Spitfire activated her very own bracelet and shivered at the feeling of the magic crawling over her skin. It was the second time she had used it, and just like before, she could feel the beginnings of a headache forming. Nopony knew why she reacted in such a way, even Twilight's journal failed to shed any light on the issue. Nonetheless, it was just the beginnings of one so it didn't interfere with her ability to lead, and it was a minor price to pay for not getting killed.

"Soarin, no flying you got that? You need to rest that wing of yours. And follow General Fluttershy's orders." Spitfire looked back at her longtime friend. "If I hear you haven't, I'll sick the Cutie Mark Crusaders on you."

Soarin nodded so vigorously Spitfire half expected his head to fly off. "Got it Spitz. Just come back in one piece."

"Please, she'd got me looking after her." Rapidfire threw his trademark cocky grin. "As if I'd let such a heavenly creature come to any harm."

Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, just keep your mind on the job and don't go chasing after any fillies you hear?"

"You're just jealous I don't chase after you."

"Oh Celestia kill me now. If you ever, and I mean ever, chase after me, I'll buck you so hard it'll make General Applejack jealous."

"Oh sweetie, don't be like that. You kno-"

"Enough!" Spitfire was rubbing her temples. "I swear, I was drunk when I agreed to be captain. We're leaving now. Fleetfoot, do you have the map and list of equipment we need to get?"

"Yes Captain."

"Alright.Wonderbolts, move out." Before Spitfire walked out the entrance, she said over her shoulder at Soarin "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me 'Spitz'?"

"Not often enough!"

Groaning, Spitfire made a shooing motion with her hooves. "Go away Soarin, I've got a mission to complete. Go teach Rainbow Dash or something."

"Sure thing Spitz." There was a pause before he added, "I mean, Captain Spitz."

Chuckling to herself, Spitfire pushed herself through the cloud covering the door and stepped out into the moonlight. Nodding to the rest of her group, they jumped off from the ledge and began their walk into the forest. Moving east through the dense forest, they travelled non-stop until they reached Ghastly Gorge, at which time, the moon was high in the sky above them. With the yellow-maned pegasus in the lead, they leapt off the ledge as one. Wings spread, they easily caught the wind and with a barest twitch of the wings, they gently banked to the left and rose up into the sky.

With the Everfree Forest sprawled beneath them and Cloudsdale before them in the distance, Spitfire couldn't help, but smile at the scenery. It was truly something magnificent. Closing her eyes, she raised her right hoof, making a series of gestures as she focused on the innate pegasus magic within her. It took training and dedication to access it on command, and outside of the Wonderbolts, few knew it could be accessed at will in such a manner. It wasn't a secret per say, just something that wasn't common knowledge.

Raising her left hoof, she counted to three before dropping it. At the same time, she channeled the innate magic to her wings and as one unit, the three Wonderbolts shot through the sky. It was a careful balancing act – enough magic to travel at impossible speeds, but not so fast that they'd smash up against the sound barrier and get flung back. As hard as they tried, breaking that barrier had so far proved impossible.

The forest soon gave way to rolling hills, and soon that too melted away into an open grass plane dotted with the occasional plantation. Raising her hoof once more, the group started bleeding off speed until they were gliding along at a leisurely pace. It would still be an hour or so before they reached Cloudsdale, but there was no point in announcing their arrival.

The group flew in silence, each contemplating what had happened and what it meant. But more than that, they went through the plan in their head, turning it over again and again in their minds.

"This is it, fillies and clots," announced Spitfire once they were ten minutes away. "We’ve got a job to do and we all know our parts. No chasing fillies-"

"Hey!"

"And looking for food..." Spitfire frowned at the lack of complaint before realizing Soarin was back at base. "Keep your eyes open and ears sharp. Remember your cover story and let's go. May Celestia guide us."

Descending through the clouds above Cloudsdale, Spitfire landed with a deliberate stumble to make her seem like a worse flier than she actually was. Glancing over her shoulder she asked, "Anypony know a good place to stay? Somewhere cheap, but decent?"

"The Feather Hotel is always good," suggested Rapidfire. "Dirt cheap, but the rooms are super clean."

"Food's disgusting though," added Fleetfoot.

"Saving money is more important right now anyways," chuckled their captain. "Now come on, we've got stuff to do, places to be, things to see!"

"She's absolutely crazy," whispered Rapidfire as they walked down the empty street. "Grade A crazy. I thought I was meant to be the crazy one."

"Nah, you're just the one everypony likes to smack," said Spitfire over her shoulder. "Now hurry it up you two, we're wasting precious moonlight."

"Oh darling, I didn't know you were into span-" A slap to the back of the head from Fleetfoot shut him up before he could say anything else. "Ow. Geez. I swear you'll end up giving me brain damage one of these days."

"The sooner the better."

"This is the last time I'm agreeing to travelling with two females by myself," he huffed.

"But I thought you'd enjoy having two fillies all to yourself." Spitfire barely contained the laughter as she said those words, but at Rapidfire's fish impersonation, both females burst out laughing and both clutched their sides. Spitfire had that infectious laughter while Fleetfoot's was softer, more subdued.

Grumbling, the lithe male strolled past the two in the most dignified manner he could muster. "Come on you two, I thought you said we were wasting moonlight." But that pronouncement only made them laugh harder than ever and soon even he joined in.

Giggling behind hooves, the three friends continued their way down the street, easily navigating their way through back alley short cuts and through a bar or three to throw off any potential ponies following them. All the while they chatted and joked, trying to seem as normal as possible despite the tense atmosphere around them. Every couple of steps, Spitfire would look back at her saddle packs just to make sure they were still there.

"We're here," whispered Fleetfoot.

Spitfire's eyes flickered up to the large warehouse. "Everypony knows what they're doing?"

Rapidfire grinned. "Leave it to me ladies." Removing the lock picks from Spitfire's packs, Rapidfire sauntered up to the door. How he managed to use them was a mystery, apparently it was all in the tongue – yeah right – however he did it though, there was no denying his skills. With a deft twist of his head, the lock popped open and the door was slowly pushed open.

Stepping inside, the door was quickly shut, leaving them in complete darkness with next to no light. Craning her neck back, Spitfire opened a flap on her packs and green light flooded the room giving the entire room a Nightmare Night vibe. With the map memorized, Fleetfoot took the lead as they began their journey through the maze of shelves and boxes. Though they walked silently and would have heard the tiniest sound, the entire group was still tense. After all, they were wanted criminals and they were breaking and entering.

"Alright, here it is." Flying up to the top, Fleetfoot opened up the crate and smiled. "Toss up a vial."

"Are you insane?" hissed Spitfire as she floated up as well. "I am not tossing these anywhere. Now be careful you hear? We've only got five vials."

"Yeah, yeah." Gently lifting a vial of dragon fire from the bag, she smashed it against the side of the crate and watched as it went up in flames. "I hope Spike is alright coughing that up."

"Over here!" The two fillies glided over to Rapidfire who stood on the next row over. "Pass two vials." Once more the green flames consumed the crates

"Okay, all we need n-"

"I'm telling you I saw something!"

The flaps were closed and the three pegasi split up, each hiding in a different shadow.

"You say that every night. I swear, you need to lay off those ghost stories."

"But it's true. It's all true. I even checked the records and everything. This place is haunted."

Haunted? A grin spread across Spitfire's muzzle as she reached back undoing the flap then quickly closing it allowing the green light to peak out for just a second.

"See?" the guard squealed. "Did you see that? Haunted I tell you, haunted!"

"We better check this out."

Another flash of green, longer this time, and with movement.

"Are you insane? Answer me this, what in the word gives off green light? Ghosts! That's what!"

"Unicorns."

"Unicorns up here? This is Cloudsdale, we are floating in the middle of the Celestia damned sky! How in Equestria would a unicorn get up here?"

"..."

"Exactly! I'm telling you it's a ghost. You can go in if you want, but I'm staying out here."

"Alright, alright. Come on, let's continue our rounds. We must be seeing things since it's so late. Plus, it's not as if there's anything important in there."

Once the hoofsteps faded, the Wonderbolts let out a sigh of relief. Within seconds they had found the final two crates and both had been sent back to Spike. Retracing their footsteps, they made it out and relocked the door. Only to be met with the face of the two guards.

"Well, well, what have we here?" smirked the blue one.

"Seems like a group of thieves." The green one leered at them. "You have two choices, come with us or get hur-"

Spitfire dashed forward, punching him in the face before shifting her weight back and spinning around with a swift kick to the blue one's face. Both fell down with a plop onto the soft cloud as she brushed imaginary dust off her coat. "I hate these hired guards. Always thinking they're so tough."

"Either that or you’re just that good."

"I don't know, I think she looks hotter when she fights." Both fillies stared at Rapidfire. "Oh crap, I said that out loud didn't I?"

"Fleetfoot?"

"My pleasure."

"Come now, it was just a joke. You know, 'Hahaha' and stuff. Er..." He kept backing up, glancing around nervously as Fleetfoot approached with a murderous glint in her eyes. With a small meep, he suddenly dived off the edge of the cloud and sped away with Fleetfoot hot on his heels.

Chuckling softly, Spitfire followed them at a more leisurely pace, making sure to glance behind her every so often to make sure they weren't being followed. "Well now, that went surprisingly smoothly."

The poor colt stood in the middle of the room on shaking legs, speaking in a quivering voice, a couple octaves above what most would consider masculine. Not that any of the previous speakers had done any better, and it was unlikely any of the speakers coming up would do much better either. A part of me was disgusted at the way they all acted. How they trembled and groveled before Nightmare Moon as though she was going to smite them on the spot for speaking or something.

"So what do you think my pet?" Her voice was smooth and velvety, with the barest hint of mirth behind them. "We would like your opinion on the matter."

My gaze flickered over for a split second before looking down at the yellow earth pony before me. "Braeburn was it? I believe it would be sheer folly to make a decision regarding land ownership based solely on the evidence provided by only one party. For all I know, you could have fabricated the entire tale or fudged tiny details here and there to make your group seem like you're in the right."

"What if you had to make a decision right this instant?" prodded Nightmare Moon.

"Since the buffalos are fighting so hard over this, I would say the land is important to them, either culturally or spiritually, so my suggestion would be the either split the land in half or some sort of other division that would allow the buffalos to use the land." This time I stared at her dead in the eyes, daring the new self-crowned queen to challenge me.

"We agree with our pet's-" I winced at that title. "-advice. You have two choices, either return to Appleloosa with this solution or bring a representative of the buffalos to Canterlot and we will review your case."

"T-T-Thank you your majesty."Braeburn bowed low and shuffled out of the room.

I let my gaze wander across the throne room at the multitude of ponies present, and the look in their eyes made my heart hurt. Everywhere my gaze went I saw either fear or hate, more often than not it was a mixture of both. But that wasn't what hurt. What hurt was that it was directed at Nightmare Moon just as often as it was directed at me. I heard their whispers as I walked the halls during the day.

"Traitor."

"Filth."

"Slut."

"Whore."

Everywhere I went, their voices would follow. They hated me with every fiber of their being. As far as they were concerned I, betrayed them, Equestria, and Princess Celestia. The only thing that stopped me from being killed was Nightwish who guarded me every time I stepped outside my bedroom door. The worst part was that those who hated me the most were the same ones who knew me from my time as a filly living within the castle walls.

But I was doing all this for Equestria. For them.

It hurt, oh it hurt so much. Every glare was like another hour of torture from Nightmare Moon, and part of me – a small part of me – wanted to just break down and cry. But I couldn't and I wouldn't. I had to be strong.

For Celestia...

"-ay a fine of two hundred bits in addition to another fifty bits each." At the two pegasus' gasp, Nightmare Moon added, "We have appropriate channels set up in the justice system to deal with issues such as these. This court is not meant for solving minor squabbles such as this and you have wasted both our time and the time of the others. Leave."

The two gulped and practically ran out the room. Before the guards to announce the next petition, Nightmare Moon spoke up, "We are sorry, but we will be retiring for the night. We have important matters to deal with in private."

At the knowing looks the audience gave one another, I flushed bright red and glanced away. When I peeked up again, the number of said looks only increased, as did the number of blushes. That caused me to blush even more, causing them to think that thought even more, causing me to become even more embarrassed, and so and so forth in a constant cycle. A vicious cycle.

Standing up from my spot on the ground, I followed Nightmare Moon out the door, ignoring the glares I got from the guards and ponies as I walked past. I was afraid, far more terrified than that night facing Nightmare Moon by myself before my friends arrived. More terrified than when Celestia told me I had an impromptu exam. More terrified than when my out of control magic decimated half the eastern tower. These ponies were Equestria and were no doubt a reflection of public opinion. Without Nightwish and Nightmare Moon, I'd be dead right now. Torn limb from limb in a mad frenzy of bloodlust.

Even with my eyes open, I could see them descending on me with that crazed glint in their eyes. I could feel their teeth sinking into my thigh, my shoulder, my stomach, my neck. I could also hear the sound of ripping flesh as they tore and see the way my hoof dangled, held on by a thin thread of muscle fiber.

"Lady Twilight?" I looked up into the pair of heterochromic eyes that belonged to Nightwish. "You alright?"

A quick shake of my head cleared up the vision I was having. "I'm perfectly fine. Just a bit tired." Stepping through the door he held open for me, I smiled politely. "Thank you."

"You're always tired," he muttered under his breath before stating in a louder voice, "So where to?"

"My room, unless Nightmare Moon has some other meeting she needs me to go to." When Nightmare Moon didn't bother responding, I simply shrugged. "To my room then."

"Very well, shall I grab something from the kitchen along the way? It is almost dinner after all."

"It if wouldn't be too much trouble, could you grab a hay sandwich and bring it up to my room? I'm rather busy with research so..."

"You sure? Travelling alone in these corridors by yourself isn't safe you know."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the servants whispering and glaring at me, desperately trying to avoid my gaze when I turned my head towards them. "I'll be fine. There are guards around after all."

He hesitated, but when I matched his stare with one of my own he nodded. "Very well, but please go immediately to your room and lock the door. Nightmare Moon hasn't finished vetting all the guards yet and there is no doubt some of them aren't charitable towards you or the Queen."

"I'll be fine." With a shove, Nightwish began walking down the corridor, tossing the occasional glance back at me to make sure I was fine. I swear he's worse than a mother.

Shaking my head, I made my slow way down the corridor remembering days of happiness and love long since lost. Snuggling close to mom, reading a book with dad, star gazing late at night... they were all lost now. Hopefully with a bit of luck and lots of planning, I could eventually get them back. Hopefully.

"My, my, if it isn't the bitch."

I snapped back to reality and saw three earth ponies standing in front of me. The one who spoke – and probably the leader of the trio – had a green coat and knives for his cutie mark while his two companions had cooking utensils for their cutie mark and both had red coats.

" 'Soups?" A frown creased my brow. "It's been a long time."

"Ah, so Miss High and Mighty remembers me," the green colt chuckled before gesturing to the red one on the right. "Don't remember Butterscotch I take it?"

"And I'm Pumpkin," bowed the last one. "We're terribly sorry to do this, but... well..."

"Do what?" I licked my dry lips as my eyes darted between the three of them.

"Now, now pet, there's no need to act so confused." A snarl escaped my lips at what 'Soups called me, but he merely grinned, and at the sound of footsteps coming from behind, I saw a unicorn and pegasus approach.

Trapped.

For a moment, the image of school and younger bullies were superimposed onto the scene, but a quick shake of my head cleared that away. These weren't bullies. These were ponies out for blood. I gathered my magic within me and growled in annoyance – I had enough magic to shove them, but nothing more than that. Still, it was better than nothing. My muscles tensed, my heart rate increased and though I couldn't see it, I knew my pupils had dilated.

Fight or flight.

Fight.

Lunging forward I rammed 'Soups with my shoulder while shoving the unicorn with my magic. Butterscotch drew back for punch, but in that split second I had already ducked down, and gave her a solid left hook. Once more, my horn flared up, shoving the unicorn from another direction. Pivoting on my right hoof, I had enough time to see a hoof flying towards my face.

Block, counter.

Pumpkin stumbled back, but before I could press my advantage, a pair of hooves slammed into my side. A sickening crack echoed through the hall. Tumbling along the ground, I eventually came to a stop when I hit the wall. Without a thought I struggled onto my hooves – well, there goes some ribs. A month ago I'd still be on the ground, blinded by pain, but now it barely registered.

"That the best you can do?" Chains immediately snaked around my wrists and suspended me in midair. The group surrounded me. "Better. But still an F grade if you as-"

The first blow was aimed at my stomach. Then a second and third, but the fourth smashed into my muzzle like a ton of bricks. Blood filled my mouth. Again and again the blows came and pain flared with each hit, but I didn't cry out once, nor did my grin drop. Another ghastly crack as my femur snapped. A blow to the back of my head – hard enough to give me a concussion?Unlikely. Electricity shot through my body, causing my muscles to spam uncontrollably. The scent of burnt fur filled the air. Out of the corner of my eye non-swollen eye I saw a guard walk past.

This was nothing.

The group stepped back, panting heavily, sweat dripping from their brow as they stared at me and then each other. At least Pumpkin had the decency to look disgusted at what he had done. The way he looked down at his bloodied hooves in silent shock, unable to look at any pony in the eye. The unicorn let go of me and I dropped onto the ground. Instead of collapsing in a heap though, I stood there proud and strong on all four hooves.

"Is that it? Please, that barely tickled." They stared at me in shock, which only caused my grin to broaden. Taking a step forward, I prepared to punch 'Soups with all my might, but a voice stopped me.

"What's going on here?"

What would Fluttershy do in this situation?

"Oh Nightwish, I was wondering how much longer it'd take you." The fear in their eyes warmed my heart. "These kind ponies just managed to chase off a trio who were attacking me. No doubt I would be dead right now if not for their timely intervention."

At their confused looks and surprised blinks, I gave them the warmest smile I could muster. Kindness... She'd act with kindness. She'd smile and tell us not to hurt the poor deluded ponies and ask us to forgive them.

"I forgive you," I whispered as I turned around and began limping over to my personal guard before speaking in a louder voice, "And perhaps... perhaps you should throw them a party..."

"A party?"

The insane look he gave me made me chuckle. "Yes. A party. Parties are the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Well technically it'd be laughter, you have to be accurate with these things."

The look my pegasus guard gave me was one of complete confusion. "You are so random. At any rate, we need to get you to a doctor."

I rolled my eyes. "I do not need a doctor."

"You've got a couple broken bones, and broken ribs, which means you shouldn't be moving at all."

Facehoofing, I let my magic run over my body, closing off wounds and soothing bruises, before letting it wrap around my broken bones and shifting them into position before using a magical cast to hold them in place. "There. Done. Happy?" Though I hated to admit it, I was feeling faint from the amount of magic I had used.

"You- But- I... How?"

"Bullies are nothing new to me," I remarked casually. "And when you're Princess Celestia's protégé, you quickly learn how to heal yourself so she doesn't send the offenders to the moon."

"But most ponies-"

"I'm not most ponies."

"Obviously not." He sighed under his breath. "And next time you do that, warn me. You were standing still for almost three hours."

"Three hours?" I knew it'd take a long time, but I didn't expect it to take that long. "And you didn't do anything during that time?"

"I could see the wounds closing up so I figured you were healing yourself. I've never seen any pony do that before though." Pushing open the library doors, he added under his breath, "Most don't live in the library either."

"Their loss." Without looking up from the floor, I grabbed three books and began making my way up the stairs. "I think I'll do some light reading tonight." My stomach growled. "I don't suppose you grabbed that hay sandwich?"

"Yep. I've got it right here."

"Alright." Unlocking the door with my magic, I stepped through and gestured to my right while I made my way to my desk. "Just put it down on the table. I'll get around to it later."

"Can I ask you a question?"

I flipped open the book and began reading the contents page. "Uh-huh."

"So I was wondering-"

"Uh-huh."

"-why you let-"

"Uh-huh."

"-those ponies off when it-"

"Uh-huh."

"-was obvious they were the ones responsible?"

"Uh-huh."

"... You haven't been listening have you?"

"Nope." I turned the page and kept reading, before blinking and looking up. "Wait, what?"

Nightwish facehoofed and sighed. "Why did you let the ponies go?"

"Oh that? Kindness." I went back to my book.

"Kindness."

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Six fold path." Rereading the last sentence, I floated my Encyclopedia of Technical Magical Terms over and began flipping through it.

"That old Equestrian belief?"

I merely shrugged at his outburst and went back to the book I was reading. "You've asked your question and I've answered it. Please leave, I've got a lot of research to do before sleeping." The sandwich floated over and I bit into it, but didn't really taste it.

The door clicked shut and I relaxed, slumping into the desk as I rested my head on the open book. I was numb. My soul was so very, very numb. Words and looks of ill intent were one thing, but actual physical violence was a whole another level. Some part of me, a tiny whisper in my mind, had always told me that those looks were my imagination – a psychological scar from the torture. Now that whisper had been cleaved in two, leaving only the dark talks to echo through my mind.

And then there was Nightwish.

Three possibilities existed before me. The first was that it was all an act in an attempt to get me to trust him so that I would tell him any secrets or thoughts I had, giving Nightmare Moon a direct channel to me. The second was that it wasn't an act and that Nightmare Moon specifically picked Nightwish so that he would become my friend, so that she could then use him as leverage when dealing with me. Finally, he was just that nice and there was no ulterior motive.

Considering I'm an important pony, that knocks out the third option, as Nightwish would have to be someone who'd stay loyal to Nightmare Moon no matter what. Unless of course she knew I'd figure out her game, therefore deliberately gave me someone nice so that when I acted harsh I'd alienate myself from the staff more... As if that was possible. But I also don't want to alienate him, after all he's meant to be keeping me safe.

Then again, that wasn't particular difficult for good old antisocial me. Just keep my nose buried in a book and ignore everything else. I've had plenty of practice over the years and it's not as though I'm not used to it, so why does that thought make me sad?

Shrugging, I went back to my reading, pulling out a textbook on the effects celestial bodies had on magic. Worrying over such things wouldn't solve anything, emotions are irrational to begin with and if I let myself be consumed in them, I'd be curled up in a ball crying my eyes out which was neither productive nor helpful. I needed to figure out a way of subduing Nightmare Moon long enough for the Elements of Harmony to work without her dodging out of the way like last time.

"And so far this book is useless!" I yelled, slamming it against the opposite wall in frustration. Taking a deep calming breath, I floated the book back and caressed the spine. "I'm sorry... I'm so very, very sorry..."

Just don't cry.

Never cry.