"How is she Amal?" Doctor Amal glanced up from her notes, a grim smile on her lips as Twilight waited for an answer.

"I'm afraid we can't even get near her to find out. She viciously attacks anypony that enters her room. I understand losing your wings is very traumatic for a pegasus, but she is risking serious harm to herself by refusing our help. I also understand that cauterising the wound was perhaps the most prudent course of action at the time, but if those wounds become infected from not being treated, I'm afraid it could make her very ill, and possibly kill her. Also, she hasn't eaten, she barely drinks... I'm afraid for her."

Twilight sighed internally. After getting the pegasi to the hospital the previous day things had gone reasonably well, except for Fleetfoot. While Twilight understood where Fleetfoot was coming from better than most after losing her leg, she didn't feel very qualified to say Fleetfoot was being foolish after falling to borderline alcoholism to cope with things herself. But she did at least get help first. Fleetfoot though, was dealing with her loss in a highly violent fashion in what Twilight could only think of as a slow suicide.

"Have Spitfire and Soarin been to see her?"

"Soarin has, but she only screams at him to get out of the room. Spitfire tries to, but keeps losing her nerve. They're both here now if you wish to talk to them."

"I'll do just that. Thank you Amal." Twilight nodded to the Doctor and made her way to where Fleetfoot had holed herself up in one of the private rooms. Spitfire and Soarin were sat with their backs to the wall opposite, listening to the sobs of the pony within.

Soarin jumped up onto his hooves and saluted once he'd noticed his commander arrive, "Ma'am." Spitfire didn't even look up to acknowledge her.

"At ease Soarin." At less ease Spitfire. Twilight looked to the door of the room, hearing the muted crying of Fleetfoot. It actually made her a little angry. "Soarin, could you give us some privacy please?" Soarin saluted again and left without saying a word. "Spitfire?"

"Yes ma'am?" Spitfire croaked. It wasn't hard to tell she'd been crying recently.

"This is beyond pathetic. She's in there, injured and alone, and you can't even muster the nerve to go in there? I thought you were made of sterner stuff than this!"

Spitfire turned her head away, "She hates me. If she doesn't even want to see Soarin, then why would she want to see me?"

"Maybe she doesn't, but does that mean you shouldn't even try? You're her commanding officer, and above that you're her friend. You can't just sit here and be miserable when she needs you."

"It's my fault she's like this!" Spitfire shouted. Twilight nodded almost imperceptibly. Anger was fine. Anger was more use than self-pity.

"Hardly. What happened would've happened with or without your intervention. Getting everypony to blame you, and you to blame yourself is exactly what Pearl wanted with that. Just as she wanted to break me down totally over having to pick one group to help at the cost of another. It's all just mind games with her."

"Then it worked!" Spitfire choked. "If I hadn't pulled that rope from Fleetfoot's mouth-"

"Then Pearl would've triggered it herself somehow, and she still would've deflected blame onto you in some way, probably by saying you could've saved her if you were faster." Spitfire buried her head in her hooves, shaking it. "Look, clearly you don't believe me, and I could spend hours trying and failing to convince you otherwise, but that doesn't change the fact that she still needs you. She might be angry at you, yes, but hiding away from her is only going to hurt her more if she feels abandoned. Please Spitfire, go talk to her."

Spitfire's lip trembled, but she swallowed her tears back and stood on hooves that looked more ready to bolt than anything else. She walked to the door and pressed a hoof to it. Twilight smiled encouragingly at her as she took a deep breath and entered the room.

"What do you want?" Twilight suddenly felt like maybe this wasn't the best idea just from the sheer amount of anger that was carried by those four syllables.

"Uh... hey Fleetfoot. I just wanted to apologise for what happened. I'm really sorry, and I know it probably doesn't mean much to you right now, but even after what happened you'll still always have a place in the Wonderbolts, no matter what."

"Get out." Twilight cringed.

"B-but Fleetfoot!"

"Get out!"

"Fleetfoot?"

"Five hours I held into that rope! Five hours! Then you just come along and yank it out like it was nothing! I lost my wings because of you! You really think some apology and some empty promise of being the Wonderbolts' wingless mascot is going to change that? Get out!" There was a crash as something bounced off the inside of the door. A second later Spitfire backed out of it, took one look at Twilight, and bolted in the opposite direction.

Twilight was stunned. This behaviour was so far beyond what she would expect from Fleetfoot it was hard to come up with a sensible reaction. Twilight swore out loud. It helped a little.

She knew there was really only one way to deal with this, and that was to do it herself. Not an ideal situation as Twilight's patience was still a bit frayed after all that had happened in the last few days, but there wasn't anypony else around to do it. Twilight wished Trixie was here; she was good at tough love.

The door swung open at Twilight's magical push, revealing a room that had been to hell and back. Debris was scattered across the floor, the furniture was broken, and it smelled of unwashed pegasus. In the centre of it all, laying on a bed that had mostly escaped the destruction, was Fleetfoot, her back to Twilight. She was breathing hard, her chest looking strangely skinny without her wings to cover it. It wasn't hard to guess that she was in a lot of pain.

"I said get out!"

"Make me." Twilight slapped a hoof over her mouth, surprised at herself as those two words slipped out. Fleetfoot slowly turned her head towards her, and her expression softened slightly, but not much, at seeing who it was.

"What do you want?"

Twilight cleared her throat and removed her hoof, "Doctor Amal tells me you won't let anypony treat you."

"Why should I?"

"Because you could get those wounds infected if you don't, and you could die from that. Assuming the fact that you're not eating doesn't kill you first."

"And?"

"And that's bad."

Fleetfoot let her head face forwards again, "Says you."

Twilight walked around the bed until Fleetfoot had no choice but to look at her, or turn around. "So this is the swansong of Fleetfoot? You lost your wings, so you're just going give up and die?"

"You don't get it! Flying was my life! I'm nothing without it..."

"I really think there's more to you than just flying Fleetfoot, or do you really define yourself by a couple of feathery appendages?" Fleetfoot snarled and turned away, giving Twilight a good look at her bandages that were almost going black in places from old blood.

"I'm done. I'm done with you, the Wonderbolts, and I'm definitely done with fighting this stupid war."

"All war is stupid, but we fight them anyway because sometimes you just have to."

"But this war has nothing to do with me!"

"Even if saving ponies is worth it?"

"We've probably killed more ponies than the Duke ever has."

"Historically speaking, probably not even close, and that's without adding the ponies that would likely be killed if we allow this to continue."

"Well it's not my problem any more, is it. Now leave me alone." Fleetfoot curled up with her back completely to Twilight.

Twilight leant her head back and groaned. She really didn't need this, especially when there was such a simple solution available to them now.

"What if I told you I could give you your wings back?"

Fleetfoot uncoiled slightly to narrow her eyes at Twilight, "Don't even joke about that."

"I'm not. That healing device you've seen me using, it can grow back severed limbs." Twilight let a little pride slip into her voice, "It would take time, months even, but it would give you your wings back, good as new. Well, not new, as that might imply foal size, but new as in-" Twilight stopped herself from babbling.

"You really, seriously can't lie about this."

"I promise you I'm not." Twilight pursed her lips, "In fact, I have a proposition for you. I don't have the time to dedicate to doing it myself, so if you agree I will allow you to return to Equestria with a copy of my plans for the healing device. There you'll be able to receive the full treatment you need once they've built their own device-"

"I can't go to Equestria like this! I can't have ponies see me without my wings!"

Twilight held up a hoof to stop her, "I'll arrange it with Celestia to have you picked up and taken somewhere secure for your treatment. All you have to do for me now is let them treat you so you don't die."

Twilight watched as Fleetfoot wrestled with herself as hope and despair battled with each other. Slowly she looked up at Twilight, "You promise me this'll work."

"I promise, and if by some chance it doesn't, I won't give up until I have you back in the air."

Quiet for a minute as Fleetfoot thought it over. Twilight was quietly starting to question whether Fleetfoot believed her or not when the pegasus whispered "Okay."

"Excellent. Oh! One other thing. Stop blaming Spitfire for what happened. What happened would've happened even if she had done nothing. Pearl's just trying to drive you apart. Don't let her do it."

"But she-"

"No. No buts. She was only trying to help, and doesn't deserve your hatred for that. Yes it went wrong, but that's not something that could be helped anyway. Please give her a chance Fleetfoot."

"I'll try..."

"Thank you. You wait here while I go get Doctor Amal."

Twilight sat outside while the doctors worked on Fleetfoot, and had continued to sit outside while Spitfire and Soarin went in at Fleetfoot's own invitation. The conversation was tense, but it was at least civil. There was even one or two moments of laughter once Spitfire stopped blubbing apologies every few seconds.

They left, Spitfire pausing to give Twilight a small and shaky smile of gratitude, and Twilight re-entered the room as there was something she'd wanted to ask.

Fleetfoot saluted as Twilight entered, although her hoof fell away from her brow pretty quick as though she wasn't really sure why she'd done it. At least her mood was improved.

"Can I help you ma'am?"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Some. I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier."

Twilight shrugged it off, "Nopony could be expected to take something like that particularly well. I know I didn't when I lost my leg."

"It feels as though something's missing, you know? More than just my wings"

"I know, except I apparently get to grow things back myself. I look at my leg now and it feels like I never lost it at all, like it was a bad dream. Hopefully you'll look back at this one day and think the same."

Fleetfoot looked away, "I'm not sure I'm ever going to forget how losing them felt." She shook her head and turned back to Twilight, "Was there something else you wanted?"

"Yes, two things. Firstly, I've arranged with Doctor Amal to give you a new room for now since you really did a number on this one."

"Sorry."

"No need to apologise, although there are a few ponies here with bruises that you might have to give some apologies to." Fleetfoot grimaced. "Secondly, I was hoping to ask how you were captured. You're the fastest flyer we have, so I don't see how they could've caught you that easily."

"I touched the crystal on one of the towers."

"You did? Why?"

"I was looking to see if there was some failsafe like in the facility in Whiplash, and I took a closer look to see if there was someway to trigger it without affecting the crystal. I was getting a closer look, put my hoof on the crystal to steady myself, and it's like my head was filled with fuzz. I lost all sense of direction, crashed, then woke up tied to that tower with that bitch telling me to hold onto that rope if I wanted to keep my wings."

"I guess the resonance is a lot stronger when you touch the crystal directly. I wonder if the resonance is variable on those things?"

"Ma'am?"

Twilight waved to hoof, "Sorry, just thinking out loud. I'll be back in a few days once I have the plans for the healing device ready for you to take to Equestria. Until then you take care."

Twilight pushed open the door of the command room, and stopped as she saw the rest of her friends were already in there, chatting with each other as they caught up. Fleur was the only one to notice her arrive.

"There you are Twilight! We've been waiting for you to get here."

"You have?" Twilight entered the room, letting the door swing shut behind her. "Why?"

"Now that we have the whole spy in our midst thing taken care of, I've actually been getting some useful information from ponies. Apparently the Duke's position in the north isn't as strong as we might have thought."

Twilight pulled a cushion over to herself and sat on it by the table. Somepony had left plate of carrot sticks on it, and she snagged one for herself. "How so?" she asked after swallowing.

"The teams we sent out to disrupt things in the towns and villages around the country actually had some measure of success, at least in the smaller places. Whenever the hold on a town became untenable, the Grand Army would retreat rather than waste resources fighting them when they could fight us instead. Some places like Trotton and a few others near the enemy strongholds are still under their control, but otherwise, most of these places aren't really protected."

"That's good!" Trixie snorted derisively, making Twilight doubt herself. "It is good isn't it?"

"I think so," said Fleur, "but Trixie thinks otherwise."

Twilight looked to the blue unicorn, "Trixie?"

"Our plan, if you remember, was to weaken the Grand Army by forcing them to focus on a dozen smaller rebellions. Instead they've given up on that to group up where they can hold us off. Namely, Prance and High Rock. Since we're not getting anything from these towns, its not really of any benefit to us."

"Except we won't have to fight to take those towns when we get to them," Fleur argued.

"Meanwhile they're keeping our ponies and resources occupied for zero benefit to us," Trixie argued back, "while still technically being under the Duke's control. Since most of his supplies are coming from the landowners, holding those towns doesn't even slow the Grand Army down in the slightest!"

"They've been doing this for a while," Octavia said boredly.

Fleur slammed a hoof on the table, "That's not the point Trixie! Without soldiers holding the towns the towns themselves will default to us as we take the land around them!"

"That's bullshit, and you know it! The ponies in these towns don't necessarily want to join us! If anything we could end up fighting a rebellion in favour of the Duke since they all love him so much up there!"

Twilight took another carrot stick for herself and offered the plate to the others. She quietly crunched on hers as Fleur and Trixie stared daggers at each other. She almost choked when Fleur suddenly spoke to her.

"What do you think Twilight?"

"Ack!" Twilight thumped a hoof on her chest as she rapidly swallowed her food, "Well, you both raise good points-"

"Thank you," they said together.

"-But I'm going to have to side with Trixie."

"What?" Fleur shrieked as Trixie cheered. "Twilight, you can't seriously think she's right?"

"These towns will either join us as we get to them, or won't. Either way we can't pressure them in case they do decide to resist. Until then we must have hundreds of ponies sat around in places that aren't exactly helping us, while the enemy strengthens the places we actually need to attack."

"But-"

"Send a message out telling our ponies to make their way to Brayside to bolster our own forces while trying to avoid being caught. At least that way they're more use to us, and the towns will either stay free of soldiers, or they'll be reoccupied, splitting the soldiers up like we originally planned."

"I don't know how," Fleur admitted quietly. "This news is at least a fortnight old as it is, and I only got it because the Shade that delivered it in the first place has been here the entire time, waiting for orders to head back out."

"Then send the message with them," the filly snickered. "Duh."

"It would take weeks to get that message delivered around all the different places, and for the ponies to get back to Whiplash!"

"Then discuss it with the pony that gave you that information," Twilight said, "and try to work it out together how to do it faster. Maybe pegasus messengers if he can tell them how to contact our ponies in each place."

"I guess," Fleur pouted.

"Now, any other news?"

"Nothing that effects us really. Nopony in the Grand Army's been paid for a while due to funds being diverted to aid the war effort, and morale is at rock bottom, probably due in part to not getting paid."

"How do those not effect us?" Trixie asked deadpan.

Fleur shrugged slowly, "So they might affect us a little, but not directly in a way that's going to bite us in the ass right now."

"How about local news?" asked Octavia.

"We've got the school and stuff mostly up and running now, but we still need to work on expanding them beyond Neigh Orleans, which is going to take time. Ivory says the nobles have really got behind the idea thanks to Hayfield, and are starting to think about opportunities for Bitmark."

"Oh. Well that's good," said Octavia. Twilight wasn't so sure, and thought that the nobles might be getting far too involved in running things themselves. If she wasn't careful they could end up running half the country, which really wasn't the point of all this. Still, as long as things went how they were supposed to, there was no reason to rock the boat until she really had to. Until then she had more than enough to do.

"I wish I could stay and catch up more," she said, "but I need to get the plans for the healing device written up to send back to Equestria with Fleetfoot."

Octavia frowned at Twilight, "You're sending Fleetfoot back to Equestria?"

"I am. It's part of an agreement we made to get her to accept treatment, and to eventually get her wings back. Hopefully it'll also mean that we'll start getting some more healing devices sent here that normal unicorns can properly use, so we can get ponies back on their hooves faster than we can now."

"All to feed the war machine," Trixie said cheerfully. Twilight just shrugged as it wasn't untrue, even if it could be put a heck of a lot more elegantly. Chances are the war would be almost over before they saw any real influx of the devices.

"In any case, I should get on with copying my plans. Do you know where Luna is? I want to see if she has any more insights into improving the devices."

"I think she's in her workshop," said the filly, "doing some mad science. There may or may not have been insane laughter, and or cackling. Just warning you."

Twilight rapped on the door of Luna's workshop on its own outside of Puddingarde itself. There was a clanking sound, then the sound of Luna's voice reached her, "Come in Twilight."

Twilight pushed the door open and the smell of noxious chemicals hit her in the face like a particularly pungent hoof. She covered her nose with a hoof, but it didn't seem to make any difference, so she formed a bubble around her head that would filter out the smells and their toxic components.

Luna, a bubble around her own head, was wrestling with a rather long tube that she was carefully trying to poke something into with the aid of something that probably had a technical name, but was for all intents and purposes, a stick.

"What are you doing?"

"This is the first of nine we'll be using to break into Prance. I've been putting thought into it, and I realised that bringing a section of the wall down may not be the best idea as the debris from the wall may end up blocking our way in. Instead I plan to blow out a small, circular section of the wall, wide enough for maybe two ponies at a time. That way the wall should remain intact, the way in clear, and should be easier to block afterwards.

"Wouldn't we be as well off making the hole with our magic then?"

"Uh..." Luna's face screwed up, "No, definitely not. This is the..." Luna slumped, "Curse you Twilight, now I'm not sure. This way would most certainly be quicker if nothing else."

"Then that's the way we'll use as it'll give them less warning to prepare for us, as well as a nasty surprise." Luna brightened up again.

"Then it's settled. I should add though, that with such a small ingress it would mean either you or myself would have to lead the way in."

"I was hardly expecting anything less." Twilight inspected the spherical bombs on a rack at the rear of the workshop, "Are these the bombs the pegasi are going to be dropping?"

"Sadly not. Those are too large and heavy, sacrificing too much of a pegasi's agility in the air. I've designed a smaller bomb for them, which Iron Prize and his ponies are producing the casings of as we speak. It might take multiple hits to totally destroy their siege weapons, but one or two will definitely slow them down, while allowing our pegasi to fly with less danger to themselves."

Twilight inspected the bombs again. There was a raised nub on the top, but no fuse that she could see. She looked to Luna in confusion.

"Wondering where the fuse is?" Twilight nodded. Luna passed her a length of fuse with a small wax paper packet on the end. "Pull the paper off." Twilight did so, and squeaked with shock as the packet erupted with a bang, much to the amusement of Luna.

"Not funny Luna!"

"Not to you perhaps. Nonetheless you can see the fuse is ignited. It saves the pegasi from having to carry a source of flame." Twilight nodded with approval. "The actual bombs will have that inside a cap they can simply knock off before dropping it."

Twilight was impressed. "I still don't understand how you know so much about all of this. I'm pretty sure the art of explosives didn't exist in Equestria, yet here you are doing all this."

"You've pulled a hearthswarming cracker before now, yes?"

Twilight paused at the odd change of direction. "Yes..." she hazarded after a few seconds.

"Well the self igniting fuse is pretty much the same principle, only bigger. It's pretty much all chemicals otherwise. As for using the explosives themselves, that I have less of an idea about. Honestly Twilight, without testing I have no idea if these pipe bomb things will actually do as I intend, or do nothing. At the very least it might make it easier to break through the wall ourselves."

"Then that'll have to do. It's not like we have some huge, ten meter thick walls to test with."

"Quite." Luna watched with interest as Twilight dropped her journal onto an empty spot on one of the benches lined down one side of the room, along with an empty book like it. She stayed quiet as Twilight searched about for an inkwell and quill, and only said something after Twilight had started writing for a few minutes.

"What are you doing Twilight?"

"Hmm? Oh! Right, yes. I'm sending Fleetfoot back to Equestria with a copy of the plans for the healing device in the hopes that they can build more there, as well as use it to give her her wings back. I came here to see if you have any more ideas."

"I see." Luna placed the tube she was holding down, then twisted her head slightly and stared up at the ceiling as she thought. "Perhaps I might have one or two ideas."

In the end it had taken three days to work through their ideas, and involved producing a working model to see if what they proposed was possible. While superior to the previous model Twilight had been using, it still fell short of expectations.

"Why can't we get this right?" Twilight groaned. Three days of poor sleep and an overdose of caffeine had taken its toll, and she appeared to have been dragged through a hedge backwards, sideways, and most unusually, forwards. "I cast the enchantments perfectly! I know I did!"

"Perhaps the fault lies not with your spellwork, but with the materials we are using." Luna held a ruby up to the light, its freshly cut exterior hiding its many imperfections inside. "Equestrian gems are significantly superior to these. There's a reason my erstwhile ancestor was quoted as being 'doubled dazzled' by them." Luna's lip pulled back in a grimace, "Truly an imbecilic thing to say."

"You really don't like her, do you."

Luna dropped the gem and gasped fakely, "Hath thou been reading mine diary Twilight Sparkle? Wishing to know my inner thoughts that I dare not reveal. Or was it that you simply wish to know which colt I thought cute in gym class?"

Twilight giggled, "Luna..."

"Seriously Twilight, the worst part is that as one of the founders of Equestria, she's protected from what I might do."

"Protected? What do you mean?"

"That because of what she did to found Equestria I will never get to show my dislike of her, or tell ponies about the mare she really was. How she neglected myself in favour of Celestia, or the strict regimen's she put us through. How she intended to use Celestia to secure her legacy, not caring what happened to me, all after imprisoning and stealing her from our true mother."

"And you."

Luna almost laughed, "Oh no, I was given away freely, remember?" Twilight shrank down, Luna's behavior scaring her a bit. "All these terrible things she did, all hidden under the carpet so as to not upset ponies that one of the founders was a giant bitch, even after Equestria was founded, when it was believed that everything was wonderful after they all had a change of heart."

"Luna, please stop."

Luna shuddered and picked the ruby back up, a crack echoing about the workshop as she crushed it. "Apologies Twilight. It seems even thinking of her is enough to raise my ire." Luna dropped the fragments of ruby onto the desk, "Still though, she wasn't wrong about Equestrian gems. I do believe they will solve many of the issues you are having."

Twilight checked her notes again, "Perhaps you're right."

"Of course, one has to wonder how Equestria became layered with flawless, ready cut and magically infused gems..."

"Luna?"

"Hmm?" Luna blushed as she realised she'd said that out loud. "Sorry Twilight, apparently my internal monologue isn't so internal. I really think we ought to get some proper sleep."

"What was that about what you said? About where the gems in Equestria come from?"

"Only that Equestria being filled with perfectly cut and magically infused gems doesn't make a lick of sense. Especially since we're the only country we know of that possesses the phenomenon. Think about it Twilight, the Canterhorn mountain is almost comprised entirely of crystals, and lets not mention the Crystal Empire."

"I've never really thought about it." Now that she had though, Twilight really could see how it made no sense. "Huh... They must've come from somewhere though."

"Well, yes of course they came from somewhere," Luna said sarcastically.

"You know what I meant," Twilight huffed.

Luna smiled at her and nodded. "At one point it was surmised that they were the legacy of a long forgotten civilization, only we never found any evidence of such a thing within Equestria. Then it was thought that a cataclysm of some kind strew them about Equestria, only that doesn't explain why they're ready cut and magical. I suspect these days that they were formed out of raw magic, back in the primordial days of the world, but even so that still doesn't make much more sense as it suggests Equestria as being significant as it's the only place with said gems. I suspect we won't ever really know."

"Oh." If there was one thing Twilight hated, it was an unsolvable mystery. Not even her experiences from trying to understand Pinkie Pie could stop her from wanting to know.

Luna held back a yawn, blinking as a wave of tiredness swept over her. "I think that means it's time for my beauty sleep. I suggest you do the same."

Twilight held back a yawn of her own and blushed. She skimmed through her notes, "Another hour and I think I'll be finished. I'll get some sleep then."

Luna pushed the workshop door open, revealing that the first light of a new dawn was creeping over the land. "I suggest not wasting time then, as you may be too busy to sleep later."

The moment Twilight realised she'd fallen asleep was the moment that somepony was shaking her back into wakefulness. She jerked up and looked down at her journal. Apparently she'd fallen asleep doing the final full stop. A full stop that crawled across the page, and halfway across the next.

She growled at herself and jabbed the quill back into its inkwell with far more force than necessary, entirely forgetting that somepony had woke her up.

"Ma'am?"

"Wah!" Twilight flailed her limbs in a panic as she teetered over backwards. She caught a hoof on the desk and pulled herself back upright. Once recovered she turned to find Rush watching her with concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Twilight said, whether it was true or not. "I'm just tired, and easily spooked apparently. Can I help you?"

Rush raked her mane back, an air of awkwardness about her. "It's about the pegasi we saved. Hardly any of them want to join us after what happened."

"Hardly any of them? Really? Why not?"

"Because half of them died as a result of us trying to free them. Now they think that's how we've been doing it the entire time, and a lot of them said they'd rather be slaves and alive than free and dead."

"But that wasn't our fault! And hardly an accurate representation of how pegasi are treated by the enemy."

Rush shrugged, "Not how they see it."

Twilight threw her hooves up in anger, "Great! So now the pegasi hate us on top of the huge amount of unicorns up north that probably aren't too fond of us after having their horns forcibly removed to prevent them fighting for us."

"I wouldn't say they hate you. They do appreciate us freeing them, but consider the cost too high. Especially since we're asking them to fight, and maybe die to free a country that hates them on top of that."

"Is that how you feel too?"

"I..." Rush rubbed the back of her neck, saying far more than what her words could. "I follow you Twilight, but there's plenty of talk going around. A lot of us think that we're just meat shields for the rest of you since so many of us die. And all for a country that hates us."

"But I'm trying to stop that!" Twilight wasn't about to add that the pegasi technically took the least casualties out of all three kinds of pony.

"I know, but what happens after we win? You're going back to Equestria right? Leaving somepony else in charge. Are they going to treat us as equals? Or are we just going to be weather ponies, little better than than the slaves we were."

"You'll have as much a say in running the country as anypony else."

"And if nopony respects that, or they end up resenting us because the decisions of a couple of thousand pegasi are affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of ponies that severely outnumber us, and dislike us because that's how they were brought up? What then Twilight?"

"Then... then... I don't know okay! If things go well it won't be an issue."

"Riiight... because things always go well..." Rush shook her head ruefully, "Tell me Twilight, if things do go badly for us pegasi after you leave, and we end up as slaves again, would you do all this again to free us? Or would you not bother for the sake of a few thousand pegasi as long as the earth ponies and unicorns are getting on fine?"

Twilight hesitated at the question a fighting a war against a unified and experienced earth pony and unicorn army didn't sound like a good choice, and while Twilight would resort to other methods, she knew that wasn't what Rush wanted to hear right now.

"Everypony should be free Rush, and I would do everything in my power to ensure that you would be free again. Even if that meant fighting a second war here."

"But that'll never happen because everything's going to go exactly as you hope." It wasn't hard to hear the sarcasm in Rush's voice.

"Look, even if things don't pan out exactly, you still have things worth fighting for. The rest of your people are still slaves, and you have a home to fight for now." Twilight pointed up in the vague direction of New Pegasopolis. "Isn't that worth it?"

"That's just a bunch of clouds Twilight. It isn't home any more than literally anywhere else, especially since we could fly somewhere new and rebuild."

Twilight rested her chin on the desk and placed a leg over her face. She really didn't need this right now, and certainly wasn't prepared for the possibility that the pegasi might abandon the fight. "I'll be blunt Rush. We need the pegasi to win this, and I'm sorry things aren't how you want them, but I'm trying. What can I do to convince you to keep the pegasi in the fight?"

Rush shrugged, "What've you got? I would ask that you stay here as leader, but I already know you don't want to."

"If it meant you stayed here and helped us I would."

"Only for you to end up resenting it?" Rush shook her head, "No thanks. What else?" Twilight did have something, but it wasn't ideal, and sounded a lot like blackmail to her, but it was an opportunity for the pegasi to get what they really wanted... Equality.

"Full citizenship of Equestria."

"What?"

"If you and the pegasi help me finish this, I will grant all of you citizenship of Equestria where you can have all the equal rights as a pony living there. I know you could literally all fly there as refugees, and probably be taken in anyway, but with my help you'll be guaranteed acceptance once the war has ended so you don't get sent back. All I ask is for you to help me finish this, and I don't just mean as a token force. I mean the sorts of numbers we have now, if not bigger."

Rush went still as she thought it over, and for a few moments Twilight thought she was going to be called out on just how big a blackmail it was. "None of us will have to live in Mareitania after the war is over?"

"Not unless you want to."

"And all we have to do is keep doing what we're doing?"

"Yes, but I will expect you to put a decent force forward. I'm not going to give a couple of thousand pegasi citizenship on the actions of a token force of fifty or so pegasi."

"That's blackmail."

Twilight shrugged helplessly, "This entire thing is blackmail, but you wanted me to give you a price, so there it is. You're the one that wanted me to give something to buy your loyalty in the first place," Twilight reminded her.

"Only because you offered."

"Because I need to keep the pegasi in the fight. If you won't do it to save the rest of the enslaved pegasi, or to build a home for yourselves here, then buying you is all I have left to do."

Rush went quiet again, and Twilight found herself becoming increasingly antsy the longer it went on. She was also getting more and more annoyed. She had no reason to stay here and fight in a war that had already killed her once, but kept going for the simple reason of helping ponies. The pegasi had plenty to fight for, but were thinking of turning tail and running. It wasn't fair.

"What if they kill us again, like they did in Prance?" Rush asked suddenly, shocking Twilight as she got increasingly wrapped up in her thoughts.

"You know that's a possibility now Rush, and you know there's nothing I can say or do to change that. Even if you abandon the war we'll still free the remaining pegasi, provided they aren't killed first. With your help we have a better chance of getting them out alive."

"Great... emotional blackmail." Rush ran a hoof back through her mane again and nodded. "You're right though. I'll go tell everypony the good news, and try to get more of them to join."

Twilight beamed at Rush, "Thank you so much." She held the smile until Rush had left, and even then she didn't do anything until she was sure Rush was out of hearing range. Then she swore. A lot.

"Mother loving son of a fucking arsehole!" She meant it too. Not only was the pegasi leaving enough of a problem, but she had only maybe fixed that problem by creating an even bigger problem. Who was supposed to manage the weather in Mareitania if the pegasi weren't?

"Celestia's going to kill me," Twilight groaned. "Figuratively speaking anyway."

"You did what?" Twilight explained it again in fits and starts, trying her best to insinuate that this possibly wasn't her fault and that she didn't need to be yelled at. "Who's going to manage the weather if the pegasi aren't there?"

"Surely the pegasi deserve to be more than just weather ponies?" Twilight said weakly.

"Very true," Celestia said calmly, "but I don't see earth ponies getting up and doing it any time soon. Unicorns neither as they can't actually make the weather even if they can move it."

"I didn't know what else to do."

"I thought you weren't depending on the pegasi too much Twilight. I thought they were free to do as they pleased as long as they managed the weather." Twilight cringed as Celestia emphasised that last bit. "Why are they suddenly so integral to what you're doing?"

"Because they're good at what they do! I'm really starting to understand why pegasi were seen as the warlike tribe in pre-Equestrian history. And you know the rule of hoof in pony versus pony fights; earth pony beats unicorn, unicorn beats pegasus, and pegasus beats earth pony. We're fighting a war against earth ponies Celestia!"

"They were pretty helpless against the griffins," Celestia said quietly. She sighed as she began the mental calculations that had become as common as breathing to her. Accepting the pegasi as citizens wasn't a problem as such. Equestria had plenty of room, and plenty of sky. Perhaps she could create an incentive for Equestrian pegasi to move to Mareitania and work there once the war was over and things settled. There had to be at least one viable solution somewhere.

"Very well. We can't change it now, so we'll have to move forwards as best we can. Perhaps you might ask me first next time?"

"Sorry."

"You're forgiven Twilight. Now, what was this about Fleetfoot? You said she was hurt, but you were talking that fast you skipped over it."

"Sorry," Twilight repeated. "She was hurt in the trap at Prance. She lost both her wings."

Celestia gasped, "That's terrible! Nothing's worse for a pegasus! Is she okay?"

"She's sort of okay now. She was refusing treatment for a while, preferring to die instead. The only way I convinced her to let us help her was by telling her we could grow her wings back, which is why I'm sending her back to Equestria with a copy of my plans for the healing device. That way you can make more, and start using them there as well-"

"Beginning with Fleetfoot?"

"Exactly. I should've done this sooner, but I've been so busy lately. I was also hoping you would send some back here when you're able."

"Of course Twilight. You probably need them there much more than we do here."

"Thanks. There was just one little thing though. Fleetfoot wants to stay hidden until her wings are back. Could you have somepony pick her up from the harbour and take her somewhere secret until she's ready?"

"Certainly Twilight. If news of her injury got around there'd be all sorts of questions asked. I probably would've suggested hiding her myself. I'll arrange to have somepony meet her off the boat. Now, was there anything else?"

"Uhh..." Nightmare Moon has developed up her own independent existence from Luna, and now lives in the dreamscape, exchanging snooping abilities for Luna not destroying her, but since I can't tell you anything about that, I'll ask something else. "Any luck finding the leak in the archives?"

"It was Blueblood," Celestia said bluntly.

Now that was a surprise, "Really? I'd refused to believe it could be him."

"Apparently he thought that by helping advance the technology in Mareitania he could foster greater goodwill between our two countries."

"By giving them information on steam tanks? Really?" To say Twilight was incredulous was putting it mildly.

"In his defence he probably saw the word steam and threw it in the pile without knowing what it really was."

"I refuse to believe he would do that out of the goodness of his heart. He must've had some other incentive."

"They also offered him the one thing he couldn't refuse," Celestia sighed. "Money. Also implying that the Duke has quite a significant amount of wealth outside of his country. We're tracking down his accounts as we speak."

"And what about Blueblood?"

"Unfortunately, if I imprison him ponies will end up asking why, leaving me with some very difficult questions to answer. Not to mention what they might do to him if they found out he was aiding a tyrant, so for now I'm keeping a close eye on him, and have confiscated the money he got for the blueprints."

"So he gets away totally free?"

"For now. Once I can trust ponies to not overreact I can move onto worse punishments."

"Such as denying him access to his groomer?"

Celestia giggled despite herself, "I'm trying to punish him Twilight, not destroy him. I wouldn't want to put that groomer out of business by taking away his best customer either."

The two princesses shared a short laugh, but it quickly died out. "What about your spy?" Celestia asked after a few seconds. "Was it the zebra?"

"Yes and no. She was hiding intelligence from us, but she's been really badly brainwashed, and couldn't really help it. The actual spy was using a catchphrase that forces Seeker to obey to aid her own efforts, and stopping Seeker from telling us who it was."

"Oh my. Poor mare. Who was the actual spy?"

"One of the cooks called Hotpot."

"A cook?"

"The last pony you'd expect," Twilight and Celestia said together.

"What have you done with Seeker now?"

"She's kept secure at her own request until we find a way to erase the brainwashing. She seems to think killing the pony that did it to her will help, so that's what we're doing." Celestia was silent, and Twilight cringed at what she had just said.

"Seems a bit extreme," Celestia said slowly after a while.

"Sorry Celestia, but this pony, Pearl, captured and tortured Fleur, tortured and brainwashed Seeker, then placed Fleetfoot in a trap that tore her wings off, conducted the slaughter of hundreds of defenceless pegasi, and forced thousands of unicorns to be dehorned to prevent them joining us as adepts, lining their horns along the sides of the road to Prance as a message to us. All that amongst the many other evil things she's done. She's probably the one pony I can say with confidence that I have little compunction about killing at this point."

"I see. Far be it from me to talk you out of it then." Twilight appreciated the understanding. "What of Hotpot?"

"She's being taken to our holding centre in Whiplash for now. I'm not too inclined to worry about her for now."

"Very well. Anything else to tell me?"

Yes. "I don't think so."

"Then I shall take my leave to make preparations for Fleetfoot's arrival. Goodbye Twilight."

"Bye Celestia." Twilight pushed the speaker stone aside and picked up the plans to give to Fleetfoot. Hopefully once she was away Twilight could finally get some proper sleep.

"Celestia's arranging to have somepony meet you off the boat," Twilight said before pressing the book of plans to Fleetfoot's chest. "I'm not sure what'll happen from there, but I trust Celestia will do her best to keep you hidden like you want."

"Got it."

"And I'm really sorry any of this happened."

Fleetfoot shrugged, but the face she pulled suggested she regretted the motion. "It's war right? Bad things happen in war. After all those pegasi died I was stupid for not seeing how lucky I am to be alive."

"Glad you see it that way."

"Now."

"Yes, now. Goodbye Fleetfoot. Hopefully when I see you next it'll be with a full pair of wings."

Fleetfoot saluted, "Goodbye ma'am."

Twilight moved back to the rest of her friends, as well as Daybreak, Ivory, Rush, and Thorn, who had come to see her off. They waited, silently observing as the two remaining Wonderbolts made their tearful farewells, leaving Twilight wondering if Spitfire was ever going to forgive herself for what had happened.

"At least this ended better than it could've," Octavia said after a while.

"How so?" asked Fleur.

"We're not sending a corpse back for starters. Besides the obvious reasons as to why that would be bad, I think getting the Wonderbolts killed in a war which technically they're only attending as advisors would probably raise some concerns."

"And?" said Trixie. "It only matters when famous ponies get killed?"

"I thought you were famous," Fleur said cheekily.

"I- I- You-" Trixie spluttered. "Fine, you got me. Even so, Trixie would never be as famous as a Wonderbolt. Or you actually. Honestly, I'm famous for all the wrong reasons."

"But you're making up for it?" said Summer, "Aren't you?"

Trixie looked up at her curved and discoloured horn, "Sure, I guess," she said unconvincingly.

"I really hope you're not doing this for fame and glory Trixie," Fleur said disapprovingly.

"Of course not. I'd be happier if my involvement in this was expunged from history forever."

"Why?"

"Dark magic, slaughter, stuff like that. Not something I want to be remembered for particularly. History doesn't treat ponies like me kindly, so I'd rather be forgotten."

"But ponies here think you're a hero," Daybreak interjected.

"Ask them that yourself did you? How long until I'm depicted as a butcher, driven by madness and bloodlust? Because that'd be nearer the truth," she added loud enough for only Twilight to hear. Twilight draped a wing over Trixie's back, getting a small smile back in return.

"That's not going to happen Trixie," said Daybreak.

"Really? In that case I'd like my statue done in silver, thank you very much."

"I'll... get back to you on that."

They fell quiet as Fleetfoot boarded the ship. She made her way to the guard rail nearest to them and waited as the crew made ready to depart. Slowly the ship started drifting away from the dock.

"Bye guys!" Fleetfoot shouted, a taut smile on her face that threatened to abandon her in favour of tears and blubbing.

"Take care Fleetfoot!" Twilight shouted as they all waved.

"And bon-voyage," Fleur added.

"If you see a pony named Heavy Case," Trixie yelled, "and he says I owe him bits, tell him I'll pay him after snowballs have a chance in hell!"

"Uh... okay!"

Trixie waved enthusiastically until Fleetfoot decided to leave them. She stood up, a grin on her face until she saw the way the others were looking at her. "What?"

"There isn't actually a pony called Heavy Case, is there?" Fleur asked suspiciously.

"Sure there is. He's my aunt's ex coltfriend. I borrowed the bits to buy my first caravan off him. To date I still owe him all of it."

"Why didn't you pay him back?" Octavia asked.

"Because I hated his guts, and he's half the reason I moved out in the first place," Trixie said like it was obvious.

"And why did you shout that at Fleetfoot?"

"Because I suck at goodbyes and never know what to say."

"You could say nothing," Fleur suggested.

"I thought you knew Trixie by now."

They started walking back to the city hall, the promise of a bed drawing Twilight more than anything else. She happened to look back as the others chatted between themselves, and saw the filly trailing behind with a thoughtful look on her face.

Twilight stopped, and waited for the filly to catch up to her, "Something wrong?"

"Maybe. Fleetfoot's going home to Equestria, to get her wings back. Last I was aware that wasn't really a thing. Is there something you want to tell me?"

Twilight struggled for words for a moment, then shrugged and decided to be honest. "I was going to tell you once I was sure it worked, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now. The healing device Luna and I made can regrow limbs. We haven't really tested it fully yet, but if it works for Fleetfoot, it'll work for you. That itching you've been feeling around your scars? I think it started when I used the device on you that one time. It's the beginning of your wings growing back."

The filly was quiet for the longest time, and Twilight was starting to worry that she'd broke the filly with that piece of news, when the filly opened her mouth and announced "Well shit..."

"Okay... not what I was expecting, but okay."

"So you're saying I can have my wings back?"

"Yes, essentially. It'll take months, but it is possible."

"And you haven't done it yet because?"

"Because I want to test it in a controlled, clinical environment, and not in the middle of a war. As I said, it'd take months, so I'd rather take the time after this is all over to make sure it works properly. Fleetfoot presents an opportunity to bring that forwards, so we can start as soon as we get back to Equestria, since you are coming with us, aren't you?"

"I'm like a bad smell. I linger." The filly fell into another thoughtful silence, this one shorter than the last. "You really mean this Twilight? If not, just say so because I'll do my best to laugh it off while secretly hating you for a while before remembering you're my friend and I do sort of love you even if you're a complete bitch saying stuff like that."

"I mean it. I would've waited until the trials were over before telling you, but I guess I messed up there." Twilight stopped the filly and turned her so they faced each other, "I would never lie about this to you, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Stick a what in a where now?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "It's a promise."

"If you say so. Must be a tame Equestria version. I seem to remember the original involving more death and needles in eyes."

"That sounds unnecessarily grisly." Twilight looked over the filly's back, imagining a pair of wings there. "I will ask that you wait until we finish this and get back to Equestria though, as I don't have the time to dedicate to it as yet."

"Sure, I guess. I lived this long without wings, so what's a few more months?" The filly let Twilight envelop her in a hug, "Thanks Twilight."

"Thank you. It's actually thinking about you that got me started on this."

"Really?" The filly grinned saucily, "Does that make me your muse?"

Twilight started walking again, the filly cantering to catch up, "No, just my inspiration. Maybe I'll name it after you when I get to it. I can't keep calling it a healing device forever." Twilight cursed. She'd forgotten to ask Celestia to patent it. "Come on, lets catch back up to the others."

The rest of them were ascending the stairs to the city hall by the time they caught up. Daybreak was about to open the door when it abruptly opened the moment he was about to touch the handle, revealing the irritated face of the blue haired thestral they recognised as Misty.

"About time you got here!" she snarled.

Twilight pushed her way to the front, "Is something wrong? Did something happen in Brayside."

"We're not under attack if that's what you're thinking." There was a collective sigh of relief from the gathered ponies.

"Then why are you looking for us?"

"Wellll.... we had a bit of a thing go on, and it almost came to blows until we managed to talk him down until you got back..."

Trixie raised an eyebrow and looked sideways at Twilight, "What's the crazy bat talking about Twilight?"

"I have no idea. Misty, what is this about?"

The blue maned thestral blinked, then ran a hoof down her face with a groan, "Sorry, long flight after a long day. Snowbright's trying to execute Hotpot."

Author's Notes:

For once I have nothing to particularly say here. Just thought I'd point that out.