"Twilight?" Fleur rapped on the door to Twilight's room again, "Can I come in Twilight?"

"Can I stop you?"

"Uh, yes actually. Quite easily."

"..."

"Twilight?"

"Just come in and tell me what you want."

Fleur pushed the door open and immediately wrinkled her nose as the smell of unwashed pony hit her. She did her best to keep a pleasant smile on her face though, mostly for the sake of the greasy lump of pony that was glaring at her from the bed.

"It's been three days Twilight, I really think you ought to consider leaving this room. And maybe washing."

"Can't walk, hooves hurt too much," was Twilight's laconic reply. Fleur had a quick look at Twilight's hooves, seeing that they were mostly healed.

"Uh-huh, and you're going to say that to me of all ponies? Try again Twilight."

"What? You didn't walk for weeks after you had your hooves hurt."

Fleur stared deadpan at Twilight, "I think there's a whole magnitude of difference between what happened to me and what happened to you. Also, I didn't have alicorn super healing to get me through it. You also have this crazy advantage where you have wings and can fly, negating the need for hooves at all."

Twilight immediately launched into another excuse, "My wing was damaged in the fight against- Hey!" Twilight squawked as Fleur used magic to pull her left wing out. Her fully feathered wing, even if it was in desperate need of preening.

"Seems fine to me."

"Fine, you got me! Good for you! Now what do you want Fleur?"

"We're going to bury Pearl, and I would appreciate it if you were there with us." Twilight started to speak, another excuse on the tip of her tongue, but Fleur clamped her mouth shut before she could utter a single syllable. "I'm not having any excuses Twilight. Luna was more than willing to forcibly drag you out of here, but I said I'd try to talk you out first. Now seriously, get up, and get out of this room, preferably via the showers."

"Why? It's only Pearl."

"For your friends perhaps?! Oh miss mighty princess of friendship? You know, that! Or should we change your title to the princess of not giving a fuck?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Well it isn't Twilight." Fleur sat on the edge of the bed as she composed her thoughts. "Look, I know you're upset about Trixie, but is hiding in here really going to solve anything? Come on Twilight, you must know you're only making yourself feel worse by shutting yourself away."

"Instead you want me to help you bury a reminder of how Trixie almost died? Sure, why not."

"But she didn't die."

"I know. She had to live to give me the opportunity to rip her horn off with my teeth."

"Really?" Fleur resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Potatoes," she said instead.

"Excuse me?"

"Potatoes."

"Why are you saying potatoes?"

"I'm curious to see how you could twist even the humblest of thing like potatoes into something about Trixie."

"Trixie loved potatoes. They're what vodka is made of." There was a faint smile on Twilight's face as she said it, which at least gave Fleur some hope.

"Bread."

"You can't have a hay-bacon sandwich without bread, and Trixie loved those."

"Stones?"

"Trixie always liked standing on things, especially if they made her taller than me."

"Tax returns?"

Twilight shrugged, "She lived in a trailer with no fixed address, while living off the proceeds of her performances. I can safely say that she's probably never paid a single bit in tax her entire life."

"And what about us? We were Trixie's friend too, even if our relationship was different than what you two had. Please Twilight, get up, stop moping, and after we've buried Pearl, go see her."

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed, feeling guilty once again because she hadn't thought of how other ponies might be taking what happened to Trixie. Ponies had died that day too, yet Twilight could only think about Trixie, who was at the very least still alive. "I'm a terrible pony."

"I wouldn't say terrible. I mean you certainly smell terrible, but it's what inside that counts."

"I don't think you can kill as many ponies as I have and get to stay beautiful on the inside as well."

"Maybe, but I think you get some points back because there's one pony that you didn't kill, even when she tried to force you to. The fact that you can show that kind of restraint means there must still be a lot of beauty in you somewhere."

Twilight sighed again, but cut it off with an amused snort, "That was super cheesy Fleur. I mean the really strong blue stuff, the smell of which lingers for days."

Fleur grinned unashamedly, "I'm not apologising."

"Don't want you to." Twilight held a hoof out to Fleur, "Help me up." Twilight let Fleur pull her up into sitting position, then stretched the stiffness out of her body. "I'm sorry I've been like this."

"Don't dwell on it, you'll only end up feeling worse. Come on, let's get you in the showers and make you presentable." Fleur stepped back from the bed, giving Twilight room to gingerly slip off it, gradually putting weight on her hooves. "How is it?"

Twilight shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, "I think they're okay. They're a little bit tender, but it's manageable."

"Good." Fleur pushed the door open and held it for Twilight. "Showers are this way," she said meaningfully.

"Why is there a wheelchair out here?" Twilight asked, referring to the wheelchair Fleur had located in the keep, then left outside her door. "Is it supposed to be for me?"

"It was supposed to be. I was going to be like 'revenge motherfucker,' for that thing that happened at Hayfield, but then I remembered you weren't actually there, so now I just feel kind of stupid."

Twilight patted Fleur on the shoulder, "The thought was there somewhere."

Fleur stepped away from Twilight and held her leg up close to her chest in mock disgust, "Yeah, could you, like, shower before touching me again, please?"

"I am not that bad."

"Yes Twilight, you really are. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better after a wash."

Twilight couldn't deny that Fleur was right, she did feel a lot better after having washed the accumulated grime off her body, and she did feel a lot more ready to face the world than she had an hour previously. She hummed as she made her way to the front of the barracks, then felt bad again as she realised she was humming Trixie's song, but pressed on with humming something else rather than dwell on it.

"Better?" Fleur asked as Twilight walked into the room where she was waiting along with Luna, Octavia, Summer, and the filly.

"Better," Twilight confirmed. "I'm sorry I've been so out of it guys. I just..." Twilight didn't know what she had been. Depressed was the obvious answer, but that was such a catch all phrase in this case that she felt it wouldn't do it justice. She'd always suspected she and Trixie might come to blows, but the manner in which it happened caught her unaware, and affected her more than she anticipated because of that. "I've just been tired I guess, but I'm ready to get back at it for now."

"Actually there's not a huge amount for you to do," said Luna. "Daybreak and the council will be arriving later today. Snowbright and I have been sorting out your planned attack on Stalliongrad. The keep has been mostly repaired and cleaned up, so all that's left is to bury Pearl for now. We also have to bury the Duke, along with his wife, but we'll do that one a bit more publicly."

"Isn't Pearl's going to be public?"

"Just us, Seeker, and Snowbright since he knew her back in the day."

"Oh, well okay, I suppose that makes sense."

"Did anypony tell Fleetfoot that Pearl had been killed?" Octavia asked out of the blue. "I'm sure she'd like to have known after what Pearl did to her."

"Hardly just her," said Fleur. "I'm sure all the pegasi involved in that disaster at Prance have a bone to pick with her."

"Yeah..." Twilight tried to put that out of her mind as she really didn't need to think about that on top of everything else. "Is Trixie coming?"

"Trixie...isn't doing anything," Octavia said gently. "Her wounds have been treated, and she is at least drinking, but all she does is sit in her room. She doesn't eat, she barely sleeps... It's like she's barely there. All she's said in the last three days is to tell you she's sorry. We're hoping seeing you might encourage her a little, but we understand if you don't want to see her-"

"It's fine. I'll go see her after we bury Pearl once and for all."

"Then let us not waste time," said Luna. She led the way outside, and stayed in the lead as they made their way outside of the wall, and around the side of the hill the keep sat upon. As they made their way around they came upon a large graveyard, filled with headstones and scattered mausoleums. Towards the keep was a larger one that Luna told Twilight was where the Dukes' and their spouses were entombed. Some ponies were currently erecting some kind of stage outside it.

They veered away from that though, heading towards the outskirts of the graveyard, not far from the woods that lined the majority of it. Snowbright was already there, next to a simple wooden coffin and a freshly dug grave. Several meters away Seeker sat uneasily, although she offered a brave smile to the others when she saw them.

"Good to see you up and about," Snowbright said to Twilight as they gathered around the grave.

"Yeah, I..." Twilight sighed as words failed her, as they often did when she was having to make excuses for her poor behaviour. "Yeah..."

"Don't worry about it. You're back now, and that's what really matters." He gestured at the coffin, "Shall we?"

"Sure." Twilight glanced at the neighbouring grave. The headstone was crooked, having been erected too soon after the grave was filled, but there was no mistaking the name upon it. They had found Breaker's grave, and now his wife would join him. It seemed they were going to share a headstone too since Pearl's name had been cut into a blank space at the bottom of it. Twilight suspected from the writing and the way it was cut that Luna had done it with magic. Cruelly ironic considering Pearl's stance on such things.

"Her kids are watching," Summer said a moment later. They all squinted up at the side of the keep, except for Twilight whose eyes shared the same ability as Summer's and every other pegasus. "Should I go stop them?"

They all looked to Fleur for an answer, the mare shaking her head. "They probably need to see this as much as we do. For all we know they actually have no idea who we're burying."

"Right next to their father?" Octavia pointed out.

"Ah, right... So they might have some idea. Still, let them be." Fleur faked a smile as she looked around the others, "So, should we get on with this?"

"What are we even supposed to do?" the filly asked. "I mean, other than dump her in a hole."

Luna glanced from pony to pony, "Doesn't any of you have anything to say for her?"

Fleur shook her head, "For the mare that ruined so many lives? Not really. At the very least we could call her the last of the unicorn hunters, and as much a victim of Mareitania as anypony else, but she rather enjoyed what she did, so...not much sympathy for her really."

"I think it's a little bit sad," said Summer. "I'm not saying she didn't get what she deserved," she said at their questioning looks, "but for all the things she did she's only really going to be remembered by us. To most she was this terrible, faceless boogeymare, but to us she was- She was-"

"The face of the enemy?" Octavia suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know. She just seemed like more of a threat than the Duke, and it's his army we've been fighting. But after all that she's only really going to be remembered by us here."

"As much as we might not want to," Fleur muttered, Seeker nodding in agreement.

"Well that was one hell of a eulogy," the filly said with false cheer. "How about we get on with burying her now?"

"Very well," said Luna, her horn glowing as she picked the coffin up with care, and lowered it into the grave. Then she scooped up a hoof-full of dirt and tossed it onto the grave. "Anypony else?"

One by one they scooped up some soil and tossed it into the grave, and were surprised as Spitfire and Soarin fluttered down from the clouds above them to throw their own hoof-full of dirt in. "For Fleetfoot," Spitfire offered by way of explanation.

Last was Fleur and Seeker, both of them standing at the end of the grave. "I feel like I should spit on her or something," said Fleur. "Just to say 'I win.' But I didn't win anything."

"What are such gestures to a dead mare?" Seeker said in agreement.

"Exactly. I think I'm just tired of being scared of her." Fleur viciously swept some soil into the grave, "Good riddance you heinous bitch," she added before stalking off, the filly following after her.

Seeker picked up a hoof-full of soil, studying it intensely for a moment before sighing. "Would you kindly," she said in a quiet voice, throwing the soil into the grave. Without saying a word further she turned and left.

"I can honestly say this was a lot better than she deserved," said Octavia as Luna swept the rest of the soil into the grave, filling it in seconds.

"Nopony here's going to argue with that," Twilight said back. Even so she found herself relieved that it was over. Summer hadn't been wrong about Pearl being the face of the enemy, and even that letter she had read from the Duke hadn't given her more of a clue as to who he really was, other than a hypocrite, and he ran no risk of taking Pearl's title.

Snowbright smiled lopsidedly at them, "I'm impressed you guys even considered doing this for her. I wouldn't have, but I'm not much for sentiment where my enemies are concerned."

"I think it was the filly's idea actually," Octavia told him.

"Really? Good for her then. I thought she'd be more vengeful than the rest of us for what Pearl did to Fleur."

"Who's to say she isn't better at hiding it," Luna said sagely.

"Maybe," Twilight said slowly. She shook her head, "Doesn't matter any more really. What are the plans for the rest of the day?"

"Not much really," said Luna. "At least not until Daybreak gets here with the council. The day can be yours if you want it to be."

"Yeah..." Twilight nodded thoughtfully, "Okay. I'm going to go see if Fleur's okay, then maybe go see Trixie. Apart from that, I'll be around here somewhere if you need me." She waved a quick farewell and started trotting swiftly after Fleur. Then it devolved into a hobble as her hooves protested at the speed, so she flew instead and kept in a steady hover around Fleur once she caught up.

"Yes Twilight?" Fleur said irritably once Twilight settled in a spot to her right.

"Are you-" Twilight stopped herself, remembering that 'are you okay' was one of the dumb questions. "What was that about?" she asked instead.

"I'm not going to pretend that you're ignorant of what Pearl did to me, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I hate her Twilight. I hate her, and I'm scared of her to the point her own, rather young children scare me. Then there's the fact that we're burying her all nicely, when it occurs to me that I don't even know where my own parents are buried, or if they were even afforded that small bit of dignity after their deaths. I'm angry, and I'm confused, and the answer to the question you were initially going to ask is no, I am not okay." Fleur gave Twilight an obviously fake smile, "Was there anything else?"

It took several seconds for Twilight to answer, unsure as she was as to how to. "No, I think you covered a lot of stuff there. I take it things didn't go well with her kids?"

Fleur laughed bitterly, "That is putting it mildly."

Twilight hugged one leg to her chest with the other, "I'm sorry I didn't go with you."

"It wouldn't have mattered. "Fleur shrugged lazily as she walked, "In fact, having the notably winged and horned pony that killed their mother in the room might have made things even worse."

"What were they like?"

"Kinda like their parents, only smaller." Fleur sighed, knowing she was being unnecessarily hard on them when they were only little, and highly impressionable. "I don't know. Perhaps the filly, Opal, might get over what they tried to indoctrinate her with, but Tracker, the colt... I'm not feeling optimistic about him. He's definitely picked up a penchant for tribalism."

"Oh," Twilight murmured, not sure what else to say. "What's going to happen to them?"

"The orphanage in Neigh Orleans probably. Hopefully Miss Tenderlove and the other orphans can convince them that perhaps unicorns aren't so bad."

"And take them away from their home?" Twilight asked as she peered up at the keep. "Is that really the best thing?"

"How the fuck should I know?!" Fleur retorted. "Do I look like a foal psychiatrist? Do I look like I even care? Those kids are in a prime position to be complete monsters when they grow up, and I'm sure both their parents getting killed hasn't affected them in the slightest. Honestly, the further I am from that train wreck, the better."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Twilight stammered before Fleur interrupted her.

"Don't start stuttering apologies Twilight, you did nothing wrong. I'm just in a bad mood, and I want to be alone right now."

"With me," the filly interjected.

"Yes, alone with the filly. Wait, that sounded wrong." Fleur rubbed her face and sighed, "I'll see you later Twilight."

"Oh, uh, okay." Twilight stopped, hovering just above ground level as she watched Fleur and the filly turn out of sight. Then she thought about the other thing she was going to do, and despaired slightly, as that pony probably wished to be around her even less than Fleur did.

Twilight gently pushed the door to Trixie's room open, her nerves telling her to be as quiet as she possibly could. Or not go in at all if possible.

Ignoring that small recommendation, she walked softly up to Trixie, the mare still huddled up in her blanket, unmoving except for her breathing. Twilight paused, her mouth suddenly dry even as tears threatened to fall at seeing Trixie like this.

"Oh Trixie..." The words slipped out unbidden, and Twilight cringed immediately. The feeling was only made worse when Trixie lowered her head. "I'm sorry Trixie, I didn't mean to-"

"Save it Twilight." Twilight looked back up as Trixie spoke, surprised that she had considering that everypony else had been telling her Trixie was effectively mute. "I don't want your pity."

"What do you want then?"

"You know what I want." Twilight nodded listlessly. She did know what Trixie wanted, and it was the one thing she wasn't going to give.

"I'm not going to kill you Trixie."

"Then unless you're about to unchain me, we have nothing to talk about."

"Trixie, I know you were hurt by not getting your revenge, but is that really worth wanting to die over?"

"Why does nopony get this?" Trixie turned her head so she could see Twilight. "That revenge was all I had. My family is dead, and I'm an outcast from my family in Manehatten. Honestly Twilight, I didn't know what I was going to do once I had my revenge anyway. Go back to living in a trailer like a slightly better off tramp? Constantly on the move to avoid getting attached to ponies? I couldn't go back to that life if I wanted to Twilight, because of this war, and because of you, Fleur, Octavia, Summer... Even the filly. As soon as I went back on the road I'd just want to turn around because I don't want to be alone any more, and I honestly don't think I could go back to performing after all this. So I already had no future I could see to look forward to anyway, other than to hope you guys were in it."

Twilight was stunned, "You really feel that way? You could've stayed with me Trixie. You only had to ask."

"It doesn't matter now. That revenge was all I had to look forward to, but that bastard even took that from me! Now I just hurt all the time Twilight, like my heart's being slowly torn out of me. I have nothing, Twilight. I'm still nothing. Less than nothing even now I don't even have my magic. Then I tried to kill you Twilight, and hurt you, and I don't even know why... I was just so angry and sad, and I just wanted to die, but I was going to take everything with me out of spite."

"That wasn't you. The dark magic was controlling you."

"Then why do I remember everything I did? Why do I remember actually wanting to do all those awful things I said I would do if you didn't stop me?! I'm a monster Twilight!"

"You aren't a monster Trixie."

"Really?" Trixie lunged towards Twilight until her shackles pulled tight, and she balanced on her hind legs, her forelegs twisting around her body as she strained against her restraints. "Then why am I chained up like one?!"

The blanket slid off Trixie, showing her broken horn and other wounds. Her body was covered in bruises, most faint, but some still vivid after her fight against Twilight. What surprised Twilight more was the yellow-brown stuff that had been painted over the stump of her horn, and over the still raw looking wound on her side. It didn't take a wild guess to tell it was iodine, but it must have been painful to have it put on.
Twilight took that all in over a moment as Trixie glared at her, panting slightly as she continued to strain against the shackles. "The shackles are to stop you from hurting yourself."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? Chaining me up in room like a freak? Having a pony come along every few hours with a bucket so I can relieve myself? Is humiliating me like that supposed to make me feel better?! Huh? Is it?! Are you afraid that if you leave me alone with the bucket I'll try to drown myself in my own piss?! Is that what you think of me now?!" Trixie shouted at Twilight, tears running down her face.

"I didn't know about any of that Trixie!" Twilight shouted back, her own tears starting to fall. "I've been stuck in bed for the last three days, too miserable to even want to move after what happened! I didn't want to hurt you Trixie, and you forced me to, and I feel awful about it! You're my friend Trixie, and you're hurt, and I want to help you, but I don't know how!"

"You know exactly how."

"I'm not going to kill you!"

"Then unchain me so I can do it myself!"

"No!"

"Then get out!" Trixie screamed. "If you're not going to help me, or do anything for me, get out!"

"Trixie, please don't-"

"Out!" Trixie pulled against her restraints, a tiny trickle of blood dripping off one of her hooves as she pulled hard enough for the metal cuffs to cut into her fetlock. "Out! Out! Out!!"

Twilight hesitated for a second, then hurried out, slamming the door shut behind her and collapsing against the wall opposite, sliding down it slowly as she cried her eyes out at her own inability to do anything to make Trixie feel better. "I'm sorry Trixie, I'm so, so sorry..." she whispered between sobs, the sound of Trixie's tearful crying mixing with her own.

It felt like hours until somepony came to look for her. Hours spent listening to silence once Trixie's and her own tears stopped. Twilight was almost glad when Luna turned up as it at least gave her something else to focus on.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it didn't go well," Luna said as she sat next to Twilight and laid a comforting hoof on her back.

"That's putting it mildly. I think the worst thing is I've just made her hate herself more for shouting at me like that. I don't know what to do Luna. Can't you do anything for her?"

"Me? Nothing I should risk doing. The last thing we need is more doppelgangers of myself running around the dreamscape, or something equally terrible."

"Nightmare isn't terrible."

"And that's rather fortunate, isn't it, considering what she could've been like." Luna stood and cracked opened the door to Trixie's room, peeking at the mare within. Again she was wrapped up in her blanket, facing away from the door. Satisfied that Trixie wasn't in immediate danger of doing something stupid, she shut the door again. "Perhaps I could give her a full night's rest, and protect her from nightmares through it. I don't think she's hardly slept since she's been in here."

Twilight nodded, "That would probably help a lot, thank you. Now was there a reason you came to find me?"

"Yes, actually. The council has arrived, and they want to see you."

"Of course they do." Twilight sighed and hauled herself onto her hooves, her legs stiff from being in the same position for so long. "I'm guessing they want to talk about what happens now we have High Rock."

"Such was my guess," Luna agreed. "I imagine there is plenty of other topics to discuss too. Not least our attack on Stalliongrad." Luna smiled at and gestured with her head for Twilight to follow her. "A princess's work is never done."

The journey was silent as Twilight kept thinking about Trixie, her mind flitting from idea to idea of how to help her. Truthfully Twilight knew there was no magical solution to this, not unless she wanted to remove most of the last year from Trixie's memory, which she most certainly did not. The only thing that could really help Trixie was time and professional help. Not a princess who blasted her way through every problem with magic.

Even as distracted as she was she dutifully followed after Luna, and only realised they had arrived at the entrance to the throne room when a blue hoof stopped her. "I don't think walking in like a zombie is going to help Twilight. Straighten yourself up and try to put your thoughts of Trixie aside for the time being."

"Sorry." Twilight stretched and stood up straighter, rustling her feathers to work the kinks out of her wings. Then she plastered a fake smile onto her face that lasted all of three seconds before fading. "I really don't want to do this right now."

"I know, and truthfully, I don't want you to do this either, but time stops for no mare, not even an alicorn." Luna nuzzled Twilight on her neck, "I've told them what happened, so nopony actually expects you to be all happy and smiley Twilight."

"Good, because I honestly can't even pretend right now." Twilight pushed open the door, and walked in. At the far end of the room, in front of the broken throne, a table had seen set up. Seated at it were the four members of the council, Daybreak, Ivory, Hayfield, and Mash, while her friends waited nearby. Twilight could tell that Fleur was still rather glum, but appreciated her turning up.

"Hello Twilight," Ivory said softly as she noticed the alicorn's arrival. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened with Trixie. We all are."

"Yeah," Twilight said noncommittally, neither wanting their sympathy, or rude enough to refuse it.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" asked Daybreak. Twilight knew he didn't mean the question in a nasty way, but the fact that he asked it the way he did made her want to kick him in the face.

"Not really," she answered instead.

"Is there anything we could do to help," Hayfield enquired. Even though the question was again asked innocently, Twilight could still feel her ire rising to levels that were becoming uncomfortable to hide.

"Probably not," she said, somehow managing to hide how irritated she was becoming. "I doubt Mareitanian psychiatry's any better than your medicine. Probably something along the lines of get a chicken to peck you three times in the left ear to cure depression."

"Actually it's twice in both ears, and once on the nose," Mash snickered. "But I see your point."

"I-" Twilight stopped and looked at Mash suspiciously, not entirely sure if he was joking or not. "I'd appreciate it if we could stop talking about Trixie for now. It's kind of a sore spot for me."

Ivory smile apologetically, "Sorry Twilight, we won't bring it up again if that's what you want?" Twilight nodded her confirmation. "Very well. How about we ask you about Stalliongrad. Snowbright tells us you want to attack there in a week's time."

"No point in hanging around is there. Snowbright says that Stalliongrad relies on trade to survive the winter, and with all those extra soldiers there it'll only be a matter of time until the city is starving. We take the city, capture or kill the Viscount, end the duchy for good, give supplies to the ponies of Stalliongrad, restart trading, and hope they like you for it. Everypony wins."

Mash shook his head, "Except for the part where ponies from Stalliongrad are the stupidest bunch of loyalists ever. You'll probably have to fight your way through the entire city to get to the soldiers."

"I think you're being rather overdramatic there Mash," said Ivory. "I imagine the Viscount has already taken most of the choice food for himself and his soldiers, leaving scraps for everypony else. If we donate food freely to the city as a gesture of goodwill after the city is taken, hopefully the ponies there won't interfere, and may accept our rule without too much issue."

"Uh-huh," Mash grunted, "and I think you're being unbelievably naïve."

"Then we'll just have to plan for both possibilities, and hope for the best," Hayfield said diplomatically.

"Sure. I can't wait until you see how right I am."

Daybreak rolled his eyes at the other councillors antics. "As ever Twilight, we'll leave it to you to decide the best course of action. Hopefully things won't turn out as bad as Mash predicts."

"You'll see," muttered Mash.

"I'll...try to keep his advice in mind," Twilight said uncertainly. Honestly she had no idea how they were going to win if that turned out to be the case. "If we have nothing else to say about that, could we instead talk about Celestia coming here now that we've taken the centre of Mareitanian government."

"And by extent your departure," said Ivory, glancing coldly as Snowbright who stared up at the ceiling as nonchalantly as was possible.

"That too. I'm hoping Celestia will arrange for our passage back to Equestria, so we won't have to worry about that, but with Trixie like she currently is we won't be hanging around. She needs help, and she isn't the only one, myself included. I'm sorry for doing this to you, but with the war ending with the taking of Stalliongrad, assuming we win, our mission is effectively over. Mareitania will be free, and the duchy dismantled. Celestia will advise you on what needs to happen after that, and I imagine you'll have plenty of work to do."

"And you're certain Celestia can help us do all that needs to be done to stabilise our country," Daybreak asked.

"No," Luna cut in, "not in the two months she's been given, but she can get you started on how to do it all yourselves, which is much the same." Luna smiled at the councillors, "She's ruled Equestria for over a thousand years, turning it into a safe and prosperous country. If there's one pony in this world that can help you with this, it's her."

"But she's led a stable country for all that time," said Ivory. "Not one that's been under the brutal rule of a dynasty of tyrants for over a thousand years. Our country is rife with tribalism and other issues, and it's could take years before many of these issues die down."

"She will help you deal with these things."

Ivory pulled a face, "I dare say that not even Princess Celestia can bridge the divides in this country that easily. Anyway, since you made me the representative of the pegasi, could I ask when you intend for them to leave for Equestria like you promised, Twilight?"

"Er..." Twilight hadn't actually thought about it, and really hoped Celestia had since she was organising things on her end so that Equestrian pegasi would work in Mareitania to cover for the pegasi departing. "I'm not sure whether Celestia has prepared for the arrival of the pegasi in Equestria, or for the departure of so many of them from here, so you'll have to ask her about it. If I were to guess, some would leave as more pegasi arrived from Equestria, staggered out over her stay here."

"That would be my assumption as well," Luna agreed. "My sister would have planned for all of this knowing her."

The council looked at her funny as everypony else in the room that knew Luna's true identity as Princess Luna and not Selene, froze, including Luna as she realised her mistake. "Your sister?" Mash asked.

"Yes...my sister. She works in Equestria's government. Quite high up. Knows a lot about what goes on in the palace, and would most certainly be involved in what Celestia is planning." Luna grinned nervously, hoping they bought her story.

"What's your sisters name?" Ivory politely enquired.

"Lu...min...ous?" Luna said as she invented desperately.

"We call her Lumi most of the time," said Twilight, trying to cover Luna's momental failure at creative lying. "She's a sweet mare, always willing to help. Look's nothing like Selene though."

"Really lights up the room with her smile," Fleur added. "Makes awful coffee though."

"That is very true," said Luna. "It's a shame she won't be coming with Celestia. You'd probably like her."

"That's a shame." Ivory didn't look like she believed them in the slightest, but without proof she wasn't about to say anything. "Anyway, we don't really have much else to discuss, so I'm hoping we can stop playing politicians, and start being normal ponies again." She stood and walked out from behind their table, heading over to Twilight and hugging her. "I'm really sorry about Trixie. Are you sure there's nothing we can do for her? Or any of you really."

Twilight didn't fight the hug, even though she wasn't fully comfortable in it. "Just make sure she's alright while we're off in Stalliongrad. You are going to be sticking around here, aren't you?"

"Certainly. We were talking about moving the centre of government somewhere else, and leaving this place to rot, but until that point I imagine this is where we'll be most of the time."

"Where would you go instead?"

"We were thinking Prance or Neigh Orleans," said Daybreak. "None of us can really deny that we all want it in different places for personal reasons, so it's still a running debate. Chances are we'll argue ourselves into inaction about it, and if we don't it'll have to be approved by the parliament, so...yeah. I don't know, we're only thinking about it. Anyway, since we're here, I do believe it was mentioned that we have a cadaver or two to shove somewhere dark and forget about."

"Indeed we do."

Twilight sniffed the musty air within the ducal mausoleum, although she wasn't sure why as it wasn't exactly expecting it to be pleasant. Thankfully all it was was musty and slightly damp. It was also rather different on the inside, looking significantly older and more worn. It left Twilight suspecting that a newer mausoleum had been built over the older one as time and the elements took their toll. Then she realised that she didn't really care as she was unlikely to see the inside of this place ever again.

"I really don't understand why we're doing this," Octavia said as she inspected the building besides Twilight. "It's not as though the Duke deserves to be hidden away in here."

"Are you suggesting we should desecrate their corpses instead? Because we could do that if you really want?"

"Don't be silly Twilight. Besides, I'm not talking about putting them in here so much as I'm talking about making this a big event, like we're actually sending him off with a big funeral, when quite frankly we should be holding a party to celebrate his death."

Twilight read the name on the side of one of the stone sarcophaguses, the words worn by age but still legible. She'd found the first inhabitant of the mausoleum, Duke Ironhoof, the founder of the duchy. "Here he is, the first Duke."

"And?"

Twilight shrugged, "And nothing really, apart from I wish to inform the sad pile of dust and bones in here that that his dynasty has finally ended."

Octavia huffed irritably, "Twilight, why are we really in here?"

"I'm in here because I'm curious. You're in here because you followed me. At no point did I ask you to do that." Twilight smiled a little as Octavia spluttered. "As for your question, we're not giving the Duke a send-off. What we are doing is proving once and for all that he is dead, and the duchy with him."

"Even though the Viscount is still out there?"

Twilight shrugged again, "So it isn't perfect, but once the Viscount is dealt with I have assurances that once he is interred, unless we take him alive, the mausoleum is to be sealed, and it's inhabitants mostly ignored, but not forgotten."

"Why not forgotten?"

"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Hopefully the dukes will be a lesson well learned in how to not rule a country." Twilight stopped studying the sarcophaguses around her and turned for the exit, Octavia following closely behind her. "Maybe once the news gets out that the Duke is dead and buried, all those silly ponies out there will stop their silly plots to overthrow the new government."

"I'm sure they're more concerned about overthrowing the status quo we've made rather than bringing the Duke back to power."

Twilight rolled her eyes as it was obvious that was what she meant, but she kept it hidden from Octavia. "Earth pony supremacy... I really don't know how that's supposed to work. If it wasn't for Celestia and Luna raising the sun and moon, would the duchy have enslaved the unicorns for the sole purpose of doing just that? The whole thing just doesn't work, and I really don't see why ponies want to bring it back. Even the pre-exodus ponies had a system that included all three tribes. At least when they weren't violently killing each other anyway."

"Could any of the tribes go it alone?"

"Unicorns certainly, but their food wouldn't be as nice or plentiful, and their weather would be a pale imitation of pegasus made weather. Pegasi could grow food too, so long as the sun and moon were raised by a third party. I hate to say it, but it's the earth ponies that would struggle to live independently."

"Typical," Octavia grumbled with a pout.

"But as has been pointed out many times, we're better off working together."

"Says the alicorn," said Fleur as she rested against the doorway into the mausoleum. "Sure we're all better off working together, but at what point did we decide that we should be ruled by alicorns?" She was smiling as she spoke, so it wasn't hard to tell she wasn't being serious.

"About forty years after the founding of Equestria, the aging founders were faced with having to replace themselves, but couldn't decide how as tribal issues were still rife at the time. Princess Platinum proposed having Celestia and Luna rule as they embodied all three tribes, and the others agreed. That is when the decision was made." Twilight smiled sweetly at Fleur while she fought back the urge to tell her it was a plot by Platinum to secure her legacy.

"Seems awfully convenient that they had some alicorns sitting around to conveniently fill that role."

"Isn't it just!" Twilight said brightly, as that really was opening a can of worms. "Are we all ready for the funeral?"

"Sure," Fleur answered, eyeing Twilight suspiciously. "All we need is the two guests of honour to arrive and we're good to go."

"Who's leading the funeral service?" asked Octavia.

"I think Daybreak or one of the council will be making a speech, but I do believe the service itself will be lead by the leader of the Church of the Lady, whom I believe is called Guiding Light." Fleur grinned at both of them, "Beautifully ironic if you ask me." Her grin morphed to a frown as Twilight froze up. "Something wrong?"

"Nope! That's fine, and I'm sure the Duke would hate it. Ha ha..." Twilight almost slapped herself at how unconvincing she sounded. The fact was though that she found the idea of Guiding Light being with a few hundred yards of her item of worship more than a little horrifying, and really hoped the mare departed away from High Rock as soon as the service was over.

"Pull the other one Twilight, you're clearly not happy about this."

Twilight sighed as she forced herself to relax, "Sorry, but you know I take issue with the Church of the Lady. I can just imagine the references to the Lady's chosen champion smiting down the wicked duchy and all that. Hopefully Guiding Light won't be too heavy on that since she knows I hate it."

"Aww, come on Twilight, it should be at least mildly amusing for the absurdity of the situation. Come on, we can all sit together and giggle about it. It might even be fun."

"Sure, fun." Twilight replied deadpan as she let Fleur lead the way to where she had found a decent spot to watch the proceedings from, not far from the short stage that had been built by the entrance to the mausoleum. Summer and the filly were already there, chatting quietly with each other as they waited for the rest of them.

"Hey Twilight," the filly said as they took their seats. "Are you alright with Trixie not being here for this?"

"I'm sure she'd love the reminder of the ponies she failed to kill. It's probably for the best that she not be here." And just like that, Twilight's already brittle mood was smashed to pieces, by a single question. She sat back and let the chatter of the other wash over her as they waited for the service to begin. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long as the council arrived with Guiding Light, and two wooden coffins. Her focus was on Guiding Light though, and she could feel the hairs on her neck rising as she watched the oblivious mare.

To stop herself from staring she peered around to see who else was at the funeral. It turned out almost everypony from the rebellion was there, and even the members of parliament, including those with questionable loyalties. Especially those with questionable loyalties Twilight suspected, and she was glad the council took the time to invite all these ponies, because just having the rebel army there would have been pointless as they already knew the Duke was deceased. But now she was looking she could see some of the representatives were missing, but she didn't concern herself too much as some would have had a long way to travel, and the news would spread anyway.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming," Daybreak said loudly, distracting Twilight and pulling her attention back to him. It seemed things were about to get underway. "Especially since many of you had to travel some distance to get here. Several thousand of you were conveniently already here," he added, earning himself a few chuckles from the soldiers. "There are also plenty who aren't here, and we should honour every one of those who gave their lives to give us what we have now; a free Mareitania. Free from the Duke, free from tyranny, and free from the petty divisions that the dukes of the past forced us to live with. No more shall a pony suffer just because they were born with a horn on their head, or wings on their back."

"Of course that doesn't mean the fight is over yet, and even now the Viscount and the last vestiges of the duchy cling onto what scraps remain of their vile rule. But let us not think of that today, as what we are here to do today is celebrate; the Duke has fallen, heralding the end of the duchy. I realise many of you may think it crass for us to inter him in his family crypt, but what is there to gain from anything else? Instead, let today be a reminder that the past has been buried here along with those that perpetrated centuries of suffering on the ponies of this nation, and let those within be a reminder of a past we would hope to never see again. Now, without further ado I'll let Guiding Light of the Church of the Lady perform her role."

Daybreak stepped aside, giving a brief smile to Guiding Light as she swept onto the stage, her ceremonial robes dragging along the floor. She turned to face the assembled crowd, and gave them that same unnerving little smile that Twilight found made her feel uneasy. Especially when it was directed straight at her. Then Guiding Light winked as well, and Twilight decided to sit there in confusion until she found out what was happening.

"Blessings of the Lady upon you all," she started. "Well, perhaps not all of you, as I can think of two ponies here that probably don't deserve such consideration. I am of course talking about the Duke and Duchess. But it is not my place to refuse such things, as the Lady loves all her ponies, even those as woefully misguided as these, and it would sadden her that we have all had to resort to death and war to fix a problem that should never have existed in the first place. But while she is all-loving, she is also just, and she knows the innumerable crimes these ponies have committed, and she will pass judgement on them, as she does all wrongdoers."

"So it is that I commend the bodies of these two ponies to the Lady, that they face her judgement and either be forgiven, or pay for their crimes. That they be allowed to join those they so wronged in the green fields of the ever after, or be cursed to suffer like those they condemned as unworthy, until their sins are paid for. I of course shall make no judgements myself."

"Did she basically say that these ponies are going to burn in hell?" the filly whispered to Fleur.

"I think she said they're damned either way."

"Is she doing this on purpose?"

"I'd say so."

"Neat."

"As for those of us here now," Guiding Light continued, still wearing her faint smile, "I suggest we celebrate your great victory, for righting the wrongs of these ponies and their ancestors, and know that the Lady forgives you for the sins you had to commit to do so, as you did them in her name. I've also been informed that refreshments will be served in the dining room of the keep, so I won't keep you much longer." She turned to the two coffins, and waved a hoof over them in a vague sort of way, "Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, may the Lady take mercy on your souls. But don't count on it." She turned back to crowd, "Last but not least, thank you all for coming."

An awkward silence descended on the crowd as most of the ponies tried to work out what had just happened while the two coffins were carried inside the mausoleum. There were plenty of ponies who were smiling though, satisfied in the knowledge that even the Church of the Lady possessed a sense of humour, and had no illusions that the Duke and Duchess didn't really deserve their mercy or kind words, or even a huge amount of their time. Twilight took the middle distance though, knowing full well what had happened, only without being sure that it was right, necessary, or was actually a veiled attempt to attract ponies to the church. It wasn't hard to think that there were plenty of ponies ill at ease with all that had happened, and might seek comfort from a higher being.

"Fucking hell," she muttered to herself as Daybreak retook the stage along with the rest of the council.

"Thank you Guiding Light, for that rather...unorthodox service. She was of course right about there being refreshments-" He jumped as the door to the mausoleum was slammed shut behind him. "Ahem, as I was saying, there are refreshments being served in the dining room of the keep, so make your way there at your own leisure as the service is now over."

"That was certainly unusual," Luna commented as the other ponies around them started to drift off towards the promised drinks and nibbles. "One could be forgiven for thinking that this was perhaps a massive joke at the Duke's expense."

"More or less," Daybreak said as she trotted down off the stage towards them with the other councillors in tow. "Truthfully we had no idea how to do this without making it seem like we were genuinely saying farewell, then Mash proposed getting the Church of the Lady to conduct the service, to which Guiding Light readily agreed, and it kind of went from there. I did think she was going to be a bit longer though, but, no matter."

"So that's it then?" Octavia asked.

"Yep," Daybreak nodded, "That's it. Well, apart from politely rubbing it in a few ponies faces that the Duke is dead, long live the Duke, et cetera, et cetera."

"Pardon my prench," said Fleur, "but today has been fucking weird."

Author's Notes:

If you couldn't tell, I had no idea how to end this chapter, so it went like that. Yeah...

Anyway, good news is we'll be going onto mostly Stalliongrad stuff after this chapter. The bad news is I'm woefully behind on writing it, and there likely won't be a chapter next week (especially since I'll be heavily distracted with Halo Wars 2). Even though I'm trying to write more, I still can't quite do what I want to in a week. Oh well.