A melancholy air fell over Puddingarde as ponies mourned the loss of so many of their comrades, as well as their leader. Five friends, not wishing to disturb the actions of the others, had found a place away from the infirmary up in the store room to mourn in peace, even carrying Fleur up on her stretcher.

Trixie twirled the sword she had pulled from Twilight, then thrust it forward as if to strike an imaginary foe. Then the blade clattered to the floor as her magic faltered, and she bowed her head and grit her teeth as her feelings threatened to overwhelm her again.

"Why do you even have that Trixie?" Octavia asked. She and Summer were sat leaning against each other, although who was supporting who was questionable.

"Because I'm going to kill the Duke with it, that's why."

The filly shifted under Fleur's leg to look at Trixie, Fleur baring her teeth slightly as the motion hurt her. Not that she would've said anything. "Like that's going to happen... How're we supposed to do this without Twilight?"

Trixie snapped around to face the others, "Are you kidding me? You think just because Twilight's dead that it's over? That we're just going to give up?"

"This is going to be a lot harder without Twilight," said Fleur. "And let's face it, our forces took a beating. Sure we took out more of them than they did of us, but they still have tens of thousands of soldiers, and what ponies we have left are in Neigh Orleans. If the Duke were clever enough to attack in the next week we'd be completely fucked."

Octavia shifted to get more comfortable. "Do you really think the Duke would come back after such a defeat?"

"I would if I were him. He's a pony unaccustomed to not getting his way."

"If Shadow and Spitfire do their job he won't even know he lost," said Trixie.

Fleur sighed and rolled her neck as best she could. "I really don't think they can stop all the soldiers that fled the battle Trixie. Even if they could I doubt the Duke wouldn't notice that his general disappeared off the face of the earth along with ten thousand of his ponies."

"Then we should be out there hunting those ponies with them!"

Fleur shook her head, "We have a lot of dead and wounded to take care of Trixie. We're in no condition to fight off a cold, let alone chase after soldiers. We've just lost Twilight, and Daybreak and his friends have just lost Mason, so I really think we ought to let everypony breath for a while."

"But what the fuck does Mason matter? He's not the leader!"

"Trixie! Shut the fuck up right now!"

"Get up and make me you fucking cripple!"

"Hey!" the filly squeaked, and Fleur had to fight to hold her down, mostly out of worry of what Trixie might do. "You take that back!"

Trixie sat heavily and sighed, regretting her words. "Alright, I'm sorry," she said harshly. "I'm just... angry! And I don't know what to do! And I hate it!" A tear trickled down her cheek and she turned her head away. "And Twilight's dead," she said to herself.

"I know things seem bad Trixie," said Octavia, "but we can't give up now, and we can't afford to fight each other. Without Twilight the ponies might end up looking to us to replace her."

"Says the pony that was going to run away back to Equestria," Fleur pointed out bitterly.

"I was only thinking about it," Octavia said quietly, not wanting to start an argument about it. "There's no way I could now after Twilight died for this. It wouldn't be right. Besides, Twilight wanted us all to go because she wanted us safe back in Equestria." The irony of that wasn't lost on them.

"I still have no idea what we're going to tell Celestia," Fleur admitted. "How do we tell her we got her prized pupil, and a princess of Equestria killed."

"What do you mean we got her killed?" asked the filly. "We had nothing to do with it."

"I don't know... I'm just saying stuff."

Trixie snorted, "Maybe she'd still be alive if we did have something to do about it. Why couldn't she have just killed Filigree from afar? Why'd she have to do it up close and personal and get herself killed!?"

"I'm sure she had her reasons Trixie," said Octavia. "I mean, her wing wasn't in the best of conditions, so she might not have been able to get away."

"Only because she landed!" Trixie snatched up the sword in her magic and hurled it to the far end of the room where it stuck into the wood of one of the storage vats. "What the hell are we going to tell Celestia? That Twilight was an idiot and got herself killed? I'm sure that'll go down well!"

"Do we have to tell her?" Summer suggested meekly.

"And what?" Trixie turned and pointed accusingly at Summer. "Pretend she's ill the next time Celestia tries to talk to her? 'Oh I'm sorry Celestia, Twilight has a cold and can't talk right now.' Maybe you could try again later? Yeah right." Summer looked at the floor, not wanting to meet Trixie's gaze.

"Can alicorns even get ill?" Octavia wondered out loud.

"See! Even that probably wouldn't work. Perhaps we'll just have to tell her that Twilight came down with a severe case of impalation, and leave it at that."

"Maybe if we tell her she'll come and help us instead?" the filly asked. "Is that a thing that could happen?"

"Celestia wouldn't," said Fleur, "but Luna might."

Trixie's head shot up. "Nope! No way! I'm really not sure the former Nightmare Moon is going to love seeing me using dark magic. That's going to go down about as well as-"

"Telling her Twilight's dead?"

"Uh..."

Fleur sighed. "I don't want to knock Twilight or anything, but Luna's probably far more experienced at leading military campaigns than she is. If anything we'd be better off."

Octavia was shocked that Fleur could suggest that. "How could you even say that? Twilight's our friend!"

"I know, but she's not experienced at stuff like this. I bet Luna would've killed Filigree with zero questions asked, instead of having to get all talky with him and completely screwing herself."

"Maybe we should talk to Daybreak about this?" Summer said hopefully. "He might have an idea about what to do."

"I'm pretty sure Daybreak has his hooves full right now Summer," said Octavia. "He probably wouldn't know what to say to Celestia any more than we would."

"Actually I was talking about who should lead the rebellion, but I guess I didn't say that very well. I don't really know who Luna is, and I don't think she should lead."

"Why not?"

"Because why should she come here and take over as leader? Why does she get to replace Twilight without asking any of the ponies here?"

"She has a point," said Fleur. "Or she does about the leading part anyway. Frankly I wouldn't mind having another alicorn around."

A hoof tapped on the stone by the entrance to the storeroom, lacking an actual door to knock instead. Seeker entered and smiled meekly at them. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have news you may wish to hear."

"It's okay Seeker," said Fleur, "you can come in. What news do you have?"

"Spitfire and Shadow have returned, and report that they've taken out many of the retreating ponies, but some have gotten away. They would continue the chase but they need to rest."

"Typical," muttered Trixie.

"Shadow seeks permission to take her thestrals and continue her previous mission, as well as to hunt down the stragglers once she has had time to rest and deal with the ponies she lost."

Fleur nodded, "Of course, but she shouldn't really be looking to us to give her permission. We're not the leaders."

"Do not be so certain. From what I have come to understand, the ponies here have many leaders; Daybreak, Snowbright, Thorn, and as Twilight's friends, you. I know the loss of Twilight is terrible, but you cannot allow things to fall apart without her."

"She's not wrong," Octavia said, looking to Fleur.

Fleur nodded. "I know. Tell Shadow she has our permission, although if she could come and see us in person once she's made arrangements for her dead, that'd be great."

"I shall do so. I am also here to tell you that our forces have moved into Neigh Orleans and have retaken much of the city. Unfortunately though it seems as though many soldiers fled to the city and are now holed up in one of the warehouses. Your forces surround them, and only await orders to move in."

"I'll take that," said Trixie.

"We'll take that," Octavia corrected her. "If we can convince them to surrender it would save our forces."

"Ugh, fine. Just don't expect me to wait around if they don't."

"We should also send a pegasus to the ships to tell them that it's safe to dock in Neigh Orleans again."

"Agreed," said Fleur. "I'll sort that out while you and Trixie go- Are you going Summer?" Summer nodded. "While you three go and sort out the situation in Neigh Orleans."

"Do you feel up to flying out to the boats Summer?" Octavia asked the blue pegasus. "You can meet back up with us after? That way our fighting pegasi can have a break."

"I don't think I can fly to the boats from here, but I should be able to fly from Neigh Orleans if I walk there with you first."

"Good enough for me," said Fleur. She looked to the others, feeling horribly inadequate for the mantle of leadership that was suddenly thrust on them. Octavia seemed as wary as Fleur felt, while Trixie seemed angry and sullen, but that was no surprise. "Come on guys, we can do this."

"For Twilight," said Octavia.

"For Twilight," whispered Trixie.

"For Twilight," they all said together.

"Hey! Hey Shadow!" The filly wound her way through the crowds of ponies, heading towards where the thestrals had congregated on the far side of the courtyard. She slowed as she found them gathered around the covered over bodies of the ponies they had lost, and waited while they finished singing a short song she didn't recognise.

"-Though those loved have gone, and left us here,
Passing beyond night's veil,
Mourn them not but celebrate,
And give a joyous farewell."

"For they are the truly blessed,
To forever fly night skies,
To laugh and play amongst the stars,
Beneath mother's loving eyes."

The song ended and the gathering broke up, and the filly had to wipe her eyes and steady her breathing before cautiously walking to where Shadow was sitting with a hoof resting on one of the covered bodies.

"Did you know them?"

"Huh?" Shadow turned to see who was talking to her, wiping her eyes free of tears. "Oh, hey little dude. Yeah I knew her, since I was a kid. That's one of the things about living so long, you get really used to having certain ponies around."

"And that song? What was that about?"

"It's... It's kind of like a reminder that we aren't sad for those that have died, but rather that we're sad for having lost them, and that we should celebrate their life instead of mourning their passing." Shadow sighed heavily, "Admittedly though, that last line made more sense while Luna was still the mare in the moon."

"Oh..."

"Do you want something?"

"Yeah, Fleur wants to see you before you all leave again."

"Okay. No time like the present then." She pulled herself to her hooves and kissed one of them, placing it on the shrouded thestral for a few seconds, saying a quick goodbye before leaving to follow the filly.

"I don't mean to pry, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but what do you do with their bodies?"

"We cremate them, same as the pegasi."

"What? You mean you throw them in an incinerator and forget about them?"

"No! No, not like that. Traditionally a pegasus is cremated in a thundercloud when they die, and their ashes scattered on the wind so they can have one last flight before moving on to the afterlife. We don't use a thundercloud, but burn the bodies instead. It's one of the few traditions we sort of kept from the pegasi, even if our idea of the afterlife is different than what the pegasi believe."

"Does that mean we should burn Twilight's body too? Since she has wings and all? I don't think I want them to burn her..."

"I... don't think so. I think she mentioned she was a unicorn originally, so she'd have a unicorn burial. Of course she's also an alicorn and a princess... I think they'll probably send her body back to Equestria, let the other princesses decide what to do."

The filly nodded sullenly, "Yeah, I guess... I can't believe she's gone." A tear threatened to escape her and the filly wiped it away, hoping Shadow wouldn't notice.

"I know. I didn't even think alicorns could die." Shadow watched the filly's head lower. "I know this qualifies as a really dumb question, but are you okay?"

"No," was the filly's monosyllabic answer, and Shadow didn't push the issue. The filly led them through the keep to the barracks where Fleur was largely on her own as most other ponies were occupied.

"Thanks for coming Shadow." Shadow stared wide eyed at Fleur for a few long seconds, the thestral having not seen Fleur since the attack on Whiplash.

"What the fucking hell happened to you Fleur? You look like shit!"

"I got captured in Prance, taken to High Rock, and had this done to me. And I'd still be there if it wasn't for Twilight. Thank you for the subtle reminder about how I look though."

Shadow scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." Her expression grew serious again, "I'm sorry about Twilight too."

"Yeah, I know... Did you lose many?"

"Twenty three. We actually have more injuries than fatalities, but nothing too serious. That attack on the archers really wasn't our finest moment."

"You're lucky to not have lost more. I can't imagine that getting injured when you're flying ends well."

"You got that right. If the injury doesn't kill you, the landing might. Even more so when you land on a bunch of enemy soldiers."

"Yeah... So, Seeker tells me you want to head back out to continue your previous mission."

"That's right, and mop up any soldiers we find. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all. I just wanted to make sure you're not pushing yourselves too hard. We really can't afford to lose anypony now after losing almost a third of our forces. We're damn lucky to have not lost more."

"We're fine, honestly." Shadow extended her right wing, revealing a small hole torn in the bottom of her webbing. "This is literally the worst injury amongst us. It whistles when I fly."

Fleur's expression went flat, "That cannot seriously be the worst injury that any of your thestrals have. Seriously."

"Okay, maybe not the worst, but we're all capable of carrying on."

"If you're sure. I also want to ask you to not go too far afield right now. We're really vulnerable after that battle, and when the Duke finds out he might send another army here, especially if he finds out about Twilight having... y'know. I want you to stay reasonably close so you can spot that army first, and get a warning back to us, give us a chance to evacuate Puddingarde and go into hiding."

"Yeesh, that's depressing, but okay."

"Thanks Shadow. I still expect updates from you every now and again, just so you know."

"Yeah yeah, no problem." She gave a cheerful mock salute and departed, giving a friendly nod to Daybreak as they passed.

Fleur smiled at Daybreak, although it didn't last very long. "Hey."

"Hey Fleur, I've heard you're the pony calling the shots."

"I'm one of the ponies calling the shots. Believe me, if you want to take over, be my guest."

"Nah, not my thing. I'm still stuck thinking of all the things I could have done differently to prevent all these deaths. It does mean that I have absolutely no problems with Seeker taking over on that front." Daybreak leant on the edge of Fleur's bunk, "So, I'm curious, why're you trying to lead us from the barracks?"

"Beds. Beds are a big thing for me at the moment. Once I can walk again though, just you try to stop me." She studied his weathered face, seeing the bags under her eyes. "I heard about Mason. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, he'll be missed the great lunk. I'm sorry about Twilight as well. I'm not sure how to do this without her."

"We can't give up," Fleur insisted, "otherwise all these ponies will have died for nothing."

"I wasn't saying we give up, but it'll certainly be harder without her." Both ponies fell silent, sharing a short moment of grief. "How about you filly? How you doing?"

The filly rolled her eyes and sighed grumpily. "I'm getting really sick of that question. Makes me want to get a new cape with the words 'not okay' written on the back. I feel like crap Daybreak."

"Right. Sorry."

"Has anypony tried to find Mason's partner yet?" Fleur asked.

"Thorn's trying to find him now, even though I told her it could wait a bit longer, but when she gets something in her head..." Daybreak shook his head and shrugged hopelessly. "We don't really know much about him, and only vaguely know where he lives."

"Oh, okay." All three ponies trailed off into silence, none of them sure what to say to the others. There was the one and only simple fact that they had to keep going.

Daybreak rocked himself back upright. "Right, anyway, I'm going to head back to Neigh Orleans and try and get things back to normal there as best I can. Get the guard back into working order and whatnot. You'll keep me updated with what's going on here right?"

"Of course. See ya around Daybreak." Daybreak waved at them and left, taking all pretences at things being normal with him. Fleur patted the bed in front of her, and the filly climbed up onto the bed and lay on the spot indicated, allowing Fleur to wrap her legs around her chest. There was no need for words as the two ponies cried together.

The air was still and almost lifeless on the walk from Puddingarde to Neigh Orleans. Although they knew the actual reasons were that the pegasi weren't able to maintain the weather today, it still felt like everything was as listless as the three ponies walking through it felt.

Summer's wings fluttered by her sides as thoughts of flying away somewhere quiet niggled at her. She'd never lost somepony before, and wasn't sure how to feel. She didn't think she felt as sad as the others seemed to be, and that left her feeling guilty instead as Twilight deserved better off her.

Octavia's hooves dragged, kicking up clouds of dust as picking up her hooves any higher seemed to require more effort than she currently possessed, and the armour she wore felt twice as heavy as she remembered it being. Everything about her felt heavy.

Trixie strode slightly ahead of the others, violently thrashing her sword at any plant life that dared to grow higher than her knees. She desperately wished for a way to release the anger that was building up in her chest, threatening to burst out at any moment. She had reached the point where only the most extreme methods of catharsis might sooth the rage inside her. She needed to use this sword on more than grass and bushes.

They reached the outskirts of Neigh Orleans, and Trixie slipped the sword back into the scabbard she had stripped from the body of the General. Not that it would've caused much comment as there seemed to be very few ponies around to see it. The streets seemed deserted save for the occasional patrol by the rebels who had retaken the city.

"This is weird," Summer said in a low voice. "Where is everypony?"

"Probably at home where it's safe," said Octavia. "I don't think the ponies here expected to have a battle in their streets. What?" she asked as Trixie snorted loudly.

"Nothing. It's just that we're at war, they should expect this kind of thing."

Octavia was about to disagree, but stopped, as she didn't expect Trixie to listen, and she lacked the desire to argue. "I don't think it matters what we think," she said quietly.

The city showed more signs of life as they neared the docks, and they found themselves having to wind their way through the rebel fighters to reach where the soldiers were holed up in the dead end at the docks. A line of adepts surrounded the entrance to the warehouse they occupied, and there were plenty of sights showing that the fight to corner them in this dead end had been fairly brutal.

"I think it's time you went to the ships Summer." Summer nodded readily and spread her wings.

"Okay, hopefully I won't be long. Please be careful," she said before taking off and circling a few times.

Octavia watched Summer finish her last circle before heading off towards the ocean, wishing that she could get to leave as well. She asked one of the fighters who was in charge and was directed to a small office around the corner, its wooden door broken from having been kicked in, and its furniture scattered around. There they found Snowbright pacing back and forward angrily. "Snowbright?"

He ceased his pacing to glare at her, "What do you want?"

"We've come to help."

"Uh-huh. And just how do you intend to help me with a few hundred heavily armed soldiers trapped inside a warehouse? Do tell because I'd love to hear it."

"I was hoping to convince them to surrender-"

"Hah!"

"-But if that didn't work, well..." Octavia pointed to Trixie.

"Well, I know which option I prefer."

Octavia bit her lip, "I know you're angry about Mason, but you ca-"

"Mason? You think this is all about Mason? I lost more friends than just Mason today. In fact, things would be better if all I had lost was Mason! One of them died right in front of me, instantly killed by an arrow he didn't see coming. Fine one moment, and dead the next. Don't dare to suggest that my anger might be clouding my judgement, Octavia, don't you fucking dare."

Octavia took a step back nervously. "Very well, I won't. All I'm asking for is a chance to convince them to surrender. If they don't, then you may do as you please, I won't try to stop you."

Snowbright paced a few more times, his expression changing rapidly as he thought it over. "Fine. You get one chance Octavia, but don't be surprised when they refuse. When that happens I will deal with it my way."

"And what is that way?"

"Killing every last one of them."

"Un-" Octavia swallowed, "Understood." They made their way back to the warehouse, and Octavia thought about how best to do this as she doubted anypony else was going to do it for her. "Could I have some shields please?" A shield popped up in front of her, and she cautiously stepped towards the open door. A couple of arrows flew out of it, pinging off her shield, making her desperately hope it didn't fail. "Please, stop shooting! I only want to talk!"

"Yeah? What 'bout?" a gruff voice called out from in the warehouse.

"I was hoping you might surrender."

"Surrender?" There was a short pause before the voice spoke again. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I'm serious. If you surrender we'll take your weapons and armour and you'll remain unharmed."

"What will you do with us after?"

Octavia hadn't thought about that, and quickly scrambled for an answer, taking inspiration from the first time they had captured the city. "You'll have to remain here under guard for the time being, but you'll be provided with food and water."

There was another pause. "I'll have to talk it over with the others first."

"That's fine, take your time." Octavia waited patiently, unable to quite hear what was being discussed within. During that time her shield changed colour as another adept took over the duty of protecting her.

"What's taking so long?" Trixie whined after a few more minutes.

"They're just talking it over Trixie, be patient."

"Patient? How long does it take to decide 'no, I don't want to die today, so I maybe I should accept their surrender.'"

"Fine, I'll tell them to hurry it up, shall I?" Octavia cleared her throat, "Excuse me? I don't suppose I could encourage you to speed your decision? Some of my cohorts out here are becoming rather antsy."

"Yeah, just a few more minutes."

"Very well, but much longer than that and I might not be able to stop the ponies out here from attacking."

"Alright! Alright! Just... another few minutes, please." Octavia nodded, not that soldiers probably saw it, and continued to wait as the soldiers made their decision.

"Octavia! Octavia!"

"Huh? Summer?" Octavia searched the sky, spotting the blue pegasus wobbling through the sky towards her. She stood there, mouth agape as Summer landed in front of her, totally oblivious to the danger she was putting herself in.

"Phew! Didn't think I was going to make it. I really ought to work more-"

"Summer! Move!" Octavia tried to grab Summer to pull her down, but with the shield in the way all she did was smack her nose on it.

"What? Why?"

"I ain't giving up to no fucking pegasus!" Octavia could only watch with impotent horror as Summer turned towards the soldier that shouted. A second later a arrow sailed out of the open door, hitting Summer in the left shoulder with a wet, meaty thud.

Summer cried out in pain as the arrow struck her, and she fell against the shield. Octavia slammed her hooves against the magical barrier as hard as she could as she tried to get to Summer, the shield shimmering but holding. She hit the shield again and it collapsed, and she threw herself over Summer as the first blast of magic from Trixie punched through the wooden wall of the warehouse.

"Stop! Stop!" Octavia shouted, but it went unheard as the rest of the adepts joined in. A continuous stream of multicolored blasts crashed through the walls, and all Octavia could do was huddle over Summer and scream with the pegasus as Trixie and the adepts kept shooting over them.

After thirty seconds the barrage ended, although it felt far longer to Octavia. Smoke was curling out of the warehouse door as whatever the warehouse contained smouldered from the heat of the magical assault. Octavia stood, only to bang her head on the underside of a shield set up by one of the more thoughtful unicorns. "Summer?"

"I'm sorry! I never meant to get in the way!" Tears crept down Summer's cheeks, and it took a moment for Octavia realise what she was talking about.

"Forget about that! You're hurt!" Octavia lay down and let Summer crawl onto her back, hanging over her sides like a wet blanket. A thin streak of red ran down Summer's shoulder and leg, dripping onto the floor in a trail as Octavia hurried from the scene of carnage, allowing Trixie to lead the rebels into the warehouse.

The office they had found Snowbright in earlier was empty, so Octavia cleared a space on the sofa that had been kicked into the corner, and gently placed Summer down on it. "Hold on Summer, hold on." She frantically searched for something to staunch the bleeding, her eyes setting on the curtains framing the office's small window.

"Ah, ah, ah," Summer panted painfully as Octavia tore the curtain rail off the wall, trying to get to the curtains themselves. "I-I'm sorry, I messed it up!"

Octavia wrapped the curtain around the arrow still protruding out of Summer's shoulder, "No! No you didn't."

"Yes I did!" Summer wailed.

"Summer, please! It doesn't matter now! I need you to calm down so I can pull the arrow out." Octavia bit down on the shaft of the arrow, "On thlee," she said, the arrow interfering with her speech. "Lun, coo, thlee!"

"Ahhnngg-" Summer bit her scream off, fighting to stay quiet even as her eyes watered. She didn't even squeak as Octavia pressed down on the wound.

"Summer? Are you okay? You can scream if you want to."

"No!"

"Summer?" Octavia remembered who she was dealing with, and decided to let it go as Summer probably had her reasons for staying quiet, messed up though they might be. "Nevermind. I'm going to have to keep holding this here until the bleeding stops, then-" Octavia remembered she didn't have any bandages, "-then I don't know, but stay with me, okay?"

"Okay," Summer half whispered back. They stayed there, the only sound being Summer's muffled whimpers. Red started to creep through the curtain, and Octavia moved it around to place a clean patch over the wound.

"Knock knock." Trixie stood in the doorway, her sword floating beside her, covered in blood.

"Put that away right now!" Trixie rolled her eyes, but didn't argue as she wiped the blade off on the other curtain still on the floor and slipped it into its scabbard.

"I hope you learnt something today," Trixie said airily, like what had happened was slightly amusing.

"Learnt what?" Octavia growled back, not in the mood for games.

"That these ponies can't be reasoned with. They won't negotiate, or talk about things, or surrender. They won't stop until every last one of us is dead!"

"That is utter rubbish and you know it! They were so close to surrendering until-"

"Until what? Until they see one pegasus and lose their shit? Do you really think that ponies like that are ever going to surrender? That they're worth asking to surrender?"

"Are you really blaming all those soldiers for the actions of one bigot? One pony does that and all of them have to die for it?" Summer squeaked in pain as Octavia slumped slightly and put more weight on the wound. "Blast! Sorry Summer." Octavia sighed and looked to the side away from Trixie, "I was just doing what I thought Twilight would do."

"Really? That sounds like a great way to get yourself killed."

Octavia was shocked. "Trixie! How could you even say that?"

"Because I-" Trixie stopped, her breathing growing heavy. "Raaaargh!" She spun and tore one of the uprights out of the door frame, snapping it in half in her magic before throwing it to the floor. She stared panting at the floor, while Octavia watched her fearfully. "I'm going."

"Going where?"

"Back to Puddingarde. There's something I need to do." Trixie started to leave, but stopped and pressed a hoof to the side of her head as she sighed. "What are you going to do?" she asked without looking at them.

"What do you mean what are we going to do?"

Trixie gestured at Summer, "She can't walk back to Puddingarde can she, so, what are you going to do?"

Octavia bit her lip, realising that Trixie had a point. "I guess I'll take her to the city hall and hope that Daybreak will let us stay there for a while."

"Fine." Trixie stalked off, leaving Octavia and Summer to share a shocked silence.

"Do you think Trixie's okay?"

Octavia shook her head, "I haven't known the answer to that question for at least a month." She lifted the curtain off the wound, satisfied to find the bleeding had more or less stopped. "Okay. I don't really have anything to treat the wound with so I guess we best head over to city hall and hope they have something there. Can you walk?"

"Not without limping."

"Right, sorry, silly question. How about flying?" Summer shook her head. "Right, I guess I'll have to carry you then." She lay down next to the sofa and allowed Summer to slide lengthways onto her back before standing and heading out. Many of the rebels were still in the area, and smoke was still rising from the warehouse, but she ignored them, heading towards the centre of the city. For now she was glad the place was deserted as she carried an injured pegasus on her back, alone and horribly vulnerable.

"I hope you don't mind my asking Summer, but why didn't you want to make any sounds when it hurt?"

"It's... um... I'm not sure how to say it..."

"Is it back from your days on the boat? You don't have to say anything if it is."

"It is. A lot of the things they did to me... hurt, and they wanted me to scream and stuff, but I didn't want to if they wanted me to... you know? I'm not really sure how to say it."

"You didn't want to give them the satisfaction?"

Summer nodded gently, "Yeah. They didn't deserve to win like that."

"I see. Does that mean you're hiding how much that hurts now?"

"No, it's... it's okay."

"As long as you're sure." They alighted the steps that led up to the city hall and knocked. It took several minutes and several attempts at knocking before the door was answered by Thorn, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"What?" she asked angrily before realising who it was. "Oh! Octavia! I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anypony to come here." She rubbed her eyes, but stopped when she saw that Summer was riding on Octavia's back. "Um? Did I miss something?"

"Summer's hurt. We would go back to Puddingarde, but she can't walk that far, so we thought we'd come here."

Thorn looked at the wound, "Of course. Take her to the lounge and I'll go look for some bandages or something." Thorn rushed off, leaving Octavia alone to face the arduous tasks of navigating all the stairs and hallways to their destination.

Once they had made it, Octavia slipped Summer onto a sofa and lay down on the floor, no longer having the energy to even bother sitting on a chair. She was still there when Thorn returned. "I found some bandages and gauze. Will these do?"

"Those'll do fine, thank you. I'll also need some towels and something to wash the wound with."

"Right, gotcha. Back in a tick." She returned again a few minutes later, carrying towels and a bottle of vodka in her magic. "How about these?"

"They'll do." Octavia dragged herself back to her hooves and slid her hooves under Summer, raising her enough to let Thorn slide a towel under her. Then she took the vodka and poured a generous helping onto the wound, watching the bloodied liquid soak into the towel as a way to tune out Summer's squeaks of pain as the vodka did its work.

"Did you find... Woody, was it?" Octavia asked as she dabbed the other towel against Summer's shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Poor guy was devastated. We all are. I still can't believe he's gone."

Octavia pressed the gauze against the wound, and held it there as she sighed, "I know what you mean. After Trixie brought Twilight's body back and told us what happened, it seems like we've been too busy to even think about it. We had a little time, and then we were suddenly having to do all things that she would have to, and it's like it doesn't even matter; the rebellion comes first."

"Yeah, and then I remember that a lot of ponies have lost someone today, and I feel guilty for only focusing on Mason, even though he's my friend."

"We're still trying to work out how to tell Celestia that Twilight's... well, gone."

"Damn... that's a scary thought." Thorn's horn started to glow as she held Summer upright and steady, allowing Octavia to wrap the bandage around Summer's body to hold the gauze in place. "How about you Summer? How're you doing?"

Summer gave her a flat look, "I could be better."

"Sorry, dumb question," Thorn said, a barely visible blush on her cheeks.

Night was starting to fall as Trixie made it back to Puddingarde. She had intended to get there sooner, but she had crossed by Daybreak on the way as he as his entourage were being harassed by some soldiers they had missed. It hadn't taken her too long to deal with, most of the time having been taken up by Daybreak stressing after she'd splashed a load of blood on him, like ponies being squishy little meat-bags was somehow her fault.

Fleur raised her head from her pillow as Trixie trudged in, trying not to disturb the filly that was snuggled in the crook of her legs. "How'd it go Trixie? Did you get it sorted out?"

"Yeah, the soldiers are all dead."

"Dead? I take it that Octavia couldn't convince them to surrender?"

"Not even close. They took one look at Summer and shot her."

Fleur's eyes went wide, "Is she okay? She's not dead is she?"

"Nah, she's fine. They only hit her in the shoulder. Her and Octavia are staying at the city hall until she's good enough to walk back here."

Fleur's head sank back down onto the pillow, "Thank goodness. I'm not sure I could handle losing somepony else today."

"You do look like you've been crying."

Fleur snorted a short laugh, "Can you blame me? And yes, I have, but part of the reason I've been crying was that I had to walk to the bathroom since there was nopony here to carry me. Not that I want to be carried," she clarified, "but, y'know, ouch."

"Nice... Well, in lieu of that sudden dose of too much information, I'm going to go somewhere."

"Go where?"

Trixie paused, a frown on her lips, "Just... somewhere. I need to think."

"Oh, okay. I'll just be here, stuck in this bed, doing nothing if you need me."

"Uh-huh." Trixie didn't really care right then, and while she was being vague, saying she needed to go somewhere, she knew full well where she was going as she wandered out of the barracks and down through the infirmary towards a cold, dark little room at the back.

The morgue was full to overflowing with bodies, but it had been widely agreed that Twilight be given her own little space in the middle as many ponies had come to see her body, wanting proof that she had really gone. Somepony had draped the flag of the rebellion over her, covering her completely.

Trixie sat down facing Twilight's chest, her head a raging cacophony of emotions. Sorrow that Twilight was gone, anger for the same reason. She wanted to hit Twilight, and yet part of her wanted to laugh and feel superior that she, who had been in the thickest fighting, had survived with a few cuts and bruises, whereas Twilight had been killed fighting just five ponies.

She ran a hoof along the flag until she found one of Twilight's forehooves under it, and pulled it towards her slightly to rest her cheek against its bottom. What she mostly felt was lost. Strange as it might seem, even to herself, Twilight was probably the best friend she'd ever had, despite the circumstances of how that friendship had come to be. Twilight might not even feel the same way for all she knew, but it didn't matter.

After the events around the Alicorn Amulet, she felt that Twilight was the one pony she could turn to if she needed it, and had been part of the reason she had so readily agreed to come on this mission. And now Twilight was dead, Trixie didn't know what to do. Much as she would deny it, and despite how much she ignored it, Twilight had done her best to be a moral compass for her, although not one that told her what she should and shouldn't do, but one that tried to tell Trixie when she was going too far, which she needed now, more than ever.

A darker part of her revelled in the fact that the one pony in Mareitania that could stop her was dead.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Trixie clutched Twilight's hoof a little tighter, tears starting to slide down her cheek and soak into the cloth of the flag. "I don't know what to do Twilight, I don't know what to do! I need you!" The dam broke and Trixie bawled into Twilight's hoof. She'd been so angry and hurt for so long that she couldn't contain it any more, and it all came out.

Minutes stretched out with the only sound being of her crying, and even as the tears ran out she stayed there, holding onto the hoof of the one pony that might have thought of her as more than a ego-fueled maniac. "I'm sorry I wasn't there Twilight, I'm sorry, I failed you..."

Author's Notes:

I'm bored. I'm listening to pendulum. LET'S DO THIS! (My foot's also gone to sleep. Oh god!)