Twilight stretched out the stiffness in her left leg, flexing it side to side before placing it on the floor. Her leg had finally grown to the point it was useful again, and the feeling was amazing, far more than she thought it would be when it had been removed two months earlier. Unfortunately though it still felt like, well, it had spent two months cooped up in a sling, but it was still nice to feel stable while standing and walking.

She performed a happy little dance while she was still in the privacy of her little tent, but must've been loud enough to draw attention because the flap was pushed aside a moment later.

Fleur smiled wryly as she caught the end of Twilight's little dance. "You seem happy." Much to Fleur's surprise Twilight pronked over and pressed her left hoof to Fleur's nose, Fleur scrunching her face up in surprise.

"Boop!" Twilight said happily before bouncing away again. "I haven't been able to do that properly for two months! Two whole months! Do you have any idea what it's like to not be able to boop stuff when you want? It's maddening!"

"I guess it... could be, yes, I suppose. I-Uh..." Fleur stood dumbfounded as the reason she had come in here had leaked out her ear along with her dignity. "I never realised you were such an avid booper."

"You never realise how much you miss something until its gone, or you can't do it. Like legs for example. I don't want to lose any of those again, I can assure you. So, was there a reason you wanted to see me?"

Fleur's eyes refocused as her brain slowly kicked itself back into gear. "Uh... yes, yes there was. We're getting ready to decamp so you might want to get your armour on." Fleur buffed a hoof on her armour for emphasis, the effect ruined when her hoof guard caught on her peytral and she had to sit down to stop herself from falling over, which only caused her to squeak in pain for a different reason.

"Something wrong?" Twilight asked as Fleur unhooked her hoof and stood up again.

"Yeah, this armour looks nice and does the job, but it pinches in all the worst places when I sit down. They must've got my measurements wrong around my... rear."

"Do you mind if I have a look?"

"I suppose not." Fleur stood staring at the roof of the tent, a faint blush on her cheeks as Twilight rummaged around at her rear end.

"What is that bit even for? Or that strap? None of the other suits of armour have those..."

"Is there something wrong with my armour?" Fleur's eyes widened in alarm as Twilight tugged at something.

"No, but there might be something wrong with the pony that made it. This strap under your tail, and the thing its holding..."

"Yes..?"

"None of the other armour has anything like that." There was a 'ping' as Twilight broke the rivets the strap was attached to, and Fleur squeaked as Twilight removed the offending piece entirely. Fleur sat down heavily, her face glowing red, and Twilight couldn't help but snort into laughter. "So I guess Fleur de Lis does know the concept of shame." She tossed the oddly shaped piece of metal in the corner. "I'll be having words with those blacksmiths when we get back."

"Nah, let them have their little jokes, as long as its only me they've done it to. I'm a big girl, I can handle it." Fleur sat and watched in silent awe as Twilight lifted and orbited the various parts of her own armour around her, strapping each piece on in rapid succession, reverently finishing with the hoof guard on her front left hoof. "Huh."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing really. I was just half expecting something to happen when you put the entire thing on."

Twilight adjusted the angle of the helmet slightly. "It's just a suit of armour Fleur. Fancy armour, made from fancy pegasus metal, granted, but not inherently magical in the slightest. I really do wonder what goes through the minds of you ponies sometimes."

Twilight quickly packed away her few belongings and exited the tent along with Fleur, before collapsing and folding the tent in the time it took Fleur to pick up her crossbow and sling it around her neck. "What?" Twilight asked defensively once she noticed the reproachful look Fleur was giving her.

"Nothing, just wishing I had magic like that. Then I wouldn't be stuck using this," Fleur said, hefting the crossbow, "or this," she finished, pulling a short sword out of its scabbard on her left.

"You mean your spells haven't improved at all?"

Fleur shook her head. "My magic blasts have all the power of somepony blowing a kiss, and my shields have the stopping power of a soap bubble. I get the theory on how to do them, sure, but I just lack the power." Fleur shrugged it off, "On the other hoof though, I am damn good with a crossbow. I've had a few lessons off those ponies that Snowbright trained."

"As long as you're happy with what you're doing, that's enough. Besides, magic isn't the end all of fighting." They wandered through the encampment, Twilight checking on the readiness of the various ponies, happy with the preparedness of their little army. Small jokes aside, the blacksmiths had been working tirelessly the last couple of months to outfit as many ponies as possible, and Twilight was impressed.

She nodded at various ponies as they meandered their way through camp. Octavia, Summer, and Thorn, who were discussing things with a few other ponies as they packed things away. Snowbright was quietly polishing his sword while he waited, and Mason was by the collection of carts they'd be using to move the young pegasi, idly tossing his war hammer in the air and catching it again, while the filly was finishing off a late breakfast. The Wonderbolts were giving a few last minute pointers to Rush and the thestrals on how the use the hoof-blades they had been given, and Trixie was sitting under a tree, her horn casting a dark pall to the area around her as she did something to her armour.

Twilight cocked her head in confusion, "Trixie? What are you doing?"

The dark aura around Trixie's horn faded back to pink, and Trixie held up one of the plates that would normally cover her flank. "I'm etching my armour. What did you think I was doing?"

"Well I didn't know what you were doing, hence me asking. You're not damaging your armour doing that are you?"

"If I can make it through Caverndown without even getting a scratch on my armour, I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides, its only a couple of millimetres deep." She stood and donned her armour, and even though not all the pieces were finished, the effect was still amazing. The lines she had etched on one piece joined up with the lines on another, creating a stylized design that swept from her front to her rear in waves, originating from the hole her horn stuck out though, and running along her spine before running down her sides and curling down her legs. Even though not every inch of her was armoured, the design left you filling in the gaps with your mind without you really realising it.

Fleur ran her hoof over a line and a curve at the top of Trixie's back left leg. "Is this supposed to be your cutie mark?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I haven't finished that part yet."

Fleur continued running her hoof along the designs. "This is really amazing Trixie! I'm actually more than a little bit jealous." Twilight wasn't about to admit it, but she was too. The sleek subtlety of Trixie's design looked far nicer than the ostentatious scrollwork on her own armour.

Twilight coughed into her hoof to cover the fact that she had realised she was staring, and Trixie's eyes grew wide as she grinned at Twilight, "Ooh, check you out little miss four corners. Now you can properly boop stuff again!"

"That's what I said! But Fleur didn't seem to appreciate it. Heathen." Fleur rolled her eyes while Trixie sniggered at her. "I was about to ask, when did you have time to do that to your armour?"

"I couldn't really sleep last night, and then I had this idea and I've been working on it ever since."

Fleur squinted at Trixie, "Are you alright Trixie? You're referring to yourself in the first pony more that usual."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?" Trixie shook her head and removed her armour again. "It's probably just pre-attack jitters. I'm fine, honestly." Trixie smiled at them, rather unconvincingly.

Twilight looked at Trixie's horn, the orange having crept down to cover a third of it. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"No!" Trixie's eyes twitched between Twilight and Fleur, and she sagged, sighing heavily. "Yes," she admitted. "I had a look last night, and I might have freaked out a little bit. I mean, I know it's just a horn, but, y'know... is it permanent? I mean, I'm still me, the gloriously Great and Powerful Trixie, but... I liked my horn."

"Diddy though it was," Fleur joked.

"Size isn't everything, Fleur 'can't knock a bottle off a post' de Lis." Fleur grinned sheepishly and took a step back.

"It didn't bother you when I told you before," Twilight pointed out.

"I know, but I've seen pictures of King Sombra, and his horn was bent and discoloured. I just don't want ponies to think I'm as bad as he was once we get back to Equestria. It's what's inside that counts, right?"

"Right Trixie." Twilight wasn't sure what angle to comfort her from, and frankly wasn't sure how much she wanted to considering how much Trixie had defended dark magic in the last couple of months. Instead she went for honesty. "You do realise that it's only going to get worse as you keep using dark magic."

Trixie nodded glumly, then shrugged. "I thought it might. It's a small price to pay to avenge my family and stop the Duke. Besides, it's not like dark magic is illegal in Equestria. I'll be fine."

"Actually, that's a bit of a grey area in Equestrian law. I think the only reason it hasn't been banned is because it does have its uses from time to time. Even so, you still run the risk of being shunned and ostracized."

"Oh..." Trixie prodded her horn with her hoof, and snorted before her expression grew serious. "It doesn't matter. As I said, it's just a horn. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to finish etching my cutie marks before we head out."

Twilight and Fleur left her to it, instead heading back to the centre of the camp where the filly was warming herself by a fire. "Wow Twilight!" the filly said excitedly as the others neared her, "You got your other booper back!"

"D-did you ponies plan this?" Fleur spluttered. "Last week you were a complete wreck, crying and stuff, and now you're..." Fleur froze as Twilight and the filly stared at her. "Sorry, I-I'm sorry. I'll stop being a dick now."

Her expression still serious, Twilight raised a hoof and pressed it to Fleur's unresisting nose. "Boop. Excuse me for being happy to have four legs again. I'll probably be back to crying and stuff soon enough, just you wait."

"I'm really sorry Twilight. I didn't mean that."

"I hope not, but seriously, ouch." Adopting a more cheery tone, Twilight smiled at the filly, "Are you ready for the attack?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Actually, I'm way more nervous now than I was going into Caverndown. It's probably because of where we're going. If I see the spot where I had my wings hacked of I might just have a breakdown, right there and then, y'know."

Yeah..." Fleur said slowly. "I know nopony's brought this up before, but isn't your mother still there?"

"She might be," the filly said with a shrug. "Or she might have been 'retired' years ago, after she started producing defective fillies with undersized wings. I'm not going to get my hopes up for something that might never happen."

"She had other foals with small wings?"

"No, but after mine never grew in, why take the risk? Can we seriously stop talking about this now? I might seem all honest and calm about it, but seriously, I hate it and you're really harshing my cool."

"Sorry. We're just going around seeing if everypony's ready if you want to come with?"

"Nah, I'm going to stay here and brood darkly whilst staring into the flames. You know how it is."

Fleur ruffled the filly's mane, "Alright then. We'll be heading out soon, so don't get too caught up in your brooding you don't notice we've gone." They left the filly to her own devices, Fleur sighing as soon as she thought she might be out of earshot, "Poor kid. Too beat down to hope her own mother might be alive."

Twilight sighed and shook her head, "I don't want to sound like too much of a pessimist, but I think she's being very sensible not getting her hopes up." They caught Octavia's eye as they approach the trio of Octavia, Summer, and Thorn. "Hey Octavia, you guys ready to go?"

"Indeed we are," Octavia confirmed, "as does it seem you are too." Twilight must've seemed confused because Octavia went on to explain, "You're using your leg."

"Just get on and say it," Fleur grumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Just get on and say that she can boop stuff now."

"Why would I ever want to do that?"

"Because Trixie and the filly have, so I thought you might too."

"What's a boop?" Summer asked, cocking her head curiously.

"Observe," Thorn said before reaching out and pressing on Summer's nose. "Boop."

Summer stared cross-eyed at the hoof touching her nose before it was taken away. "I don't... I don't get it."

"That's because there's nothing to get!" Fleur growled, before stopping herself as she realised how irrationally angry she was getting. "Bleh. Never mind. Are you guys ready?"

"I do believe so," said Octavia, glancing quickly at the other two for confirmation. "We do have a query though."

"About the attack?" asked Twilight.

"No, nothing like that. We were just wondering, you know how pony genetics tends to throw the occasional curveball and have two unicorns produce a pegasus, and bearing in mind that the guards at these Pegasus camps have trouble keeping it in their pants according to what we've learned, we were wondering what happens to the non-pegasus foals that must get born there."

A frown creased Twilight's features as she thought about the answer. Unfortunately, her mind kept dragging her to the one conclusion she really hoped wasn't true. "I-uh, I don't know."

"Maybe we should ask Rush?" Fleur suggested, taking a few steps towards the pegasus.

"Yeah, good thinking." As they got nearer to where Rush was, they caught the tail end of the demonstration the Wonderbolts were giving her and the thestrals.

"Remember, lead in with your back legs, although I suspect you that while you thestrals might be able to take the landing if you lead in with your front ones, it'll still make taking off harder again, and could break your blades. And remember, the weak point from above on most armour we've seen here in Mareitania is behind the shoulder plates. If that's all, dismissed."

"Why aren't you using those hoof-blades," Thorn asked, although whether she was asking Twilight or Summer was unclear.

"I got magic," Twilight answered as Summer said "I probably need to fly better before I do."

"Can I help you ma'am?" Spitfire said, saluting sharply as she realised Twilight was standing right behind her.

"Hmm? Oh! No, no, we want to speak with Rush actually. Uh, are you and the other Wonderbolts ready?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Shadow, how about you and the thestrals?"

"Sure, although we're still a little unclear on what you want us to do after the attack."

"As I said before, go out into the countryside and disrupt the Grand Army's operations as much as you can. Steal what supplies you need, and what you can't steal, you destroy. If you come across any soldiers you outnumber, take them out if you want, or just inconvenience them. And send a flyer our way once every couple of weeks so we know where you are and if you're doing okay, or if you think there's something we ought to know."

"So basically we're bandits, but with highly specific, military targets?"

"Yeah, if you want. You're also an important part of the overall strategy, so don't go getting too ambitious." Twilight turned to Rush, "I was hoping I could ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do you know what happens to the foals born in Whiplash that aren't pegasi?"

Rush quirked an eyebrow, "The filly probably knows the answer to this better than I do."

"She's got enough on her plate at the moment," said Fleur. "I'd rather not go squeezing information out of her."

"Okay then. Rumour is that the earth pony foals are usually adopted out, or given to the Duke to raise as his elite warriors. Not sure about that one myself. The unicorns though, are auctioned off to different ponies to raise as slave labour or something." While the 'or something' still turned Twilight's stomach knowing how a lot of ponies in this country were, it was still better than what she thought would happen. It must have shown too, because a second later Rush said "You thought they killed them, didn't you?"

"Can you really blame me?"

"No, I guess not, but it'd take a special kind of bastard to kill foals." Twilight supposed that Rush had a point. "Are we going now?"

"Yeah, in a little bit. I just need to check in with Mason and see if he's ready." They left the fliers to make their own preparations and went to talk to Mason, who had progressed from tossing and catching his war hammer, to oiling his muscles of all things.

"Mason?" The grey earth pony saluted quickly, the bottle of oil sliding out of his hoof and flying away into the bushes as he did. He pretended to not notice as he held the salute.

"Ma'am."

Twilight turned back to face him, having watched the bottle complete its arc into the distance. "Are the carts ready to go?"

"We're ready to go when you are."

"Excellent. Lets pass out the keys for the collars, then I think it's time we got this show on the road."

They had built their camp about an hours trot from Whiplash, out in the woods where they hopefully wouldn't be noticed. They had also taken a circuitous route around the opposite side of the facility using the idea that they would use the main route on their return to Neigh Orleans to move the carts and ponies as fast as possible. This required the town there to be totally ignorant to their presence, in case somepony decided to go and give a warning about the large number of armed ponies in the vicinity.

They had also hidden a few supply drops on the route back, figuring that the journey to Puddingarde would take a few days, and they would have to feed a couple thousand ponies over that time. They had arranged for the weather to be pleasant further south in the hopes that there wouldn't be any cold snaps putting the young at risk. The journey back was well prepared for.

All of this was a moot point compared to the fact that they were going to be attacking what was considered one of the most secure places in Mareitania. The thing about places like this though, is that they're built to stop ponies from breaking out, not in. Also, alicorns and unicorns with actual magic training would probably be considered cheating if the Duke were asked.

Twilight waved a hoof at Shadow, the signal for the thestrals to take off and sweep the area. With many a flutter of leathery wings, the thestrals took off and spread out around the area, their pattern growing wider as they sought out threats.

Shadow flew back down and waved at Twilight before rejoining the rest of her ponies as a siren started blaring out from the facility. As one, the roughly four hundred ponies burst out from the tree line, their hooves thundering as they sprinted the distance to the facility, before racing around the side of the building to the one and only entrance facing the town.

"Trixie!" Twilight waited for the blue unicorn to catch up. They didn't have a solid idea what lay beyond those massive iron doors, save it was nothing nice, so they had concocted the shock and awe tactic of ripping the entire door out of its frame before letting some of the Adepts lead the way in, shielding themselves as they went.

They stood one each side of the door, Twilight to the right, and Trixie to the left. Each of them traced a line of magic around the door, cutting through the brick wall before bracing themselves. Twilight shivered as Trixie's dark magic intermingled with her own, but ignored it as they heaved, pulling the doors straight out of the hole they had cut with an almighty CRACK!

Twilight took the doors completely and placed them to the side and carefully leant them against the wall while the Adepts entered. The sounds of their magical blasts mixed with the ping of crossbow bolts bouncing off their shields, and intermingled with the shouts and cries of the guards as they pushed in.

Once the doorway was clear Twilight entered alongside Trixie and took stock of what was within the building. There was a floor directly above her so she couldn't see what else the building contained, but according to the filly there were at least five more floors above her, but they weren't enclosed like this one, going up in rings while the centre remained empty. In front of her now though was a floor dedicated solely to managing the pegasi, if the bars and gates were any indication. Beyond them were a set of stairs that led to the floor above, and around them, at intervals around the room, were four large doors that presumably led to the different wings of the facility.

If they had the layout right, the door to her left should be the adult population, then new-borns, young fillies and colts, then ending with the preteens and teenagers through the door on her right. Twilight peeled the bars blocking the way to the stairs away from the wall before assembling the various team leaders to her.

"Okay, Snowbright and Spitfire, clear your sections of guards as quickly as possible. Then Rush, it's up to you to convince the adults to help with the evacuation, because this'll go a lot easier if they help us."

"Got it."

"Spitfire, you get those fillies and colts secured then wait for us to get the younger ponies out first bef-"

"Now isn't the time to be going over this!" Fleur hissed into Twilight's ear.

"Fine. Trixie and I will be in the control room if you need us." Twilight turned and ran for the stairs where Trixie was already leading the charge. Twilight shielded herself and flew above them, trying to draw the guards' fire while her own soldiers pushed up the stairs. Above the first floor the centre of the building did indeed become empty, allowing Twilight to look at what she was doing.

Each floor was lined by doors, the purpose of which would likely remain a mystery. Her ponies would clear them out as they searched for pegasi, but that would be it. Twilight knew there was a medical office and a records office, but those, like the other rooms, weren't her concern. Hanging above her, suspended from the roof with walkways leading towards the three wings, was the control room. Attached to the bottom of the control room was an upside down mast, tipped by a large crystal the size of her head. Gaining control of that room was her one and only concern for now.

She swooped back down to where her soldiers were pushing onto the second floor, taking a few guards out with well aimed shots as she passed. She landed on the iron plated floor next to Trixie, who was returning fire against the guards while a few Adepts protected her. "Trixie! You ready?" Twilight shouted. She hadn't noticed it so much while flying, but between the various alarms going off, and the sound of fighting, there was quite a lot of noise, and she had to shout just to hear herself. If she had more time to think it over she might have found it amusing that a bunch of the guards here were making the effort to operate those alarms manually.

"No! But do it anyway!" Twilight crouched and pushed of the floor and into the air, her wings pumping rapidly as she pushed herself upwards, dragging the reluctant, well armoured, and aerodynamically challenged Trixie behind her.

Twilight blasted the window of the control room facing her, the spray of glass she created being enough of a distraction to allow her to toss Trixie in through the hole. She flew up and looped back, gliding in through the window, only to find Trixie had already taken out half of the guards in there. One was scrabbling at the lock to a large red switch on the wall, which Twilight imagined was the switch that activated the collars, and she took him out, only to find her world flying sideways as a guard tackled her.

She rolled with the tackle, kicking him off while she was on her back, the crackle of glass beneath making her suddenly very glad for her armour. She got back onto her hooves just in time to dodge back from the buck aimed at her face, and quickly flapped her wings to propel herself forward as the guard turned back to face her, but he was too slow to avoid the hoof directed at his head, flying towards him like the hoof of an angry god. Twilight's armour rang slightly as the hit connected, and the guard slammed into the wall before slumping down, unconscious.

Twilight shook some life back into her hoof, a slight grin playing across her face. "Heh, boop." An insistent crying from behind her caught her attention, and she turned to find that Trixie had killed two other guards, while a third was lay on his side, clutching his bloodied face and crying for his mother. Twilight held her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut until she heard Trixie finish him off.

"Wuss," Trixie said quietly, but not so quiet as Twilight wouldn't hear it.

"Why would you do that to his face?"

"Me? You think that was Trixie!? That was you when you smashed the window you moron!"

"Oh..." Twilight wasn't about to admit to how sick she suddenly felt. She offered a small thank you to Trixie for finishing the guard off before stepping outside the control room and looking down. Her soldiers were making their way up to the third floor now, their opposition growing thinner all the time. Twilight felt a brief pang of pride at these ponies, who not long ago had been masters of telekinesis and little else, before that pride died, realising that she had turned their potential to killing and nothing else.

"Trixie, hold the control room. I'm going to help our soldiers clear out the rest of these guards. By the time we do that and search these rooms, hopefully the evacuation will be well under way."

Fleur aimed along her crossbow, an earth pony beside her doing the same, albeit with far greater difficulty, and let her arrow fly. It buried itself in the shoulder of the pony she had been aiming at, which wasn't quite what she had been hoping for, but it did distract him enough for another pony to finish him off.

She quickly reloaded and set off down the walkway, catching up to the line of Adepts holding back the worst of the guards' returning fire with their shields. Beyond those guards was their targets, which was to say the rooms containing the young foals and their carers. Fleur wasn't quite sure why there was so much resistance here. It wasn't like they were protecting anything precious in the eyes of the Duke, so why there was quite so many guards was a mystery. Perhaps they had been unlucky enough to catch a random patrol or something.

Fleur looked across to the ponies advancing up the walkway on the opposite side of the room, and aimed her crossbow at the guard ponies trying to mount a counter attack by charging them. While Adepts were far superior at defensive abilities and range compared to earth ponies, they lost that advantage in melee range, especially if they lost their shields. Not even their strongest Adepts could hold their shields against an earth pony's kicks for long, whereas pegasi were better at close melee with earth ponies, their speed and agility allowing them to strike and retreat before an earth pony had a chance to get a solid hit in. Similarly, unicorns with good fields of fire could mow down attacking pegasi with near impunity.

They didn't have any pegasi though, not that they would be at their best in the enclosed spaces, so they would have to make do with ponies like Fleur taking their attackers out as fast as she could reload her crossbow. The others around her caught on and helped her, only for the guards to drop their weapons and sit down, raising their hooves in surrender.

The guards defending on her side did as well, and Fleur pushed her way to the front, drawing her sword and approaching the nearest guard. "Are you surrendering?"

The guard nodded and lowered his hooves to the floor, "I reckon so, aye. These fecking turkeys ain't worth dying for."

"What do you want us to do with 'em?" one of the Adepts asked, brushing the sweat off her brow. It hadn't occurred to Fleur just how much work it must be to switch between attacking and shielding in the space of a few seconds, repeatedly.

Before Fleur could think of an answer the guard spoke up again. "There's plenty o' empty cells in here. You put us in one o' them and we'll sit real quiet like until you done what you're here to do."

Fleur nodded, "Alright, but you better be on your best behavior; we don't exactly have orders to take prisoners." She allowed the guards to organise themselves into the empty cells, stopping them only to take any keys in their possession. As she locked the last cell door the filly came running over.

"Hey Fleur! Guess what!"

"There's a bomb in the basement, and if we walk at a speed over ten miles per hour it'll go off?"

"What? No... What?"

"Then just tell me."

"Twilight's taken the control room and Spitfire's secured the ponies my age. Octavia's still working on her wing, because they're having to be careful, and no word from Snowbright's team."

"And how was I supposed to guess any of that?" The filly shrugged and Fleur looked around the room as she thought. Now the guards had surrendered it was pretty quiet in here, so it probably wouldn't hurt to send some help to the other teams. She waved the unicorn mare she had talked to before, "Find twenty or so ponies and go help Octavia's team. I'm going to make sure everything's secure here and go help Snowbright." The mare ran off and Fleur turned back to the filly, "In a fit of almost insane reasoning I'm going to leave you in charge here. Keep the cells with the guards locked, and start letting the pegasi out slowly. I'm hoping they won't find you a threat, so talk to the carers and try and get them to understand what's happening."

"You can count on me. Hopefully they won't argue too much if I show them I'm a pegasus too. Well... sort of..."

Fleur gave the keys to the filly and pulled her into a hug, "Of course you're a pegasus you dope, nothing could ever change that. Now be careful, if the pegasi don't want to listen, leave them alone and wait for Rush or one of the other pegasi to talk to them."

"Okay."

Fleur gathered up a few ponies and ran towards the block Snowbright was trying to capture. Even before she had got to the entrance she became suspicious of the lack of noise coming from within. The sound of hooves caught her attention and she slowed as Octavia and Summer ran over to her, leading the group of ponies she had sent to help. "I thought you hadn't captured your block yet?"

"The guards surrendered as soon as your ponies ran in, so we thought we'd come and help Snowbright."

"Good thinking." Fleur ran in through the door, finding that Snowbright's ponies were huddled up under shields on both sides of the room, using what shelter the walkways above them provided. Fleur dived to the right, running under the shield as a rain of arrows came towards her. There was a yelp, and one of the Adepts fell behind, an arrow sticking out of her hip.

Fleur and several other ponies used their magic to drag her under the shield before the guards could finish her off, and Fleur let the ponies around her tend to the unicorn while she talked to Snowbright. "What happened Snowbright? We've all taken our blocks!"

"It's those damn walkways!" Fleur looked up to see that this room had four walkways on two levels crossing it, walkways lined with guards, unlike the block she had taken. "We were too slow coming in and they had time to mount a defense. Now we can't do anything to push forward without a rain of arrows falling on us." There was a cry from the unicorn as the arrow was pulled out. "As you might have guessed."

"They've got to run out of arrows soon, right?"

Snowbright shrugged, "They haven't yet. We need something to draw their fire so we can get out and fight them properly."

"The Wonderbolts could do it," said Octavia. "Provide a distraction I mean."

"I don't know..." Fleur doubted. "If they get caught in the returning fire it'd be the end of them."

Rush stepped over from where she was hiding in the corner, "Actually, I think Octavia's right. They can move fast enough to avoid the fire."

"Alright then, if that what everypony agrees on. Octavia, go get the Wonderbolts and explain the situation to them."

"Have them fly straight in and distract the guards," added Snowbright. "Knock three times so we know you're back. We'll be ready for you." Octavia nodded, swallowed and galloped out through the exit, a few arrows clattering off the floor behind her.

"We might also have another problem," Snowbright said once Octavia was gone.

"What's that?"

"These aren't all the guards. There were more but they're doing something while we're stuck here. I think... I think they're killing the pegasi."

"What! And you're just sat here letting it happen? Snowbright!"

"I know, I should've sent for help sooner. I get it, I fucked up."

"You can fucking well say that again!" Fleur glanced at Rush, the pegasus looking back with a desperate expression, "Fuck! As soon as the Wonderbolts get here, you and some of these ponies are going straight for the stairs to stop those guards, you hear me!?"

"Understood." Snowbright organised some of the ponies that would join his charge for the upper levels. A minute later there was a trio of thuds on the wall, heralding the imminent arrival of the Wonderbolts. Thirty seconds later the Wonderbolts burst through the door, hoof-blades gleaming as they powered up and over the guards. "Go go go!"

Fleur stepped out from the safety of the shield and lined a guard up in her sights as Snowbright began his charge for the stairs. The Wonderbolts came back around, slicing at the guards as they passed, Soarin almost decapitating one of them. The room lit up as the Adepts turned their efforts to attacking, their colourful bolts of energy peppering the guards on the nearest walkways. Rush joined the Wonderbolts in the air, helping them to thin down the guards on the furthest walkways while the Adepts and archers finished off the nearest.

It was two minutes of pure chaos, the colourful flashes of magic making it look like an inappropriately timed disco as the last of the guards were brought down. The sounds of fighting still continued on the higher levels as Snowbright fought those few guards remaining, but that quickly ended too.

Fleur ran to where Snowbright was, ignoring the pegasi watching her through the bars of their cell doors, but slowed as she saw how pale many of the ponies up here appeared. She poked her head through the door of the cell Snowbright was next to and recoiled at the sight of three mares, one an earth pony guard, the others pegasi. The guard had a stab wound in her chest, but the pegasi lay on the floor, their final moments of fear still showing on their faces after having their throats cut.

Fleur retched and threw up in the corner of the cell, wholly unable to stop herself from doing so. Her legs wobbled as she left the cell and slumped over the guardrail on the walkway next to Snowbright. "H-how-" Fleur started before spitting to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth. "How many?"

"Just under a hundred maybe..." Snowbright said back, his voice low and crackly. "I can't believe I fucked up so badly. Twilight's going to kill me."

"No she won't," said Fleur. "She'd have to consider your mistakes to be worse than her own for that to happen, and that isn't ever going to happen." The walkway vibrated as ponies walked along it, and Fleur looked up to see Octavia and Summer coming towards them. Fleur quickly got up to meet them halfway. "You don't want to go any further, believe me."

"They were killing the pegasi, weren't they?" Octavia said softly. "How many did we lose?"

"Snowbright thinks they killed just under a hundred."

"Just to stop us from freeing them..." Octavia shivered, "Truly monstrous. We saved most of them though, so there is that."

"I guess. Where's Rush and the Wonderbolts?" Octavia pointed up to the highest walkway at the back of the room where the three Wonderbolts were gathered around Rush, the sparkle of moisture around her eyes betraying her tears. Fleur slowly made her way up to them, doing her best to ignore the insides of the cells around her. "I'm sorry Rush," she said once she reached them.

"I-I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Rush lifted her head to look at Fleur, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sick of it Fleur, sick of being treated like we're not even ponies!" Rush's voiced cracked and she rubbed her eyes, "You want the pegasi's help to stop the Duke, you got it."

"You have no idea how nice it is to hear you say that, but it's something best discussed with Twilight. Right now we still have a lot of pegasi to get to safety, and we need your help to do it."

Rush nodded and forced herself to her hooves. "I know. I just... I just..." She sighed and rubbed her face free of tears, "I know." She walked past Fleur, Spitfire staying with her while Fleetfoot and Soarin jumped off the walkway and glided out through the door, presumably back to their block.

Octavia and Summer stepped aside to let Rush and Spitfire pass, Summer giving the grieving Rush a small smile as she did. "Somepony's going to have to tell Twilight," Octavia said once it was just the three of them.

"And I'm probably not the best pony for that," Summer admitted sheepishly.

"Well, I might've left the filly in charge in my block, so I really ought to get back there and see what's going on."

"You mean that filly down there?" Summer said, pointing down to the doorway into the block. The filly entered the room and hesitated, backing away slightly with her head lowered while she looked into the left corner by the door. She swallowed and pushed past it, looking around until she spotted Fleur.

"Octavia, I'm afraid you're going to have to tell Twilight. First though, check in with Mason and tell him the evacuation will be starting soon. Summer, you might want to go and see how Thorn's doing while she does that." Fleur ran, not waiting to see if they were doing as she asked. She ran to the filly and skidded to a stop in front of her, "I said to wait in the other block."

"Nothing was happening," the filly said, casting furtive glances at the corner behind her, "so I thought I'd- I-um..."

"Is that where it happened?" The filly nodded shakily. "Alright, come on." Fleur led the filly further into the block, passing Octavia and Summer as they made their way out. "Alright, what's going on?"

"I have to know Fleur! I have to know if my mom's still alive!"

"Alright! Alright..." Fleur waved a hoof to shush the filly, while she fervently hoped her mother wasn't one of the ponies up in the cells above them with their throat slashed open. "What's your mom's name so we can ask somepony?"

"Silent Night... I think... She had the same mane colour as me, but her coat was a darker, almost orange shade of yellow. That's all I really remember about her, and I'm not even sure about that."

Fleur didn't really want to do this, not now, but she couldn't deny the filly either. "Okay, lets ask some of the pegasi here and see if they know." She led them over to the nearest cell, the only pony in it being a young blue mare, "Excuse me, do you know of a pegasus here called Silent Night? Sort of looks like this filly here?"

The mare trembled but shook her head, "I-I'm sorry, b-but I don't really know anypony here, I was only brought here a c-couple of weeks ago."

"That's alright. Somepony'll be along soon to let you out." They moved onto the next cell, asking the same question, but getting similar negative answers. They kept trying, moving from cell to cell, even asking some of the captive stallions if they knew her.

Fleur steered them around the cells containing the dead pegasi, the filly having enough sense to let Fleur do so. They started on the cells on the opposite side of the room, asking the same question to all one but one mare who spoke to them first.

"I know you," she said. "But I don't know where from."

The filly pulled her cape to the side, showing off her scars. "Does this give you a clue?"

"My word... Swifty? Is it really you?"

The filly sighed, not looking the mare in the eye. "Yeah, it's me. Please don't call me Swift or Swifty though."

"I can't believe you survived... Oh my dear, if only your mother could see you now."

The filly choked, "Y-you know where she is?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry dear, but your mother died a couple years back, during childbirth. One of the guards had their way with her, and she was giving birth to a unicorn, but something went wrong and she started bleeding bad. Neither she or the poor lil mite survived." The Pegasus smiled sadly at the filly. "She's in the Summer lands now. I'm so sorry dear. I wish she could've seen the wonderful mare you've grown into. She'd be so proud."

The filly stared at the floor for a moment, neither moving or making a sound until she suddenly stood up. "Thank you for telling me," she said before slowly walking off.

Fleur watched her go before looking at the pegasus in the cell who cocked her head in the direction the filly had left. "I've been a mother enough times to know she needs you. Go on."

Fleur nodded her thanks and ran after the filly, "Filly, wait!" The filly stopped dead in her tracks and Fleur slowed to a stop beside her. "I'm sorry your mother's gone filly. I know you hoped she-"

The filly turned suddenly and hit her. "Don't pretend you know what I hoped for Fleur! I never hoped she was alive! I just wanted to know! Maybe she's the lucky one, getting to escape all this shit. She's the last of my family I know of, and now she's gone."

"B-but you have family! We're your family! I'm your family!"

"I don't want family Fleur! If you think about it I probably have at least six or seven brothers and sisters in this building! Family doesn't mean shit to me! I just want somepony to be there for me."

"I am here for you filly."

"Are you always going to be though? We're at war Fleur! You could die today, tomorrow, next week, or even next month. The point is you could die, and then I'll have nopony. Again."

"So that's it? You shut everypony out to stop from getting hurt? Get real filly, it doesn't work like that and you know it."

"They'll need your help with the evacuation. I'll wait for you outside." Fleur stood, convulsing with conflicting emotions as the filly left, the only sign of her passing being a trio of teardrops shimmering in the light.

Head held high and her breathing held within her considerable control, Octavia made her way outside, the words of her mother echoing within her head as they always did in these situations, "Just stay quiet and don't make a fuss. Your problems aren't important compared to everypony else's." Of course those words were usually given to Octavia when she was a filly and was usually applied to her mother's dinner guests, and would probably not be applied to a wartime situation. At least not by anypony that wasn't her parents anyway.

The truth was that she wanted to scream and cry and let it all out. Today she had killed a pony, seen ponies get killed, and sat nearby as the lives of innocent pegasi were snuffed out just to prevent them from being free. Two weeks ago she had paid witness to a brutal attack on Caverndown by an army bent on subjugating the crystal ponies, and a few days before that she had almost been raped by Summer. All on top of the things she had seen ever since arriving in Mareitania. Twilight was a wreck, Trixie was swimming with dark magic, Fleur was as enigmatic as ever, the filly was probably more of a mess than she'd ever admit to, and Summer... Summer didn't need excuses made for her as she had reasons aplenty.

This left Octavia doing what she had always done; being strong for others, not out of necessity, but out of habit. She had been strong for herself when she fled her family, otherwise the guilt would've driven her right back. She was often strong for Vinyl who had an abusive alcoholic for a father and often suffered from flashbacks and night terrors. And now she was being strong for the ponies around her, while inside her, her 'strength' was smothering her to death. The strangest casualty of this war might be parts of Octavia that Octavia didn't wish to lose, but were nethertheless being swallowed up by her inability to put herself before others.

She stepped out through the gaping hole that had once been a doorway and walked over to Mason by the train of a dozen carts, watching the thestrals dipping and diving in the distance towards the town. "What's going on?"

"Town guard heard the alarms and were coming to help. Thestrals are taking care of them." And now she was watching an aerial display in which some poor sods on minimum wage were being killed to stop them from being an inconvenience. Her hoof started to tremble, so she put some more weight on it to try and stop it.

"Oh."

"Are we about ready to get these pegasi moving? I'm getting antsy just standing here."

"Uh, soon Mason, as in the next ten minutes kind of soon. Snowbright had a problem with his section, but we've got it sorted now."

"Alright then, we'll be ready."

Octavia turned and was about to head back in to find Twilight, but stopped as the filly shuffled out in front of her, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "Are you alright filly?"

"Don't Octavia. Just... don't." The filly sat under a cart, watching the thestrals.

"Alright then." She made her way back inside, weaving through the various ponies as the evacuation got under way, trotting up the stairs into the main building. "Twilight?" she called as loud as she could, waiting for Twilight to either reply or at least show herself.

A purple head poked out through the empty window, "I'll be right down Octavia!" Octavia nodded and waited, shuffling her hooves and slowly breathing in and out until Twilight gently landed on the ground next to her. "What's going on Octavia? Is the evacuation under way?"

"Uh, yes, the evacuation should be under way soon."

"A little behind schedule," Twilight said thoughtfully, "but nothing we haven't accounted for. Is everything alright outside?"

"The town guard were coming to investigate according to Mason. Shadow and her thestrals took care of it."

"The town guard?" Twilight sighed, "Shit. I should've told Shadow to not use lethal force against them. Damn it."

"That's not all Twilight. Something happened in Snowbright's block."

Twilight's face fell slightly. "What? What was it?"

"The layout was different to the other blocks, and he got pinned down." Octavia's heart felt like it wanted to burst out of her chest. "The guards started killing the pegasi, to stop us freeing them."

Twilight's rear slowly sank to the floor, her face blank until suddenly contorting in anger, and she stomped her front hooves down on the floor. "Damn it! It was going so well! How many?"

"Just under a hundred. I'm sorry Twilight..."

"It's not your fault. It's noponies fault except the bastards that did it. Lets just get the pegasi out of here. There's no point focusing on the ones we lost. Do we have any casualties on our side?"

"None that I know of. We have a few injuries, but nopony killed."

Twilight raised an eyebrow," Really? Huh. That's something at least."

"We've also taken quite a few of the guards prisoner. Should we bring them with us?"

"No, absolutely not. We can hardly expect the pegasi to trust us if we bring their former jailers with us. We'll just leave them here and let the Duke, or whomever it might be, to deal with them."

"That reminds me. Rush was obviously upset after the guards... did what they did. She said she's sick of pegasi being treated like they're less that ponies, and that she and hopefully the rest of the pegasi will help us."

Twilight smiled, although it was small and fragile. "That's good, but a lot of the pegasi here are too young, or pregnant, or have children; they won't be able to fight. On the bright side though, this'll be the first generation of pegasi allowed to keep their children in centuries. I think that's something to be proud of." Octavia nodded. It was something to be proud of, which she really needed right now. "Lets get these ponies evacuated and get out of here. I doubt we're going to want to linger too long."

Twilight paced up and down alongside the carts, making final checks before departing. They had secured the youngest ponies and the injured in the carts, and was happy to see that there were indeed no casualties amongst her own troops. All they had to do now was get on the road to Puddingarde, which sadly involved going through the town. Hopefully with the town guard eliminated it should be fairly simple, but it wouldn't do to be complacent. But first she had a few things to do.

Twilight turned her attention to the white and pink unicorn that was dismantling her armour and packing it away in one of the carts. "Are you sure about this Fleur?"

Fleur quickly glanced at the filly who was sullenly staring into the distance. "A bit less than I was the other week, but yeah, I'm sure."

"And you're sure you don't want me to send a couple of ponies with you? Or have Trixie or Octavia come with you?"

Fleur unstrapped her hoofguards and placed them in the cart before shaking her head. "Nah. The more ponies that come with us, the higher a chance of getting caught. Besides, if the filly's back door in is as good as she claims this should be a milk run."

"Could you make that sound any dirtier if you tried?" the filly said, her face straight. "And yeah, it's good."

"See! We'll be fine Twilight, honest."

"Sounds like famous last words to me," Trixie said from nearby.

Fleur snirked, "Would it kill you to show a little optimism Trixie?"

"It may well do. Just take care of yourselves out there."

"Aww Trixie! You're going to make me blush!" the filly mocked before returning to her sullen stance.

Octavia and Summer joined the group, "We're all ready to go Twilight."

"Alright. If we don't hear off you in three weeks we're coming in after you, just so you know. I also put a telescope in your bags. I figured it might help you to get around any soldiers.

"Thanks Twi, and I intend to be back in Puddingarde in two weeks, so yeah, hopefully a rescue won't be necessary." They exchanged a few last goodbyes and group hug, which Trixie forcefully broke apart when the filly cheekily licked her horn, and Fleur hefted her saddlebags onto her back as Shadow fluttered down and landed next to them.

"You're going?"

"Yep," Fleur said cheerily.

"Oh, okay, cool."

"What? That's all you're going to say?"

"Um... don't die?"

"Very charming. Come on filly, time's wasting." The two ponies trotted off at a brisk pace, leaving the others to watch them go.

"Are we ready to go?" Shadow asked, having quickly got bored of watching the two ponies leave.

"Yeah," Twilight said, still watching them go. She shook her head rapidly, turning her attention away before Trixie accused her of staring at Fleur's ass, or something equally obnoxious. "Are you all set for your own task after this?"

"Sure. I just wanna know how far you expect us to cover you for?"

"Only until we're on the other side of town. Now remember, I want to have a messenger off you every couple of weeks, and don't get too ambitious. You're worth far more to us alive."

"Yeah yeah. Quit acting like I've never played bandit before. I mean, I haven't, but seriously, how hard can it be? Anyway, let's get moving." The thestral leapt back into the air, re-joining the rest of her ponies.

Twilight made her way to the front of the cart train, finding Rush talking to Spitfire. "Are you sure about leaving the bodies here Rush?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Centuries of being treated like shit have kind of made worrying about your body after death seem a bit pointless."

"Your choice entirely. And the doctor? You sure she can be trusted?" Twilight had been surprised when the doctor, a petit pale purple earth pony mare by the name of Suture Shine, had asked to go with them. If it wasn't for the fact that they were desperately short of ponies with any medical knowledge Twilight would have refused immediately. Many of the pegasi had vouched for her though, so it was in Twilight's best interest to bring the mare in the end.

Rush nodded, "Yeah. If the others say she's okay, then she's probably okay. She's only been here a couple of years and apparently hates what they do to us here."

"Then why work here?"

Rush shrugged, "Because she doesn't trust anypony else to do it right probably. I still remember the old doctor. He was a right bastard and enjoyed his job far too much. Kept going out of his way to make something as simple as a check up humiliating."

"How do you make a check up humiliating?"

Rush stared at her flatly. "There's more than one way to take a pony's temperature."

"Right..."

"He wasn't even checking my temperature."

Twilight shuddered and turned to Mason who was hitched up to the lead cart, "Mason, it's time."

"Finally!" Mason started pulling, the carts behind him keeping pace. Their soldiers lined up alongside the carts on both sides, to act as protection, and also to catch any kids that might fall out. Behind the carts the adult and teenage pegasi lined up, apart from those few too heavily pregnant to make the run. Those were in the cart with the wounded. The rest of the pegasi were running behind, similarly protected by two lines of soldiers, while the thestrals would provide cover from more distant threats. Twilight herself was flying point, so she could use her magic to clear any obstacles out of the way.

Conveniently the roads through the town were clear of pedestrians, but still had an unfortunate amount of dead bodies lining them after the thestrals had taken out the guard. Progress slowed considerably, and Twilight had to get help to clear the bodies away. All the while nervous eyes watched them out of windows, and Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that the townponies were somehow going to be on the receiving end of what happened here next.

At the same time though, the town of Brayside had some of Daybreak's agents in it for quite some time if the stallion was to be believed. The ones that wanted to join the rebellion were probably running alongside the carts at this moment, righting a wrong committed against the pegasi long ago. Anypony that didn't agree with what the rebellion was trying to do, well, that was too bad for them.

Twilight shook her head, telling herself off for thinking in such a simple, black and white manner. If she'd lived in this country all her life she'd probably be as beat down and scared as most of the other ponies. The fact that there were ponies willing to fight and die for their freedom was likely a miracle at this point.

She cleared the last of the bodies out of the way, allowing the carts to finally get moving. Perhaps she was trying to think too big and too fast, and ought to focus on the good she could do now, rather than fantasising about what could be. Like liberating a thousand odd pegasi. That felt pretty good.

"Next stop, Puddingarde!"

"I seriously hope you intend to stop before Puddingarde," Mason grumbled below her.

"Well yeah, but that doesn't sound as good."

Author's Notes:

This was originally meant to be two chapters but it was too short for that so I made it one, hence why it might seem a little spastic in its pacing. I never claimed to be good at this.

Sorry about the lack of updates but my writing time seems to be lacking lately. Hopefully it won't be a another two weeks until the next chapter.