Chapter 25: Insight

They had been wandering for days now, enduring the still harsh weather on the snowy mountains that surrounded the land. It paid off though, Fluttershy and Rost finally passed the last mountain yesterday, and entered Equestria through the northern route. The yellow mare was still unsure what they were... a couple, very good friends, lovers, Rost had been her first interest in, well… ever, but for the entirety of their hard climbs the brown stallion had always supported her, tried to make it a little easier for the pegasus.

She’d been sticking close to him, especially now since they finally passed all this nasty climbing. Walking through her forests and fields while slightly leaning against him was… nice, maybe even more than that, but she wasn’t sure. Luckily their weapons stayed with them, and not disappeared for some arbitrary reason, that meant their chances for survival were exponentially higher than if they had been unarmed. Both learned to use them quite effectively on their ‘journey’. In the constant grasp of her wing rested the blade grip, pulsing wildly, that meant they had to be close!

They were close to the edge of a relatively thick forest, it would take them a while to get through it. “Do you think we should wander around it?” Rost asked while looking into the dense foliage.

“Hm… but it definitely pulses faster while I point it into the forest, maybe the other pieces of this thing are hidden somewhere in there? I don’t even know why somepony would hide a sword, or split it into Celestia-knows how many parts. It just seems… off, but a new weapon could maybe help us against… the rebellion. Also, the twin demons dropped this, so it must be important somehow,” Fluttershy stated, it made her sad to think that they had to face Twilight somehow, but she needed to save them, no matter what. The yellow mare certainly didn’t forget about what happened back in Canterlot, hopefully Dash was still alive and well, as well as you could be after such an injury…

“I guess you’re ri—”

“Fluttershy?! ‘s that you?!” A voice interrupted him, it had a strong southern accent that she was definitely familiar with...

The yellow mare’s ears perked up, that voice…”Applejack?!” She looked towards the forest, spotting an orange blur before it tackled her to the ground. She ‘eeped’ before getting the world’s strongest hug, the mare swore that some bones cracked, but it was worth it. Fluttershy finally arrived, and more importantly, could see her friends again.

“Oh it’s really you! Ah can’t believe it! I’ve been worried sick about ya, girl!” The country mare exclaimed, helping her old friend back to her hooves. Now that she got a good look at her… these glowing things around her were definitely new… and so was the brown stallion behind her, wearing an iron helmet with horn on the side, something that looked like a hide garb, and another glowing thing, a sword this time. Just where did her shy friend end up after the disaster of Canterlot?

“I’m also glad to see you again. Where are the others? How is Rainbow doing, and what about Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked with a concerned tone. She didn’t hear anything from any of them for weeks.

Before AJ could answer anything, not that she had much information, the two pieces of the dark blue sword began to glow in an intense white light. They disappeared from the grasp of the ponies, and merged into an almost whole blade, only the ornament that should fit into the middle was missing. It fell towards the ground, between the two groups, sinking into the earth to the hilt. It still seemed ridiculously sharp for its age. Sharpshot was the first to speak up after this event, “You two had the second piece of the blade?! Wait… who exactly are you, and where were you?”

Applejack scratched her head, “Oh, right. Sharp, this is my long time friend, Fluttershy. Flutters, this is Sharpshot, somepony I met during my exile…”

“Exile?” Fluttershy asked with a slight gasp.

“Ehehe… it’s a long story, sugarcube.”

The yellow mare looked at the pony next to AJ, his face was partially obscured by a grey hood, and his grey garment seemed to cover most of his body in general. A curved, almost wavy blade rested on his back, “Well, this is Rost: I met him after I was transported to a land past the frozen north, we defeated a lot of demons, and helped the entire land, for that we kinda got this sword piece. And…” Her face suddenly gained a slight blush. “You could… um… you know… say that we are a couple now.”

The brown stallion blushed as well, but stayed silent. This land was a totally new experience for him, but it was nice to help his… marefriend. He never had something like that, never even really thought about it, but it felt right. Rost definitely had strong feelings for her, but it would take them a while to explore them, after this whole thing was over.

“Wait, demons?! Coltfriend?! Are ya really the shy, timid pegasus we lost in Canterlot?”

Fluttershy chuckled, “I guess not. I think everypony has a lot of stories to tell. What if we just stay here for a little while, discuss how we should move on, and what to do now.”

Everypony nodded and began to set up a small camp. There were some shocking details to be discussed in a few hours, but first all of them needed some rest after their difficult journeys.

The magical door opened in the middle of the busy streets of Manehattan, the arrival of these five ponies made many of the newly ‘recruited’ rebels gasp and bow. Silent Flare, former captain of Celestia’s army, and cruel mercenary, Silver Night, one of the last remaining thestrals, forming the top of the flying aces in this land together with the polychromatic mare right next to him. Pinkie Pie, cheerful, but surprisingly agile commander of their ‘little’ rebellion, and most importantly, immortal alicorn, and co-leader of this whole operation, Princes Luna.

“I still don’t get why we can’t force them with unnecessary cruelty… it would be way more fun that way,” Silent sated, trotting behind everypony, looking at the midnight-black sword sheath hanging on his waist.

Pinkie bounced over and ruffle his hair, earning a growl from the beige stallion, “Aw, don’t be such a Grumpy McGrumpypants! Twilight and Luna count on us, after all. This is really important for all of us too, so don’t be sad that you can’t… uh, exert your hobby.”

That was the most harmless description of ‘killing guards as a pastime activity’ the only pegasus-like pony of the group ever heard. He finally was ready to get into action, still incredibly grateful and honored to be rescued by such a divine being, “Indeed, stay in line, Silent. We need to be fast, and efficient. Twilight and her group depend on our distraction… and I think if our other leader grows too tired of waiting she’ll just kill everything in Stalliongrad that doesn’t immediately join our cause…”

Luna said nothing, but it was surprising how fast Silver had seen past that professional mask of her co-leader. Twilight was tainted by the Nightmare… more than she could realize just yet, it made her more and more violent. Rainbow Dash was a good example of that, the unicorn that she teamed up with wouldn’t have used that much power to corrupt a single pony before, the polychromatic pegasus reeked of chaos magic. Luna almost regretted teaching it to her, but that Nightmare would've taught her sooner, or later anyway. It wasn’t too late yet, after they had Celestia down at their hooves she would rip that evil thing out of her, so that they could proceed with their plan.

They stopped right in the middle of the townsquare, the blue alicorn was already approached by a higher ranking member of Capone’s mercenaries. He had a rather smooth, and deep voice, “Your highness, members of the leadership circle, all preparation have been completed. We almost finished the mass teleportation run to Baltimare and Fillydelphia, both located in the outskirts of said town. We just need your command, then we’ll split up in three groups as discussed with Lady Twilight.”

“Well done. Pinkie Pie, Silent Flare and I will join the troops travelling towards Baltimare. Rainbow Dash, Silver Night will use the troops effectively enough to turn the city more efficiently. We also have a higher chance of encountering a general in Baltimare, Mistral most likely, since she wouldn’t let her hometown fall so easily. We have to expect difficulties and resistance, Let’s not waste anymore time and start. For an Equestria without tyranny!”

“All of you, touch my tail, or back. We have to have contact, otherwise you’ll be left behind,” The still mysterious dragon said, pulling something out of his hoodie pocket, it looked like a small emblem, made entirely out of a shimmery crystal.

The three fillies looked at each other and shrugged. What was the worst that could happen to them now? They fled from Canterlot, even though the princess told them to stay inside and wait. It felt wrong somehow, but each of them had a pony to protect out there, and they needed to protect them at all costs. Especially Applebloom had a dark suspicion about her older sister, she would never give up, that much was obvious, but her sister also had a somewhat twisted sense of reality. Family and her friends were everything for her, right now she likely had nothing… would she be able to take it? If not only she herself could tell Applebloom about her whereabouts. Maybe the orange mare was hiding somewhere, not wanting to realize the situation, or following an insane plan to change the unchangeable…

Spike held the emblem into the air, letting it reflect the sunlight. He smiled faintly, and whispered, “Twilight… hear my call… I want to help you, forever.”

Hundreds of miles away the lavender mare suddenly grasped her chest. This feeling… could it be true? There was only one thing she enchanted to have this effect on her. Rarity immediately rushed over to her, “Are you alright, darling? Maybe you should—”

“I’m alright. However, I have to go for a while. Something very important came up. You have the lead on this mission until I teleport back to you two,” She came closer to Rarity, whispering into her ear. “Keep Morning Blaze in line, she has plans of her own. If anything should happen that would even remotely resemble betrayal, and/or threaten your life due to her actions, kill her.”

“Wait, darling, why do you—” Twilight was gone, sunken into the shadows below her. The fashionista had no idea what could possibly be more important than this mission, but she had full trust in her friend. She was also more than capable of keeping Blaze in line, and capture this strategic position.

Twilight arrived in Ponyville a second later, to the great surprise of some civilians that joined them in Manehattan a week ago. Most of them were still adjusting to this new situation, but were very willing to help out where they could. Some of them even bowed before her, even though the lavender mare usually didn’t like this much submission.

Right now all of this was unimportant. If it really was… him, than all of this was unimportant at the second. She summoned Yoru, the massive, razor sharp black blade that took the life of countless of her enemies. The lavender mare rammed it into the ground, letting her horn glow in a dark purple, her sword emitted waves of energy, she was using it as an anchor for a teleportation, highly advanced chaos magic, but a mere walk in the park for her.

Mhmm~ I can sense your emotional turmoil. What is it going to be? The mission, or your love for your ‘little brother’?

“Hngh… both, and now leave me be for a second, I need to concentrate!” Twilight answered her second ally that was possessing her body for a while now. No… possessing was not really the right word since she could still control her own actions, but the Nightmare was surely able to remove that factor as well. For now she just played bystander for as long as it was amusing and entertaining.

The shadows began to surround Spike and the three little fillies rather quickly, swallowing them into the ever growing abyss of the void,” Don’t be afraid, I think this is part of the procedure!” Spike wanted to calm them down a little, but he himself wasn’t too sure if this really was Twilight’s doing. After a purple flash all of them were one with the shadow, being guided by the darkness that would bring them to a new life…

The first thing that Spike perceived, was the slight panting of a very familiar unicorn. His eyes adjusted to the dim twilight once again, and there she was! Smooth, purple fur, slender physique, even more now, and those warm eyes that focused solely on him.

“Spike… I—” Before she could say anything he was wrapping his now bigger arms around her, embracing the mare in a warm, affectionate hug. He was slightly bigger than her now, and the hoodie was obscuring most of his face, but Twilight would notice his warmth out of a million others. Her little brother was back…

After what seemed like a blissful eternity the two separated, Twilight was actually… smiling, genuinely smiling and enjoying this moment. Gone was her plans of violence and blood, for now only her little brother, or… well, big brother now, was important, “You’ve… grown quite a bit since we met last. Spike… I am really, terribly sorry about it… and I hope you can forgive me, just this once.”

“Twilight,” Spike started, pulling the hood down so that she could actually see his beaming smile that showed his sharp fangs. “I would never stay mad at you. This whole war seems to be… a bit extreme, but Celestia has been acting really weird lately. maybe it had something to do with it. You can tell me later, I’m just glad that you really came for me.” Some rebels briefly looked at the three fillies and the teenage dragon that stood right next to Lady Twilight. She always had her reasons, and they weren’t stupid enough to doubt her without a solid... very, very solid reason.

“Your aura is different too… have you learned some kind of magic?” The lavender mare had seen the half scared and half curious fillies behind Spike, but the dragon was more important right now. She could imagine why they were scared though, her sword was still lodged into the ground next to her after all, merely touching it would probably cause a permanent scar at this point.

He beamed at her and jumped backwards, “Here I come!” Spike clenched his hands into fist and punched them against each other, that caused a runic ring to appear right before his head, about the same size as it too. It consisted of a smaller and a bigger ring, the space between them was filled with runes she had never seen before. The teenage dragon inhaled a huge amount of air, moving his head upwards to inhale even more, faint sparkling of flames could be seen shining through his purple scales.

Spike quickly moved his head downwards, directly aimed at Twilight and exhaled. A massive torrent of green flames rushed towards her, way bigger than even Morning Blaze produced when they fought last. Twilight calmly lifted her right hoof, a simpl black rune appearing slightly above it. The inferno got sucked into it before the whole thing disappeared, leaving molten cobblestone and a big scorch mark. She looked at him with a still friendly gaze, a small smoke trail coming out of his mouth while he panted slightly, “That’s really impressive! I’ve heard of it before… dragonslayer magic… what a contrast that a dragon is able to cast it. If you want we can train in a few days, I’m afraid I have to go soon though, for a while at least.”

“I think the spell was called… ‘Roar of the Fire Dragon’ if I… read it correctly. It’s the first time it was so big though,” He looked at the fillies behind them, wide eyed at the spell of his. He wasn’t used to spend his inner dragon magic, and these spells seemed to be the closest to his own. Only another real dragon could teach him more, but most of his reptilian brothers were… less civilized and friendly towards just about anyone. “I understand that you have a lot to do. These are the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ by the way, they wanted to search their sisters here… so I took them with me. We used Escape Route #3, it was the safest way during the general sweep search.”

She observed them for a while, this earth pony and the unicorn… they seemed oddly familiar… the pegasus didn’t ring any bells though, “I presume your sisters are Applejack and Rarity, right?”

“And my sister is Rainbow Dash! Well… almost,” Scootaloo exclaimed, covering her mouth immediately after that, she just couldn’t shut it while her idol was in discussion.

They jumped a little due to this mare talking directly to them. Applebloom spoke to her, “Y-yes, ma’am. We wanted to find them because of all the war thing goin’ on. We figured they’d be around here somewhere.”

“Well… Rarity is actually a…” She sighed, figuring that the alabaster mare should tell her sister herself about everything. This wasn’t her business, nor job, plus she had very little time until Blaze would try something. “She’s with me on a journey… and we’ll be gone for a while. Same for Rainbow Dash, she’s in another city and will most likely be back in a few days. Applejack though… honestly I have no idea where she is. I’m sorry, little one.”

Disappointment could be seen in the little earth pony’s’ eyes, losing their usual excited and happy sparkle. Why were Rainbow Dash and Rarity still here, but her sister wasn’t?! Applebloom had no idea what to do now, but… her big sister wouldn’t stay away from the farm forever! She sighed quietly, “Ah guess Ah’ll stay here too… she can’t be gone forvever, right?”

Twilight didn’t comment on that, she was curious about the farm pony's whereabouts herself, but that could wait until they properly figured this out, “Very well, you three can also stay here, preferably with him so that he can guide you a bit.. Spike, you can either sleep in the house right next to the town’s hall, because it’s also my temporary house, or the Golden Oaks Library. You are still my number one assistant, so everypony will treat you with the same amount of respect they have for me. Most of them are from Manehattan or smaller settlements, be careful around the last thestrals though, they have a bit of a short temper and stronger… urges than other ponies.”

“W-what do you mean with that?!” The dragon asked, she couldn’t mean… that, right?

She just chuckled and sunk into the shadowy mass they came from, “You’ll see~”

“Be careful…”

Twilight emerged from the shadowy mass, leaving the second world that laid over their own like a soothing blanket made out of nothing but pure darkness. Sometimes she wondered if other creatures could traverse the planes like this too, maybe even sentient ones that call this void their home. The lavender mare felt a sense of dread from talking about it, she definitely wouldn’t want to mess with that, void creatures didn’t sound like a pleasant enemy.

The first thing she saw in the snowy field, right next to the still calm Stalliongrad, was a deep blue, and partly red crystal, about twice as high as herself, and jagged with sharp ends. Rarity sat next to it, some bruises, cuts and burns could be seen littered over her normally so perfect, pristine and flawless coat. That could only mean what she had dreaded the entire time.

“Rarity! Are you alright?” She galloped over to her friend, feeling her energy flaring up as she touched the alabaster mare, healing her wounds and soothing her, just with her mere touch. The Nightmare was probably responsible for that, making everypony feel even more comfortable around her. They were allies for now… so that was alright… probably.

Her friend groaned a bit as the little bruises and cuts disappeared, sighing in relief as the pain vanished alongside them, “Yes, darling, now I am. I presume you saw this coming?” She arched her hoof towards the crystal.

“Yes… I’m sorry that I left anyway… it was really important… and I think it’s important for you too,” She replied, sitting down next to the seamstress.

“What do you mean? And it’s quite alright, I may not be the greatest unicorn there ever was, but during the time with you and the others I’ve learned a lot. We were talking about the mission, then she suddenly attacked me with a barrage of fire. Luckily I was able to deflect it with my crystals. After that we duelled, she got a few good hits, but I could immobilize her. She’s still alive in there, just unconscious, I wanted that you decide whether she lives or dies.”

“Fair enough, I would’ve understood if you thought otherwise, taking justice into your own hooves can be a good thing sometimes. I’m impressed by your magic, as always, it’s very versatile. Regarding your question, I don’t want to give you false hope, let’s survive this day in Stalliongrad, then you’ll see,” Twilight answered in an ominous tone, looking at the crystal in a calm, collected manner, “You can dissolve it now, I can handle it.”

The large, crystalline formation disappeared rather quickly, dropping a shivering, and anxious Morning Blaze who seemed to be frozen in time the moment Rarity’s spell it her, “Wha- What happened? Rarity, please just let me—”

Instead of the fashionista, she now had Twilight towering over her with a devilish grin. Her heart stopped for a second, the lavender mare was here… that means she had lost earlier… against Rarity. How disappointing…

“Rise and shine, you little traitor. Here I was... thinking that I could leave you alone for an hour, but no. Instead I find my dear friend, covered in bruises by the pony that swore her loyalty to me. Blaze… I don’t want to hurt you, but why do you keep trying to betray me?”

“B-Because your plan is straight up insane! Y-You can’t j-just wipe out an e-entire city, just because it’s a tactical advantage! Please Twilight, I know Celestia has done some bad… no, horrible things, but you’re not innocent either. If you have to kill her, fine, but at least leave the innocent people here alive!” Blaze stammered as she looked at the towering, lavender mare. It was like staring into a deep abyss, full of sorrow, confusion and hatred. She wasn’t the same pony anymore… not only all the crimes she had committed, but also something else, something much more vile seemed to affect her.

For a moment Twilight hesitated, seriously thinking about her words… that didn’t seem to please the Nightmare very much though. She pressed her to do the ‘right’ thing, all ponies that worked for the Sun Princess. The mare below her sounded more reasonable though… innocent ponies… just as those in the major cities that joined her. Blaze always had been a real friend… even back then while she was nothing but a weak filly. The lavender mare remembered that her old mentor had her reasons to follow Celestia… really good reasons.

She stepped aside, allowing Morning to stand up once more, looking at her former student with a concerned look. Was this the last straw? Would she die now trying to protect the innocent? Her heart skipped a beat as Twilight began to speak up quietly, “Fine…”

“W-what?” Blaze answered, slightly confused at her sudden shift in tone.

Twilight sighed, dissolving her massive blade that formed during their conversation, “I will give them a chance. Join our cause, or face my wrath. If anyone attempt to contact Celestia, immobilize them. I will do the same in Canterlot, once we have the upper hand and are able to siege the city. Only she has to die… and those who actively oppose me.”

Morning Blaze’s eyes widened, she really convinced her? She smiled a little, her student wasn’t completely gone! It hurt that she still wanted to eliminate the pony that she always viewed as flawless, unfailable and like a descended goddess, Twilight also had her reasons though. Celestia was part of the reason they were here now, “What made you change your mind?”

Twilight didn’t answer the question, instead she gazed into the distance, thinking about their time together while everything was easier, “I will need your help, and I won’t tolerate such behaviour a second time. You were right, maybe I need to rethink my plan, but that doesn’t mean I will abandon everything and get locked down in Canterlot’s dungeons.”

“Yes, of course. I swear to help you, if we let them live when they surrender and join you!”

Suddenly they heard some guards on the far wall talking nervously, the search lamps also seemed to turn around more frequently, trying to find any possible threat that could add to the current, already bad, situation, “Good, because I think that’s our cue.”

As soon as Pinkie, Silent and Luna came out of their teleport, they had to face a literal rain of arrow and cannon balls. Mistral was in the town square, already barking out orders to attack the rebels that came out sooner than the three of them. It seemed like Celestia’s troops had the upper hoof, but at this very moment a sigh of relief ran through their own troops, their leaders had finally arrived!

Silent ignited the air around his sword, turning it into a raging inferno that hurt to even look at. With a quick, horizontal slash towards the arrows the rush of flames turned all the smaller projectiles, and even some of the iron balls into ash. Luna sliced through them with her straight saber with an unbelievable precision and speed. Celestia may have had more power, but she had the blood of a warrior, fighting for her life until the very last breath. The strikes cut through the heavy projectiles like butter, leaving only frozen halves littered around the battlefield that was the once so peaceful harbor town Baltimare.

“You two help our people to spread the truth, and incapacitate or kill Celestia’s forces. Be careful not to scare the citizens once you have convinced them for our cause! Twilight and I want as few casualties as possible. I will deal with the general over there,” Luna said, leaving her subordinates to deal with the peasants around them. It wasn’t good to start thinking like that, but peasant or not, Mistral was a general nonetheless.

The two opponents immediately looked their cold gazes, standing about a hundred meters away from each other, the ground beneath both of them began to freeze while they slowly paced in a large circle, “I see you took your last stand to defend Baltimare, Mistral. You would have the perfect mindset to ally yourself with us, you know? Brutally efficient, cold hearted, but loyal. Celestia’s reign does not have a future, this city will be freed from her tyranny as well. Don’t you want to swim on top of all the resulting chaos? It doesn’t have to end in your death, because unlike you, I am immortal. Do you really want to take this fight?”

Everything around Mistral began to freeze at an exponential rate, almost freezing her own soldiers and rebels alike while they retreated from the town square. The general growled, determined to slay the goddess, right here, right now. so that Celestia didn’t have to see another one failing. Dawn, Law and herself were supposed to be the three pillars to support her reign, yet all they did so far was to fail. This Specter was rarely around, she didn’t trust him one bit, even if his reports always seemed successful. The light blue mare stopped, and so did the goddess, a mere fifty meters separating them, her coat fluttering in the soft, but cold breeze, justice would finally be brought down upon this corruption, “I have made my choice long ago, demon princess. Your relationship with Celestia doesn’t interest me, she is the pillar of hope and light for all of us, and we will die to defend it if necessary.”

A dozen frozen spears appeared above her, all aimed towards Luna. They seemed wickedly sharp for mere frozen, but nonetheless magical water. Her own saber also had frozen mist permanently surrounding it, this wouldn’t be her hardest battle, and this mare was not nearly strong enough to finish her off, “I see. Well then it has to end here, doesn’t it? I will send your regards to Celestia once we are done here.”

A sharp pain raced from her back into her entire body, followed by another one, and another one. Spear after spear had formed around them during their talk, all hailing down at the demi-goddess. One pierced directly through her heart, not even giving her time to scream before her body began to completely freeze. She added layer after layer until a thick block of ice remained with the criminal’s body inside. Mistral fell to her knees, panting heavily, this maneuver had costed her way too much, this fight wasn’t over, Silent Flare and Pinkamena D. Pie were still a major threat, “I’ll send your regards to Celestia as well, you criminal scum.”

She needed a moment, the light blue mare noticed that she was shaking, not just from exhaustion, but also fear, fighting against a god in all definitions… and she really won? As if on queue the ice block began to shake a bit, “No… please…”

Small cracks began forming until the whole thing exploded violently, sending her flying for a moment. She struggled to stay upright, her blurry visions seeing the form of Nightmare Moon, or Luna… who just casually pulled the spears out of her, smiling at the despaired General. Her wounds began to close as soon as the icy projectiles gave them enough space. Luna was bound to chaos, willingly or unwillingly, her precious night time fell out of the equation for a little bit longer, but chaos was at its peak, no doubt strengthening Discord as well. He and his shaky contract with Twilight Sparkle, but pure chaos wasn’t necessarily bad, it just… changed things, so they would see how this turns out.

“I can do that myself, foolish mortal. Do you think my sister and I survived for that long because of our daily routines? Alicorns are immortal, untouchable for peasants like you. It was solely for my amusement to give you a little chance. I could’ve conquered Equestria’s coast line myself, but it’s more fun with friends, is it not?”

She broke out in a maniacal laughter, looking at the unmoving Mistral. Her will to fight seemed to be broken already, not even having the slightest chance against a millennia old goddess, “Hmm… that doesn’t seem quite right.” The blue alicorn raised her right foreleg, her horn glowing in an intense blue light. An enormous pillar of dark blue ice shot out of the smooth cobblestone that covered the town square, piercing through Mistral’s stomach and lifting her into the air. The tip was soaked in blood as it protruded from her back. She was about two meters in the air, screaming due to the agonizing pain. The entire structure began to look red, slowly draining all of her blood. Her horn flickered as she struggled, trying to lift herself off with her magic and hooves, her concentration broke almost immediately, followed by another horrifying scream. The mare’s legs flailed around without any coordination, hardly able to use her pain filled mind anymore.

“Ah yes, that’s better,” Luna said, turning around. “I’ll get you down there when we’re done. If you survive until then, great, a new guest for our dungeons. I doubt that though,”

“Fer land’s sakes! Ah sure wish I could’ve help ya two with all that crazy stuff!” Applejack exclaimed after her yellow friend finished up their rather dramatic story of how they got back to Equestria. Compared to them, their own experiences almost seemed unworthy to even bring up. “And ya really travelled through time?!”

“Yes, it’s kind of hard to explain, and I don’t really know how it was possible to enchant a single item with a spell that powerful. Maybe it was there as a safety measure, to give those who protect the land a second chance. That’s just a guess though,” Fluttershy replied, looking up to Rost for a moment. The mare didn’t even notice that she was slightly leaning against him while they told their story. She couldn’t help but blush, it seemed like a dream within a nightmare, “S-sorry, I didn’t even—”

She was cut off by the brown stallion kissing her gently. He was blushing as well, and his eyes showed an incredible amount of affection and trust, “It’s alright, Fluttershy, I can’t even imagine a pony I’d rather lean against. Parts of the story were… quite shocking, to be honest. I had no idea I… died, but you saved me once more. Thank you, really, I can’t thank you enough.”

Tears of joy threatened to fall from the corner of her eyes, but she managed to hold back and just smiled. Fluttershy had told them everything, from her eating meat, to them slaying demons, and even that Rost died the first time because they underestimated their opponents. She wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, honestly. He was such a caring, sweet and still quite intelligent stallion, even if his diet was something they would have to work on, since meat was kind of hard to obtain, especially in these hard times.

“Ahem,” Applejack cleared her throat, causing the dreamy eyed Fluttershy to ‘eep’ and snap back into reality. “Ah’m really happy for you two, but what are we gonna do now?” She looked at the blue hued blade resting in the middle of the small circle. Even an earth pony like herself could feel the energy radiating from it.

“We should find this Coast of Despair, it’s the only lead we have so far, and our time is running out,” Fluttershy replied, thinking about the whole situation. It wouldn’t be easy to get even close to their targets which were Nightmare Moon, or Luna and… Twilight Sparkle. “Hopefully we can get a clue on that strange island, if we can even reach it. We don’t even know what to do with the whole thing when we have it, I doubt that any of us are able to match Twilight or Nightmare Moon in a duel.”

“We should focus on getting the last piece first,” Sharpshot said, also looking at the blade. “I’m sure there will be some sort of ritual to banish the Nightmare. Our biggest problem is locating the island, and breaching the force field surrounding it. We’d need a powerful mage that could either teleport us in, or find a way to break the spell for a short amount of time. The Coast of Despair is most likely somewhere around… well, either Baltimare or Fillydelphia. Those two cities have been famous for their coasts for centuries, so Rao most likely refers to them. I’m not sure if there is some kind of hidden temple that protects the pedestal, but I’m sure the sword will guide as again. It seemed to resonate with this kind of magic, so there is a chance at least.”

“I guess that is the best we have so far, and Fluttershy was right, our time runs out,” Rost spoke up. This whole situation was new for him, and he really enjoyed this land and its variety of plants and wildlife, so he wanted to protect it too. Even if there weren’t that many animals and plants, Fluttershy was reason enough to do it.

“It is settled then. We will travel towards the east coast and locate this pedestal,” Sharpshot stated, making their little ‘team’ an official thing to save the land once and for all.

“So it was all a lie?!” Rainbow heard while flying over Fillydelphia. Her own volunteers and Silver were spreading the truth all over the town. Most of the time they reacted with aggression and denial, but as soon as they got into the details it become more and more… logical. Many citizens were completely destroyed as they heard it, they thought of Celestia as a god, only in truth? She was probably more of a tyrant than Discord was, a dangerously smart, and not cocky one.

She always had been at least five turns ahead, but now her advantage seemed to dwindle more and more, cities were even joining them without all of them marching in. Ponies were against violence, but for the greater good? What were a few still loyal guards or a General? It was almost trivial, in those thousand years Luna spent on the moon, how come nopony had ever thought about this? Tell them the truth, don’t slaughter them, and you have the perfect foundation for a revolution.

Rainbow herself had never expected to join them in the first place, but Twilight could be really convincing. This warm, fuzzy feeling inside of her was always there, her corruptive magic changed her entire being, but she didn’t really care. All her friends were alive and well… and the other two… were probably not so unfortunate, but they simply made a very bad decision. At least Twilight gave them a choice from the start, and they could’ve joined later like she did as well. Now their plan was too far to be stopped anyway, half of Equestria had already turned against the Sun Tyrant. They were not even fighting, just going from village to village, telling the truth about Celestia. Some of the most talented armorers and blacksmiths from even the borders of Equestria came to them, offering aid for their troops. What more could they want? Nopony really knew what Twilight or Luna had planned, but they didn’t need to know, as long as it was securing true peace in the land.

She landed near the dock area which was ridiculously large, just as in any other town on the coast. Apparently ponies around here really liked to eat fish. The cyan mare herself didn’t try it yet, it was technically meat… somehow at least, so it was always a bit… uncanny. On the other hoof fish weren’t sentient like cows, so maybe that was the difference she was missing. That wasn’t what she was here for though, she waited for Silver Night, they needed to keep a good communication, plus the mare really liked him. Strong, smart, loyal and a kick-ass fighter, pretty decent company as far as she was concerned.

Right at that moment the brown bat pony landed next to her, already having a smirk on his face, “How sweet, you waited for our date.”

Her face instantly lit up, cheeks coloured in a bright shade of red, “W-What?! S-Shut up, you idiot! This is a briefing to discuss our progress, and I WASN’T ALREADY WAITING!”

He chuckled a little at her outburst. The mare was an extrovert through and through, but he quickly picked up on her… lack of experience in this area of social interaction. She probably never really cared about that in any way, “I was just teasing, featherbrain. Let’s discuss ‘business’, shall we?”

“Idiot… Alright,” The polychromatic pegasus sighed. “The northwest to the southeast are secured, ponies from the richer districts didn’t seem to have a problem with accepting a new ruler for ‘as long as she didn’t introduce higher taxes’. Ponies like that really make me sick, but it was pretty effective for the most part.”

“The ‘average’ citizen was not as happy about it. They all seemed confused at first, then angry, and then sad that their beloved and worshipped princess would do such horrible things. It was like a wave though, as soon as a few started to accept it, most of them followed soon after. I expected us to be here for at least a couple of days, but it seems like we will be done by tomorrow afternoon,” Silver replied, looking at the few ponies around. They seemed somewhat depressed and angry, but not entirely smashed about it. Harmony was such a vague concept after all, who could really define true harmony?

Rainbow nodded, walking a bit with him to take a small break. The pegasus wondered how Twilight was doing, the news about their ‘attack’ should have reached Stalliongrad for now, so maybe she was already at it. She didn’t really worry though, she had Rarity, who became really strong, and Morning Blaze, although she didn’t completely trust her.”

“Be careful Twilight, we all need you around…”