The calming purrs of content met my ears as I stirred awake. The little snorts and chirps of delight came from a large, fluffy, body nestled snugly against my side. A small smile met my lips as the scent of the morning, spring breeze, filled with blooming flowers engulfed my senses. Telling me who was the one that found me and made me its body pillow.

I nuzzled the form lightly as my throat was too dry to speak, and chapped lips didn't help either. This act of affection caused the body of fur to stir awake with a long yawn that was quickly followed up with its sweet lips pressing against my cheek. I felt my cheeks burn slightly, this act of tender kindness belonged only to one person and it made me glad that this person was the first thing that I get to see before I had to deal with the war that was going on in my country.

"Good morning, Winny. How is my Empress of cuddles doing?" Summer asked softly, adjusting her position so that she was even closer than she already was. My smile deepened as I too stirred awake, but with my body feeling like a rock, my brain having a rock marathon and my throat filled with rock's, I was doing swell.

"S-Sore...N-Need...Water," I begged with a voice that sounded like sandpaper was spanking a rusty spoon with a paddle made of rock.

"Here," she said, placing the rim of what felt like a bottle against my dry lips. Hesitantly, I grabbed the bottle with my planks called: arms and began to drink as though I have never tasted the magical elixir that was water, in my life. She let out a warming giggle as I chugged down the entire contents of the bottle in one go with some of it dripping down my chin.

"Easy now, I don't want you to drown," she teased, taking away the recently emptied bottle from my weak grasp. "Better?" she asked, nuzzling my cheek again with her beautiful face that was as pure as the morning sunrise.

"Better," I nuzzled back before opening my eyes to see where I was, which was cleaned by Summer's hooves from all the crusty gunk that I accumulated during my long nap.

Once I was able to see my surroundings, I quickly learned that I was back in my room on my bed with Summer at my side. I was happy that I didn't wake up in a tent in the middle of nowhere, but my concerns as to 'why,' I was back in my castle assaulted my mind. I knew right off the bat that Luna must have won her battle with Cadence and Shining armor, otherwise, I wouldn't be in my room, however. It brings into question of the damage done to my castle and my city.

I know for a fact that it was under siege when I arrived at the school and that the Crystal Empire somehow activated the Crystal War Spiders and ships when they were sealed after King Sombra fell to Spike and the Crystal Heart. The only way that they could have accessed those weapons is if Celestia herself untied the magical bonds to the tomb where said weapons were locked away. If that were the case, then I could only imagine the weapons they were using at Luna Bay.

Funny, I have a week until Celestia's grand plan unfolds and I am concerned about the Crystal Empire more than her. Then again, she was just using them as a guise to hide the danger that she, herself, was building. In any case, I should keep all my might at Luna Bay to defend Arcadia until the conference to end this war.

"Is everything alright?" Summer asked warily, taking me out of my train of thought like she always did. I turned to her with an honest sigh and shook my head.

"No, I'm not fine. It will be seven days until the end of all this fighting, and I don't know if I'll win. The cards are in place, but the dealer has yet to drop the flop."

"You'll figure it out, Winny. You always do," she reassured with her tender lips meeting mine after a long time being apart from each other. I closed my eyes, a single tear of joy caressing my cheek as I leaned into her, wanting to never part again, but like all things that I want. There was a loud knocking on my door that was followed up with a large set of wings that could only belong to, Cock-block the Luna.

I watched as she left my side with a weak smile before she jumped down from my bed and glided towards the door with Luna replacing her spot at my side. With another yawn, I struggled to sit up on trembling hooves, which was stopped by Luna's wing guiding me back down on my back.

"Easy, Rose. You just had your Mana Gates repaired. You need rest," Luna said with worry in her voice. I let out another sigh, not wanting to be useless longer than I had to and accepted my temporary fate.

"Now that you are awake, will you like to know what has been going on in Arcadia while you were out?" Luna inquired with her usual neutral look when talking about anything important. I looked at her with a bored expression, already dreading what I was going to hear about the damage caused by the Crystal Empire and their war machines.

"Start with what all my new companions are up to as well as the status of Spooks and her group, then tell me about what the damage is," I yawned as I spotted a cup of Joe hovering towards me in Luna's magical aura.

"Very well," she said, clearing her throat while I take my cup of coffee in my weak and very sore hooves.

"I will first say that Alta and Snowball have become fast friends during your sleep after I gave her...Interesting request for an artificial host of her own after confirming it with Ms. Do. Both of them have been in the library learning about all the history that has happened while she was locked away in her old temple, which I have taken the liberty of sealing it away for the time being."

"As long as she is getting along and sticking to our contract. I have no problems with her," I commented with a delightful sip of my morning coffee.

Luna nodded in agreement before continuing. "Indeed. Now as for Daring Do. She has taken a liking to all the lost history herself, as well as keeping an eye out for Spitfire, whom she has been avoiding since her return from Luna Bay; which is still in conflict as we speak. Any idea why? The old Wonderbolt Captain seems to be troubled by this," she asked, slightly perplexed at the strange behavior Daring was showing.

"Our business so stays out of it," I replied, and motioned her to continue with a wave of my hoof.

"As you wish," she sighed before pulling out a little notebook from her mane. "

"Redbeard, Stephen, Nova are currently guarding the lost Princess of Elswhere in the west wing of the castle. Evelyn seems to be fine with them, but no one else that I have tried to assign. Though I don't understand how she knows them, or even you. She has been quite adamant to talk to anyone about her current position until she sees you about returning her land back under her control. You wouldn't, perchance, know why that is?" Luna questioned with a raised brow.

"We met in the temple while she was under Celestia's control to acquire the Winglets of Alta. I brought her under my control and nearly made her my bitch for the time being. That issue can wait for another occasion," I shrugged and took another sip.

"That is...Strange," Luna frowned. "I don't remember my sister taking over the land of Elswhere, but I suppose that can wait as well."

"Now for, Spooks and the Crystal Empire?" I pushed on, wanting to know what has happened to my strange couple of weird.

"The Night Stalker and her company, after they destroyed the Crystal War Spiders, were given a place to stay for the time being and received a Medal of Honor, Valor, and Duty for this feat of cunning and strength. If it weren't for them, we might not be having this conversation right now," she paused for a moment, taking a look at her notes before talking again. "After a much-needed rest, the Black Knights that were tasked watching them. They said that they left the country to cause trouble for my sister."

I cracked a smile, happy that they managed to defeat those giant spiders and made it out alive.

"And finally, the Crystal Empire," Luna groaned as she flipped through her notes. "Cadence's personal guard were the ones that attacked the city and destroyed thirty percent of it, the north wall included. The death toll isn't that high; only a few hundred died during the siege, and they were on the wall with the spiders."

"As for Cadence and Shining Armor that lead the battle...Both were defeated by yours truly and fled via teleportation magic to lick their wounds, but with the fight at Luna Bay going on. This fight is far from over and the cease-fire seven days time will only bring more death, in the long run. That is all I can say on the matter without talking about the mountain of money we will need for repairs, but we both know that isn't a problem," Luna finished with a yawn of her own.

I stare at my ceiling, forced to stay in my bed for a few days while everyone that I cared about was doing their thing. Summer was helping out with our friends clean up the school. Luna was organizing the entire city to repair said city. Evelyn was not allowed to talk to me for a while, much to her displeasure and monstrous shouting; and Spitfire, as well as, Daring Do, were nowhere to be found.

'Gee, I wonder why? I bet Daring learned that Spits paid Stormy Flare to pretend to be her mother since Daring was never there. I bet they are fighting right now...'

(Outskirts of Silent Hill in the middle of an open flower grove in the center of Jade Rabbit Woods.)

"I finally caught you!" Spitfire screamed at the top of her lungs as her body collided with a dirty-yellow mare, covered in sweat with strained breaths so hoarse that she couldn't even scream as their bodies flipped and tumbled in the snow to a painful stop.

Daring Do, realizing the danger from the insane, fire-orange Pegasus that tackled her to the ground, decided that it would be a good idea to run on foot than try and outfly the former Wonderbolt. With a hard kick to Spitfires' stomach, she managed to squirm out of her grasp and tumbled into a full gallop through the chest-high snow while using her wings to create an ice layer to run on to prevent her from being slowed down.

"No you didn't!" she shouted back with a hearty laugh that ended abruptly with a sudden wall of ice in her path with the mare that she was running from, smiling on top of the wall with her legs and arms crossed smugly.

"You were saying?" Spitfire giggled, finding amusement in Daring's struggle to stop on her road of ice that she created.

"Oh come on!" Daring cried as her body crashed into the sheet of ice with a mute *Thunk!*

She slid down the ice in a comical way, letting off a groan. “Man, that little trick of yours sucks to dodge, ya know?”

"All's I'm doing is melting the snow, lifting it up into the air and refreezing it. It's how we make the bobsled tracks during winter, but if you are smart. You can use it to make other things," Spitfire yawned through her smug smile. For her, this advanced manipulation is child's play, however. The ice wall itself came from a special filly that doesn't know when to stop defying the Laws of Weather Magic. One of these days, she is going to turn her mane puke-green.

‘And I will laugh when that happens.’

Daring looked up, sighed and gave her an annoyed glare. "Smart with a capital: Ass, as always, Spits. You could give Caballeron a run for his money," Daring said, her glare turning into a smirk.

Spitfire raised a brow and a roll of her eyes before gliding down from her perch next to the older mare, giving her a slight shove with her hips. "Right, that old stallion with a fetish for chains and rope sure knows the magical language of one of a smart mouth. Or is that a lie from your books?"

"A bit of a lie and a bit of this!" Daring shouted, pushing Spitfire over into the thick snow that engulfed her entire body with a muffled, *poof.* "Nice try, kiddo, but you have to do better than that!" she laughed, running into the forest as fast as her cold hooves could carry her away from the fuming Pegasus, who's pent up anger melted the very snow that buried her.

"Get back here, CUNT!" Spitfire screamed, her body steaming from the melting snow before jumping back into the air with a thick flap of her wings. She quickly surveyed the area, looking for anything and everything that would point to the direction of fleeing mare, and where she was going. Her eyes traced over the lip of the dead forest, hoping for a sign of entry to reveal itself, but Daring Do didn't leave so much of a...hoof print.

'I'm an idiot,' Spitfire kicked herself for a moment and found tracks leading to the northern area of the forest. With another hard flap of her wings, she pushed through the icy air with a passion. To her, the real hunt has just begun.

'Where the hell is she?' Spitfire thought, bobbing and weaving through the thick tree layer. Her wings banked hard with each flap just to avoid the thick, ice-covered bark that would shatter her bones if she so much as graze it. Her eyes followed the tracks in the snow of the mare that Spitfire was chasing. To Daring's credit, she knew how to run from someone, but Spitfire also knew that she couldn't get far without the aid of her wings.

The icy wind flowed around her body as she banked hard around a large oak that towered over most of the other trees around it, frowning as the tracks disappeared at the base. 'Strange,' she thought, landing on top of the set of hoof prints that she was following for the past half an hour. 'Where did she go?'

She looked around to see any signs that Daring Do jumped into the air and flew away from her again. Her eyes quickly dot around the area, looking for strange wind patterns in the snow that would have been created from a fast lift off, but alas, she couldn't find a single marking that matched that nature.

"Where the fuck is she?" Spitfire asked herself, her hooves tracing over the white powder as she glided across the winter landscape and followed the tracks once more to their ending point.

Facing the tracks once more, she realized that they were facing directly at the tree. Perplexed by this, Spitfire stared at the absurdly large trunk in wonder as to where Daring Do could have disappeared too? This thought, however, was cut short with an icicle falling and impaling the ground beside her.

Curiously, she looked up and saw a trembling, nervous dirty-yellow mare hiding in the branches of the tree of ice. Spitfire raised a brow to the sheepishly smiling Pegasus before spinning around on her forehooves, twisting her body into a decent bucking position while rearing her hind legs back.

"Wait!" Daring begged, but it was too late. With a smile, Spitfire shot out her back legs into the trunk, sending a violent shock up the tree towards Daring, who was clinging to a branch made of ice with her life, however. Once the vibrations struck the tree branch, a loud *Snap!* echoed throughout the forest and was quickly followed by a screaming mare that ended with another muffled *Poof!*

Smiling victoriously of the hunt, Spitfire pranced over to the body cut-out of where Daring Do landed on her stomach and reached down with her maw, shifting through the snow with her snout before coming across Daring's lush tail. She grabbed it and pulled the dazed mare of adventure out of the snow and quickly warmed her up by heating the air around them both.

"Nice try, Mom. You have got to do better than that," Spitfire teased with a light brush of her wing against Daring's snout, flicking a little chunk of snow that found solace on her nose.

Daring shook her head and sneezed from the mixture of being cold and the soft down of her daughter's well-groomed feathers. "I had you going there for a few minutes," she smirked, with a slight twitch of her wing that itched to run from the pure wrath that emanated off of her daughter's body like the sun itself.

"You did, and it was fun for a moment," Spitfire smiled as she took a step forward, causing the older mare to flinch and back away. but this didn't phase her in the slightest. "Until you ran off to Tartarus knows where for most of my life, never coming to a Show nor writing me a letter or stopping by for Hearths Warming Eve."

Daring ears flattened against her head, her wings begging, screaming at her to run again and Spitfire could tell, but she pressed on, taking another step forward, forcing Daring's rump to back into the tree trunk.

"You didn't say that you were in town. You didn't tell me that you were working for Celestia," Spitfire hissed as a tear kissed her cheek. Daring closed her eyes, waiting for the beat down for abandoning the dream of the one she care for most.

"You never made any attempt to come say 'hi' at one of your fucking book conventions!" Spitfire howled into the air, her voice filled with grief. All her emotions for the past twelve years of her life since Flight Camp rushed out of her like a raging river. Her heart ached for the two words that she has never heard from the trembling lips before her for so long.

Tears streamed down her face as she forced Daring up against the tree with her hooves pressing firmly on the older mares chest, pinning her against the bark with no escape. "And then I learned that it was all a lie! A cover to acquire dangerous magical artifacts that could, quite literally, end the world! I joined the Black Ops just to find you! I killed just to see your face again! And not on a book cover as a fictional character!"

She didn't hold back her emotions, not anymore, she couldn't. Even with the warmth from the filly that made her home in her heart. The ice wouldn't melt until she gets the answers she's been chasing for most of her life. "Where! WERE! YOU!" she screamed with all her might. The sheer volume sent waves throughout the trees as a concussive blast cleared the snow and ice around them and the tree and, effectively, killing her voice.

She waited.

She starred with never ending streams caressing her cheeks, waiting for an answer from the trembling mare held firmly in her grasp.

And she waited.

Spitfire let go and let Daring fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes onto the brown, frozen grass and hard permafrost. The recently freed mare curled into a ball, bawling along with Spitfire as she struggled with an answer that both of them knew would never come.

"I..." Daring managed to choke out as she looked up to the crestfallen mare that looked right back with mute eyes. Her ears perked up slightly at the sound escaping Daring's voice, but her wings dragged helplessly against the hard soil. Spitfire leaned closer, wanting to hear whatever she had to say, even if it something that would further distance each other from one another, but that didn't matter. What did matter was closure, and that is all Spitfire needed before devoting what little love she had for the world for her little Rose, Gale, and Feather. "...I d-did it to p-protect...You, Spitfire. If I didn't leave you, then I-I never would have saw you again."

"W-What do you mean?" Spitfire sobbed, taken aback from the answer in confusion.

"I...Ahuizotl and his goons would have found you and Fleetfoot and killed you both," she choked out, even more, ashamed that Celestia herself hired the very person that forced her family apart. "I left to get the Black Ops to keep the both of you safe and in turn, I would find rare artifacts and bring them under Celestia's control. I was a fool, and it took, quite literally, a filly that rose the moon with an epic guitar solo to hammer in the final nail of truth into my mush I call a brain," she looked down, her wings faltering to the ground. Her pawing hooves stopped ruffling the frozen grass beneath her in silence.

"So you are saying that Celestia was the one responsible for letting in the demon from Zebraca and allow him and his mercenaries to threaten the land of Equestria, just so that she could have you make a good story at the expense of the safety of our family?" Spitfire asked in pure shock to what was flowing in her mind.

"Yeah, and I am sorry for not seeing it sooner, my little Hawk Moon," Daring cringed, waiting for another barrage of pure hate to assault her heart once more, but nothing of that note came. Instead, she felt a soft warmth press against her side, followed with a soft down blanket draping over her. Daring turned her meek, teary gaze towards what was against her and saw something that she would have never thought possible.

"I-I-I don't understand. Don't you hate me?" Daring gasped. Spitfire shook her head with a weak chuckle.

"No, how could I? There is a fucking little runt that pieced this puzzle together before I had the chance to and probably, wouldn't have throughout my life. I just wanted to hear it from you and now that I have?" she pulled Daring closer with her wing and warmed the ground beneath and around them, making the air more comfortable to be in.

"I can't bring myself to hate you. I never could. I'll murder you later and stab your Mr. Quackerton with a rusty spoon and Chinchillas. Sound good?"

"Rose is the little runt, huh?" Daring Do said as she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Not this time. Your second granddaughter, Nightingale, was the one to convince me not to murder you on sight," Spitfire chuckled with more heart in her tone.

"Nightingale sounds like...wait. WHAT?!"

(Back in Silent Hill in the bedchamber of the Empress of Arcadia.)

"WHAT?!" Boomed a voice throughout the land, reaching my ears and jerking me awake, much to the displeasure of a dark gray filly nestled snuggly at my side. I turned to the window as Nightingale yawned like the adorable kitten that she is as she rubbed her eyes with her little hooves.

"Sorry, Kitten. Did big sister wake you?" I asked softly, already knowing the loud voice that pierced through the heavens and straight up Lauren Faust's ass, out her mouth, causing her to speak out her wildest fantasies of having a show based on talking, techno-colored ponies and all of the gay porn that came with it.

"Mmhmm," she mumbled half-asleep. With a smile, I nuzzled her back down, earning a happy purr in response as she plopped her head down back on my pillow with a little flutter of her wings.

I let out a sigh and smiled. "Stupid Spitfire must have told Daring about Nightingale. Feather Flight owes me ten Credits," I yawned and snuggled back up with the purring kitten that nestled her head against my chest and quickly fell back to sleep. I joined her just moments later.

Author's Notes:

Sorry me being slow, but I is getting back into groove! So here is a thing.

Did ya know that I have an idea. A brilliant Idea that far outclasses all ideadadadadadadas!?

It is called something, a name, meant for something and it hasn't (i hope) been done before! mwahahahahahaha!

Anyway, this train is coming to the end of the station. So please enjoy another filler