Adagio awoke to find Sunset looking out the window at the forest that bordered the Geisel's property. It was the middle of the night (or there about). The boys had long since left and the girls had all gone to bed. Rarity and Apple Jack shared one room. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shared another. Pinkie, Sonata, and Twilight all got one room (the idea was if Twilight was there, then Pinkie and Sonata wouldn't get into any "mischief"). Sunset and Adagio shared another.

Sunset just stood there, bathed in moonlight, looking ethereal, almost ghostly. The light reflected in here eyes, making them appear to glow. Adagio was in awe of how perfect she looked. Then she noticed the look of deep sadness on her face.

"Sunset?" she gently called out and walked up beside her.

Sunset gave no physical notice that she was aware that Adagio spoke or stood beside her. She just kept looking out the window with the same expression, Adagio was about to say something again but Sunset started speaking.

"I'm going to have to kill Chrysalis; aren't I?" She asked it simply, nonchalantly, almost as an after thought.

Adagio touched Sunset's shoulder and turned to look out the window herself. Some conversations could only be had when neither party was looking at each other.

"Yes," Adagio said bluntly and without emotion.

"And she's not alone is she? She has helpers, I could feel that when I was in her mind."

"Yes."

"And I may have to kill them as well, right?" Sunset's voice never registered any emotion. All her questions sounded like she was asking what the capital of South Dakota was or something banal like that.

"Yes. On both accounts." Likewise, too, Adagio's voice was flat and to the point.

"Twilight said she was scared because people, our friends, might die. The idea terrifies her. I understand. I don't want to see any of our loved ones get killed. I told her it's not our choice. The girls, all of us, have been called by whatever higher powers there may be to do this and it's a risk we had to take.

"But I never thought about us doing any killing. We talked about stopping Chrysalis, never thinking through the full extent of what we were saying, but we really meant kill. Kill her and those who might serve her.

"Dying, especially in the service of a greater good is noble and virtuous. But what is the flip side to that? Killing. Is killing for any reason virtuous? How can I take a life, even an evil one? And what of the humans? Even if they are evil themselves; they have friends, families. Won't they miss them? Won't they feel the loss? The pain? How can I inflict that on another person? How can I live with myself for the rest of my life knowing I have blood on my hands?" Sunset never changed her posture. Face forward, arms crossed over her chest as she spoke. She did turn her eyes slightly to look at Adagio once she was done to see what her response was.

"You were willing to kill before, to take over Equestria," Adagio said, not showing any signs of emotion.

"Before being the operative word there. Before I got blasted by Twilight's friendship beam. Before I knew better. Before I stopped being consumed by hate. Before I started caring about other people." Sunset's speech slowly increased in speed while she was talking, giving her final words an almost manic quality.

Adagio thought about how to respond. She thought about saying that she had killed, it didn't bother her, and would gladly kill again, especially Chrysalis. But she thought better of it. Then she knew what she should say.

"During World War Two, the girls and I toured with the USO. In films, immortals are always at key historical events and know important historical people but that's not how immortality works. Not if you want to stay immortal and not get burned at the stake. You stay hidden, underground, so no one knows what you are.

"However, there are times when circumstances force you to respond. We knew the Axis Powers were a threat the like we had never seen before. If they were triumphant, all of us would be in danger. So we did what we did best - sing. Of course our songs had a little bit extra to them. We gave the soldiers a little boost to their fighting skills.

"After the war, we continued for a while. The left over negative energy gave us a little bit more boost than we usually got." Adagio smiled for a second, shook her head, then continued.

"Anyway; during the day, sometimes the soldiers would take us out to see the sites as they were: bombed and burned down buildings. On one of those trips, we snuck off for a bit, just to see the rubble on our own. Well, this little German boy comes running up to us. He obviously starving. Sonata, who always had a soft spot for young children, looked in her purse and found a Hershey bar which she gave to the boy.

"While he was eating it; his grandmother came running, well, maybe 'running' is the best word there, let's say, fast walking, as fast as she could at least, up to us. She scolds the boy for running off then she thanks us for looking after him. Then she starts talking to us. She told us that she wanted us to know that they weren't evil people. That they didn't want the war or what had happened. She said we had to realize that they were hurting. That the German economy was in the tank, their money was worthless, the Weimar Republic was corrupt and ignored the needs of the people, and the Allies had made them feel humiliated after the first war. They had been desperate and 'He' as she called him, promised to restore them to their rightful place. He gave them hope. Sure he said hateful things but no really expected him to carry out any of those things. They just wanted things to be better so they supported him.

"She said that she had Jewish friends. That her best friend as a child was a Jew. She said that when the economy started picking up again and they started feeling proud again, that a kind of blut-fieber took hold that made everyone act irrational and led to this awfulness. Then she stressed again that, that was never their intention.

"As she was telling me this, I kept thinking; did it matter? Did it matter to all those who had been rounded up, forced onto cattle cars and put into camps, gas chambers, and ovens, to her Jewish childhood friend, what her or any of their intentions were? Would the survivors forgive them because they had only wanted a better economy and everything that had followed was a mistake?"

"That's an interesting story Dag, but I don't see the point or how it pertains to this situation?" Sunset said confused.

"Her intention, their intention, was meaningless. You can have the best intentions in the world but what matters is the outcome. Every excuse she had given was true but also irrelevant. The Nazis, and Imperial Japanese military, steamed rolled across Europe and Asia, enslaving and killing millions of people in the process. The only the Allies could stop them was to fight them; which meant killing millions of people themselves and aligning themselves with Soviet Russia who's own leader was just as monstrous as Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo."

Then Adagio turned to Sunset. She gently held her cheek and caressed it with her thumb. "This isn't a perfect world Sunset and there are no perfect solutions. Had the Allies not fought back, and in the process killed innocent men, women, and children, what would have been the alternative? Over half the world living under Axis rule, Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, black people, rounded up and killed; millions, maybe a billion by now, people living under totalitarian rule. Would that have been better?

"Being a pacifist is easy when everyone is a pacifist, Once one person thinks violence is perfectly ok, then what do you do? You can say that you would not use violence to protect yourself, but what about another person? If someone is being attacked and you do nothing, doesn't that make you partially if not equally as guilty?

"If you don't kill Chrysalis she'll keep trying to do whatever it is she's up to. I have no clue what that is but it can't be good. What if she eventually succeeds? Then what?

"In all things you must ask yourself, what is the alternative. If you do not do all that you have to win, including potentially killing Chrysalis and her minions, what's the alternative? Which will you find the hardest to live with; knowing you took a life or lives in order to stop someone that is truly evil or not killing and living with the aftermath of whatever Chrysalis' plan is?

"No matter what you decide, make no mistake, there will be blood, there will be death; it's just a matter of what you can live with." Adagio spoke softly and soothingly. Though her words carried much weight, she said in a way to calm and make Sunset feel better.

"If that's the case, what couldn't you justify by that argument? Look at Iraq. It was a dictatorship, people were suffering and being tortured, and look what happened after their leader was taken out. The whole region became destabilized. Are the people there any better off than before?"

"No," Adagio said softly. "But that's what I said, what I've been trying to say, that there are no perfect solutions. The worst atrocities have been carried out with the best of intentions. I feel for you, I do. I just don't want you to inadvertently cause a massacre while trying to avoid one."

"I just wish there was another way. Twilight didn't kill me and we didn't kill you."

"If you can find a better way, then do so. Just don't blind yourself in the process."

Sunset (who had turned to face Adagio) looked back out the window, the weight of the world crushing her. Then a mischievous smile crossed her lips. She slowly turned back to Adagio and said, "when was the last time you had a night run through the woods?"

Author's Notes:

Ok, once again I had to break a chapter down. This and the next chapter were supposed to be one but it was just too long. Hopefully you enjoy.