Twilight regretted waiting until the next day to head back to Puddingarde. Only partially though, as it had been nice to see the pegasi flying over Neigh Orleans to prepare the weather. She had been told that previously the pegasi would have to assemble the weather next to a populated area then blow the weather into position over the town or city so as to not offend the more sensitive ponies with their existence. Spitfire wasn't aware of that, and Twilight was more than happy for that small bit of ignorance to continue.

What Twilight wasn't best pleased about was the rain. She wasn't aware that the best way to start a new long term weather plan was by making it rain, so at least you knew that the plants were watered and that ponies, and others, had water as well. Then you could move onto other seasonal weather. The problem was that the weather had been static over Neigh Orleans and the surrounding area for at least two weeks, so they were making it rain a lot, just in case. Perfect weather for walking in.

At least one of the seven ponies walking to Puddingarde was enjoying it though, trotting along with a smile on her face and her head held high as she occasionally caught some rain in her mouth.

"How are you so happy?" asked a soggy Trixie as she watched a beaming Ivory splash the water in a puddle.

"You have no idea how long its been since I've been properly rained on," Ivory replied. "If I was still with the Viscount I'd be stuck in a carriage, either watching the rain run down the window, or I'd be... uh, stuck doing something else. If getting rained on is freedom, then I'm happy to get rained on."

"What do you mean stuck doing something else?" Twilight asked, only to have a wide eyed Fleur mouth silently at her while shaking her head and making a slicing motion across her throat while Trixie lifted her hoof to her open mouth, moving it back and forward and bobbing her head up and down as she made slurping noises. "Never mind. In fact, forget I even asked."

"In all seriousness, I want to thank you all for giving me this chance to help, rather than shove me in a cell next to that perverted mayor like certain stallions wanted to."

Fleur raised her eyebrows in surprise, "You knew what the mayor was like?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Thankfully the Viscount didn't share some of his more disgusting habits-"

"'Cause you'd be out of a job if he did," the filly quipped.

"Indeed. Wouldn't that have been a pity," Ivory said sarcastically. "I am being serious though, thank you for accepting me. It's nice to not be looked upon as the enemy because I'm stuck with the Viscount."

"What are abject strangers for if not acceptance?" said Trixie. "Seriously though, if you betray us, I will eviscerate you most horribly."

"Ignore her," said Twilight, "she's grumpy."

Ivory swallowed and nodded, "While I am not unused to threats on my life, this is one I would like to avoid."

"Ponies have made death threats against you?" Octavia enquired.

"Oh yes. Mostly the Viscount if I'm honest. He usually makes one when I've really displeased him. In fact, I imagine he's made a few more since I deserted him." Ivory laughed to herself.

"Possibly..." Fleur said slowly. "Still, welcome to the revolution. Hopefully we'll be able to lure other ponies in positions of power to join us."

"Position of power? Moi?" Ivory chuckled, "You must be mistaking me for a pony without a horn."

"I seem to remember a quote about powerful stallions achieving great things by knowing powerful mares. I'm sure the opposite can apply." Fleur looked to Twilight for confirmation, "Right?"

"Eehhh... something like that." It wasn't much longer until they came upon Puddingarde, although the placed seemed much more subdued without ponies out training and practicing.

"Have these ponies seriously copped out of training because it's raining?" Trixie asked as she looked about.

"Apparently," said Fleur. They made their way up the ramp, through the gates, across the courtyard and into the keep, finding that everypony was indeed hiding indoors. Sitting at a table was Mason, having a foreleg wrestle with an equally muscular pony.

"Mason!" Twilight snapped.

"Huh?" There was a thud as his hoof banged down on the tabletop, "Aww c'mon!" He blinked a few times as he remembered that his leader was addressing him, "Ahem. Sorry Twilight, ma'am."

"Mason, why is nopony out training?"

"Well, because its raining."

"And? Are you hoping that any fighting we do will happen only when we have nice sunny weather?"

"Of course not, but nopony wants to be out there performing drills while its raining. A lot of these are still new recruits, and we don't want to push them too hard to start with."

Twilight growled in the back of her throat but relented, "Fine, but as soon as the rain eases up I want to see ponies out there practicing."

"Yes ma'am."

"And in the future, unless you are under threat of being drowned by flood water, struck by lightning, or buried in mud, I want to see ponies training. Unless of course we have no recruits to train..." Twilight caught herself before she went too far off topic. She pulled the list Daybreak had given her and passed it to Mason, "In the meantime you can find Snowbright and assemble the ponies on the list. The briefing's in there too so you shouldn't need me unless there's something wrong."

He saluted, "Yes ma'am. Uh, before I go, Iron Prize wanted to speak with you. You and Fleur actually. Now we've got a few more blacksmiths from Neigh Orleans he's getting around to making armour for us, but he needs to measure you and Fleur for your unique... body shapes."

"Uh, okay I suppose. Thank you Mason, that'll be all." The muscular grey pony nodded and departed to complete his task.

"How come I don't get my own personalised armour?" Trixie asked in what the others hoped was mock outrage. "How come Twilight and Fleur get to be the special ones?"

"Are you as tall and lithe as I am?" asked Fleur.

"No, of course not."

"And do you have wings?"

"Obviously not."

"Then you can fit in the standard armour."

"Maybe I don't want to wear the standard armour," Trixie grumbled under her breath. They headed right, towards the stairs going down to the armoury and the command room, Twilight stopping them outside the armoury,

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to get Ivory settled into her new job." She kept going, into the command room, Ivory quietly staying beside her. "Okay, so, your job, if you want it, will be to sort through the reports that ponies tend to leave here. Most of them are rubbish, but some won't be. Then depending on what they are, you either leave them for me, take them to somepony like Snowbright or Mason, or even one of the Wonderbolts. If you're desperate have one of the Wonderbolts, or some other pegasus here, take it to Daybreak."

Ivory looked at her funny, "How am I supposed to know which are important?"

"Believe me, you'll know, but I still want you to keep hold of the ones you don't think are important, just in case." Which was a lie, but while Twilight wanted to believe Ivory genuinely wanted to help, she wasn't about to blindly trust her to not throw important stuff away.

"And what about the right pony to get the information to? How will I know how to do that?"

"You'll have to work that out yourself. Go around and meet as many ponies as you can and familiarize yourself with the place and how it works. Oh! And be sure to find Nimble Stitch, she's in charge of domestic arrangements."

They headed back up, stopping at the armoury so Twilight could ask Octavia and Summer to give Ivory a tour while she got measured for her armour. She then took a moment to snigger at Fleur who was standing very awkwardly on three legs while Iron Prize individually measured around her legs one at a time.

"This is embarrassing. Is this how you normally get measured for armour?"

The soot streaked stallion stared blankly at her for a second before rubbing the scar on his forehead where his horn had once been, "Uh... yeah, sure, I guess. That's it anyway. Your turn now ma'am," he said to Twilight.

"Are you sure you know how to make armour for a pony with wings?" Fleur asked him.

"To be honest, no. That and what we're making most of the armour out of would be too heavy for pegasi to effectively use. Not that it matters right now since we got no pegasi fighting for us anyway."

"Then surely the armour you're going to make for Twilight would be too heavy as well?"

He shrugged, "I figured Twilight could handle the weight."

"Y'know," the filly piped up, "if Twilight's going to be leading us on the battlefield, shouldn't she have her own unique armour?"

"Filly," Trixie groaned, "if you have an idea, just say it and save us the aggravation."

"You're no fun. What I was going to suggest was going back to the caverns and bringing back that armour we found."

"Absolutely not," Twilight said quickly. The last thing she needed was something else tying the rebellion to the Lady.

"Why not?"

"Because... Because that armour doesn't belong to me, that's why."

The filly snorted, "I don't think the pony it does belong to will be back for it any time soon."

"We're also not allowed back to the caverns, remember?"

"We're not allowed back to Caverndown," said Fleur. "I don't think that means we can't go back to that first bit just to pick up some armour."

Twilight was starting to run out of reasons, "B-but it won't... It won't fit me."

"I can probably adjust it to fit you as long as it isn't too different," Iron Prize added helpfully.

"But..." Twilight sighed, "But I don't want to wear that armour," she said finally. "It feels disrespectful and wrong."

Fleur moved to stand in front of Twilight, "Twilight, the pony that first wore that armour was trying to do what we're doing. I think wearing it is a sign of respect." She then leaned down to whisper in Twilight's ear, "Nopony's going to think you're the Lady if you wear it."

Twilight gawped at her, "How do you always know what I'm thinking?"

Fleur shrugged, "Intuition? I don't know. Maybe you're just easy to read. Twilight, nopony knows that armour belonged to the Lady, so you'll be fine if you wear it."

Twilight tried to find another reason but soon gave in, "Fine... Guess I'll just fly over to the caverns and get it shall I?"

"Not without me you don't!" the filly shouted.

"Why do you want to go?" Trixie asked her. "You hated it last time, what with the bats and Vamponies and stuff."

"Vamponies?" Iron prize said in confusion, just to be ignored.

"Yeah, maybe I did," the filly said defensively, "but its been weeks since we've been on a random adventure!"

"But I'm only going to fly there and fly straight back. It's going to take me half a day at the very most. I don't really want to carry you all the way."

"You'd probably have to take a cart," Trixie suggested. "Unless you want to carry the armour all the way back in your magic." Twilight had to admit she hadn't thought of that.

"But it's going to take me days to walk there and back!"

Fleur raised an eyebrow as she looked at Twilight. "I thought pegasi could fly with carts?"

"Oh yeah... but only small ones."

"I can fit in a cart!" the filly said happily.

Twilight sighed but grinned after, "Alright, you can come."

"Yes!" The filly did a little dance, "This is gonna be sweet!"

Fleur held the bouncing pony down with a hoof, "Actually Twilight, I think either me or Trixie better come with you as well. We didn't exactly leave there on the best of terms and, y'know, safety in numbers and all that, just in case."

"Nope!" Trixie said quickly. "Trixie isn't flying anywhere! Fleur can go while I stay here and keep training the recruits."

Twilight looked at Fleur and sighed again, "I guess that makes sense. Okay, Trixie, while we're gone, be sure that either you or Octavia keep an eye on Ivory. I know you think I'm an idiot to trust her like this, but I'm not that much of an idiot."

"Oh thank goodness, Trixie was beginning to get worried."

Fleur felt the cart lurch to a halt and cracked an eye open to peak over the edge. "Gah!" she cried when finding they had somehow stopped in mid-air, several hundred feet above the ground.

"What?" Twilight asked in alarm. "What is it?"

"I thought we'd be closer to the ground seeing as how you stopped!" Fleur hissed from between gritted teeth, her eyes firmly closed again. Then something struck her as unusual. "How are we not falling to our deaths?"

"Um..." Twilight wasn't sure what Fleur meant. "Because I'm flying?"

"I know that!" Fleur snapped. "But how is the cart floating if you're not moving!?"

"Oh, that. I don't know." Twilight picked a direction and started moving again.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"It means 'I don't know.' Nopony does. Many of ponykinds greatest minds have tried to answer that very question over the centuries, and all have failed. The fact remains that many aspects of pegasus magic are still a mystery to us."

"Well that's not very reassuring," Fleur muttered as they started to descend. A few minutes later they touched down on the ground outside the entrance to the caverns, taking care to avoid the hole Twilight had trapped the unicorn hunters in last time they were here. Chills crawled down Twilight's back as the memories of the fight swept through her mind. "Lets not hang around here too long," she said, shuddering as her horn started to throb with the memories of the runes' cold fire. She unbuckled herself from the cart and they headed down into the cave, hers and Fleur's horns lighting up to show the way.

They passed the first two skeletons, the remains having been scattered around since last time, probably by the diamond dogs. "Does this place feel wrong to you guys?" the filly asked, keeping her voice low. "It feels different to last time."

"Yeah..." Fleur agreed, "like it's somehow... colder, or something. Its probably just us after what happened last time." Twilight nodded in agreement.

They entered the cavern where the last rebellion lay in the peaceful darkness. Twilight broke the sullen quiet, "We still need to do something for these ponies."

"Yeah," Fleur's light swept across the rebellions remains, "but at the same time it seems wrong to disturb them. Nothing we can do for them right now, so let's just grab the armour and go." Quietly, they moved through the cavern towards where the armour had been, and even now they could see it glinting in the darkness.

The filly paused, "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Fleur asked her.

"It felt like the ground was shaking or something."

"I didn't feel anything. Twilight?"

"No. But now we know what lives down here it wouldn't surprise me if there were vibrations from mining activities." They continued moving, only stopping once they reached the armour. Apparently it was as untouched now as it had been in the last four centuries. Twilight had expected the denizens down here to at least show an interest, but it seemed not.

Twilight tried to unbuckle the armour to remove it from the mannequin it was displayed on, but the strap disintegrated in her magic as she pulled. It seemed that while the metalwork was pristine the material holding the separate pieces together wasn't so lucky. She and Fleur set about removing the pieces as delicately as they could, but stopped when the filly yelped. "I swear there's something right below us!"

"You're being ridiculous filly," Fleur chided her, "there's nothing here but darkness and skeletons-" Fleur screamed and time seemed to go slow as the ground burst up beneath the filly, a pair of clawed limbs attached to a dark body reaching up to grab her. Whether it was luck or skill, the filly managed to keep on top of the arms and leap away.

"I fucking told you!" was what the filly tried to say, but all she managed to do was scream incoherently as three more dark forms burst up out of the ground around them. Standing in the light from Fleur's and Twilight's horns, it became obvious that their attackers were in fact diamond dogs.

"You!" one of the dogs shouted, "You should no be here!"

"Dey's the ones what offed Bruto!" shouted another. "Gets dem!" Twilight got him first, a blast of purple magic sending the diamond dog tumbling away at high speed, yelping as he crunched through rocks and bones.

Fleur danced away from the other two while the filly did the most sensible thing and ran. Unfortunately she ran straight into the waiting arms of a fifth diamond dog that had been lurking beyond the reach of their light. "Ahh! Fleur! Help!"

"Filly!" Fleur lashed out with her rear hooves, kicking one of the dogs solidly on the chin before another of the dogs tackled her to the ground, Twilight unable to help as she held back the claws of another dog in her magic.

A shout of "Leave them alone!" echoed through the cavern as three shadows dashed through their circle of light, attacking the diamond dogs. One of them went for the dog holding the filly and kicked out at his head, making him release the young pony who scampered back to Fleur, who was dragging herself back to her hooves as Twilight pulled the dog pinning her down off of her.

Twilight swung the dog she pulled off Fleur around before releasing him, the dog falling against the rusted anvil with a pained cry and a clang. "Run!" one of the dogs shouted, Twilight backing off to allow them to escape.

"Are you okay?" Fleur asked the filly, checking her over for injuries.

"I'm fine. I just- I just-" The filly sat down and let Fleur hug her.

"Guys?" Twilight said to get their attention. "There's still something out there." Three figures stood side by side just outside their circle of light, their catlike eyes shining. "Uh, thanks for helping us. Uh... you don't have to stay in the shadows."

"At the moment we do," said a familiar female voice, "because your lights are kinda hurting our eyes."

"Oh! Sorry!" Both Twilight and Fleur dimmed their lights, and the three figures stepped forward. They were three thestrals, a stallion and two mares, one of which was giving Twilight a funny look.

"Twilight? Fleur? The little one whose name escapes me... Swift Wings was it?"

"Don't call me that!"

"Oh, yeah, right... What the hell are you guys doing here? You were banished!"

Twilight squinted in the dim light, "Shadow?"

"The one and only. But seriously guys, what are you doing here?"

"We're only here for the armour," Fleur explained. "We certainly weren't going to be here long."

"That old thing? You can have that if you want, although I have no idea what you'd want it for."

"It's the only armour in Mareitania made for an alicorn," said Twilight. "Shadow, what's going on? Why did those diamond dogs attack us? We're not in Caverndown. Actually, why were they out here? Why are you out here?"

Shadow bit her bottom lip and sucked in through her teeth, "Well, the thing is... a lot has kinda happened since you left. Before you say it, I had no idea you had been sold out to the Duke!" she added quickly. "That's why I was told to leave you here rather than escort you all the way out."

Twilight looked to the other two thestrals, neither of which had reacted to what Shadow had said about the Duke. Twilight wasn't sure what to think of that. "It's fine, I didn't think you or Onyx were."

"Actually Onyx was in on it the whole time. Bastard," she grumbled under her breath.

"Then why remove our inhibitors?" Fleur asked, "Surely it would've made more sense to leave them on?"

"I don't know. Look, as great as it is to see you guys again, you can't be here. Those diamond dogs'll be back soon with reinforcements, and you don't want to be here when that happens. Grab your armour and go." She nodded to the other thestrals who took off back into the shadows. "I'll escort you out."

Shadow blinked in the light outside the cave entrance, "Wow... Do you know how long its been since I last saw proper daylight? Eight years..."

"You must really love that cave you call home then," the filly said sarcastically.

"Oh no, I've been outside, just not during the day. Anyway, you got what you came for so... bye!" She turned and started heading back into the cave, but stopped when Twilight grabbed her tail in her magic.

"No, we're not going until you tell us what's going on." Twilight stared at Shadow, "Please?"

"Uuuuuhhhhrrrrgggghhhaaaa-fine, I'll tell you. You remember the thing with the collars and the food and the stuff?"

"I guess so."

"Well news of it might have gotten around."

"It did? How?"

Shadow cleared her throat awkwardly, "Weeellllll... I might have gotten a little drunk one night and told a bar full of people all about it."

"Why would you do that!?"

"Because knowing that while no one else did was killing me! That and the alcohol might've had something to do with it. Y'know, one part had to tell someone before I burst, two parts drunken idiocy. Anyway, the council denied it and things were a bit tense for a while, and I lost my job, but things got really bad when the food started to run out. Nobody knew it at the time but the Duke stopped trading food, and as ponies got hungrier, the more suspicious they got. All us thestrals were put onto gathering duty to help, but it still wasn't enough." Shadow ruffled the filly's mane, "Guess you were right little dude."

The filly smiled smugly, "Told ya."

"Eventually ponies got riled up enough and broke into the cavern the collars were made in, totally revealing the truth. Unsurprisingly, things got even worse then. Ponies started rioting, especially since crystal ponies have a real thing about slavery, and Ebon and Fishbait kicked Quartz out of the council right before the diamond dog guards took total control of Caverndown. Most of us thestrals sided with the crystal ponies in all of this, but since we were all on gathering duty there wasn't a lot we could do. Now the diamond dogs are pretty much holding the crystal ponies hostage, making sure us thestrals stay in line, otherwise they starve."

"So they can't control you directly?"

Shadow twitched her wings, "Not with these."

"So why were you hiding in that cave there?" asked Twilight.

"A lot of us thestrals stay out of Caverndown now. We drop whatever we've gathered off, then leave again. After the crystal heart went dead the place just doesn't feel like home, y'know?"

"The crystal heart stopped working?" Twilight glanced at the cave, "Is that why the caverns feel, I don't know, darker?"

"That's what Quartz seems to think."

"That's not important," Fleur interrupted. She looked at Shadow, "Are you gathering enough food for everypony?"

"Not quite. We did want to start raiding the farms and the Duke's supply depots for food but Ebon wouldn't let us. He seems to think the Duke is going to start trading with us again at some point, even though none of us him want to. Ebon's too old and stuck in his ways to think of any other way though."

"What if we offered them food?" asked the filly.

Twilight shook her head, "I'm not sure we can at the moment. Maybe if I asked Celestia for more shipments... Perhaps its time we started to approach the farms around here for supplies. Then we could trade food here for resources we desperately need. Maybe more."

Shadow disagreed. "I'm not sure Ebon would accept food from you anyway since you're working against his beloved Duke. Quartz probably would, and Fishbait tends to do as Ebon tells him so he'd probably back off if Ebon wasn't in charge any more."

"Then I'm afraid there's only one solution," Fleur said grimly. "We must remove Ebon from power. Maybe Fishbait too if we have to."

"What!?" Shadow squeaked, "Are you saying we kill them?"

"Only if we have to," Twilight interjected quickly. "The lives of thousands of ponies are being ruined because of him. If he won't change his mind then yes, we might have to... end him."

Shadow blinked dumbly, "This sooo way over my pay grade, and I'm not even being paid." Shadow paced around as she tried to think, "Look, if you want to do this you'll have to talk to Quartz 'cause I'm just a former grunt who knows nothing about any of this."

Fleur quirked an eyebrow, "Why would Quartz help us? She's been kicked off the council."

"She's... sort of become the unofficial leader of everyone against the collars and trading with the Duke thing. She's the only council member that didn't know about the collar arrangement, and was the most vocal against it which is why they kicked her out of the council. If you want to make any plans to help us you're going to have to make them with her."

"Okay then," said Fleur, "take us to her."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because she's in there!" Shadow said, pointing over her shoulder towards the caverns. "I can't just take you in there!"

"Then bring her out here?"

"I can't do that either!" Shadow rubbed her temples with her hooves.

Twilight lifted Shadow's head in her magic, "Shadow, ponies are starving in there. Please, let us help you."

"But we'll be caught. They'll probably kill all of us, and ponies will still be starving."

"Is there nothing we can do to convince you?"

Shadow shook her head, "Not unless you're about to offer me a place in Princess Luna's Royal Guard, no."

"Okay then, I can probably make that happen if I talk to Luna."

"What? I wasn't being serious! But now you say it..." Fear, excitement, and indecision all vied for supremacy on Shadow's face. "Fuck! Alright I'll do it! But you better deliver on that."

After spending ten minutes hiding the cart and armour, Shadow led them around the side of the mountains before stopping and pointing up at the side. "Up there's the entrance for gatherers and thestrals, since, y'know, all the gatherers are thestrals anyway."

"I don't see anything," Twilight said as she squinted up at where Shadow was pointing.

"Well duh, its kinda a little bit hidden. I'll go up first and check it out to see if it's quiet. It should be at this time of day, but you never know." With a flap of her leathery wings, Shadow sped up the side of the mountain before disappearing over a ledge.

"Are we really doing this?" asked the filly. "Are we really going to get involved in something that has nothing to do with us?"

"If these ponies need help, then yes." Fleur looked up at where Shadow had flown to as she thought. "You have a problem helping them?"

"No, not really, but don't we have bigger concerns, like the upcoming attack on Whiplash?"

Fleur shrugged, "Whiplash isn't going anywhere. At least, not yet anyway."

A couple minutes later Shadow returned. "I couldn't see anyone watching the entrance so we should be okay to go in."

"Okay." Twilight picked the filly and a reluctant Fleur up in her magic before following after Shadow. They flew over the lip of the ledge, finding a small plateau and a well worn cave that led into the mountainside. Still following Shadow they entered the cave, following its winding trail downward until it came out on another ledge just below where the thestrals homes hung over the city of Caverndown.

"Well shit." Fleur whimpered, backing away from the edge while the filly hung over it for a better view.

"Everything looks the same," observed Twilight.

"Well yeah," Shadow snickered, "Why wouldn't it?"

"I don't know, I just thought everything would look less shiny with the crystal heart not working. That it would look as depressing as it feels."

"That's really not how it works," Shadow said dismissively. She pointed to a large crystal house in the city, "That's Quartz's house, and where we need to go. I don't suppose you can turn invisible or anything?"

"I'm afraid not." Twilight cast a spell, forming a purple tinted disc in the air that acted like a magnifying glass, and looked closer at the house. "There's a balcony on the side facing the city centre that I could probably teleport us down to."

"Okay then, I'll go down first." Shadow dropped off the edge and glided in a lazy circles down towards the house. Once she landed she waved back up towards Twilight and the others, letting them know the coast was clear.

"Urgh... here we go," the filly muttered to herself, closing her eyes and bracing herself. Even with her eyes squeezed shut she could still see the flash of purple as they were teleported. Her stomach lurched and she staggered sideways, stopping only when a hoof grabbed her before she stumbled off the edge of the balcony.

Shadow knocked at the door, "Let me do the talking." The door was answered by a young blue unicorn filly, a morose expression on her face. "Hey Lustrous, is your mom in?" Twilight's eyes widened slightly as she realised that the filly was actually another crystal unicorn, but her coat had lost its crystal-like appearance, presumably when the crystal heart failed. Apparently the effects of the real crystal heart in the Crystal Empire didn't actually reach this far.

"Of course she's in," the unicorn sighed, "Where else would she be?"

"I don't know? Somewhere? Can we see her?"

"If you really want to..." The crystal filly turned away from the door, leaving it wide open, presumably to let them in.

"That was weird," Fleur said quietly. "Why did she look so sad and... normal coloured?"

"I've seen this before, when the Crystal Empire returned. It's what happens to crystal ponies when they're away from the influence of an active crystal heart," Twilight told her. "Their colours become dulled and they become depressed. Or at least I think so. There are different stages to their appearance based on how they feel."

Fleur's brow creased as she thought about it, "That's a weird way to evolve. Almost doesn't feel natural, like it was forced on them."

"Actually, that's one of the leading theories on how crystal ponies came to be this way, but without proof nopony really knows." They followed Shadow in, keeping behind her as she led the way downstairs to where Quartz was laying on a sofa, staring listlessly at the wall.

"Quartz?" Shadow said in a near whisper, like she was afraid to ruin the quiet.

"Hmm?" Quartz blinked a few times as she focused. "Oh, hello Shadow dear," she said to the thestral, then blinked a few more times as she noticed the other ponies there. "You. You're not supposed to be here."

"They're here to help," Shadow explained. "They're offering us food in exchange for the ore that we used to give to the Duke."

Quartz rubbed her eyes as she fully gathered her wits together, "But Ebon would never agree to that. How have you got food to trade anyway? Last I heard you were just starting to rebuild Puddingarde."

"We've... expanded a bit since then," Twilight said a little sheepishly. She spent a couple minutes filling Quartz in on what had happened with the rebellion.

"I see. You really are serious about taking down the Duke. Good to see removing those inhibitors was the right decision."

"Excuse me?"

Quartz smiled sadly at her, "I'm the one that ordered your inhibitors be removed. After the meeting when you first arrived, Ebon and Fishbait immediately went off into their own little meeting without me. I became suspicious of what they might be up to, and thought they might deliver you to the Duke, so I decided to give you a fighting chance."

"You knew they might sell us out to the Duke?" Fleur looked sideways at Twilight, "But Shadow said you didn't know about the trade with the Duke."

"I knew we traded what the diamond dogs mined for food. That was essential to our survival, and quite frankly we had mountains of the stuff to trade away. What I didn't know about was the collars. Ebon said the deal was struck hundreds of years ago when the Duke at the time discovered us. In exchange for the Duke leaving us alone and keeping our existence secret, we would provide the means of controlling the pegasus, on top of the trade. With the extra food coming in the city was able to expand, and things got better for us, but at what I consider to be far too high a cost, and most ponies here agree with me.

"Hold on, hold on," the filly interrupted. "How did they control the pegasi before they had the collars?"

"Really long ropes attached to winches. The weather used to be a lot closer to the ground in those days apparently." Quartz smiled briefly, but it soon vanished, "Look, all of this is immaterial while Ebon's in control."

"We know," said Twilight, "that's why we're offering to help you remove him, either peaceably or by force." To Twilight's amazement Quartz just nodded, like she had already thought of it. Twilight supposed that probably wasn't a surprise itself if she was honest.

"The only way you'll do that is by killing him, and while he has the diamond dogs on his side that's not going to be easy."

"So you fight," Fleur said confidently.

Quartz shook her head, "My people are in no state to fight. Without the crystal heart we've become... lethargic, and while this situation persists we will probably remain so as we can't empower it."

"The thestrals can fight!" Shadow said proudly, "We're literally born warriors!"

"But the thestrals aren't here Shadow. You're all having to work on feeding us. And the lives this will cost isn't worth it. It's hopeless."

Twilight tapped her hoof as she thought, "What if I offered you, all of you, crystal ponies and thestrals alike, repatriation into Equestria? I'd have to ask more of you than just trading resources, but you could go home to the Crystal Empire."

"Twilight," Fleur whispered, "what's the point of fighting to save Caverndown if they're just going to leave it?"

"I meant instead of fighting, we sneak them out."

"Oh."

Quartz frowned as she pondered the offer, "And what would you ask of us?"

"We could always use more craftsponies, and judging by this place you have plenty of those. If I'm honest though, it's the thestrals I could really use." Shadow raised her eyebrows questioningly, "The pegasi we've saved so far don't want to fight, which is fine, but it narrows our ability to fight the Duke further afield. If the thestrals are willing, it would be incredibly useful to us if you attacked the Grand army's supply convoys, denying them supplies, and providing them to us instead."

Shadow grinned maliciously, obviously liking the idea, but still looked to Quartz for what she thought. "I... I don't know. I need time to think it over."

"Okay, you can have a couple of hours. We're not going to abandon you, whatever you decide to do."

Twilight's tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth as she carefully wrote on the paper before her. "What are you doing?" Fleur asked her.

"Writing some letters. Three letters actually. One's to Daybreak asking him to organise supply runs to Caverndown if that's what they want, another telling Puddingarde to prepare for the arrival of a few thousand ponies if they decide to leave, and one to Trixie, Summer, and Octavia, asking for Trixie to contact Celestia for more supplies for me since we left our gear there and we're staying here, before coming here themselves with the Wonderbolts."

"Planning ahead are we? What if they decide to do nothing?"

"Then we leave and say no more on the matter."

"And if they decide to only trade for food?"

"Fleur, will you trust me that I have it all covered in the letters? That's why I wrote separate ones."

"Fine." Fleur shifted about on her hooves for a moment, "What do you think they'll do?"

"I'm hoping for a compromise, where they take back the city and trade with us, and any pony that wishes can return to Equestria as long as they aid us in stopping the Duke first."

"That sounds like blackmail."

"I was thinking it was more like bribery actually." Twilight sighed and dropped the quill she was writing with back into the inkwell, "I wish I could give them the option to go home in exchange for nothing, and normally I would, but we have to think of the mission. Honestly, I hate having to bargain with ponies like this."

"Yeah... You know if they trade with us and fight alongside us that they won't be able to stay a secret down here any more."

"I know, and I think they do too." She finished off her letters and sat waiting with Fleur while Shadow and Quartz deliberated in the room next door. After what seemed like hours the door between the two rooms opened, with Quartz entering with Shadow behind her.

"I've made a decision. This city has been our home for over a thousand years. We have a lot of history here, and a lot of ponies won't want to leave, and I can't force them. But at the same time I can't force ponies to stay. If you help us stop Ebon and Fishbait and trade with us, would you still allow what ponies that want to, to leave?"

Twilight wanted to cheer that they had reached that conclusion even without her suggesting it, "So long as they help us with the Duke, yes."

"Good. If what Shadow says is true, a lot of the thestrals don't really wish to stay here."

Twilight suspected such was the case seeing as how the majority of thestrals had been avoiding the caverns. "That's fair enough, but if you want to keep the city then there will have to some changes to our agreement. Basically, if the thestrals attack the supply depots and wagon trains, we get to keep any weapons they take, while you get to keep any food, further bolstering your supplies. Honestly, it works in your favour."

"Then I can hardly argue with that."

"Excellent. Shadow, do you have somewhere you can gather the rest of the thestrals nearby without being seen?"

"Yeah, sure. Literally anywhere outside the caverns is out of sight."

"Okay then, good." Twilight produced two of the letters she wrote, "Can you also have your fastest flyer deliver these to either Trixie or Octavia in Puddingarde?"

Summer hung her forelegs over the edge of the outer wall, sullenly watching the ponies below as they trained once again now the rain had stopped. Summer didn't know what to do with herself. Ever since she had been freed her life had changed more and more and it increasingly felt like she was being left behind.

As much as she hated herself for thinking it, part of her missed the quiet consistency of her old life. Sure it was a horrible life, but it was the same horrible on a day to day basis, and didn't require a lot of thought to get through. Not like now, where one day was barely the same as another, and she had to deal with so many new and different things. And feelings.

Octavia. Summer couldn't deny that a lot of her woes centered around that wonderful grey pony. While Fleur was the pony that had saved her from her former life it was Octavia that really helped her to become more than just a slave, whereas Fleur very often lost patience with her, even if it wasn't intentional on Fleur's part.

She loved Octavia. She loved her so much it hurt, and she couldn't understand why it was that the more she tried to show how much she loved Octavia, the less Octavia seemed to love her back. Was it her? Something she was doing? It had to be, by her reasoning, because Octavia was perfect in every single way; smart, kind, caring, and beautiful.

"Summer?"

"Eep!" She was also suprisingly sneaky. "Octavia! Y-you scared me."

"My apologies Summer, but you've been sat staring over the edge of the wall for well over an hour. I was wondering if something was the matter?"

"Um... uh..." Summer swallowed, her mouth having gone dry. "Y-you don't like me..." she confessed.

Octavia blinked and frowned in confusion, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"I love you Octavia! But every time I try to show you how much I love you, you push me away! I-I-I don't understand..."

"Ah..." Octavia sat down next to Summer as she thought of what to say next, "Summer, I value you greatly as a friend, but I have come to suspect you want much more of me than I'm willing to give. The fact that you just said you love me is proof of that I suppose."

Summer shrank down on herself, "So... So you don't love me? Is that what you're saying?"

Octavia sat chewed on her bottom lip as she decided on how to traverse this emotional minefield, "I do love you, but only as a friend, and not in the way you love me."

"B-but... why? Is it me? Is there something wrong with me?"

"Not at all Summer, and don't ever think that there is. The problem Summer, is that I'm not gay, or bi. I like stallions, not mares."

"But why? Stallions are horrible! They hurt you, and bully you, and make you do things you don't want to do!"

"I know that's what you think of them, and I can hardly blame you, but the fact remains Summer, I'm not attracted to mares."

"I- We can share! If- If you get a coltfriend we could share you!" Inside Summer's chest it felt like something was doing its best to crush her heart and tears started to well up in her eyes. "Please Octavia, I need you!"

"I'll still be here Summer! I'm not going to stop being your friend because of th-mmph!" Summer tackled Octavia onto her back, her lips desperately locked against Octavia's. Octavia tried to get her legs under Summer to push her off but the pegasus resisted her efforts. Octavia jerked her head to the side and broke their kiss, "Stop!"

Summer didn't stop though, kissing Octavia even harder. Octavia kept trying to push Summer off, but Summer had her effectively pinned, and Octavia couldn't get a leg free until Summer moved one of her own legs, only for Octavia to freeze up as that same leg started rubbing her most intimate areas.

Octavia screwed her eyes shut, no longer able to believe what was happening to her, when she heard Summer squeal as the pegasus was lifted off her. Octavia gasped and opened her eyes to the sight of Summer squealing as she fought to free herself of the dark tendrils now holding her off the ground.

"Trixie! Stop hurting her!"

Trixie trotted closer, "I'm not hurting her, I'm just holding her. If you prefer though I could just let her continue raping you?" Summer stopped fighting and stared at Octavia, her eyes full of hurt.

"No Trixie, just put her down. Please." Trixie did so, gently placing Summer back down onto the stone of the wall. "Summer, I'm not sure- Wait!" she shouted as Summer turned and ran. Summer didn't listen. She bolted, leaping off the wall towards the keep and gliding to the ground before running the rest of the way. "Summer!" Octavia started after her.

"Leave her Octavia."

"But-!"

"But nothing! The girl just tried to rape you! You're welcome by the way."

"I..." Octavia sighed through her nose, "Thank you Trixie, but I still can't let her run off like that! What if she does something stupid and hurts herself!?"

"I'm pretty sure you being around her isn't going to help right now. Trixie's probably not the pony you should be taking advice from about this stuff, but I think you should probably give her some space. Maybe ask Fleur to talk to her when she gets back."

Octavia tried to argue against that advice, but couldn't as Trixie was probably right in that being around Summer right now wasn't going to help anything. "You're right, I should give her some space. I can't... I can't believe this..."

"Excuse me?" Octavia and Trixie looked up to see a light grey thestral mare with a vivid blue mane and tail as well as blue eyes watching them with obvious concern. "Do either of you know where I can find Octavia or Trixie?"

"Who wants to know?" Trixie said with a challenge. "What the heck is a bat pony doing here anyway?"

"Well, um, I do? And I'm a thestral, thank you very much. I have a letter from Twilight Sparkle that I'm meant to deliver to one of those two ponies."

"I'm Trixie!" Trixie shouted before snatching the letters off the thestral and tearing open the one with their names on.

"Who might you be?" Octavia asked while Trixie scanned over the letter.

"I'm Misty. I was asked to bring these letters to you, and you were meant to send the other one to someone called Daybreak in Neigh Orleans."

"Okay, we'll get it there."

Misty smiled gratefully, "Thanks. Do you mind if I go now?" She hugged herself nervously, "I'm not exactly used to being out during the day."

"Oh! Certainly. Thank you Misty." The thestral fled back into the safety of the sky while Octavia turned back to Trixie, "Well? What does it say?"

"What the hell are you doing Sparkle?" Trixie muttered to herself. "Seems like we're going back to the caverns. I need to talk to Celestia apparently, and if you could go find the Wonderbolts while I do that and have one of them deliver the other letter to Daybreak, I'd appreciate it."

Trixie left the other letter with Octavia and trotted off to fulfill her part of the given tasks, leaving Octavia standing there, "Well that didn't tell me anything." She sagged slightly, "I'm also not okay, thanks for asking..."

Author's Notes:

Yes! We are back in the cave with the things and the stuff because skipping an entire month to the attack in Whiplash just seemed really dumb in ways I can't fully describe. Yes Commander Darklight, I went back for the armour.

You just watch me contradict myself somewhere in the next few chapters.