Luna snorted, then coughed as her nostrils filled with sand. Just what she needed on her sixteenth, or was it seventeenth resurrection? She didn't know any more, although she did know that she really needed to stop dying. It was bad for her health.

She opened her eyes, then squeezed them shut again as a bright light assaulted her senses. Instead she lay there, eyes shut, trying to not breathe in sand as she quietly baked in an overwhelming heat. It really wasn't the wake up she was expecting, so didn't complain.

"I thought it'd be better for you if I kept your body warm."

Luna took a moment to reply to Twilight, spending it trying to get her mouth moist enough to speak without croaking too much. "That didn't mean you had to put me in the oven."

"Heh, not quite. Welcome to the Circen desert, Luna, home of ancient, and long absent alicorns."

Luna stiffly raised a hoof over her eyes, then opened them a crack. It was still painfully bright, but she quickly became adjusted to it enough to see she was facing out towards the desert. She couldn't see Twilight, so raised her head until she could, her neck cracking with the movement reminding her of her last moments.

"I suppose I should also let you know you're an idiot, attacking Faust like that."

Luna finally found Twilight sat behind her in the shade, hunched over with her back leaning against a wall that had been worn smooth by the wind and sand. She struggled backwards on leaden limbs until she was in the shade as well. "I agree. If I had known Celestia wasn't dead, I might have acted differently, but my anger got the best of me."

"She wasn't in the Astral realm?"

"No sign of her. Whatever Faust inflicted on my sister, it was not death."

"I guess we'll find out eventually then. I'm sorry about your blades."

Luna slowly sighed through her nose, and nodded. "I never thought such was possible. It shouldn't have been possible. I suppose that is further proof of how out of our depth we were."

Twilight prodded Luna and held out a hoof to help her into a sitting position. "We always knew we were out of our depth."

"And yet we escaped."

"No we didn't. She freaked out when she saw Flurry, then let us go."

"Oh? I suppose Flurry does look rather similar to how Celestia did at that age, so I can imagine Faust was rather reminded of her. Still, I'm surprised she let you go, and allowed her to take my remains with you."

"Oh, I suspect that wasn't quite her plan."

Luna chuckled at that, but the laughter soon died. Celestia was gone, her weapons were destroyed, and Equestria was firmly under the control of Faust. That was nothing much to laugh about really.

"How long was I out?"

"About half a day."

"Sounds about right." Luna forced herself to stand, her stiff body protesting at the treatment it had received, and was continuing to receive. There was far too much to be done to waste time sitting around feeling sorry for herself. Her dry mouth at least requested some water, which she begrudgingly admitted wouldn't hurt.

"I imagine you're wondering what we're supposed to be doing now?" Twilight asked, rising to her own hooves as Luna tried to stretch the stiffness away.

"It has crossed my mind. Also, I'd like to thank you for bringing me here. This is the least unpleasant return to life I've ever had. Keeping the body warm, I'll have to remember that."

"Good. You can tell Cadence when you explain to her the entire immortality thing I thought you'd told her. Maybe she'll drag you back out here when she murders you."

Luna winced, "I do imagine she's not best pleased with me."

"There's an understatement. I'd also like to give you a kicking for traumatising my niece after you died horribly in front of her."

"I'm afraid you shall all have to form an orderly queue then, because I'm not sure there's enough of me for you all to kick at once."

"Then I'll have to do it for them." Twilight kicked Luna's legs out, sending the blue alicorn tumbling into the sand. Before Luna could so much as try to stand back up, Twilight was stood over her, jabbing a hoof down on her chest, "I can't even begin to describe how angry I am Luna. We were supposed to have months to work this out, but instead I come back to find Equestria had fallen after as little as a month. You were supposed to keep it safe!"

"What was I supposed to do, Twilight? We did everything we could to keep Mareitania from being ready to attack! We burned their ships, destroyed their factories, and sabotaged whatever we could! But they came and attacked us all the same. Our best defence fell in two days, and after that it was only a matter of time. You can be angry at me all you want Twilight, perhaps rightfully so, but I'm not solely responsible for this."

"And who else could you possibly blame?"

"You, Celestia, Trixie, Fleur, Octavia, Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Daybreak, Snowbright, Ivory, Hayfield, Sour Mash, the Viscount, the Duke, Platinum, and most importantly, Faust! There are plenty of others I could name if you wish me to keep going?"

"Are you even being serious? You're blaming me? And my friends? We were there by yours and Celestia's orders, remember, so don't you dare say that we're to blame for this!"

"The army you created is the only reason Faust got as far as she did in so little time. Your Adepts are without compare, your decision to leave Honeydew with them was, frankly, terrible, and their weapons and armour significantly superior to what we could make. Their intelligence agency put ours to shame, and their battlefield medics are some of the best in the world because they don't shy from danger to save ponies."

Twilight punched Luna across the face. It was only a short, quick smack that barely made the larger princess flinch, but it helped Twilight immeasurably. "It still wasn't my choice to be there, and yes I may have given them the best tools to fight with, but I was in no position to tell them what to do with those tools afterwards, so you can fuck right off with blaming me."

Twilight stepped off of Luna, allowing her to stand again and roll her neck to work the kinks out. "I only wish to express that while I should receive my share of the blame, there are plenty of others that should accept their shares as well."

"I don't care, Luna. I don't care because as much as I hate to say it, Trixie was right. Here we are with a small group of ponies having to fight against impossible odds to liberate a country again. The thing is, if it wasn't for the large amount of ponies I love and care about in that country that risk getting hurt, I can't say I really feel like it. I don't want to be in this position again, where so many depend on us! If you'd held onto Equestria, all I'd have to do is research a way to stop Faust, create it, use it, and boom! We're all done! Then I could think about my promise to Batal to get his ponies back, worry about the Storm King a bit, try to work out what happened to all the alicorns that lived here, and that's all I would have to do!"

"Do you feel better now?" Luna asked after a moment.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Luna, "Say anything like that again, and I will throw sand in your fucking eyes."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hurt your feelings, but I've watched the country I built and defended crumble away around me in a month after a millennia of prosperity, My beloved sister is missing, I've died again, and the one pony I need to help us get through this has yelled at me and punched me in the face! So you know what? I've had a pretty shit day too!"

The two alicorns glared at each other for several seconds, right up until Twilight snickered gently, and kicked sand over Luna's hooves. "Pretend that went in your eyes."

"Come on Twilight, we have a duty-"

"Oh don't even go there. I still don't see why becoming an alicorn automatically makes you responsible for the millions of ponies living in Equestria. It literally doesn't make sense to me."

"We do it because we can."

"Okay, the next sand I throw will actually go in your eyes if you don't stop. I'm doing this, but I'm not doing it for you, Celestia, Cadence, and especially not myself. I've been filled in on what's happened by Rainbow, and frankly I'm disappointed by what's gone on in my absence. The reason I'm stopping Faust is for the ponies, and the country that I'm going to save will also be for the ponies."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, no more princesses. Clearly we're too incompetent to rule, so we shouldn't, simple as. The decisions that have been made to get us to this point have been made by ponies that have nopony to disagree with them save each other, and nopony to stop them, and it's stupid. The new Equestria would be ruled by ponies, for ponies, and us? We'll be made redundant. Permanently."

Luna was shocked. She knew Twilight was disillusioned with their rule, but to hear this was near blasphemy to her ears. "You can't be serious!"

"Oh I am-"

"Then who are you to decide this but another princess? The rule of a princess to end the rule of princesses? How is that not hypocrisy? What if the ponies wish for the rule of alicorns? What then? Are we to deny them because that is what you wish?"

Twilight tried to argue, but found she couldn't as Luna was right. Princesses had ruled Equestria for almost as long as it had existed, and had few complaints about it over the centuries. There was bound to be resistance to the end of alicorns ruling, and especially since it was a princess asking for it. Perhaps there was another way.

"Fine, then we'll let the ponies decide. We save Equestria, then in the near future we can hold a referendum on whether or not princesses should rule Equestria, and let the ponies of Equestria decide."

"I could just do this without you," Luna said coldly.

"You're welcome to try, but you'll probably be doing it alone. Besides, this is what I'm talking about! You're deciding that there shouldn't be a referendum, and the only ones with a voice capable of stopping you are other princesses! This has to stop!"

Luna sighed, seeing that she'd backed herself into a corner with that one. She knew she needed Twilight's help to do this, and had little choice but to give in. What she thought Twilight was going to do if she refused was an amusing thought, since that was pretty much letting Faust do what she wanted, but this wasn't the time to point it out.

"Very well, once we have freed Equestria we shall hold a vote on whether to allow the reign of alicorns to continue. Assuming we even get that far."

"Well, yes, alright," Twilight said, some of the wind being taken out of her sails. "Point made."

"Should I assume that there is a plan at this point?"

"Not as such," Twilight admitted quietly, "but we have one of the world's top minds on it. You should come meet him."

Luna paced in a circle around Starsy as he paced around her in the small confines of the portal chamber, studying and eyeing each other up with an intensity that neared contempt.

"So this isn't the actual Starswirl?" Luna said after a few moments. "How disappointing."

"Enjoy your sabbatical on the moon dear Luna?" Starsy said back. "I imagine the views must be... breathtaking, from up there."

"They got boring after a few days," Luna replied, her face suddenly developing a grin. "Even if you aren't the genuine article, it's still good to see you, you old goat."

"Likewise, Princess, although I must say I'm a little disappointed that you managed to lose Equestria."

"Seeing as how you know exactly what we're up against, can you honestly tell me you're surprised?"

Starsy shrugged at the question, "Hmm, perhaps not, but that is precisely why I was sought out, was it not?" Starsy raised his nose into the air, "Clearly Equestria cannot survive without my brilliance."

"Uh-huh. That said, do you have any ideas on how to solve this mess?"

"Not a one," Starsy said shamelessly. "Not even outside the conditions I laid down."

"Conditions?" Luna asked. "What conditions."

"Basically he will only help us if we agree to stopping Faust in as kind a way as possible," Twilight explained. "He doesn't want us to make Faust suffer anything like another lengthy imprisonment."

Luna wanted to roll her eyes, and it was a fight to keep them pointing forwards. "I see. And what if there is no such other way but to imprison her?" Luna waited for an answer, a frown growing on her face the longer she went without one. "Uh-huh. Helpful."

"There is a way to do this, I know it" Starsy insisted. "We just need to find it first. Perhaps with your 'help' we can find it even faster. Follow me."

Starsy led them out of the portal chamber, and towards the observation area. The library was interesting to see, but Luna ignored it in favour of the voices up ahead, talking in hushed tones. There were quite a few ponies there, and she was about to say a hello when a high pitched scream filled the air. The kind of high pitched scream that had previously shattered the Crystal Heart.

"And a fine hello to you Flurry Heart," Luna muttered instead. "It's alright little one," she said louder, "I'm fine, I'm totally fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"I think there's plenty to worry about!" Cadence shouted as she tried to stop Flurry from flying away in terror, grabbing the foal in her legs. "How in Celestia's name are you not dead?"

"Go on," Twilight said in a tone rich with sarcasm, "tell her that thing you should have told her ages ago."

Luna grimaced, then tried to turn it into a smile for Cadence as she continued to fight with Flurry. "Alicorns are immortal is the simple answer. We can be killed, but we return to life shortly after, totally unwounded."

Cadence blinked, glancing away for a moment as Rainbow Dash tried to get Twilight's attention. "I think you're going to have to explain it a bit better than that. Are you like a zombie now? And Flurry, will you please stop screaming? Please?"

Luna hid her sigh and nodded at Cadence. "I thought you might want more of an answer than that. Very well, I shall try to explain it as best I can."

Twilight couldn't contain the smug smile she had over Luna having to explain this to Cadence, even though she was sure Cadence wouldn't appreciate how the story ended. Celestia had said there might be issues with Cadence having to watch the ones she loved died, and it was perhaps a massive mercy to her that Flurry was born an alicorn. All the same, it made Twilight want to smirk, and she let it sit in plain view on her face until Rainbow came and tapped her on the side.

"Twilight, can we talk?"

"Uh, sure. What about?"

Rainbow led Twilight away where others couldn't hear them, then sat and played with her hooves as she tried to work out how to say what she wanted. "I'm sorry," she blurted after several long seconds.

"Uh, okay. What for?"

"For... for not being there for you after you came back from Mareitania."

"Ah." Twilight nodded, starting to understand the situation. "Is this to do with you all thinking I was some kind of monster for doing what I had to? And for pretty much ostracising me after that? After the things you've had to do to defend Equestria, do you suddenly realise how easy it is to end up with unwanted blood on your hooves? And do you feel ashamed for how accepting you came to be of it all?"

Rainbow winced more and more as Twilight went on, "I get the feeling you were expecting this."

"Expecting, and ready for it." Twilight gestured with a hoof towards Rainbow, "Come on then, let's hear it," she said with barely veiled irritation.

"How do you live with it?"

Twilight froze as Rainbow looked up at her with tears in her eyes. She couldn't help but watch as those tears took the path of least resistance down the hairless scar on Rainbow's cheek.

"The fact that you had to go through dealing with what you'd done, while we were treating you like... like a murderer. I am so sorry Twilight, for treating you that way, and- and-"

Twilight's demeanor crumbled with Rainbow's as the pegasus burst into tears that Twilight knew weren't all for her. She pulled Rainbow into a tight hug, keeping her within her legs as the pegasus bawled into her shoulder, saying nothing until Rainbow was good and ready.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Shh, Rainbow, it's alright."

"No it's not! We were so horrible to you! And when you needed us most, we- we-"

"I know," Twilight sighed, "and I'm not going to say it didn't hurt, or that I wasn't angry about it. The thing is, I know that if our places were swapped I'd probably have been exactly the same. I never really blamed you for not understanding, and I'm sorry that you've been put into a position where now you do. Nopony should have to experience the things we have."

"Ain't that the truth," Rainbow said as she tried rub her tears away. "How did you cope with it all?"

Twilight smiled in the direction Trixie was sitting, although she couldn't see her. "It helped to have ponies around me that understood. I had Trixie, Fleur, and the others, and you have me, Lightning, and Vapor if you need them. You guys might have... not been as supportive as I would've liked, to put it mildly, but I wasn't totally alone with it."

"So you can forgive me then."

"Of course I can. That doesn't mean I do of course." Twilight smirked sideways as Rainbow's mouth dropped open, "Gotcha. Of course I forgive you Rainbow, because that's what friends do."

"Thanks Twilight. Speaking of friends though, where did you find Daring Do and a changeling? I mean, can we really trust Mayfly?"

"To answer those in order, in Saddle Arabia, the Badlands, and yes we can. She was cast out by Chrysalis, and... there's kind of a whole story to it. I'll tell you some other time, when we don't have a whole 'save the world' thing going on. Or, y'know, later, if we're not busy."

"Cool. You can also tell me how the hell Trixie killed Auhizotl while you're at it."

This time it was Twilight's turn to wince, "Daring told you didn't she?"

"Yeah she did. Daring Do's never going to be the same without Auhizotl! And how is she supposed to explain why he was never seen again, huh?"

"Okay, he was about to eat my heart, so excuse me if that wasn't a major concern at the time."

"That's no excuse!" Rainbow bit her lip at the way Twilight started looking at her, "I mean, it could be?"

"He was about to kill Trixie as well, so excuse her too if she decided to kill him first."

"Is Caballeron still alive at least?"

"Yeah, we never saw him, so he's fine. Besides, it's not like we actually set out to kill anyone. That situation forced Trixie into using dark magic again, and freaked her the fuck out. Not something we really wanted to happen."

"Okay... okay, good. Maybe Daring can write around Auhizotl never being seen again."

Twilight rolled her eyes and started to walk away, "I can't believe this is your primary concern right now."

"It's not my primary concern, but it is a concern."

"And what are the others? Besides Equestria having fallen, that is."

"Our friends."

Twilight stopped cold at the utterance of those two words. She knew she shouldn't really be surprised at hearing them, but with everything else that had been going on, she might have forced them towards the back of her mind.

"We were going to get them back after we won the war... but we lost. We can't just leave them there, Twilight."

"I know, but I don't have any idea how to get them out right now."

"Oh, okay." Rainbow's disappointment was obvious.

"I'm not disagreeing with you Rainbow," Twilight said quickly. "I want them back too, but we can't just waltz into High Rock and take them. Give me a bit of time to think about it while we find a way to stop Faust, and I promise I'll find a way to get them out."

"Can't you and Trixie do the two magic thing you told us about, to get us into the castle?"

"In theory, but that's just one small facet of the problem." Twilight smiled at Rainbow, "I promise you I'll think of a way to get them back, but we need to be ready, okay?"

Rainbow nodded, confident that Twilight would find a way. "Okay, but if you take too long I'm going to start working out my own way to get them out. You know that won't end well."

"And now I have a time limit. Marvellous." Twilight smiled sardonically at Rainbow, then gestured with her head for Rainbow to follow her back out to the observation area. Luna and Cadence were back, with Flurry giving Luna suspicious squints, which was at least better than screaming, and far superior than the hollow look in Cadence's eyes.

Twilight looked around the room, at the ponies within it. Trixie, Sunset, Moondancer, Mayfly, Daring Do, Rainbow, Lightning, Vapor, Cadence, Luna, Starsy, and herself, against the most powerful being in the world, save perhaps Discord. Twilight would've included Flurry as well, but she suspected her contributions would be somewhat limited by her being less than a year old. She wanted to say Faust didn't stand a chance, but that would be blatantly stupid considering she'd made Celestia vanish, and killed Luna in less than a minute. Still, they had to try.

"Come on guys, let's get to work. The sooner we find a way to stop Faust, the better."

"We're reading books again, aren't we?" Trixie said with a groan. "Seriously, why are all our solutions in books? Hasn't anypony had an original idea for the last one thousand years?"

"Shut up and get reading, Trixie."

Faust breathed deeply, enjoying the crisp, clear, mountain air that Canterlot enjoyed now that the fires had been put out. Of course there was the small issue of rebuilding what had been destroyed, but apart from the bridges there was no rush. It would all be made pointless in the end anyway.

Until such a time though, there was plenty to be done. The surrendered Equestrian forces had to be dealt with, and gaining the support of the rest of Equestria as she continued her goal of eradicating all that had been made wrong with the world. All would know peace eventually, but not yet.

"Are you listening, your Ladyship?"

Faust blinked a few times as she returned to the here and now, and moved her gaze to the griffon before her. "Apologies Commander, but my mind was wandering. What was it you just said?"

Theron gave a little caw of irritation, and repeated what he'd just said to the alicorn sat in the golden throne of Celestia. "I said that with five thousand of your soldiers, Griffonstone should fall into line without a fuss. Those griffons won't put up much of a fight unless you pay them to."

"Are you so certain they won't fight back? I have learnt much of the obstinacy of Griffons over the last few weeks."

Theron bristled at the thinly veiled, if not blatant insult, "If I were so confident, I would not be requesting five thousand of your soldiers to help me. Faced with such numbers, they will not put up a fight."

"Very well, but if the griffons do resist, I will be plucking a feather for every one of the soldiers you cost me. Do not waste their lives on your business, Commander Theron."

"Understood." Theron bowed deeply and left, leaving Faust with the three ponies currently attending her, Snowbright, Black Rose, and her newest acquisition, Prince Blueblood, although she refused to call him Prince.

"What of the Director and the General?" Faust asked Black Rose. "Have they revealed anything of use yet?"

"They haven't said a word as yet. Even with Snowbright's suggested methods that he learnt of first hoof during his time here, they remain silent. Perhaps if you were to let us use more persuasive methods?"

Faust thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I will not condone torture just yet. Honestly I'm not convinced they truly know anything of worth to require such extreme methods."

"Surely the whereabouts of Equis' assets would be of great use to us?" Black Rose said, almost pleadingly. "We can't afford the kind of surprises they could have in store for us if left unchecked."

Faust pursed her lips, wanting to say those surprises would be as gnats biting an elephant, but she couldn't undermine her ponies like that. "If they haven't spoken in a week, we can consider other methods, but I have confidence that Snowbright's method will bear fruit."

Black Rose bowed stiffly, "As you wish. I shall go check on their progress."

Faust nodded at Black Rose, and the mare left, leaving Blueblood and Snowbright to deal with. "Any thought's Blueblood?" she said, catching him by surprise as he watched Black Rose leave, or more specifically, her flank.

Blueblood quickly composed himself, and gave Faust a winning smile. "I'm afraid progress might be slow. Trying to convince the ponies of Equestria that you're here to help them is a little tricky after conquering their country, and even more so after centuries of... indoctrination by the princesses."

"You don't sound convinced by your own words Blueblood."

"Apologies, my Lady, but it'll be an uphill battle to convince ponies you are here to help them, let alone to convince them to aid you. You are rather viewed as a-uh, tyrant, by most."

"Watch that honest tongue before you trip over it Blueblood," Faust warned. "I know well enough what I might be seen as, but if you can see the truth of my cause, others can too. Your efforts to convince Celestia's soldiers to surrender was proof enough that you can do it."

"I'm afraid that was rather easy in comparison, but I shan't give up until everypony has seen your cause is just. If you'll excuse me, my Lady?"

"Of course, Blueblood."

Snowbright followed Blueblood with his eyes as the unicorn left. "You can't trust a weasel like him," he said once Blueblood was gone. "Anypony willing to betray their country is willing to betray anything."

"Perhaps, but for now his loyalty is mine. As for you Snowbright, I forgive you for letting your tongue slip whilst in captivity. What I don't forgive you for is your feeble capture. How did it happen?"

"The Equestrians were relying on brutality to cover the shortfall in their numbers. It didn't serve them very well for long since we now sit in a free Equestria."

"Even so, I am still disappointed in you. Perhaps if you were to prove your loyalty I will return you to your position, and allow you to aid that fool Theron in capturing Griffonstone."

Snowbright bowed deeply to hide his embarrassed scowl, "I am at your service."

"There are a number of ponies in Equestria whom I know for certain that Blueblood's word will never sway. Ponies like your former allies during the civil war, and others. For now they are being kept in a camp in Ponyville, but their numbers are too many to trust a mere camp with keeping them in order. I'm considering expanding the operation to cover the entire village, rather than waste time and resources building shelters for them all, but some extra security would be good. Do you have any ideas?"

"You mean you seek a way to control these ponies?"

"Mostly I seek to keep them contained and out of the way, but in a manner suitably equine."

"I see." Snowbright broke into a grin, "I may have met just the pony you're looking for. She's currently in the dungeons for various crimes, but mostly she stole ponies marks to remove their special talents, and brain washed them into obeying her. Or at least something along those lines. I may have lost interest when she started going into her philosophy behind it all."

Faust hummed thoughtfully, "Intriguing. And you believe that she can be used to eliminate these ponies as threats? Are you sure she can be controlled herself?"

"I believe so. All you have to do is put the fear of the Lady into her, and she'll fall into line."

"Yes... she sounds like she might be just what I'm looking for. Bring her to me, Snowbright, so I might decide for myself."

Like the others, Snowbright bowed and left, only this time Faust was able to be left alone for a brief moment. A moment she could use to calm the aching of her heart. She knew what she was doing was right, but the path to it was fraught with pain and bloodshed. It would be worth it in the end, but the journey was enough to keep her questioning it.

Faust tried to put it out of her mind as there was a great number of other things to think about, such as why she had let the two princesses escape? She had finally got them all together, drawn Twilight out of hiding, and had successfully retrieved Celestia and defeated Luna, so why had seeing that foal made her hesitate? Was it simply because she looked like Celestia that it had cut so deep into her? Whatever the reason, she was foolish enough to let the alicorns escape, and with Luna's body no less. The cursed mare was bound to be up and walking again by now. They would all have to pay for that.

"My, you have been a naughty filly, haven't you?"

Faust leapt out of her throne with a shout as the words were whispered into her ear, followed by a chuckle that she easily recognised, even after so long. She turned on the spot, frantically searching the throne room as she tried to find him.

"Show yourself, Chaos!"

"Actually, Order, I go by the name Discord now. So much more playful sounding than boring old Chaos."

Faust stopped turning as Discord's voice seemed to come from everywhere, yet also nowhere. "If you expect me to call you that, you shall do me the courtesy of calling me by my name."

"Ah yes, Faust. A tasteless play on first, what with your obsession with being the first alicorn. Hardly something to be proud of since there are only six of you in the first place. And yes, I counted Luna's little doppelganger that you accidentally created, and I'm actually disgusted by what you did to her, which is saying something as I have some very broad tastes, as you know."

"Do not mention that creature around me!"

"Nightmare."

"Stop!"

"Nightmare."

"I said stop!"

"Nightmare."

"Aargh! Cease your childish antics and come out here and face me you coward!"

"So you can try and blast me into oblivion once more?" Discord chuckled again, "No thank you. I also think the ponies of Equestria would appreciate keeping their city in one piece on the side of the mountain."

"It shall go one day, as shall all of them!"

"Ah yes, the plan. Honestly Faust, what are you thinking?" Discord sang. "You know the plan is impossible now. I made sure of it, even though it benefitted you more in the end than it did me, since you made sure I was a monster to them all. Thanks for that by the way."

"You are a monster!"

"And perhaps if you'd slung less names like that around, I might've been more willing to work with you on your little Harmony project, but alas, you created yourself as a giant bitch. So sad."

Faust glared up at the stained glass window depicting Discord, feeling it mocking her. At the very least it gave her something to direct her words at. "I will find you Discord, once I am done making this world perfect, and I will end you once and for all!"

"Oh you, you always knew how to make me feel special. Too bad that'll never happen, because a: I can't be destroyed, as you well know, b: this world will never be perfect, and c: you messed with the friends of Twilight Sparkle, and made an enemy of her. Twilight Sparkle, the pony that defeated me with ease in the space of an afternoon. I suppose my arrogance helped, but the point still stands."

Faust flared her nostrils at the mention of Twilight's name, but kept her anger back while Discord was still feeling talkative. Who knew what he might let slip? "And what's your stake in all this?"

The was a faint growl in the air, "You hurt Fluttershy... and it galls me that I can't do anything about it. We both know that as soon as I get involved, whatever plans Twilight Sparkle has concocted will likely unravel. I never understood how you could always beat me, temporarily at least, so I will be staying far away from what any of that merry troupe is doing."

"So you came here to taunt me? Is that it?"

"Oh pshah, like you expected anything less from me, but I've also come to say I'm sorry for what happened to you, and had I known, even I would've let you go. After spending a millennium as a rather handsome statue, I know it isn't much fun being trapped like that."

Faust bared her teeth up at the window, "I don't want your sympathy!"

"And yet you have it all the same, although it is somewhat diminished by your imminent attempt to unravel the world, just so you can feel safe at night knowing nopony can ever hurt you again. A foolish dream of yours as civilisation can't help but exist now, but that's your problem to deal with."

"I have my ways."

"Brainwashing the entire world? Hah! Good luck with that. You don't even realise it yet, but the seeds of your downfall have already been planted in that regard."

"You say that with such confidence while you're hiding, trickster, but I shall prevail."

"They did it as a mere precaution too," Discord continued. "That's probably the best part, seeing your plans undone by a precaution."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. By the way, I'm rather amused by what you're trying to do to Celestia. I'm not saying she deserves it, but I find it funny all the same. Goodbye Faust, we shan't be seeing each other again."

"I promise you we will, and it shall be the last time we ever meet!"

"Such promises, especially when the end of your plans have already begun. Ta-ta!"

"Discord!" Faust waited a beat for him to say something, but a chilly emptiness is all she could feel around her. "Discord?" He was truly gone, leaving nothing but a worm of worry of gnaw on her gut. It was nothing new to see him acting with such brazen confidence, but to hear him so proudly say that he was going to do nothing to stop her was... unsettling, and very unlike him.

"My Lady!"

Faust had to stop herself from shrieking as the doors to the throne room slammed open to let Black Rose and Snowbright gallop in. She wheeled on them, and had to stop herself from snarling at them for their intrusion on her moment of vulnerability.

"What is it?"

Black Rose stopped and swallowed nervously, "Fleur de Lis and Shining Armour have escaped."

"What? How?"

"I'm not sure. All we found were the bodies of the prison guards, and these." Black Rose held up her hoof, which was holding two unicorn inhibitors, and a small picture of a smiley face. "I think they must've had help to get the keys, as losing these wouldn't have been enough to open the cell doors. It gets worse too."

"Oh? How could it possibly get worse?"

Black Rose flinched at the harshness in Faust's voice, "The Crystal Heart is missing. We can only assume they've taken it with them."

Faust stared blankly at the head of the Shades as Discord's parting words rattled around her head. The end of her plans had already begun. No, she wouldn't allow it.

"They can't have gotten far, and the city is locked down. General, I want every soldier you have spare searching for them now! I want them found!"

"At once!"

Faust breathed deeply and rapidly as the two ponies ran off. It couldn't end like this, not before she had even really started. She wouldn't allow it.

"Oh boy. Now I really wish I could fly."

"Too risky. You'd be spotted," said Fleur.

"I think that's better than this!" The filly pointed at the barrel bobbing in the water that she was expected to climb into. "This is insane, despite what she says!"

"Oh come on, it'll be fine. It might even be fun!" said the unicorn the filly was referring to.

The filly glared at the white unicorn with the purple streaks in her mane and tail, "Y'know what? I can really see the family resemblance. Twilight was insane too! Twilight junior, I mean. Why the fuck do you have the same name?"

Shining Armour grunted at the filly, "Could you not talk about my mother and sister that way?"

"Theoretically..."

Shining rolled his eyes, then smiled at his mother, and the dark blue stallion next to her. "Thanks for helping us get out of here mum, dad. We owe you."

"Except it's not just you that's getting out of here," said Twilight. "Nightlight and I are coming with you."

"What? You can't do that, it's too-"

"Dangerous?" said Nightlight. "Have you forgotten what happened here a couple of days ago already?"

"I was wondering why there was seven barrels," the filly whispered to Fleur.

"We'll be safer out of Canterlot," Nightlight finished. "There's loads of places to hide in Manehattan."

"And you are not denying me the one chance I have to go over the Canterlot falls, young colt," Twilight Velvet scolded, wagging her hoof at Shining. "Health and safety laws be damned today."

"Yes mum." Shining smiled helplessly at Fleur, "Are you ready to go?"

Fleur grimaced at the barrels, "This is the singular worst idea I think I've ever seen. Or at least the worst this week, but, whatever, let's get out of here." Fleur accepted Shining's proffered hoof into her barrel as the filly, Twilight Velvet, and Nightlight got into theirs, and took the Crystal Heart in her hooves as Shining passed it to her. He then helped their two other guests into their barrels, Bluebelle, also known as Honeydew, and a rather gangly crystal pony called Crystal Hoof, although he was better known to some of them there as the changeling Thorax.

"Keep your heads down, legs tucked, and try not to throw up! Most importantly though, have fun!" Twilight said with manic cheer. "Ooh, I've never felt so alive!"

"Does anypony have any nails?" Shining joked as he climbed into his barrel and pushed them all away from the small jetty.

"Bon voyage!" Twilight said, pulling the lid of her barrel down tight as they moved out into the current, and towards the waterfall over the edge of the city.

"I can't believe ponies do this for fun," Fleur muttered as her breath was taken away by a scream as she plummeted over the edge, away from Canterlot, and away from Faust. One day she might admit it was worth it.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so epilogue done, onto book three. Expect it in three to four weeks.