’s power ceased. I found myself somewhere I’ve never seen before or since. A place of void, and yet it was so full. So dark, and yet filled with little lights like shrunken stars. I was terrified, but I knew I was safe. I felt alone... and then she stepped out of the darkness.”

“ ‘She?’ ” Twilight asked, surprised to hear herself whispering.

“Princess Celestia herself. It was the first time I had ever met or even seen her, outside of photos and artwork. And yet, she was there —wherever ‘there’ was— for me.

“She told me I’d proven I was a very special pony. Where we were, she said only she had ever been before then. Risking my life for the happiness of others, I had become worthy of this place somehow. She said she had hoped to find somepony like me for a very, very long time. I was taken up in a blur of light and magic. I felt my body fall away, and the next thing I knew I was floating to the ground in my village, and I had a horn on my head. Celestia was there, and she explained that I was a princess. My parents were so proud of me...”

“So,” Twilight puzzled, “she was watching, and turned you into an alicorn?”

“Actually, she told me later on that she only arrived where I was because of what she sensed. Something familiar in the magical ether. I think she hoped Luna had come back, but instead found me. She did indeed guide my change, but she seemed to think it was going to happen whatever she did.

“She said the alicorn was already within me, and she presumed it was in others as well. A potential, waiting to be unearthed and realized. She had just never had proof of that before me. But she always insisted she couldn’t merely conjure a horn or some wings onto a pony and have them be as she was. She insisted there was more to it than one could see with their eyes.”

“I had no idea,” Twilight muttered.

Cadance chuckled. “Well, that was before you knew me. I don’t think you could even talk yet.” She gazed into the ether, the ghost of a smile on her face. “I’m surprised your mother never told you. She was the royal chronicler who took down my account of it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, she was so nice to me! She was the first non-princess friend I ever made in Canterlot. I mean, I was barely more than a kid and suddenly I was a ruler in training... I’ll never forget everything your mother did to make me feel comfortable there.”

“I mean, I knew she was a chronicler once,” Twilight said, “but I never knew she penned the tale of Equestria’s youngest princess. Can’t believe she followed that with a career writing adventure books.

“But why would my parents never tell me any of this?”

Cadance lifted a hoof in a shrugging gesture. “Well, at first we just agreed to be informal when I visited. I didn’t want anypony treating me differently than before I was a princess, but ponies get really caught up in respect. I think they might just have tried to honor my wishes, not saying anything that might make you treat me differently. You heard them call me ‘princess,’ but I think that was before you knew what the word meant. It just became incidental that your old friend Cadance had this job as a princess.

“But that was a long time ago! I’ve known for a long time that we were always going to be friends before anything else. Maybe it just never came up in later years?”

Twilight hummed in ascent, turning to stare into the painting of her teacher once more. “After I entered school, I put everything into my studies. I barely had time to talk, no time for friends. I’m not sorry for everything I learned, but we grew apart. I became distant from everypony else. It’s probably more that I never thought to ask till now. I’m sorry.”

Cadance shook her head. “It’s alright, I studied there too y’know. It’s a lot of pressure, especially for somepony who never had a horn to cast magic with before. And taught by Celestia, personally? You never wanted to disappoint her. She had a unique effect on ponies.”

“She’s touched so many, done so much for us, and for others before us,” Twilight reminisced. “Thousands of years to rule and keep the peace in Equestria. Why now? Why our lifetimes? Nightmare Moon returns, a new princess rises, and the old ones die.

“Why now? Why us? I-I wish we all could’ve lived in the times of peace. Instead, we’ve inherited the end.”

Cadance turned to look at her, and lifted her chin so she would do likewise. “No. Whatever this is, it’s not the end. We’ll find a way. We’ll survive.”

Cadance stood up, drawing herself to her highest stature, slender crown gleaming. “I don’t know much about destiny, Twilight. I don’t know if there’s something out there writing history on the pages of time, or if the results of our actions and our decisions were always going to play out a single way. But maybe, just maybe, you, your friends and even I were born not so we would suffer through this, but because we’re the ones who can stop it.

“Twilight, if you’d consent to it... I know you want a small group, but I want to come with you for the infiltration.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and she tilted her head. “You want to come with us? But you’re a princess! The last princess! Won’t everypony else need you to help lead th—”

“Smolder is a far superior strategist than I will ever be, and Etherea is a master of magic to rival even you.” Cadance’s hoof gently bopped against Twilight’s nose. “And as a future ruler, I couldn’t forgive myself if I sat by and watched. And if I can help you, you especially, I’ll know I did my part. I won’t slow you down, and as an alicorn my magic is powerful. You can use my help, even if I’m not as skilled in magic as you.”

“And of course, if we happen upon Shining Armor in there...” Twilight smiled knowingly, to which Cadance winced. “I know, I really hope we find him too.”

Cadance’s eyebrows rose. “Then, you don’t mind?”

Twilight shook her head. They sat for a moment, gazing at Celestia’s face as though into a sunset.

“I’d read those, when you get a chance,” Cadance suggested, indicating the letters on the floor. “I think it might help.”

Twilight glanced at them, before turning away. “Oh. Y-You’re sure they’d want that? Maybe I should ask them first.”

Cadance giggled. “If you really want to, but I can’t imagine their last words to you would’ve been anything cruel or off-color.” She sighed.

“But that can all keep till later. I think we promised your folks we’d meet them for dinner.”

“Breach! We have a breach! All hooves up, ready yourselves for combat!”

Two days later, alarm bells rang in Twilight’s ears. She scrambled out of her cot, stumbling over as she fought her tired mind. “Wuzzgoinon?” she asked Rarity, who had already collected her recurve bow.

“Sounds as if somepony or something wandered its way into one of the entrances!”

“All trips outside get cleared by Etherea,” Applejack explained. “Alarms are triggered by some kinda magic tripwire spell or somethin’!”

“Well, what if it’s just a rabbit that set it off then?!” Twilight asked, shouting over the alarm. “Isn’t this a bit much?!”

Rarity slung her quiver over her shoulder. “I believe it’s designed to ignore all animals aside from ponies, monsters or anything we don’t recognize!”

“Hurry it up, y’all! Time’s wastin’!”

They followed the other fighters, past the room Twilight had been examined in and into the further cave system. She knew this to be one of the primary paths out of Canterlot. And within a large chamber sat dozens of soldiers, turned towards a bottleneck in the cave which led outside.

They found General Smolder in the center of the room, growling at the room’s occupants to keep quiet.

“General,” Twilight whispered, “do we know what it is?”

Smolder didn’t even blink, eyes firmly on the cave passage. “No. Useless magical guff tells us what it’s not, but we still need a good look of it ourselves.”

“What’s the plan if it’s Mandeville’s stuff?” Rainbow asked.

“We fight our way out, burn all intel on the resistance and run.”

“No ‘ffense,” Applejack said, “but if that’s plan A then this whole thing—”

“Quiet!” Smolder shouted in a stage-whisper. He pointed to the cavern ahead. “Something’s coming.”

Indeed, Twilight and the other ponies assumed a fighting stance as they noticed a building orange light, swelling brighter and brighter on the cavern walls ahead.

“I-Is it a dragon?” Fluttershy posed, cowering behind Pinkie Pie, who offered her own suggestion.

“Maybe it’s just a pony with a lantern?”

Twilight turned to look at Pinkie. With someone she could always count on to do something unexpected, she had to note that somehow Pinkie had kept up that tradition by offering a completely normal explanation.

It took her so off guard in fact, that Applejack was forced to tap her in a rapid-fire motion to turn and see a great, glowing red and orange bird poke its head at them over a cluster of crystals.

“Ph-Philomena?” Twilight asked, to whose back the glorious beast flew, drawing the eyes of the soldiers and cawing happily. “So you set off the alarm spell!”

“No, you fools!” Smolder shouted through his teeth. “The spell wouldn’t get tripped by a phoenix! Keep your guard up!”

“Hey down there!” a voice called from the bottleneck, echoing through the cave towards them.

Something white suddenly poked from out behind a crystal cluster. One twitchy stallion let a crossbow bolt sail wildly across, smashing into the cluster as the bleached shape retreated.

“Hold your fire!” Smolder roared.

“Whoa whoa whoa, does this not translate?!” the voice demanded. “White flag, I’m a fucking friendly!”

Twilight found a spark shooting through her spine as she drew herself up. Glancing to the others, she thought she could see the same gleam in their own eyes, and a smile spread across her features.

“Corey?!”

There was a silence. “Good to see you’re alright, Twilight.

“I’m coming out! For Christ sake, do not shoot me!”

The black, humanoid figure stepped out from behind the crystal. Hair disheveled, face coated in a deliberate layer of mud, he clambered out holding his hands in the air. A pair of brown eyes poked out through it, tired and glassy.

“Okay,” Corey said, lowering his hands slowly, “before anything else, I’ve got a thing or two you guys should hear. See, I’m not alone.”

He turned back to the bottleneck, where another pair of eyes shot suddenly back out of sight. “It’s alright! Come on out.”

The second figure took a tentative step out. Twilight let out a quiet gasp as she saw them. It was far from the last thing she expected, but it was up there...

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long... LONG wait for this one folks.
With all my experimentation with 3D and the stuff I plan to do with it to enhance the reading experience, it kinda waylaid the writing process, and there's definitely some stuff I want to have out to coincide with certain chapter releases.

Also, fun fact, Cadance's origin (while dressed up a little) is NOT in fact bullshit. I actually bought a copy of "The Crystal Heart Spell" from a Barnes and Noble and read it cover to cover to make sure I had that more correct than the simple blurbs I'd heard about it online.

Hopefully next chapter won't take NEARLY this long. Modeling Twilight's Library in 3D has kicked my ass...