I missed her. Missed her more than I thought possible. And really, it was impossible to not think of her, after all it was eternal night and that was her domain. Even now I could feel her calling out for me, pressing up against my mind as she tried to pull me into her dream space so we could talk face to face. Dear Celestia, when was the last time we spoke? Over six months ago I think.

Six months...

I wasn't sure who needed the other more. For those first two months, she was what kept me sane. A fellow prisoner to talk to who had also suffered and still suffered. During those blissful moments of peace, everything actually felt normal and I could forget about Nightmare Moon and the Elements and the torture. During those first weeks Luna kept me sane and a part of me liked to think that I kept her sane in return.

She was my only friend in this endless nightmare and to ignore her pleas of help was like a dagger through the heart. I'd rather undergo torture again than continue ignoring her, but I had no choice. Nightmare Moon knew when we communicated and if I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me where she had stashed Celestia, I had to ignore Luna entirely. A single misstep and I'd be back in the dungeon next to Rarity.

I idly turned the page in the novel. And then there was the matter of Celestia and her little clues. This was the tenth book now? Eleventh? I don't know, but it was starting to piss me off. Sure, logically I knew she had to hide the bread crumbles, but seriously? Over ten books and each one took hours to decipher and figure out. Worst case scenario was that either this was all a ploy by Nightmare Moon or I made a wrong step way back at the first book. I hate my life.

A sigh escaped.

"Why the sigh?"

Opening my eyes, I looked over at Nightmare Moon. "Just wondering how much longer this civil war will continue."

"So you tire of it too." She sat down next to me on the roof, gazing out over Canterlot before speaking, "I wish every night was as peaceful as this one."

"I doubt you came here for idle chatter considering an ambassador from the Changlings is here."

Her eyes flickered over to mine and we held each other's gaze for a brief second before turning back to the flickering nightlife before us. "We're currently holding a recess. I wished to ask what you believe we should do with Rarity."

My throat was suddenly dry, but with a practiced ease, my expression and body language gave nothing away. Torture was out of the question, there was no way I'd subject any pony to that which left only one option. "Execution in three days time."

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Explain."

"Right now we need a moral boost. Some guard released the important prisoners from Manehatten raid and it's obvious that Dawn is still very active despite us taking out their base in the Everfree Forest – where we found nothing might I add. Moral is down. Execute her and it'll give us all a boost."

"Why not straight torture?" Though her voice was perfectly level, I could feel the curiosity practically radiating off her.

"She's an Element Bearer and a powerful one at that. By all accounts, destroying that city block should have been beyond her and yet she pulled it off after dueling me for an extended period of time. Furthermore, just because her magic has been cut off does not mean the Element's magic has been cut off. For example, one of the books stated that the Element of Honest can force the truth out of a pony and this was talking about a pegasus."

"You've been researching the Elements," she accused.

I shrugged in response. "Well I did hold the Element of Magic and we are going up against them. I thought it'd be prudent to know my enemy and what they are capable of."

As well as how they function so I can use them to defeat you, you filthy parasite.

"Hm..." Closing her eyes for a second, she took a deep breath. "Tonight I shall announce the execution date to be in three days time and that it shall take place in Las Pegasus. You shall be the commanding officer and you have free reign over how many ponies you wish to take with you and the tactics behind the operation. I have no doubt all the Element Bearers will be present so be prepared to face them all at once. Oh, and put a tracking spell on Rarity as well."

"Alright." I resisted the urge to swear. At least Rarity won't be tortured so that's better than nothing, even if it does mean the others might be caught. "I better go prepare then."

"Before you go Twilight Sparkle." A portal appeared before me. "I still want you to torture Rarity in the coming days to see if we can get any valuable information out of her."

Oh buck me.

Ignoring her stupid, evil, smug smile, I stepped through the portal and felt my heart freeze instead my chest. I wanted to curl up in a ball, to whimper like a foal and to cry my eyes out. Already bile was rising in my throat as the familiar scents and sights hit me like a ton of bricks. I had nightmares about this place. I still have nightmare about this place. For as long as I live, this place will haunt my memories. This was where I learnt the true meaning of pain.

The world suddenly spun around me and I dropped onto my knees with my head pressed against the stone floor. Taking a steadying breath, I channeled magic through my horn and after a bit of complex spell weaving, my weariness was brushed to one side and everything was fine once more. Sure, I'd pay for it later, but it meant not needing to sleep and hence dream, it was worth it. Standing back up on shaky hooves, I looked up at the white mare stretched before me on the wall. She gazed at me silently with a slight frown on her face, eyes raking my body as though tracing something and it was only then that I realized I had left my cloak in my room. Sure the scars had faded slightly more, but they were still there for the world to see. With the barest of thoughts, I conjured up an illusion to hide the marks – actually what in the world was I doing? This wasn't a time to become vain.

"I'm sorry." At my curious look she continued with tears leaking down her cheek, "For leaving you alone with Nightmare Moon that first night. For not rescuing you when we came for Spitfire. I'm sorry."

"By the end of tonight, you won't be saying that anymore."

A shimmering ethereal blade hovered before me. Though I was the one creating it this time, the mere sight of it made me want to run and hide though I doubt I'd be able to pull that off at all considering my legs were shaking so badly I might as well have been in an earthquake. Oh dear Celesita, why?

Maybe I could help her escape?

No. It was a nice thought, but ultimately silly. I wasn't about to give up everything I've done and I was sure Rarity could take it. Even if she couldn't, she'd have to. Plus, I still had no clue where this holding cell was so even if I could help her escape, for all I knew we could be on some island in the middle of the ocean.

There was one way out of this though. The question was, would it be worse than torturing my friend?

Stabbing her with the blade, her screams echoed through the room. Squeezing my eyes tight shut, I blocked out all sound as I concentrated on my spell, slowly crafting it with expert precision. One wrong move and I'd permanently damage her mind. Pulling the blade free, I gave her a minute of rest while her body healed up and so that I could check my work without distractions. Once I had quadruple checked, I stabbed the blade back into her and touched my horn to her forehead. Magenta waves spread out from the spot and stepping back, I examined her for a couple of seconds before smiling. The lack of blood and death was a good sign. Dispelling the sword, Rarity slumped forward, panting heavily and trembling, but the screaming stopped. Another good sign.

Now all I had to do was torture her for the next hour then cast the sister spell and it'd wipe the memory of everything in between letting her last thoughts form a story in its place. Not a perfect solution, but at least she won't remember any of it... even if I will. But that was just one more memory and one more sin I'll take to my grave.

Out the corner of my eye, phantom Celestia nudged a metal pole and at the familiar sight, bile actually rose in my throat. Swallowing it back down, I tore my gaze away. Sure, impaling a pony was surprisingly effective – especially if they were kept conscious throughout the whole ordeal, but I wasn't about to do that to one of my friends even if she won't remember it.

"Now, let's have some fun shall we?"

The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed were the gryphons. Sure, there had been a couple to join their forces, but it was still possible to go days on end without seeing one other than Gilda or Silvia. Now though? Everywhere she looked there was a gryphon in armor chatting with ponies or moving crates or just helping out in general.

It was freaky.

For as long as she could remember Gilda was treated with contempt, annoyance and hostility. After all, that's why they ended up best friends – two fillies alone in an unfamiliar world. Now... now they were all working together and chatting like old friends. Perhaps war wasn't all evil after all, perhaps there were moments of harmony within the sea of chaos.

"Rainbow Dash!" An orange blur tackled the pegasus to the ground.

"Heh, hello to you too Scoots, been keeping up with your studies?" At the filly's groan, Dash laughed and ruffled her hair. "Sorry I've been gone, had some stuff to take care of. So lay it on me kid, what's been going on? How's life? How's the crusading going?"

Her eyes widened to unbelievable sizes, "No way, you know about us?"

Chuckling, Dash got back onto her hooves and began trotting down the corridor. "Of course. Pretty hard not to have heard of the CMC. Pretty awesome thing you've got going on there." Leaning close, she added in an exaggerated whisper, "And trust me, I know something about awesome."

The resulting explosion of glee could have powered Manehatten for a thousand years. And at the centre of it all was Rainbow Dash, a radiant smile on her face as she gazed down lovingly at the filly bouncing around her. Like all good things though, it had to eventually come to an end and this particular case, it ended when Applejack entered the room to see what the commotion was all about.

"So sugarcube, where have ya been?" The two rivals stared at each other, their elements glowing brightly in a dimly light room.

"On private matters."

"Ya know, keeping a secret is just another form of lying." She tilted her stetson back and fixed that look on Dash. "And Ah dislike liars."

Instead of backing down though, Dash merely held the gaze with one of her own. Already she could feel Applejack's will press down against her own, forcing her to bend to it or be destroyed so Dash did what she always did when faced with impossible challenges – she fought back. Their wills slammed together, each pressing against the other in a battle for dominance. Both their elements glowed and pulsed with each heartbeat, flooding the room and tingeing everything a deep red. Dash's mane gently lifted off her back, flowing in the nonexistent breeze as electricity zapped in the air around them.

With a final shove, Applejack stumbled back, gasping for breath as perspiration dripped through her mane.

"Sorry kiddo, but it seems like I've got to talk to my friend over there and see what's up. Catch you later alright?" Without waiting for a reply, she trotted over to Applejack, grabbed her by the element around her neck then proceeded to drag the surprised earth pony towards the conference room. "I don't know what's going on with you and your freaky mind reading powers, but here's the deal. Being loyal also means being loyal to yourself and from what I can see, you're not the Applejack I used to know. Truthfully, I want the old one back."

"War changes ponies."

"Of course it does, but that doesn't mean we should stop being loyal to ourselves. Now what's been going on since I've been gone?" Kicking open the door, Dash froze at the weird scene before her. There, sitting in her seat was a pony sized dragon drinking tea with Flutter, Gilda, Silvia and Spitfire all in armor. "Okay, so not only are there gryphons everywhere, there's a miniature dragon. That's totally not weird at all. And I have to say, dragons look way cooler when not pony sized."

"Ah, Rainbow Dash, it is an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance," spoke the white dragon in cultured voice reminiscent of high society Manehatten. Stepping towards the startled pegasus, he kissed the back of her hoof before guiding her towards her seat. "My name is Lei and I am here capacity of an... ambassador I believe is the closest translation in your language. It is a great honor to meet the Bearers of Harmony, though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Okay. Seriously. What the buck is going on here?" Dash's gaze swept over everypony in the room. "First of all, there are gryphon's everywhere when last week we didn't even have ten. Secondly, there's a dragon sitting in our meeting room and he's the size of a pony. Lastly, why is everypony in armor!"

Putting down her cup of tea with s soft clink, Flutter turned her gaze to her fillyhood friend. "Rarity was captured yesterday by Nightmare Moon. This morning, approximately two hours ago, an announcement was made stating the execution will be in two days time at dusk. Location will be the Las Pegasus Coliseum. We're putting everypony on alert and getting them all into gear while we work out our plan of assault. I want everypony ready to move as soon as we're done here."

"And the dragon and tea?" Her eyes narrowed. "And are those biscuits?"

"We have to keep our strength up and Lei here is a pretty damn good strategist," said Gilda. "Plus, he technically represents the dragons and Applejack vetted him personally."

"He arrived just this morning actually. One of our scouts spotted him flying in from over White Tail Wood," added Silvia.

"You praise me with your words Gilda, but I had merely been taught Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' at a young age and the experience of a long life time," replied the dragon with a blush. "As for the biscuits, I fear that was my fault, the flight over was a long and arduous one and General Fluttershy kindly offered me some refreshments."

"Alright, alright." Waving her hoof, Dash leaned forward examining the map closely just to refresh her memory of the layout. Four ground level entrances for non-pegasi, four ceiling entrances for pegasi, lower levels for competitors with no entrances and reinforced, tinted windows as well as having an open floor for the coliseum.

"What's th-"

There was a loud bang as the door was bucked open. "Why was Trixie not informed of the meeting!"

There was a pause as General Rainbow Dash gazed at the newcomer with Twilight's element on her head. Then her eyes drifted back to those already at the table. "Do I even want to know?"

"How dare you ignore the Great and Powerful Trixie! She is the-"

"The Element of Magic," replied Dash with a sigh, her eyes already on the map. "And I'm the Element of Loyalty, Fluttershy is Kindness while Applejack who's over there sulking in the corner holds Honesty. Just because yours is a tiara does not make you better or greater than us. If you want us to be loyal to you then be loyal to us. If you want us to trust you then trust us."

Dash looked up at the others. "So what's the plan so far?" All she got in return was silence. "Well?"

"You've changed sugarcube..."

"War changes ponies." A blue hoof tapped the map. "The plan?"

"We're going for a two pronged hit. First unit will hit the lower entrance and act as a distraction lead by Silvia, Fleetfoot and Trixie. Trixie, your job is to blow a hole in the southern wall and to distract Twilight Sparkle-"

"Trixie is satisfied with this plan."

"-while Silvia is there to teleport everyone out. The second will come in through the top entrances and take Rarity out through the open floor once Twilight has committed her forces to stop our first attack. This will be a small unit lead by Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Spitfire and I will be in charge of our aerial forces to open a path to get our extraction unit through and to keep them busy. Fluttershy will stay back with Lei and Spike out to command our units and make sure everyone knows what they're doing with Applejack there to guard them. Lastly, Pinkamina will rendezvous with us and act as our reserves and as a highly mobile unit to assist as needed," said Gilda.

"Alright. That should work if Miss I'm-So-Awesome over there can actually blow down a wall," said Dash.

A snort escaped from Applejack, but the one to break out laughing first was Gilda and as soon as that happened everyone else joined in except the dragon, Dash and Trixie. Rolling her eyes, Dash trotted out the door. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'm going to get changed into my gear and meet you all out front."

"Wait, does Trixie have equipment as well?" asked Silvia.

"I don't believe so. Hey Dash! Mind outfitting Trixie as well?" asked Gilda

"Sure," replied Dash. "I needed to talk to her anyways."

"About what?" asked Trixie with an arched eyebrow.

Closing the door behind them, Dash began leading her towards the armory. "Applejack has her whole truth thing, but I'm loyalty. What I want to know is, what's the deal with your grudge with Twilight? You seemed extremely happy when you found out you'd be fighting her."

"Twilight Sparkle is a monster who murdered the entire village under Trixie's command. Revenge will be hers."

"Huh. Well then I suppose I'm next in line."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Reaching into her saddlebag, she pulled out a single dog tag and tossed it over to Trixie. "I've got two hundred and fifty seven of them in my bag. By my guess, at least fifty were directly killed by me and even more indirectly. I probably also put much more in hospital. If Twilight's a monster than so am I."

"That's completely different!" yelled Trixie.

"Not really. The ponies make up Equestria and we fight for Equestria. It doesn't matter which side they're on, ponies are ponies are ponies. They have feelings, emotions, loved ones, friends. Some have probably been forced into the war in order to make a living or maybe even drafted. My hooves are just as red as Twilight's."

"But she doesn't regret her actions!"

"And you know this how? Have you put her under a truth spell and made her tell you? Maybe some mind magic? No? Then shut up. Everypony killed is a sin. War is not a justification and should never be a justification. There should never be a justification to having to kill another pony. We have to be loyal to ourselves and the Equestria we came from – one where everypony was in harmony and sin was clearly defined. So tell me Trixie, how many ponies have you killed?"

At the silence that greeted her words, a sad sigh escaped. "Heh, just listen to me getting all philosophical. Gilda will never let me live this down if she hears of it. It's just something for you to think about. Sometimes we're the very thing we hate most."

Stopping at the door to the armory, Dash looked over her shoulder while her necklace glowed even brighter, humming with barely contained power. "It's obvious whatever happened between you and Twilight is eating away at you. Stop hiding and face it head on." A chuckled escaped. "Of course, doing that is exactly how I ended up with such badly burnt hooves so maybe my advice is not the best."

As the chromatic pegasus walked through the door, Trixie could only stare on in total silence. Everything she had been told about the pegasus revolved around smugness, arrogance and an inflated ego (though a certain little filly she had talked to disagreed on those being a negative quality) and yet there she was examining each piece of armor with a critical eye. Was she confident? Yes, of course she was, but there was something off about the mare. She was too calm, too collected, too... too regal. And then there was the matter of her necklace, it shone brighter than the rest, almost drowning out the others back in the conference room. There was something about that pegasus and Trixie didn't know what it was.

And she hated not knowing.

"Hey! You gonna stand there or you gonna come in and get some armor?" Shaking her head, Trixie trotted through the open door towards the insufferable pegasus. "Sorry about the poor quality stuff, but it seems all of the good pieces have already been taken."

There was that feeling again. A sense of comfort and belonging, almost as though she'd be safe as long as she was around this pegasus. Trixie hated this feeling. The only mare she had ever been comfortable around was her mother and to have a random, stuck up mare induce that same feeling in her now was like a stain. All the unicorn wanted to do was buck Rainbow into the nearest convenient wall or maybe give her a lecture and just exactly why she sucked. About how the Element of Loyalty vanished for days on end without a single word, essentially being disloyal to Dawn. But something stopped her. She wasn't sure what, but something did.

"Here, try this on."

Without a second thought, she slipped into the chainmail suit before frowning. Now why exactly had she gone and done that? The thing was dirty and rusted and was not fit for her at all. Trixie needed something like what Twilight wore – something that'd speak of her magnificence and importance.

"Not good?" Dash finally noticed the frown. "Perhaps something lighter then?"

"Um... too loose," replied Trixie quickly. Adjusting the straps, Trixie took a couple of steps before doing a series of movements to test out her full range of mobility. "That's perfect. Though next time Trixie demands something of a higher quality."

"Yeah, yeah, just be glad you actually got something, some ponies will be going into the battle without any armor at all," said Dash with a frown. "Actually take mine. The fit will be slightly off as the gryphon's specifically tailored it for me, but you'll need it more than me."

"What?"

"Heh, you think some lame-o ponies will be able to hit something as awesome as me? Please, I'm so awesome it radiates out and acts like some sort of super cool barrier that deflects all harm from me."

The blue unicorn stared down at the suit of armor in confusion. This didn't make sense, none of this made sense. Did she want to get killed? Surely it wasn't because she was actually concerned, but one look into her eyes said that was exactly the reason. A snort of irritation escaped.

"Trixie doesn't need your charity, she's survived perfectly well on the street by herself in the past."

"I don't doubt that, but you'll be fighting Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. And she doesn't play fair, loves teleporting and uses swords. If you want to take her down, you'll want all the help you can take."

With a snarl, Trixie grabbed the Rainbow's armor and put it on. It was a bit tight in places, but otherwise it fit snuggly. "Just for the record, Trixie could win without this, but better safe than sorry."

"I never doubted it."