Darkness.

Black abyss was all that could describe wherever it was the lavender mare found herself. Only silence surrounded her as she hung suspended in the nothingness, but she could not say that she was lonely. After all, she had a companion keeping her thoughts occupied over the endless expanse of time she had spent and knew she would spend here.

Pain.

Pain, unending and sickening. It was all she knew, all she could and would feel, as she hovered in the depths of whatever hell she had fallen into. Her stomach felt as if it had been torn open and her insides seemed like they were being continually gnawed on by some invisible gremlin bent on furthering her suffering for as long as possible without pushing her body over whatever threshold would allow her the sweet relief of death. She thought she had known agony with the wyvern venom endlessly burning through her veins, the blade she had taken, and the recent brand upon her flank, but this new sensation was different; it was worse in a way that she had no ability to describe.

Thus, it was in equal parts surprise and relief that she welcomed another companion in the dark, something other than the endless agony, even if that something was merely a disembodied voice. She couldn't yet make sense out of the voice's words, they were garbled and stuttering, but it was soothing to finally have something to partially distract her from her torment and there was something oddly familiar about it as well.

The voice wouldn't serve to remove the terrible pain, but it did help her ease into unconsciousness, or whatever could be considered unconsciousness in a state where there was nothing but yourself, and dream of a grieving black alicorn.

"Ruin...."

"Pardon, My Queen?" Fancy Pants looked up from the maps strewn across the castle war room's round table, lifting his reading glasses to better see the black mare in the dim light.

"Lord Jahurl. Your sister, Lady Borea asked me what I thought of the state of my kingdom and I did not have an answer...." Nightmare Moon dipped her head, touched her horn to the mirror hung upon the wall, and frowned when an image of the castle's exterior spread across the narrow furnishing. "My subjects lay dead in the field of battle, some of them freshly fallen and some left from the weeks of the siege, many of them cut down by enemy blades and even more crushed under my unrelenting hoof." Another tap against the mirror and the grisly scene was replaced by the mare's exhausted reflection. "My palace is half demolished, I am nearing the breaking point of my physical fortitude, my love is dying, and I am constantly haunted by....

"Sometimes I wonder if I should free my sister, show her what I have wrought, and beg her to crush my enemies beside me...." The alicorn grit her teeth, glared into the dark-ringed turquoise of her reflected doppelganger, then smashed the mirror into a shower of glass. "But I know she would not stand against her own ponies, nor would she raise her blade against the griffon threat again. She has grown soft, believes that love would resolve any conflict. But what has love brought to this war other than pain? My kingdom, my life, is nothing but ruins wrought by my own hoof.

"Go tell your sister what I have said. Tell her what I think of our situation, and prepare your soldiers for the march north. It is time I spread the ruin of my country to those that wish to wreak more havoc upon my own failings."

Without a word, the usually jovial minotaur stood from his place at the table, his features expressionless, and stepped out as ordered. Only the queen and the chancellor remained in the chamber. Fancy replaced his glasses to return to the maps and plot out the recent scouting reports, but a presence over his shoulder pulled him away before he could even begin.

"Chancellor, would you listen to my request?"

The stallion set his glasses on the table and looked up into his monarch's eyes, stared into the wavering turquoise orbs, and smiled as softly as he could. "I live to serve, your majesty. What do you need?"

"I need you to take one of the airships, one built for speed, and take it to the Draken Range. It is clear that Griffonia already knows of our plan to gain the dragons' aid, so stealth is no longer a concern." Nightmare paused, carefully considering her next words. "I... want you to bring Twilight back. I do not care if you have to kill to do it, but I want her returned here so I may take care of her and... fulfill her wish to visit Celestia."

The unicorn's eyes widened, having just barely caught the monarch's whisper. "Princess Celestia is...?" He frowned, a myriad thoughts and questions rushing to be put to words like a rabbit eager to escape its lupine predators, but the menacing glare boring into his soul urged otherwise.

"You have served me well, Chancellor, but there are things that would be regretted once asked. Your princess lives, but that is all that shall be known." She turned away from the chancellor, and lifted the broken pieces of the mirror to their origin. "Bring Twilight back to me, no matter the cost."

"I.... I would, Your Majesty, but our remaining airships are already deployed across the country delivering supplies to our hospitals, soldiers, and border stations. With their current directives, none of our ships will return here for several months...." Fancy prepared for a burst of anger, but, instead of the cry of rage he had expected from the obsidian mare, he saw nothing but her imposing form deflating into a slump.

"I... see.... How is it possible that I continue to fail her expectations?" Queen Moon lifted herself into as proud of a stance as she was capable, but barely reached her full height as if some weight was holding her down. "Leave me and inform our soldiers that we are moving soon. Send messengers to Commander Horizons and instruct her to push hard north." The chancellor nodded, carefully gathering his papers and glasses from the war table, and rushed from the room as quickly as he could without looking fearful, not even trying to keep from slamming the metal doors.

"You know that there's nothing you can do, right?" Twilight smiled and sidled up to the black mare, gently rubbing her face against the alicorn's exposed neck. "You shouldn't push yourself for my sake. Just focus on your ponies and helping them through this war."

Nightmare looked off towards the doorway, pointedly avoiding looking at the lavender pony at her side. Her eyes wavered, blurring as traces of years string at their corners, but she kept them trained on the intricate steel barricade even as the apparition began circling around her. "I thought you had gone.... Let me be."

The unicorn's smile widened as she pulled Nightmare's head down and style a quick kiss from her lips. "I'll be here until you move on and forget about me."

An agonized grimace morphed the monarch's features as she jerked away from the torturous mare. "I could never forget...!"

"Well.... I guess that I'll be here forever, then, my love."

Rain sounded from all around, pattering noisily upon the canvas roof of the dull brown medical tent, as Fluttershy carefully busied herself tending to the dying and wounded. Dark bags showed clearly under her bright blue eyes as she rushed about, ensuring every pony was as comfortable as they could be on their tiny cots in the overcrowded, makeshift hospital.

She brushed a lock of hair that had escaped from the sloppily-made bun atop her head with a hoof and paused at a cot near the middle of the tent, staring teary-eyed down at the rainbow-maned mare lying comatose upon it. “Oh, Rainbow. How could anything do this to you?” She carefully readjusted the bloody, bandage-covered stump of Dash’s foreleg on its pillow, but almost dropped it in surprise when she felt another pony brush up against her.

She spun, nearly knocking Nurse Tenderheart into a pink earth pony patient behind her. “Oh, I’m sorry, Tenderheart. I was just....”

The mare smiled and gently nuzzled against the canary pegasus’ cheek. “It’s fine, Fluttershy. You’re tired. We all are.” Tenderheart sent her gaze about the room, her smile fading with each pony groaning in their sleep. “I don’t think any of us were expecting this, though. Ponyville was nothing in comparison....”

Shy nodded, and glanced back down to Rainbow’s unconscious form with a grimace. “She wanted to become a Wonderbolt so badly, but now... they’ll never let her in with such a crippling injury. All of these other ponies probably had dreams they wanted to live up to as well, but....”

“I know, I know. I don’t think anypony was prepared for any of this. It’s just been one... nightmare... after another.” The nurse sighed and carefully replaced her careworn smile. “At least, if we try, we can probably get some of these ponies back to having as normal of a life as possible.”

Fluttershy nodded and prepared to turn back to continue her patrol down the canvas covered ground when a crash of metal and shouting rang out over the pitter-patter of the rain, followed by a bellowing roar. She shrank back into her nursing companion, both of them quivering, herself more than Tenderheart, and watched the entrance with wide, fearful eyes. “You don’t think the griffons would attack a hospital, would you?”

“I’m not sure, Shy. Just stay behind me.”

The mares flinched, cringing back, when the tent’s door flaps were thrown open, the only clear space in the area now filled by a bloodied, bandaged griffoness. She panted laboriously, her head rotating slowly as she scanned the dimly lit building. The pair shrank as her piercing, yellow eyes fell upon them, sharpening, and tried to move away as she limped closer. “Where’s-?” She paused, coughing roughly into a talon to clear the scratching in her throat, and levelled herself back up to her full height. “Where’s Rainbow Dash? Tell me and you won’t end up like the guards.”

“Wh-what?” The pegasus blinked, caught off guard by the softness of the girl’s voice, and looked up over her companion’s shoulder. “Why do you-?”

“Where’s Rainbow Dash!?” Both ponies shrieked, ducking down beside one of the medicated patients, as the near-roar washed over them like a tempest. The griffoness moved to close the distance between herself and the nurses, cringing whenever her injured foreleg touched the ground, but slowed when the bed behind the mares came into view.

Gilda faltered, almost tripping over one of the legs of a heavily bandaged stallion, and stepped over the nurses as she approached the cyan pegasus’ bedside. Her talons carefully traced the length of the bandage on Rainbow’s foreleg, taking caution so she didn’t agitate the bloodstained stump. “Is-” She coughed, her voice catching in her throat, and looked back at the cowering ponies. “Is she...?”

Fluttershy shook her head, unsure of what the griffon was asking, but wasn’t given enough time to ask before she was urged to her hooves by a trembling Tenderheart. “L-let’s go.”

Gilda ignored them, turning back to Dash as they fled the room at the earth pony’s insistence, and ran a claw through her friend’s mane. “I’ll kill him, Dash.... I promise.” Tears welled in her eyes, mixing with the rain that already soaked into her feathers. “He’s dead! I’ll kill the bastard and- I’ll kill him and I’ll come back for you, okay? You won’t have to worry about anything.” She swallowed a sob and wiped her face with a trembling claw. “I swear. Just-

“I’m s-” The griffoness cringed as the tent flaps were thrown open and several heavily-armed ponies ran in, each of them levelling their weapons at her. “Fuck off, idiots! Go point your shit somewhere else! I‘m your commanding officer!” She massaged the ridge between her eyes, inconspicuously wiping away a batch of fresh tears before they could fall, and straightened her back with a pained grunt. "I want the remaining soldiers that can still hold a weapon armed and ready to march by tomorrow! The queen wanted us to hop in with Commander Hardass, and that's what's gonna happen." When the group made no effort to follow her order, she lifted onto her hind legs and loosed a bellowing roar. "MOVE BEFORE I TEAR YOUR FACES OFF AND USE THEM TO WIPE MY ASS LATER!"

The soldiers, notably green by the way their weapons shook and dipped heavily, forgot their courage and fled from the griffoness, a couple of them leaving their weapons and one lone trail of urine. Gilda growled, massaging her head to try to alleviated the throbbing ache in her skull, and followed her subordinates out into the storm, picking up their discarded tools on the way. She cast one last glance back over her shoulder, sucked in a deep lungful of air, and turned back out, her piercing yellow eyes, practically glowing in the magically protected torch light, hardened as they stared out towards the remnants of her defeat.

The ruins of Trottingham were barely visible over the distant tree line, the rising smoke and remnants of fires in some of the taller buildings that had been started by the Griffonian forces being all that even the strongest vision could catch sight of.

The young girl fluffed her wing feathers, ignoring the chill of defeat that washed over her at the sight of the city, and grimaced as a vision of Rainbow's mutilation flashed in front of her eyes. Her head throbbed in time with the memory, emanating from where she had been struck on the back of her skull, and forced her to heave into a bush near the corner of the medical tent. As the wave of nausea faded, she wiped her tongue across her leg to try and disperse the taste of vomit and staggered back into the central pathway. "I'm sorry, Dash. It's my fault that you.... Why didn't I fucking listen!? If I had just....

"FUCK!" Gilda chucked the cowardly ponies' weapons into the rain-slogged muck, kicking up a small wave of mud in her fit of rage. "Where the fuck are our sentries!? Why are there torches lit!? Are you all Horus-damned idiots?" She grabbed the nearest light source and, screaming furiously, smashed its pitch-coated head into the mud until the magic encasing it was shattered and its flame was snuffed out, snapping the shaft in half in the process.

The griffon staggered off towards the edge of the forest, and the largest source of light in the area, her chest heaving for the oxygen her fit had deprived her of. As she struggled through the surprisingly thick brush, Gilda began to hear the voices of several ponies, both mares and stallions, over the heavy downpour. She broke into a clearing filled with dozens of massive tents, all of them covered with masses of leafy branches, and lit by sporadically placed campfires. Red filled her vision and she let loose an ear-splitting roar.

The ponies nearest to her all froze mid-action, many of them tripping over themselves or others in shock, as the young griffon stomped her way over to the closest fire. Some, primarily those that had been lounging further from the raging hybrid, fumbled for their weapons, but froze, nearly soiling their armor, when they drew near enough to catch her eye and draw her baleful glare their way. Gilda grabbed one of the ponies that couldn't draw enough sense to flee from her, a middle-aged brown mare with a drooping, darker brown mane, and pressed her beak to her captive's muzzle. "Who's in charge?"

The griffon ignored the stench of urine as the mare's shame trickled down her hind legs and shook the sobbing pony until their eyes met. "P-please don't hurt me!"

"Just answer my damn question! Who's in charge!?"

“That would be me!”

Gilda threw the mare into the mud and turned towards the nasally voice, grinding her beak as its wiry master came into view. The stallion, if he could have been called that, seemed as pathetic as one could be without a massive pair of glasses and a calculator in place of the shortsword at his side. His mane was an unkempt mass of dirty yellow and whatever bit of his lanky body that wasn’t covered in dirt or acne was a sickly, pale white. The griffon mentally cringed at the sight, but kept her glare burning into his eyes as she reared back and punched him in his breast with a clenched talon. “Not anymore! You’re a godsdamned moron!”

She turned to the nearest pony, another mare, and pointed towards the glowing torchlight. “Put that shit out before somebody comes and-” Gilda watched as the pony’s eyes flicked back and forth between her and the recently-demoted acting commander and ducked just as the shadow of a blade swished through the air above her head. She spun on her heels, fighting the rush of dizziness that followed the rapid movement, and stared down at the young stallion as he recovered from his reckless attack. He glared defiantly up at her, heaving for breath around the handle of his sword.

“Hah...” The griffoness clamped a claw to her face and shook, tears filling her eyes, until she could take no more. She burst out laughing, shaking the ponies out of their fear-driven stupor and drawing several looks of utter confusion her way. “Oh.... You, kid... Hah! You got spunk! Buck....” Gilda wiped a stray tear from her eyes, smearing mud across her feathers, and shook her head as the bewildered stallion lowered his sword. Immediately, her features hardened again and she lashed out, clipping the side of his head with her fist and knocking him senselessly into the ground. “You’ve earned a spot right up front when we march on the griffons for that. Dweeb....

“So, anybody else?” Her sharp eyes scanned the crowd, passing over each armed pony until they all tossed their weapons to the ground. “Cowards.... It’s a wonder any of you are still alive....” Gilda turned back to the powder-blue mare she had addressed the moment before and growled at her. “Why are there still torches!? Put them out!”

“B-but we won’t be able to keep our lookout! The griffons are gone!”

She blinked, doubt playing across her face as she took in the trembling pony’s words. “Gone? What’cha mean, gone? My dad doesn’t just leave like that!”

“I-I don’t know. Once we escaped, they just torched the city and moved east....” The mare looked down at the ground, avoiding the griffon captain’s scrutinizing gaze. “We were so focused on helping as many of the hurt as we could when the Manehattan nurses showed up that we didn’t think to find out why they left.”

“Shit.... We’ve....” Gilda groaned slapped the ground, kicking up a wave of mud. “Horus, damnit! You! Uhh....”

“Cotton Candy, ma’am.”

“Candy-ass, go... get everybody that can move together. We’ve gotta get outta here and meet with the main army. Can’t just sit here thumbing our asses.” Cotton merely stood at attention, watching her as the griffon began to pace back and forth, her golden orbs tracing invisible lines in the ground, until she came to a full stop, staring at the terrified mare’s immobile hind legs. “Didn’t I just tell you to do something? Do it!” With a splatter of mud, Gilda slapped the mare’s backside, eliciting a yelp from the surprised pony and sending her scurrying to gather the ponies that hadn’t been drawn by the captain’s rampage. “The rest of you start packing this shit up and getting the ones that can’t move themselves into a cart. We’re leaving anybody that can’t survive and there better not be single hair out of place on Dash’s head or I’ll tear your hearts out with just my talons.

“Move damnit!” She sighed, holding her head as a new onslaught of pain bounded through her skull, and slunk off towards her medical tent, ignoring the rain as it continued to mat her fur and splatter the muck further across her body.

Gilda pressed through the thick foliage and emerged on the opposite side to meet with the sight of dozens of ponies rushing about and covering wagons for medical transport, much to her surprise. She chuckled softly, hiding her smug grin behind a talon as she staggered across the soggy ground and into the bustling, crowded, circus-sized tent. Her eyes scanned across the other occupants, lingering on the tear-streaked faces of the few conscious ponies that had just received the news of their fate, and a pang of guilt clenched at her throat. She clutched her chest, sucking in a deep lungful of air, and exhaled before dragging herself over to her own cot.

She shakily slid her dragon bone gauntlets over her forearms, grimacing as a fresh bout of nausea washed over her, and carefully focused until the braces formed snugly about her talons. It’s not your fault, Gee. They’ll be dead by tomorrow and you can’t wait for them to die. You’ve already missed who knows how many days since the fight. Just ignore them, get Dash, and....

“Damnit....” She frowned, rubbing her forehead, and grabbed the first pony that passed by her cot. “Pack everybody up. We’ll bring all of them with us and bury anybody that dies on the way.” The unicorn, barely out of his colthood, nodded nervously and rushed to tell the rest of the soldiers the new orders as Gilda carefully unwrapped her bloodstained bandage, flinching as she tore the cloth off the bloody gash on the back of her head. “I’m gonna bucking regret this....”

With her weapon and armor gone, Gilda had no further reason to remain at her hospital bed and cautiously made her way back to Rainbow’s medical ward, the dull brown tent positioned several meters across from her own. This center was equally busy as her own and she felt her frustration rising as she pushed past several mares and stallions before she finally reached her childhood companion’s bedside. Her eyes watered at the sight of her friend’s mutilated leg as memories of the pegasus boasting about joining the Wonderbolts flashed through her mind. “Damnit.... Now you’ll never join that stupid flight team and....” It’s all my fault.

The tawny griffoness stiffened at the sound of a pony sliding up next to her, quiet enough so that no pony would be able to hear the movement, but she was no pony. She quickly rubbed the moisture from her eyes, sniffling, and glared unconvincingly at the canary pegasus. “What do you want? You better not bucking touch her.”

“You, uhm.... You’re the one that saved her, right? Rainbow Dash?” The pony shuffled on her hooves, pointedly avoiding eye contact with the larger creature, but smiled weakly behind her soft pink mane. “Th-thank you. I know you were just trying to see her earlier and I... forgive you.” Gilda stared, dumbstruck, at the timid mare, but the nurse spoke up once more before she could respond. “My name’s Fluttershy. I’m... a friend of Rainbow’s. We both live in Ponyville.”

“Oh, you’re one of her Ponyville dwe- Friends. I never understood why she hung out with you guys. She’s not like any of you ponies.” She sighed, looking back at their mutual friend. “She would make a great griffon....”

Fluttershy watched carefully as a flash of longing played in Gilda’s eyes and gave her a warm smile when she snapped back to reality. “Knowing her, I’m sure Rainbow would have found that... awesome.”

Gilda cracked a wavering smile and traced a mud-caked claw throw Rainbow’s mane. “Yeah....”

Author's Notes:

Author’s Notes: So, this took far longer to get out than I was hoping, but a little bit of a boot to the ass from Mr. Buddy Soaring Skies helped get it back in motion (also a trip to Nashville).

Some stuff is getting underway here, namely the resolution of the failed defense in Trottingham and a quick look into Twilight’s current mental state (she spends a lot of time trapped in The Void, eh?) along with a glimpse into how Nightmare is coping. Next chapter to include more Gilda, Cloudy, and Draken Ridge. Maybe some more Nightmare Moon.

As for Twilight’s actual condition? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see. Maybe she’ll recall it all in a dream or something? Who knows? Not me. Peppy out~!

Slavedriver's Notes: Hey everyone, Soaring Skies here. Due to Peppy’s addiction to porn, Dark Souls and procrastination, I’ve been recruited to help keep him on track! Pretty sweet job, huh? But seriously, I know how badly you all want updates, so I’ll be sure to do my best to keep my head off a pike and keep Peppy from slacking off.

Oh, and we’ve got some pretty exciting shit going down, huh? You all ready for the march north? No? Too bad! Drop your horsecock and grab your tissue box, you’re all in for one hell of a ride!