Twilight peeked out of the hole she had poked in the side of the crate. So far all she had seen was an awful lot of snow, which was unhelpful, especially since none of them had brought any winter clothes. Trixie, having had the foresight to leave her hat and cape behind in Equestria, regretted that decision, loudly and repetitively.

She sighed and looked back into the crate where the others were discussing the merits of alfalfa and how it would be great if it didn't taste so awful. That wasn't a particularly helpful topic, not least because she quite liked alfalfa, so she went back to looking through her peephole just in time to see them pass a wall and move into a street.

"Guys! I think we're here!"

"Ugh, finally! Trixie has the worst case of hoof cramp ever!"

"Quite," agreed Fleur. "I didn't think being trapped in a box for this long would make me miss stretching so much."

Twilight ignored their grumblings as she watched the world outside. The cart they were in seemed to be pulling into some kind of stockyard judging by the crane and piles of other crates. She waved the others into silence and tensed herself as she watched the crane turn to them and pick them up.

Her joy at the prospect of getting out of the crate was short lived as the crane placed the crate on the ground with the opening shoved up against a wall. Sitting down with a thud she uttered a curse word and rested her head gently against the side of the crate.

"What? What is it?" Trixie asked as Octavia nudged Twilight aside so she could look outside.

"They put the door against a wall. We can't get out." Twilight mumbled, dumbstruck at the thought of being defeated by a crate so soon into their mission.

"Wha- Aargh!" Fleur shouted as she looked up too quickly and jammed her horn into the top of the crate.

"This isn't fair! This sooo isn't fair!" groaned Trixie as she lay on the floor clutching her head in her hooves. "Can a pony develop claustrophobia? I only ask because I think I've suddenly got it."

There was a crack as Fleur yanked her horn free. "Surely there must be a way out of this box? We can't just stay stuck in here!"

"Maybe there is..." Octavia mumbled, before she was sent flying by Fleur and Trixie who fought each other to look out of the hole. Shaking her head she moved to Twilight, who was sat like a puppet with its strings cut. "Twilight? You can teleport can't you?"

"Well...yes, I can, but I don't want to get caught using that kind of magic."

"You won't. There's some kind of hut just across the yard that you could teleport us behind. That way hopefully we won't be seen teleporting."

Twilight got up and telekinetically lifted aside Trixie, who had been doing her best to claw her way through the hole, and focused on the hut across the yard. "Ok, I think I can make that, but I don't think I should send us all at once." She looked at Fleur who was lay down whimpering, and Trixie who was trotting on the spot declaring that the box, despite being a worthy adversary, could not defeat her. "Octavia, you're the most level headed right now, I'll teleport you across so you can check it’s clear for the rest of us."

"And if it’s not, run and hope for the best?"

"Yeah, something... like... that." Twilight closed her eyes and tried to visualise behind the hut. Thankfully it isn't that precise a science and a moment later Octavia vanished in a purple flash. Looking out of the hole, she watched as Octavia looked around the sides of the hut before waving back. "Ok guys, hold still so I can teleport us." Neither of them were listening so Twilight teleported them and clamped a telekinetic sheath over their mouths in case they freaked at the sudden change of surroundings.

"That was rude," Trixie said once Twilight had released them. Ignoring Twilight's groan of annoyance she looked around the side of the hut at the crate. "Told you I'd beat you some day you accursed conveyance!" she said while shaking a hoof at the offending crate.

At the other end of the hut Octavia was showing Twilight their next obstacle, namely the yard full of crates being pony-handled by a large number of burly looking earth pony and a few unicorn stallions. "Not exactly a place where you typically find ponies like us."

"Yeah, we do kind of stand out." Twilight muttered as she kept looking. She looked at the wall topped with barbed wire, clearly climbing up some crates and jumping over wasn't an option.

"Well ladies, if we stand out we may as well stand out." Fleur said with a smirk. "I say we just walk out like we own this place. Or rather Octavia walks out likes she owns this place, and we follow her looking like she owns us too."

"Trixie deems that plan so dumb it might just work."

Twilight didn't like the sound of the plan but turned to Octavia and gave a small smile. "Your choice Octavia." Taking a deep breath Octavia looked around the side of the hut before looking back and nodding. Raising her head, she trotted out with the others close behind. To give a bad idea credit they made it quite far before a big earth pony stallion with a bristling moustache stopped them.

"And what do you think you are doing here hmm? This is no place for such pretty mares." He loomed over them, making even the unusually tall Fleur feel small, except for Trixie, who was looking around and not really paying attention.

Twilight was about to plead for forgiveness when Octavia stepped forward and did her best to look the stallion in the eye. "And who do you think you are to stop us? I ought to speak to your supervisor."

"I am the supervisor. That's why I want to know what you are doing in my yard."

Thinking quickly Octavia answered. "If you must know this unicorn behind me is one of my hoof maids and she was trying to escape." She gestured to the pony behind her, who just so happened to be Twilight. "My husband spoke most harshly to the poor girl and demanded she leave before he had her thrown into prison. Apparently the daft girl translated that into leaving the country."

The stallion just looked sceptical. "Uh-huh. And who are you exactly?"

"I am Lady Belladonna Hoofage, and these are my hoof maidens Fleur, Twilight and Trixie." Fleur and Twilight both bowed subserviently. Trixie however, continued to look around like she was sightseeing. "You'll have to excuse the blue one, she's a bit dim."

"No I'm not!" Trixie protested before being crushed by the scornful looks of the other three. "I mean, yes, yes I am."

The stallion looked even less convinced than before. "Look, your 'ladyship,' I don't care why you're here. If you want to get out, go. Just leave the white one behind as payment and you can have her back in say...two or three days." He walked behind Fleur and gave her a light smack on her flank. Fleur for her part just looked queasy.

"I beg your pardon!?" shouted Octavia. "I shall do no such thing! Come along ladies, we are leaving!"

The stallion trotted in front of them to block their way. "You came into my yard and now you expect to just leave without paying the toll? Just do as I ask and nopony need get hurt.”

Octavia was about to protest further when a white hoof on her shoulder interrupted her. "It's ok mistress, if this gentlestallion will follow me I'll give him a little something to remember us by." Smiling at the stallion, she turned and headed to the hut with the stallion close behind her.

The others were shocked enough to not really know what to do, and stood unmoving until Trixie said "She's not really going to do that is she? I mean- I mean- That's just nasty!"

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see,"muttered Twilight, who was feeling ill just thinking about it.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait long until a muffled shout came from the hut right before a flustered looking Fleur trotted out at a brisk pace and carried on past them, slowing down enough to gesture for them to follow. Twilight was about to ask what happened when a roar of rage and pain emanated from behind them.

"Run!" shouted Twilight. "What did you do?" she panted after she had caught up to Fleur.

"Two hooves in the sweet spot, works every time. Told you I'd give him something to remember us by." She smiled weakly before returning her focus to running.

They dodged and weaved their way through the stockyard, doing their best to avoid being accidentally crushed or captured. They finally made it to exit where another stallion was trying to shut the gate, trapping them. Grabbing a small crate in her magic, Trixie launched it at the stallions head, smashing the crate and knocking him out cold. They flew through the gates and turned right, heading deeper into the city. Noticing another cart full of crates by the side of the road, Twilight wrenched it over with her magic, spilling its contents across the road behind them and hopefully deterring their pursuers.

Turning another corner and heading up an alleyway, they stopped when they could no longer hear anyone following them. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Twilight looked at Trixie for a moment before yelling in her face, "You threw a crate at his head!? You could have killed him!"

"I needed to stop him! You know what they would have done to us if they had caught us!"

"You could have done something else! Like blocked the gate or something!"

"Trixie wasn't taking any chances."

Twilight was about to yell at her further when Octavia interposed herself between them. "Princess, please stop. Trixie just reacted to the situation, and I agree with her that stopping him was more important than the ethicality of how she stopped him."

"Ugh, fine. And don’t call me princess" She instead turned her attention to Fleur, trying to come up with the best way of asking what she wanted to ask. Thankfully Fleur came to her rescue.

"If you want to know if that sort of thing happens a lot, then the answer is yes. He wouldn't have laid a hoof on Octavia just in case what she said was true, but us unicorns, we wouldn't have been so lucky."

"But- But that's horrible!"

"Welcome to Mareitania, population: not very nice. Besides, stopping that sort of thing is kind of part of why we're here." Fleur shrugged. "You're going to see some unpleasant things while you're here Twilight, that was just a taster."

All of them lapsed into silence. "Well," Octavia asked, "what now?"

Twilight was about to ask Fleur, hoping she would have an idea, when Trixie shivered and said "Trixie thinks we should find some way of not freezing to death."

Twilight nodded, "We need to get some clothes and probably some food before anything else."

"But how?" Octavia asked; "We don't have any money."

Trixie looked accusingly at Twilight, who looked to Fleur. Standing up, Fleur started to head up the alley. "I think we can fix that," she said as she walked.

Fleur had led them to a large square packed with market stalls, with ponies hawking their wares and even more ponies buying them. "Welcome to the completely not world famous Stalliongrad market," she said with a flourish.

The others looked around keenly before Trixie, in her usual form, started to complain. "How is this any use to us? We don't have any money, remember."

"Oh I know, and I intend to rectify that. You girls look around for a bit, and I'll meet you in half an hour or so." As Fleur trotted off Twilight couldn't help but notice she was looking at ponies rather than the stalls.

"I wonder what she's doing?" Twilight said to no one in particular.

Trixie snorted, "I know you must have led a sheltered life as the Princess' precious prized pupil, living out of the royal coffers, but some of us have had survive by doing what is necessary."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, but Trixie ignored her, instead choosing to go ahead and look around the market.

Octavia smiled sympathetically at Twilight, "What Trixie means to say is that some ponies have to get by through dishonest means, largely through lack of choice. Fleur's gone pickpocketing Twilight."

"Oh. Great. Well I suppose it’s better than what I was thinking she was doing."

"Don't worry Twilight, Fleur's a good pony. She'll only steal off those who can easily afford it. She won't make anypony suffer for our benefit."

"I hope not. We didn't come here to make things worse." They walked together for a short while, taking in the sights, before Octavia spoke up again.

"You ought to apologise to Trixie."

"What? Why?"

"We were in a desperate situation and Trixie only did what she thought was right and necessary, to help and protect us."

"I know, but did she have to whack that poor colt around the head to do so? There were other ways."

"Yes, but that was the most guaranteed way. I don't know about you, but me and my backside are quite grateful she did it. She certainly didn't deserve you yelling at her for trying to help her friends."

Twilight said nothing for a bit, thinking about what Octavia said about friends. They barely knew each other, yet she considered them friends? "I guess you're right. I doubt she'll listen to me now, but yes, I'll apologise when I can."

"Good. Now how about we have a look around, see if we can find what we need."

Twilight gave a mock bow. "Lead on my lady Belladonna."

Half an hour had passed and a jubilant looking Fleur eventually re-joined the others brandishing a small collection of coin purses. Still got it!" she said with a wink. "It’s not a huge amount but it should be enough to get us some winter cloaks and a bite to eat."

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "So I guess being pretty isn't just your only skill?"

Fleur shrugged. "I'm also good at keeping secrets."

Twilight took one of the purses and lifted a coin out, giving it a critical look. It was hexagonal, with the old earth pony coat of arms stamped on one side, and a profile of a rather corpulent pony stamped on the other. "What are these even called anyway?"

"Those are called Mareitanian marcs, usually just called marcs. Don't ask me why they're called that, they just are."

Trixie stamped a hoof to get their attention. "As interesting as the currency is, how about we use some to get some clothes. I found a stall whose owner rates making money above us being unicorns and he had the cutest purple cloak there."

They followed Trixie to the stall, which was run by a cheerful pale blue earth pony stallion. Trixie picked her cloak out straight away, paying for it and quickly wrapping it around herself. The others took their time to pick what they wanted, although Twilight took less time since she was far less picky, choosing a burgundy cloak trimmed with white. Leaving Fleur and Octavia to try on the various cloaks they had picked out, Twilight went and sat next to Trixie, who raised her nose in the air at Twilights' approach.

"Look, Trixie. I... want to apologise for before."

"Trixie is listening," Trixie said, looking at Twilight out of the corner of her eye.

"Right, well... I know you were just trying to help and I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"Go on."

"And I'm thankful that we got away because of what you did. I guess I'm just shocked that you did it. I could never react like that to a pony, even if they wanted to hurt me like they had wanted to. But... you were right, so I guess what I should say is that I'm sorry."

"Apology rejected, kiss my hoof and say it like you mean it." Trixie said, holding a mud covered hoof in front of Twilight's face.

"I- Uh- I... d-don't- Uh-" Twilight spluttered, unable to think of what to say.

Trixie's serious facade soon cracked and she grinned at the flustered unicorn beside her. "Relax Twilight, I'm just teasing you. I mean, you could kiss it if you want," she said, flicking some mud off her hoof, "but you'd probably catch something. And I'm sorry too, about what I said about you being the Princess’ spoilt pupil. That was unfair."

"Actually, you weren't far off. I have spent most of my life being sheltered from the everyday realities of life. This place just makes that more obvious. I get the feeling I'm going to learn some hard lessons before this is over."

Saying nothing, Trixie nudged her hip against Twilight's before looking back to where Fleur and Octavia were negotiating their purchases, Fleur looking elegant in a black cloak with white trim, and Octavia looking surprisingly adorable in a dark grey cloak with a black fur trim, especially since she had the hood up as well. "What?" she asked defensively when she noticed Trixie and Twilight staring at her.

Twilight was about to say she looked nice when Trixie launched herself towards Octavia, grabbed her around the neck and smushed their faces together. "You look soooo cute! Trixie could just gobble you up!"

"I would prefer you didn't," Octavia said as she tried to push Trixie off her, asking what they should do next once she had.

"Now," Fleur answered, "we get something to eat, and while we're doing that I have a little pop quiz for you." As she led the way to the food stalls she started asking questions. "What do you notice about the stalls?"

After looking around the nearest stalls Octavia hazarded a guess. "They're all run by earth ponies?"

"Correct, although unicorns can run their own businesses, that is mostly in the poorer, southern parts of the country. Any unicorn trying to set up here would probably be hounded out of the city."

"But surely these stall owners could employ unicorns?" Octavia asked as she weaved her way around a mare and a stallion having a full on argument over the price of something.

"They could, and many do behind the scenes, but to have a unicorn working the stall would be looked down upon. Now what do you notice about the customers around here?"

There was a moment of silence before Trixie said "They're mostly earth ponies too."

"Yep. Stalliongrad is almost exclusively earth ponies. There are some unicorns here, but most live in the south where there's a far smaller chance of freezing to death through poor housing and inadequate clothing."

"Inadequate clothing? But we got clothing just fine."

"Those marcs I acquired all came from wealthy earth pony merchants, and all together probably made us the richest unicorns here. Most of the unicorns here are probably wearing hoof-me-downs and rags they found in the garbage."

"That's disgusting!"

Fleur looked back at Trixie. "Given the choice between wearing that sort of thing and freezing to death, you can call me Fleur, the prettiest rag wearing hobo in Stalliongrad."

They walked on in silence to the food stalls, where they attempted to buy lunch. Eventually they found a stall selling greasy hayburgers that would serve them, and the food was prepared in front of them so there was a good chance the cook hadn't spat in the burgers. Sitting away from the other customers they ate their lunch and Fleur asked her final question.

"What haven't you seen here?"

"What? What kind of question is that? Trixie isn't exactly in the habit of noticing things that aren't there."

"At least try to answer the question," Fleur chided.

"Oh very well, there's a distinct lack of good manners around here, that's for certain."

"And decent cooking," Octavia added as she prodded her burger.

"Nice weather? I mean its freezing! How can anypony actually want to live here?"

"Friendly faces?" Octavia said as she noticed some of the looks she was getting for willingly sitting with unicorns.

"Pegasi," said Twilight quietly.

"Bingo," said Fleur. "Not a single pegasus anywhere. Not that that's unusual, for Mareitania at least."

"Where are they?"

"As soon as we finish lunch I'll show you," Fleur said with a pained look in her eyes.

Fleur had led them on a meandering path through the city, to let the others have a decent look at what the city is like. So far Twilight had decided she didn't like it. Sure many of the buildings were bright and colourful, and if she was ignorant of what the city was like then this would be an amazing place to look around. Instead all she could see was the misery that underlined everything. For every wealthy earth pony she saw, she knew there were dozens of poor earth ponies and unicorns. For every decadent home she saw, she saw a dozen ramshackle hovels where ponies struggled to survive. The whole city was one big lie.

All of that was nothing compared to what she saw next. Fleur had led them to an abandoned looking building overlooking a walled compound, and was taking them to the roof.

"I hope you're ready for this," Fleur said forlornly. "Even the well-off ponies in this city look at this place with shame. Or disgust. Honestly, it's hard to tell."

Twilight could see why. The compound wasn't just walled, but had iron bars running from wall to wall, creating a giant cage. Within that cage were several dilapidated huts, around which walked dozens of miserable looking pegasi wearing collars and wing binders.

Twilight stood there feeling an unusual, yet justified, rage boiling up within her. She looked away, trying to see how the others were reacting. Octavia was sat looking horrified, with her hooves over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Trixie stood still, her mouth opening and closing as words escaped her. Fleur sat behind them, her back to the compound and her head hanging low, and Twilight really couldn't blame her.

She tried to ask why anypony would do this, but the words caught in her throat. Swallowing hard, she tried again. "W-why would... Why would anypony do this? The pegasi did nothing to deserve this!"

Fleur raised her head, but didn't look round to answer. "The princesses told you about them needing the pegasi to control the weather? And about the wing clippings so they can't fly for long and can't escape." Fleur's voice cracked.

"Yes."

"Well it’s worse than that. This is where they keep the pegasi when they're not working, in these squalid labour camps. They bind their wings so they can't cause trouble and those collars they're wearing are designed to temporarily paralyze them if they move a certain distance way from a certain point. I don't know how it works though."

Twilight was so angry she could explode. She had been angry before but never like this. She wanted nothing more than to march down there and tear that place apart. What Octavia said next only made it worse.

"There are children in there," she squeaked.

Twilight's rage overflowed. "We are going down there and stopping this. Right now!" she said between gritted teeth, to the agreement of Trixie and Octavia.

Fleur jumped up and spun to face them. "You can't!" she hissed. "If you try to break them out they'll just be recaptured because the collar will activate! And where will you take them? There's no safe haven for them in this country where they won't be found. And if they are found they'll be killed or worse."

"Worse?" Trixie scoffed, "What could be worse than death?"

Fleur pushed her aside and scanned the compound for a moment before pointing at a teal mare that was rocking back and forth while hugging herself. "That's what."

"Why is an earth pony in there?"

"That's not an earth pony Trixie."

"What do you mean that's not an ea-" Trixie's eyes widened in horror as she realised the truth of what she was seeing. "Oh. Oh no. Oh Celestia no."

"Yep. Any pegasus that defies them gets their wings cut off. And a pegasus that can't fly is useless to them, so they stop giving them rations. If that pony wants to live they have to work to get food off the guards through... other means. Most choose to just starve to death. That mare down there probably refused a guard's advances, and now look at her."

Octavia looked sadly at Fleur, "How do you know all this?"

Fleur stared at the compound a while longer before turning away and answering. "I spent months in Stalliongrad before I made my escape to Equestria, and this building is where I holed up. Most days I would come up here just hoping to see a pegasus fight back and escape, like the pegasus warriors of old I had heard of in the stories, until one day, when I saw them cu- Cu- Do that thing to a stallion. I've never heard anypony scream like that and after, I couldn't bring myself to come back here." A tear ran down her cheek as the others moved in to hug her. "A week later I made my escape. I want to tear this place down too, but we can't, not yet. Someday though, we will. And when we do, I'm going to sit here and I'm going to watch those pegasus fly free."