Twilight paced back and forward while Faust watched her, implications of finding the Lady of all ponies passing through her mind faster than she could make sense of them. A big sticking point was that the leader of the last rebellion was just a pegasus, and for some reason that bothered her more than the alicorn as there was such a myth built around it.

"Who was the pony that led the last rebellion?" she found herself asking out loud.

"As I said, she was just a pegasus. I forget her name, but her father was an earth pony noble and a collector of pegasus artifacts, or at least I think that's what it was. We are talking about a conversation I had over four hundred years ago after all. Anyway, when she was born he kept her hidden, somehow, rather than give her over to the labour camps, and the rest she did herself. Quite surprising to find an earth pony with a conscience where pegasi are concerned. Too bad the Duke around then must have known she was an impostor the whole time."

"He did?"

"Of course he did!" Faust snapped. "How could he not when he had the real 'Lady' right here!"

Twilight flinched, "Sorry. How long have you been here?" Four hundred years was a long time to be locked up underground as far as Twilight was concerned. "Why would the Dukes' do this to you?"

"You think these incompetents did this? I'm not here because of the Dukes!" The runes in the cell glowed a little brighter, and Twilight had to shield her eyes with a wing.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because Princess Platinum decreed it so!" Faust roared.

"Princess Platinum?" Twilight was dumbstruck. Faust had been put here by the order of Princess Platinum? Then she had to have been here over fifteen centuries. Several questions vied for Twilight's attention. How was she put here? Why was she put here? How was she not dead? And how was she even passably sane? According to the history books Princess Platinum was every inch a pampered princess, and certainly didn't possess the power to subdue an alicorn, and certainly not one as powerful as Faust felt to be. And why would she need to anyway? Was Faust a threat?

"How?" Twilight found herself asking, "How could Princess Platinum do this to you? You're an alicorn!"

"She sent her father's attack dog Sombra after me," Faust sneered.

"Sombra?" Twilight was dumbstruck upon hearing that. Just how old is Sombra?

Faust narrowed her eyes at Twilight, "You've heard of him? The beast still lives?"

"No! Or at least not any more. He conquered the Crystal Empire, and well, a lot of stuff happened, but he's dead now."

Faust shook her head sadly, "I knew Bullion would lose control of him eventually. I should've done the world a favour and destroyed him when I had the chance."

"Why didn't you? Surely he didn't beat you?"

"I... I was with foal, and foolishly surrendered to protect her, only to end up here and have her taken from me."

"Your foal?"

Faust smiled wistfully, her eyes looking at something far in the past. "Even now I can picture her clearly, with her fluffy white coat and soft pink mane. At least Platinum gave me the chance to name her, my dear sweet Celestia."

"Celestia!? Your foal was Celestia? B-but Celestia said Platinum was hers and Luna's mother!"

"Do not mention that name around me!" Faust suddenly shouted.

Twilight backed up in fear and stammered, "W-which one? Luna? Or Platinum?"

"Luna!"

"Why? What's wrong with Lu- that pony?"

Faust bore her teeth in anger, "It wasn't enough for Sombra to defeat me and trap me here, oh no. He had to return here and complete his victory! Defile me while I was at my weakest and force me to carry his vile spawn! Platinum did both of us a mercy by taking her away!"

Twilight didn't know what to say. Sombra was Luna's father? Twilight didn't want that to be true for her own sake, but how would Luna handle that knowledge? Perhaps it might be best to not tell her. Unfortunately, at the same time she had a right to know. Then there was still the small matter of who Celestia's father was, so Twilight asked.

Faust's stance changed again as she stared into the past once more. "Starswirl," she said softly. Twilight's eyes almost bulged out of her head as that one sank in. "The only pony to ever try and get close, to understand..." Faust continued while Twilight had her little crisis. Faust's face grew into a frown, "I haven't seen him in so long, and I doubt I ever will again, unless he too still lives?"

Twilight shook her head, "He disappeared one day during one of his time experiments, or so it's said. I'm not saying he's dead, but nopony knows where, or when, he is."

Faust smiled again, "Still messing with time hmm? Still searching for immortality too I suspect."

"You knew about that?"

"Of course I do. I gave him a compelling reason to after all. I guess he never completed his spell to aid in his ascension."

"No, but he was close. I finished the spell," Twilight spread her wings, "and I can confirm it works."

"So you were not born an alicorn? I see..."

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but what did Platinum want with Celestia?"

Faust's scowl returned, "Platinum was many things, but she was no fool. She knew there was no future in the three tribes being separate, but at the same time feared the loss of power uniting would entail. When she heard I was with foal she sought after it in the hopes it would be an alicorn."

"Why?"

"She wanted to propose the idea of a pony that represented all three races ruling the three tribes. If that pony so happened to have been raised by Platinum herself and filled with her ideals then her influence would continue, even if passively. But without me to stop them, the windigoes came and changed everything. The kingdoms were abandoned, and something far worse rose up in their place."

Twilight's head spun. There was so much here that it was almost impossible to take in. A centuries old plot by Platinum to kidnap and raise Celestia as ruler of a united kingdom whilst being heavily influenced by Platinum's ideals. Luna being the unwanted offspring of Sombra. The sheer existence of the Lady herself. Then there was the fact that without Faust to stop them, the windigoes attacked.

"Why did you have to stop the windigoes?"

"Because they were my mistake." Twilight's eyebrows raised in surprise and Faust tried to explain. "Do you know about the impact of negative emotions on pony kind? How negative emotion turns into negative energy?" Twilight did. It was the entire principle behind the Crystal Empire and what effect it has on the rest of Equestria. "Starswirl and I sought a way to remove the excess negative emotions that were everywhere, generated by the distrust between the three tribes, and the windigoes were our first attempt."

"It didn't work?"

"It worked spectacularly, but the windigoes were ravenous. They fed upon hatred and misery, so aimed to create as much as possible to sate their gluttony. In the end I was forced to banish them to the north and keep watch to ensure they never returned to harm pony kind. Obviously that failed when I was trapped here, but even I had not expected them to have changed so much, to have gained their powers over winter. I fear they may have been changed by the power of the frozen north."

"Did you give up after that?"

"Of course not. When last I saw Starswirl he was leaving to pursue other avenues. He said something about some kind of parasitic insects that fed on emotions, and something about seaponies and the properties of certain crystals."

Windigoes, changelings, sirens, and possibly the Crystal Empire. Twilight was thankful that at least one of those went right, although that one was questionable because of how easy it could be subverted in the hooves of the wrong pony. As she was mulling this over she missed when Faust spoke to her, and jumped when she spoke again. "Huh?"

"I asked if you had any water? I haven't had a drop to drink in... it must be centuries by now. Or eaten."

"Really? How are you still alive?"

"I wish I knew, but I suspect that it's down to the simple fact that I'm an alicorn." Faust leaned against the door, her face drawn with sheer misery. "You can't imagine what it's been like, trapped in here, starving, thirsty, separated from all that you love, and totally unable to die." An echo of a memory about fates worse than death ran through Twilight's head, and suddenly she knew what that meant.

"You want to die?"

"Wouldn't you?" As much as Twilight would like to deny it, she had to admit that after so long she probably would. Did this mean that she herself could live indefinitely without eating?

"Maybe I can get you out of here," Twilight said, probing the door with her magic.

"Unlikely, but feel free to try. Then perhaps I could finally start my great work."

"Great work? What great work?"

Faust's anger suddenly returned, "Ridding this world of every trace of Platinum's poison!" A bad feeling dawned on Twilight. "For too long her influence has been allowed to steer the world towards her vision, and I would see it undone for what she did to me."

"But Platinum's been dead for hundreds of years! She doesn't have any influence!"

"She does while her legacy still lives!"

"Legacy? Do you mean Celestia? She's your daughter!"

"She was my daughter, but now she's just a pawn in Platinum's games. Her and all Equestria must be cleansed of Platinum's foul taint, and made pure again."

Twilight swallowed. Celestia had been involved with countries around the world for longer than most could remember. By Faust's reasoning, Platinum's poison would be everywhere. "But it's not like that! Celestia is a kind and just ruler! She's created harmony in not just Equestria but around the world!" Except Mareitania part of her snidely remarked.

"Do not try to tell me what harmony is! I was the first! I made this world what it is! I decide what harmony is! Platinum took it all away from me and I would see everything she built crushed beneath my hooves and rebuilt as they should be!" Twilight didn't want to know how things should be, and wasn't about to ask, but she suspected that as one of the princesses of Equestria Faust would never let her see it if she was set free.

At the same time, leaving her here to marinate in her misery, failing to die of thirst and starvation was horrible, and Twilight found herself torn. In the end there wasn't much choice. Twilight wasn't about to damn the world to help Faust. She would tell Celestia and Luna about it, and once Twilight was finished in Mareitania they could decide Faust's fate.

"I-I don't think I can open this," Twilight said, backing away from Faust's cell. "It needs a special key or something to open it." And it did, but that was far from the reason why she wasn't even trying to open it. "I'm sorry."

"Wait! There must be a key here somewhere! Maybe the Duke has it?" Twilight cringed at the sudden desperation in Faust's voice.

"I think- I think the guards will be here soon. I'm really sorry, but I have to go." Twilight kept creeping back from the door, Faust watching her as she went.

"Please don't leave me here!" Faust banged against the door. "Please let me out! Come back!"

Twilight whispered a final apology before turning and running as fast as she could. She didn't stop until she reached the top of the spiral stairs, and only stopped then when she ran flat out into Octavia.

"Oof! Twilight! Where have you been!?" Octavia tilted her head slightly, "Twilight? Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." A strangely apt description in Twilight's opinion.

"It's... It's nothing. It was dark down there and I got a little freaked out. How's Fleur?"

Octavia grimaced, "We got the nails out, a process that might have gone faster if we had some kind of anaesthetic spell to numb her legs," she said pointedly. Twilight suddenly felt worse as she hadn't even thought to do that. "We are ready to go however, and we must go soon because we can hear the soldiers clearing out the blockage."

"Already? How long was I down there?"

"Far too long! That I can tell you. Come on, we need to get out of here!" Octavia led the way as they ran to the cell they entered through. They stopped by the blocked entrance to upstairs which Trixie was doing her best to shore up in the company of Seeker, but the shouts of soldiers on the other side sounded closer than she would have liked.

"About damned time!" Trixie shouted angrily at her. "Enjoy your tour while we were busy!?"

"Did you find any other prisoners?" Twilight asked Seeker, rather than respond to Trixie.

"Mason found none, but I found three. They lived, but the light in their eyes was gone, so I gave them what mercy I could." Seeker looked away, and Twilight didn't push the issue.

"Okay. Thank you Seeker. Trixie, hold here a few more minutes if you can; I need to go see if Fleur's able to be transformed." Trixie grit her teeth and nodded, and Twilight ran to the cell where the others were waiting with Fleur draped over Mason's back. "Are we ready to go?"

"All set," said Fleetfoot. "We just need Trixie to get here and for you to transform us and we're good to go." Fleetfoot looked at Fleur, then back at Twilight, "The sooner we get back to our supplies, the better."

"Wait," Fleur mumbled. "The filly's here too. We can't leave her."

"No she's not," Octavia said slowly while casting worried glances at the others. "She's in Puddingarde where we left her."

"But Aunt- I mean, Pearl said they caught her. Told me where she was hiding and everything, and they weren't lying because I knew they were right."

Twilight shook her head, "No, she came back to Puddingarde with Seeker and told us that you'd been brought here, so we came to rescue you."

"Does that mean they let her go?" Mason rumbled.

"I suddenly have a bad feeling about this," said Fleetfoot.

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "we need to get back to Puddingarde as soon as possible." She checked Fleur's hooves for any nails that might have been missed, but found none. She resolved to cast her anaesthetic spell on Fleur as soon as they got out.

"They're through! They're through!" Trixie came running towards them as fast as she could, soldiers and a hunter hot on her tail. She was forming crystals that randomly jutted out of the ground, but the hunter just powered straight through them without slowing. "Help!" She ran into the cell and turned to face the hunter, and acting more on instinct than sense, both she and Twilight cast at the hunter. The runes on his armour glowed purple for a second before turning bright white. The hunter screamed and collapsed, fighting to get his armour off as smoke curled out of the gaps.

Even the soldiers had to look away as the pony lay on the floor writhing, his own armour melting onto him. Without wasting a second more Twilight cast her spell to change them into breezies and directed them out through the drain.

"What the hell happened to him?" Mason shouted, expressing the thoughts most of them had.

"I guess their armour can't handle two types of magic at once," Twilight theorized. "I know it's impossible to cast two types of magic at once so it's possible that they never noticed it before."

Trixie seemed the most jubilant of them. "Those bastards have a weakness! Awesome!" Twilight wasn't about to point out that they already had several noticeable weaknesses, and cooking them inside their own armour wasn't one she really wanted to exploit.

"Maybe..." she said, noncommittally. "Let's just focus on getting out of here. They flew out the pipe as fast as Twilight dared to make them go, and oriented them to where they had left their belongings, and most importantly, the medical kit they had loaned off sawbones.

"This place looks a lot bigger on the outside," Fleur commented.

"Didn't you see it when they brought you in?" asked Octavia.

Fleur shook her head, "I had a bag over my head and couldn't see a thing."

Now they were outside they could hear alarms going off within the castle, and they could only hope some sharp eyed sentry didn't spot the seven little breezies drifting overhead. They made it to their destination and Twilight changed them back, placing Fleur on Mason's back again. As soon as they could they would have to find a cart to carry her.

Fleetfoot grabbed the bag of supplies as Twilight cast her anaesthetic spell, Fleur visibly relaxing as she did, leaving Twilight feeling extra guilty for not doing it when they found her. Fleetfoot paused, unsure what to do, only to take a roll of bandages out of the bag and wrap it around Fleur's leg.

"Aren't you supposed to not use fluffy things for burns?" Twilight asked.

Fleetfoot sighed, "I know, but we need to keep it clean and we don't have anything else. We really need to get her back to Puddingarde because this is so far beyond what I have the supplies for. We also really need to find some other way of transporting her because riding on Mason is going to rub her leg and probably make it worse.

"Can't you teleport us back to Puddingarde?" Octavia asked Twilight, an undertone of hope in her voice.

"No," Twilight said, shaking her head. "I can still feel the anti-teleportation field here so that's one reason, but to teleport this many ponies straight to Puddingarde? I'm not even sure I could do it on my own without some kind of beacon. We'll just have to find a cart and hoof it. Maybe once we're a lot closer I could teleport us, but until then, we're walking."

"There was a farm a couple of miles down the road," said Mason. "Maybe we could find a cart there and take it, y'know, for the cause."

Twilight nodded, "Yeah... Yeah alright, let's do that. But first we need to get out of here without being seen. They might start a search seeing as how we were seen escaping."

Pearl rushed down to the dungeons as news of the break-in spread around the castle. She'd been having an audience with the Duke when the excitement started, and was only now able to go and see what was going on.

She entered the dungeon and was immediately hit by an overpowering smell of burnt flesh, far worse than what she could have made with Fleur earlier. She headed towards the nearest soldier, "What's going on here soldier?"

The soldier turned and snapped into a salute. "Rebels broke into the dungeons through the sewers ma'am. They freed the prisoner and..."

"And what?"

The soldier swallowed nervously, cursing her luck that she had to be the bearer of bad news. "It's Breaker ma'am, he's been hurt."

The soldier yelped as Pearl roughly pushed her aside, but Pearl couldn't have cared less about that or Fleur escaping as all she cared about right then was getting to Breaker. A small group of soldiers were gathered around a pony on the floor, and shoved them aside before sobbing at the sight before her.

His armour was deformed from the heat, and the smell of burnt flesh was almost enough to make her eyes water, but inside there was her husband. "Breaker..?"

"Pearl," Breaker rasped back, "is that you?"

"I'm here baby, I'm here. What did they do to you?"

"Those blue and purple bitches hit me with their magic. I don't think our armour can handle two kinds of magic at once... I'm sorry Pearl."

"Don't be Breaker, don't be." She held onto him for a minute, wanting to hold him and kiss him but unable to as the armour had stuck to his skin and removing it was impossible.

"Pearl?"

"Yes Breaker?"

"Make it quick, and tell the kids... Tell them daddy's sorry." Pearl sobbed but nodded, and gently lifted his head to wrap her legs around his neck. "And Pearl?"

"Yes?"

"Make those bitches pay."

"I will, I promise. I love you."

"I love you too babe." She suddenly wrenched his head around and his neck cracked. A second later his body went limp and she gently placed his head back down to the ground. She sat there, too numb to move even after the soldiers had taken Breaker's body away. But she couldn't stay here forever. She had a promise to keep.

"Do you think that was supposed to be a trap?" Fleetfoot asked Twilight as they made their way to the farm.

"If they let the filly get away to come warn us that Fleur had been brought here, it would seem possible. Fleur? Did they say anything to you about what they were doing?"

"No," Fleur mumbled sleepily, the anaesthetic spell working its magic on her. "They said that they had the filly, and they were expecting you to attack Prance in a hopeless fight to get us back."

"Prance?" Trixie said with obvious confusion "Why Prance?"

"Because you wouldn't have known we had been taken to High Rock. I think they were expecting you to throw everything away just to get us back. I didn't think you'd be so stupid though. All the same, thanks for coming after me."

"Seems a lot of work just to lure us into a fight we couldn't win," Trixie said, her voice heavy with suspicion.

"I don't know," said Twilight. "You saw how effective our Adepts were in Whiplash and Neigh Orleans. If it came down to a fight with even numbers I dare say we'd win. Especially if we have pegasi fighting for us as well. They could've been goading us into attacking where they're strongest at High Rock."

Trixie rolled her eyes, "They outnumber us like six to one Twilight. I'm pretty sure they don't need us to attack High Rock to beat us."

"She has a point," said Octavia. She pointed up ahead at a turning off to the right. "Isn't that the road to the farm."

Twilight followed the road with her eyes, ending on the farm on a hill. "Right, Fleetfoot, you're with me. The rest of you wait here, and if you see soldiers coming, you run and we'll catch up to you."

They took to the air and crossed the distance to the farm in less than a minute, landing outside the entrance to the barn. Nopony appeared to be around so they quickly stole into the barn, finding it half full of hay. There was also a nice little two wheeled cart sat in the corner, big enough for two ponies.

"Put some hay in it for padding," Fleetfoot said after Twilight pulled the cart towards them in her magic. "I'm going to find a blanket or something to put over it."

Fleetfoot left the barn while Twilight loaded a bit of hay into the cart, taking a moment to have a little nibble while she thought things over. Guilt still gnawed at her stomach over leaving Faust to her fate, but freeing her seemed far worse an alternative. Hopefully Celestia could think of a happy medium if it meant not unleashing a pony that was clearly several apples short of a bushel.

How could Faust decide that what Celestia had done in Equestria was wrong? Was she thinking of it as far worse than it actually was, or would she tear it all down regardless, purely to spite a pony long dead? Clearly being locked away for so long had left Faust deranged, and hopefully they could find a way to help her if possible. For now though, she decided to keep all knowledge of Faust to herself until she could at least talk to Celestia about it.

"Twilight!" Twilight quickly hurried out of the barn to find Fleetfoot being confronted by three ponies with pitchforks. Fleetfoot herself had a stack of blankets on her back.

"Uh, what's going on here?" Twilight asked. One of the farmers pointed his pitchfork at her.

"Who are ya?" the eldest looking of the three demanded to know. "Why ya stealing mah blankets?"

"Our friend is badly hurt and we need a way to move her. I'm sorry to say but we're taking your cart as well." Twilight lifted the pitchforks out of their grips with relative ease, and stacked them against the barn.

"As if those bat winged freaks ain't bad enough! Now you're stealing from me too?"

"Shadow's been here? What did they steal?" Twilight didn't remember telling Shadow to rob from farmers. She hated the idea that Shadow might have gone a little rogue.

"I dunno, but I came out here a few days ago and found mah barn full o' dark, creepy bat pony things! They ate mah hay!" Twilight felt herself relax again.

"Well, I'm very sorry, but Fleetfoot?"

"Yeah?"

"Run." Twilight tore the doors to the barn open, a come to life spell on the tip of her horn that caused the cart to come rolling out of the barn faster than a pony could run. She teleported into it and did the same for Fleetfoot, and they rode it down the hill back to the others.

"We found that cart fair 'n' square!" came a shout from behind them. They bounced down the hill, the cart occasionally rocking onto one wheel around corners, and soon got back to the others.

"Having fun?" Trixie asked snarkily.

"Surprisingly, yes, but we best get moving. There are some angry farmers behind us that we'd probably best be parting ways with."

"Is it just me, or does this cart look familiar?" said Octavia.

"Isn't this the cart we dumped outside Neigh Orleans?" said Trixie. "Thems no good dirty farmers done stole our cart! I suddenly feel no remorse for doing this!"

"Like you did anyway," Fleur said. "Are you sure I have to get in there? I quite like riding the hunky pony."

Twilight spread the blanket out over the hay and lifted Fleur onto it. "Sorry Fleur, but doctors orders say you ride in the cart."

"Aww..." Mason hitched himself to the cart and they quickly made their way away from any irate farmers that might have been around. Twilight only glanced back at the cart, but was happy to see Fleur sleeping peacefully, a faint smile on her face.

Fleur didn't remain so peaceful, and often woke up crying during the return journey. Twilight tried to get Fleur to talk about it but she refused, saying that she didn't want to even think about it, let alone talk about it.

Not that any of them really needed to guess very hard at what had been done to her. More than once Fleetfoot had confided that she was deeply worried about Fleur's condition, and recommended getting her to Sawbones and Suture as soon as possible. An idea Twilight agreed with wholeheartedly.

The ugly looking stub of Fleur's horn was a terrible enough reminder of what had been done to her, and made Twilight shiver every time she looked at it, while her hooves were horribly swollen. Then there was what lay under the bandages on her leg. Twilight didn't even want to hazard a guess, but she did know that untreated, that leg, and her other wounds, were in serious danger of becoming infected.

It didn't help that Twilight's anaesthesia spell was becoming less effective every time she cast it, the spell not designed for prolonged use. To put it simply, Fleur's time was becoming increasingly short if they didn't get her proper help soon.

Thankfully they had made good time on the journey back, even if it had left them short on sleep. But the journey was taking its toll on all of them, some more than others. More than once Twilight had caught Octavia trailing behind the others, but had done nothing about it so long as she kept up.

Today though, Octavia was trailing well behind them, and her fringe covered her eyes as her nose almost touched the ground. Twilight stopped, waiting for Octavia to catch up. "Hey, Octavia?"

Octavia started, and quickly wiped her tears away before giving Twilight a brittle smile. "Oh! Ah, sorry Twilight, I wasn't paying attention. Can I help you?"

Twilight wasn't sure how to say it, and spoke slowly with her lack of surety. "Octavia, I'm not going to pretend you're fine when you're clearly not. You've been trailing behind for a while now, and you've obviously been crying. I just want to know for definite that you're, well, not okay, but you are at least with us."

"I'm with you," Octavia said, her voice feeble. Her face screwed up as she tried to hold back her tears, but failed. "But I'm not okay. I... I don't know if I can keep doing this Twilight..."

"Doing what Octavia?"

"This! All of this! Any of this!" Octavia's chest shuddered with emotion, and Twilight put her wing over her back in an attempt to comfort the mare. "I'm trying to be strong Twilight, for you and everypony else. Celestia knows I'm trying to be! But it's too much! The deaths, the fighting, the killing, the suffering, everything! What they did to Fleur was... abominable! Yet here we are, having to deal with things no pony should ever have to deal with, and it's too much. Too much by far."

An expectant silence filled the air, and Twilight felt the need to fill it, but everything she could think of saying felt like an argument. "I know," she said eventually. "Oh how I know."

Octavia pulled away from under Twilight's wing and tried to wipe her tears away again. "I-I'm sorry Twilight, I... I'm letting you all down."

"No Octavia! No! Don't you even think that! You've been amazing this entire trip with what you've done to help all of us, and especially Summer."

"I almost died from a cold Twilight!" Octavia's voice cracked. "I'm useless Twilight! I don't have amazing magic like you or Trixie, and I'm not as cunning as Fleur, or as tenacious as the filly. Even Summer's stronger than me to keep going after everything that's been done to her! But me? I'm useless."

"Octavia, you are not useless," Twilight said as kindly as she could.

"I'm just a cellist, Twilight, I'm not cut out for this kind of life."

"And you think any of us are?" Twilight shot back, a little nastier than she intended. She took a deep breath and tried again. "How many times have you watched me fall apart in the last few months. More than a few, I know. Yet you've kept going long past when I've met my breaking points, again and again-"

"And yet you keep on getting up again! You've done and sacrificed so much, and yet you just keep on getting up and going. But me? I... I can't..."

"Nopony's going to blame you for reaching your limit Octavia. If it weren't for you guys I would've given up long ago." Twilight glanced at Trixie, "Even if some of us have taken a turn for the strange."

"Why didn't you give up? We're not that special."

"There were other reasons, such as the suffering if the pegasi and stuff like that, but it's you guys, my friends, that really keep me going. How could I give up when you guys kept going? Even when both Celestia and Luna told me to go back to Equestria, I refused."

"They said that?"

"Yes, they did. Which is why I can say nopony will blame you if you want to go back home. You've done more than can be reasonably asked of any one pony, so if you choose to go, you more than deserve it. Besides, Fleur's going to have to go home after this seeing as how she can no longer fight. I'll get Celestia to give her the best medical care in Equestria until she's well enough to return if this is still going on at that point, but she would be in for months of physio and counselling after what they did to her, and I'm sure she could use a friend during that time."

"Go home?" It grew quiet as Octavia thought about it. Twilight didn't mind either way. While she would miss Octavia, she would be happier knowing she was safe in Equestria, rather than risking her life here. And while she knew Trixie wouldn't be happy about it, or go herself, she was at least reasonably certain that Summer and the filly could be convinced to go as well, meaning that Twilight could have some peace of mind knowing they were beyond harm.

"I think you underestimate Fleur's desire to see this through," Octavia said after a while, throwing Twilight off.

"What? But there's no way that Fleur can stay here in her condition!"

"Wouldn't matter to her. She'd help somehow, even if it's just by giving advice. The only way you could get her to leave was if she was at serious risk of dying from her injuries by staying here."

"Have you seen their medical practices here? Believe me that's quite possible."

"Then ask Celestia to send somepony that knows about proper medical practices, and not just for Fleur." Twilight couldn't deny that Octavia was on to something there.

"Maybe. We'll see. What about you though?"

Octavia hung her head as that same thoughtful silence returned. "I don't know. You lost a leg and kept going, and Fleur's not going to give up easily despite what's been done to her. Trixie gets more determined with every bit of adversity thrown her way, and I'm just to give up because of hurt feelings?"

"You have to consider the cost of staying Octavia. I've come to accept that the Twilight that leaves Mareitania isn't the same pony as the one that came here. She knew a lot less about horror, death, and suffering. If you can preserve the pony you were by leaving, then I think you should."

Octavia thought about it again, but shook her head. "I don't know. It feels like I'm quitting if I give up now, and none of the other ponies fighting get to quit and go home."

"That's because they're fighting for their homes, whereas you are not. Look, Octavia, I'm not going to tell you to go, but can you at least think about it? I don't want you pushing yourself too hard when you don't have to."

"Okay, I'think about it."

"Good." They continued walking together, trailing behind the others where Twilight was thankful for Octavia for having a musicians appreciation for silence. Maybe I should find a cello for her if she decides to stay? She at least deserves that.

Twilight thought about that, and the many other things that had occupied her thoughts for the last few days, but wound up as she always did, back on the subject of Faust. Knowing that there was an ancient alicorn buried in the dungeons of High Rock Keep really did feel like the biggest, dirtiest secret to keep, and she really did want to share what she had found with the others. At the same time, she was pretty sure waiting until she had informed at least Celestia of Faust's existence was the best course of action. Then there was Luna.

How was Twilight supposed to tell Luna that she was the highly illegitimate offspring of that monster Sombra? How would she cope with that knowledge? Twilight was already feeling bad enough about having to break the news that Platinum wasn't their actual mother without dropping that on them, and that they're only half sisters. Then there was telling them that Faust was potentially a regicidal maniac if she were released.

Twilight continued agonising over the whole thing when she was torn out of her thoughts be the distinctive crackle of Trixie's magic up ahead. Both she and Octavia dashed forward to see what was going on, only to find Trixie stood over the bodies of two soldiers, one of them almost torn in half. Twilight saw Octavia shaking out the corner of her eye but didn't really have time to do anything about it. "What's going on! Where did they come from?"

"They tried to ambush us out of the bushes," Trixie said proudly, "but I saw them first."

"What are soldiers doing here anyway?" Fleur asked as she peeked over the edge of the cart. Twilight could hear the pain in her voice, even as she tried to hide it.

"Light armour," Seeker observed. "Scouts?"

"I'd say so," Mason said warily. "Maybe we should get to Puddingarde. Now."

"Agreed," said Twilight. She guiltily looked to Fleur, "I know my anaesthetic spell doesn't work anymore, but-"

"I know Twilight, but we need to get moving. I'll be fine." They launched into a swift gallop, racing along the road to Puddingarde while keeping an eye out for further ambushes. Despite her assertions, it was obvious Fleur was in agony the whole time as she grit her teeth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Trixie and Seeker raced on ahead, vanishing out of sight. It was several minutes before the others caught up to them, and it wasn't hard to see why they had stopped. They all came to a stop together, staring in shock at the sight before them of thousands of soldiers camped on the plains outside Puddingarde. Puddingarde it seems, was under siege.

Author's Notes:

I'm going to apologise now for making Starswirl to be Celestia's father.

I really wish that the show would put more emphasis on Equestrian history beyond one thousand year old threats. Apart from Starswirl, the six founders of Equestria, and King Bullion if you've read the journal of the two sisters (which is non-canon for this story because it's awful); there isn't really anyone else of note. I also have some other future plans going on here that works nicely with this, I think, but it still annoys me that Starswirl is the most decent pony from Equestria's past to be Celestia's father. I could make an oc for it, but that wouldn't have the same impact. Oh well.

Also, Starswirl is really fucking old. Blame time travel for stuff. One of the few things I will happily take from the journal of the two sisters.