"Twilight!" The sound of Trixie shouting her name being brought Twilight out of her thoughts long enough to see Trixie, Fleur, Octavia, and the filly running towards her as she, along with Pinkie and Rainbow, entered Canterlot Castle. "Are you alriiight... Ahem, I mean, what can we do to help?"

Twilight managed half a smile as Trixie almost asked the one question they had learnt during their time in Mareitania to never ask. Twilight wouldn't have minded though, even though she suspected they already knew the answer would be a resounding 'no.'

"I could use a hug," Twilight answered weakly, and almost started crying again as they all piled in. Instead she distracted herself by asking where Summer was.

"She's gone back to Ponyville," said Octavia. "She wanted to make sure that Nightglider was okay, as well as Vinyl. I thought I'd wait for you to come back here."

Twilight leaned into the hug towards Octavia to show her appreciation of that. "Thanks," she said, before breaking the hug off. "What's going on here?"

"Luna and Celestia are shouting at each other while they wait for you and Princess Cadence to arrive," Fleur replied. "Almost like they weren't expecting the ancient alicorn hidden beneath High Rock to ever become a problem."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but-"

Fleur shushed Twilight with a hoof. "I'm not mad Twilight, I'm just... Alright, yes I'm mad, but it's nothing we can't look past since you had plenty of reasons to keep it a secret. Anyway, I was going to tell you that there's also a pony here to see Pinkie."

Pinkie pulled herself out of her misery long enough to look up. "There is?"

"Yeah," the filly confirmed, "and she is super boring. Like super, super boring," she added in a monotone.

"Filly," Octavia said warningly, as Pinkie whined in the back of her throat, "don't make fun of her sister Maud like that."

"Snnrrkt! Sister? Hah!" The filly's laugh died off as she saw they were all serious. "You're serious? Wow. How did-? Uh, sorry Pinkie."

"'s okay, I hear that a lot. Where is she?"

Fleur nodded at the filly, "Could you show her please?"

"What? Ugh, fine..."

"And stay with them until I come and get you."

"Yes mom."

"And don't call me that!" Fleur watched as the filly led Pinkie away, "Cheeky little shitbag. Anyway, I guess Celestia and Luna want to see you now," she said to Twilight.

"All of us," said Twilight. "Unless you don't want to that is. That includes you Rainbow."

"Don't worry, I'm in."

Twilight smiled at her friends' support and led the way to the throne room, stopping for a moment to listen to the raised voices within.

"Even if they hadn't kidnapped three of the bearers of harmony, there is still the fact that this is an attack on Equestrian soil by a hostile foreign nation! You cannot seriously expect us to simply take it and do nothing?"

"And what do you propose we do Luna? We find ourselves under threat from a heavily militarised nation, and you want to place your focus on three missing ponies?"

"Three missing po-? Those three are more than just missing ponies Celestia. They are an important part of our country, not to mention being a huge defensive asset against threats like, hmm, psychotic ancient beings of unfathomable power?"

"We have no idea if the Elements would even work on Faust. I too dearly wish to secure the return of those ponies that we both consider friends Luna, but we cannot place all our hope on a plan that might not even work."

"I'm not saying we rely entirely on them, but having them returned is important enough to consider."

"Quite the discussion they're having in there."

Twilight and her companions all jumped at the voice that came from behind them, and they all turned to find Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour stood watching as they all eavesdropped on Celestia and Luna.

Twilight winced guiltily, "Sorry Cadence, but we didn't want to disturb them."

"We're sorry about your friends Twily," said Shining. "It seems impossible to think that they could get stolen right from their own homes like that." He nuzzled Twilight and hugged her, joined a second later by Cadence.

"We'll get them back Twilight."

"I know. I guess this means you both know what's going on."

Shining nodded, "We just had a briefing off Equis, although it was a little sparse. Frankly I'm getting a little sick of the secrets Celestia and Luna are keeping."

"I kept it too," Twilight muttered.

"What's Equis?" asked Octavia.

"Equestrian Intelligence Service," Twilight answered her.

"Really? And where the bloody hell were they when we were in Mareitania?"

"They didn't really exist then, as such. It used to be two separate branches of the Royal Guard and Night Guard, and used the guards themselves as agents. However, after the relative successes of the Shades in Mareitania, Luna convinced Celestia to merge the two branches into a new body consisting of specially chosen members of the Royal and Night guards, along with room for some other non-native Equestrians like zebras, griffons, Saddle Arabians, and whatever else might join eventually."

Fleur rolled her eyes, "To spy on our neighbours I assume?"

Twilight shrugged, "I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care."

Trixie's nose scrunched as she thought intensely, "Wouldn't the abbreviation of that be E.I.S?"

"It is," said Twilight, holding back a sigh. "The agents themselves started calling themselves Equis, and tend to use it in the third person a lot, so you should like them."

"Ooh, she's getting snippy."

Twilight tensed at Trixie's offhoof comment. "Snippy? Three of my friends, and the dragon that's like a little brother to me have kidnapped, and you're calling me snippy?! Are you actually fucking kidding me right now?! Do you really think I want to answer inane questions while they're subjected to goodness knows what? Really?"

Trixie squeaked in the back of her throat, then stopped and tried to speak again. "Sorry Twilight."

"At least Celestia and Luna know we're here now," Cadence observed as Twilight's shouting ended the argument between the two sisters. She was proven right as the doors to the throne room were opened by the guards a moment later.

Twilight stormed in, her frustrations building to a head. While she knew she was partly to blame, there were two more ponies in the throne room she blamed more, and one of those was more to blame than the other since she was meant to take care of the problem. Celestia gave them a tiny smile, turning Twilight's frustrations into lava that coursed through her chest.

"You lied to me!"

Celestia took a step back at Twilight's outburst. "Excuse me?"

"You sealed Faust away in her prison for good! They had to break through rock to get to her! Rock that only you could have put there! You never intended to release her, did you!"

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry Twilight, but I had little choice. Faust refused to listen to reason, and without somewhere here capable of holding her, I had no other options but to leave her where she was for the time being. I was going to ask for your help in devising a way to contain her once you'd recovered from your time in Mareitania, but it seems we weren't the only ones who knew about Faust if they managed to find her so soon."

Twilight glared at Celestia, wanting to punch her in her perfect fucking teeth, then shifted her ire to Luna, who had less punchable teeth, albeit they were still perfect. "Did you know about this?"

"I'm...afraid so Twilight. While I'm not proud of the choice, if Faust wouldn't give up her crusade against the world, then we would have to keep her where she was. As much so to keep her hidden from the Mareitanians than any other reason. Their belief in her would make it much easier for her to manipulate them."

"Nah, she's just straight up using magic to do that," said Trixie.

"She is?" Luna hummed to herself. "While I was hoping she'd play the long game and attempt to win the Mareitanians over to her cause, using magic could be a weakness on her part. It certainly suggests a lack of patience."

"That depends on the nature of the enchantment," said Cadence.

"If you have input Cadence, we would gladly hear it."

"Oh sure," Cadence said happily, before turning her voice and expression cold. "First though, I have a few things I want to say to you."

"Now is hardly the time to air your personal grievances Cadence. I realise that-" Luna stopped as her sister touched her shoulder.

"I think she's earned it this time Luna."

"Thank you auntie." Cadence theatrically cleared her throat, "Okay, so firstly, I am very disappointed in you two for deceiving Twilight after all she's done for you. She deserves better than that. And secondly, when are you going to stop keeping secrets from Shining and myself? First you send Twilight off to Mareitania, and only told us when you couldn't keep it a secret any longer, and now there's a threat to the world that I'm hearing about now from intelligence ponies that only found out themselves from you this very morning, while Twilight's friends were being kidnapped! As a princess of Equestria, and co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be informed of issues that could potentially be a threat to both those things."

"Cadence, I-"

"Stop keeping secrets from me, stop lying to me, and stop treating me as though I'm an inconsequential lump of pink fluff!"

Celestia nodded, thoroughly cowed. "Understood Cadence, and I'm sorry to both you and Shining for treating you like that. I assure you, from now on you'll be a part of all of this."

"Good. Now about that enchantment, if it's magic based, it should be easy enough to break, but if it's emotion based, it's much harder. It's no great feat to make ponies love or hate something, but once that feeling is in a pony's head it's much harder to get out. The problem is that from the sounds of it, an emotion based enchantment would be far more subtle and likely to work for what Faust wants."

"It affects a pony through their inherent magic," said Twilight. "I could block it easy enough."

"Block it? But spells like that aren't permanently cast! You cast them, and then they work until they're cancelled, or removed!. That's it, otherwise you're constantly having to cast the spell. And these spells affect you through the heart and mind, not your magic!" Cadence rubbed the side of her head and groaned, "I guess that means we're dealing with a kind of magic that we've never seen before."

"Or is so old we've forgotten it," said Twilight.

"Either way, the source of that spell must be an object rather than a pony since I doubt Faust would wish to keep casting it constantly."

Twilight shrugged, "She couldn't anyway, not after I lopped her horn off."

"Quite," Cadence mumbled. "Still, unless we plan on counter-spelling everypony in Mareitania, I doubt there's much we can do beyond hope she doesn't spread its influence in other countries as well."

"So that closes that avenue," Luna muttered to herself. "Then our only hope might be to rescue the taken bearers of Harmony, and hope to defeat Faust directly."

Twilight's chest seized, caught between her desire to get her friends back, and to tell them that the Elements would have no effect on Faust. She knew it was fruitless to throw their efforts into something that wouldn't work, and may only damn them further in the long run by distracting them from other, more effective avenues.

"That won't work. The Elements I mean, they won't work against her."

"How can you be sure of that?" asked Celestia.

"Because Faust told me so herself. She created the Tree of Harmony from the last seed of the Tree of Life, which was the original Golden tree of Mareitania. The Elements wouldn't do anything to the pony that created them."

"Then why take our friends at all?" Rainbow asked loudly.

"So we can't use the Elements against her army or followers," Twilight replied weakly. She hated herself for talking them out of saving her friends, but it was for the greater go- Twilight sighed, unable to finish justifying this even to herself. Her friends were right about her. She had changed, and not for the better if she was able to throw them under the bus like this.

Rainbow looked at Twilight with obvious confusion, "What are you saying Twilight?"

"I'm saying-" Twilight swallowed to keep her voice from breaking. It didn't stop the wave of self loathing that hit her though.

"She's saying that putting all our effort into rescuing your friends might only end up hurting all of us in the long run," Shining finished for Twilight. "We should put our efforts into other avenues that have a better chance of working."

"What? No!" Rainbow squeaked, her voice cracking. She grabbed Twilight and forced the alicorn to look at her, "You don't mean that! Tell me you don't mean that!"

"I'm sorry, b-but I do. Getting them back is almost impossible, and the cost would be far too high just to end up with a weapon that doesn't work. I wish it wasn't so Dash, but it is."

"They're not weapons Twilight! They're your friends!"

"Rainbow!" Twilight pried Rainbow's hooves off her, "If we broke them out, Faust would only come after all of you again, and next time she mightn't try to take any of you alive!" Twilight gave Rainbow a moment to let that sink in. "While our friends are in her possession, she has no reason to kill them, or come after the rest of us! And if we rescue them, and end up with no way to stop Faust..." Twilight didn't finish, letting Rainbow's imagination do the work of filling in the gaps. It clearly worked too as Rainbow released her and sank to the ground.

"But there has to be a way to get them back! Maybe... Maybe Discord could do it?"

"Rainbow, I really-"

"Discord!" Rainbow raised her head and shouted towards the ceiling, "Discord! I know you can hear me!"

"Rainbow!"

"You rang?" The doors to the throne room slammed open, knocking the guards over, and a wave of rubber ducks flowed in through the open doors with Discord surfing at its head on a wheel of cheese. It was entirely unnecessary, but that was Discord for you.

Rainbow was stunned for a moment, "I can't believe that actually worked."

The wave petered out and stopped just short of the gathering of ponies, Discord jumping off to give everypony a cheery smile. "My-my, the faces in this place are longer than usual. It's a good thing you called me." He pulled out a stethoscope and pressed it to Luna's chest, "Hmm, still have a heart of stone I see."

"Discord!" Rainbow zipped up and into Discord's face. "Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike have been kidnapped!"

"Really? How odd. I usually notice things like that." Discord stuck a finger in his ear and jiggled it about, "My sensors must need calibrating. Wait, did you say Fluttershy?"

"I'm being serious Discord! We need you to get them back!"

"And what do I get in return?"

"Get in return? Are you serious? They stole our friends! They stole Fluttershy!"

Discord nodded thoughtfully, "You make an excellent point. Very well, let us sally forth and rescue these fair maidens!" Discord jumped onto Shining Armour's back and pulled a lance from his nostril, Shining remaining remarkably nonplussed through it. "Hi-ho Shining away!"

"Get off me."

"Gosh you're all boring." Discord slid off Shining and into a puddle on the floor. "Very well, let's be reasonably sensible about this. Where are they, and who took them?"

"They're in High Rock Keep in Mareitania," said Celestia, a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes. "They're being held under the orders of an alicorn called Faust."

"Did you say alicorn?" Discord snapped back into shape. "Unless I'm mistaken, save one bubbly, bitesize bundle of destructive potential, all the alicorns in the world are currently residing within this room."

"Apparently there's one more," said Luna, "and she's old. Possibly even older than you, and claims to be the first alicorn."

Unexpectedly, Discord's eyes widened and his ears folded back, confusing the others in the room since Discord had always been nothing if not cocksure in most things he did. "Describe her."

Luna pulled a face as she thought. "Tall, white, with a...reddish, I think, mane and tail. Has an inkpot and quill for a cutie mark."

Discord stepped back, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. "No, it couldn't be her It couldn't be."

Twilight looked up at Discord, "Are you alright Discord?"

Discord's focus snapped onto Twilight, and he seemed to regain his awareness. "I... I need to go," he said curtly, and promptly vanished with none of the showmanship he usually displayed.

"Discord!" Rainbow shouted as Celestia and Luna exchanged nervous glances. Anything that rattled Discord was definitely worth getting rattled about themselves. "You get back here! Discord!"

Twilight sighed at the empty space Discord had occupied, "He's gone Rainbow, and I doubt he's coming back any time soon.I've never seen him look so worried."

"But he has to save our friends! He- He has to!" Rainbow slammed her hooves on the ground and screamed up at the ceiling again, "Traitor!"

"He hasn't betrayed anyone," Celestia said gently. "Frankly, if Faust worries Discord so, then that only proves how much of a threat she is. We need to find a way to stop her."

"And you guys can't just beat her?" Rainbow asked, her voice crackly after shouting like she had.

"Highly unlikely," said Luna. "In a fight between us and her, I fear she could easily pick us off one by one."

"Then why not put all your magic into Twilight again? It kinda worked against Tirek, and Tirek beat Discord easily, offense fully intended."

"Tirek caught Discord by surprise," said Celestia. "I doubt it would have been so easy if Discord had been prepared for it. I'm afraid to say that if we put all our magic into Twilight, and Twilight lost, we would all lose. Equestria would be utterly defenceless against Faust without us. I'm afraid this is a foe we know very little about, and I feel we must first learn about her to adequately counter her."

"Discord sure seemed to know something about her," Rainbow said bitterly.

Luna raised a hoof, then lowered it again as words temporarily failed her. "We cannot count on Discord after this. I'm afraid Celestia is right, as I am also afraid she doesn't realise the full implications of what she says. Finding even a smidgen of information on Faust could take months, or even years if it's even possible in the first place. Faust is currently weak and wounded, buying us some time, but once she is able, her war will come, and we must be prepared to hold out as long as possible until we have a way to defeat her."

Cadence was horrified, "You can't be serious Luna! You can't expect us to go to war over this!"

"Cadence is right," said Celestia, giving her sister a hard stare. "There's been no war in Equestria for over a thousand years now, and I won't condone preparing for one that might never come."

"And what if it does? Do we roll over and show our bellies, hoping she shows mercy?"

Shining cleared his throat, edging his opinion into a conversation that he felt was mostly for the princesses. "Can't we ask our allies for aid?"

"It's unlikely they'd help at this junction," Celestia said tiredly. "Our actions in Mareitania drove many nations to treat us with suspicion, and are afraid that we might do something similar to them."

"There is also the issue where we firmly established to the world that Mareitania is our ally," Luna added. "What Mareitania does would be viewed as something we fully support. Therefore, many would see their military build-up as a threat from both them and us. I'm afraid that our actions have only played to Faust's favour by leaving us isolated. Our only option is to defend ourselves until we can stop Faust."

"The other nations suspicions would only become worse if we built up an army of our own," Cadence pointed out. "They may not help at all even after Mareitania attacks if they still see us as a threat."

"Yes," Luna agreed, "but once Mareitania attacks us the truth would be revealed regardless. Without an army of our own we would be extremely vulnerable. I fear we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't."

"Our other option would be to let Faust win without fighting," said Twilight.

"That could be the favourable option here," Cadence said before Twilight had a chance to say otherwise. "It would certainly reduce the loss of life. How would we even build an army anyway?"

"Out of volunteers," Luna answered. "We have a lot of the industry necessary to supply an army already in place, with some adjustments anyway, so the biggest task would be recruiting and training."

"And if we don't have enough volunteers?"

Luna didn't answer immediately. She didn't want to. "Conscription," she replied after several moments.

Cadence pushed away from the table in disgust, "I can't believe I'm hearing this. Why waste all these lives in a war that we might not even win? We should be putting all our focus into stopping Faust before a war can even begin."

"But that could take a very long time," Twilight said to Cadence. "There may not even be an Equestria left by the time we find a solution. If we can find one."

"So now we're fighting a war we might not win at all! This is just getting better and better!" Cadence stared at a point somewhere in the air above them, before looking at Celestia. "You're being awfully quiet."

"The stakes are higher than you realise. Faust has a plan for the world, although we don't know what that plan is. Equestria is likely first on her list of conquests simply because she despises us, but once we are defeated, the world will follow. As much as I wish it wasn't so, I'm afraid Equestria will have to stand as a bulwark between Faust and her goal, even if we have to stand alone."

"So you support building an army," Cadence said flatly.

Celestia seemed to shrink upon hearing the question, "I don't support it, and the thought of war in Equestria sickens me, but I'm afraid we might not have a choice. Faust must be stopped, and it's our responsibility to do so. We must fight."

"And what do you think Twilight?"

Twilight started as Cadence spoke to her, and realised she was trembling. The thought of going through another war was terrifying, but the thought of what Faust might do if she won more so. She knew they had to fight, if only for their own survival, and that of the world. "I agree with Luna and Celestia. We have no choice but to fight, Cadence, as much as I don't want to. Equestria might be the only thing between Faust and a dark future for the world."

"Shining?" Cadence turned to her husband, hoping to find one last little island of sanity in the ocean of madness she currently found herself treading, but only found resignation on the face of her beloved.

"I don't think we have much of a choice here," he said weakly. "Fight at the cost of thousands of lives, or surrender at the cost of so much more. It's your decision whether the Empire gets involved honey, but I say we fight."

Cadence looked around the room, but found the same resignation on the faces of most of the ponies there, except for Rainbow who seemed angry yet determined, and Luna, who met Cadence's gaze with one of pleading, which Cadence hadn't expected. Spending lives to save lives was an idea that seemed patently absurd to her, yet there was only two options, and the other was apparently not much better. Then there was Flurry Heart to consider, and what kind of world she would grow up in. One with war, or one with whatever plans Faust has for it? Which was worse?

Ultimately Cadence knew they had little choice. If they fought and won, at least the world would have a chance to return to the peaceful and prosperous one it was before. "We fight," she said at last, in a voice weak with disgust for what she was saying. "The Crystal Empire stands with you."

"Thank you Cadence," Celestia breathed. Frankly she was disappointed in herself that it took so little to sway her own opinion, and she was glad Cadence had held out for longer.

"So, what now then?" Twilight asked. "Where do we even begin planning something like this?"

"I'm afraid you don't," said Celestia. "We have something else in mind for you if you're willing. Something that will keep you out of the war."

"What? But you- you can't keep me out of this!"

Luna smiled at the smaller alicorn, "Twilight, what you're about to do instead may be the difference between us winning and us losing."

"What? I don't... I don't understand."

"Twilight, we are putting you in charge of finding a way to defeat Faust."

"Me? But I don't even know the first thing about her! How am I- How are any of us supposed to find a way to defeat her when so little is known about her?"

Celestia shifted uncomfortably, drawing attention to herself. "There was one pony that we suspect knows plenty about Faust," she said. "Starswirl the Bearded. My father."

"No he doesn't!" Twilight blurted out. "I have read most of his literature, and his journal that you gave me. Nowhere, not even once does it mention Faust."

Luna took over from Celestia. "Not in his public writings, no. He purposely bequeathed his journal to us before we saw him last, so he might have made a point of not mentioning her in it."

Twilight's gaze alternated between Celestia and Luna, "Where are you going with this?"

"Starswirl had a secret retreat," Celestia revealed. "Somewhere where he could perform his research in peace, and do whatever he did. Even we don't know what he did there. More to the point though, if there was anywhere in the world where information on Faust could be found, it would be there. For all we know he could still be living there."

Twilight brightened up, a tiny smile forming at the thought of finding the treasure trove of information Starswirl must have hidden away. More exciting was the prospect of finding Starswirl himself. "Where is it?"

Celestia and Luna shared an awkward glance. "That's the problem," said Luna, "we don't have the slightest idea where it is."

"I tried to find it several times over the centuries," said Celestia. "Unfortunately my duties here prevented me from staging a proper expedition, and I was reluctant to give the task to somepony who wouldn't appreciate what it was they were looking for, which is why I never mentioned it to anypony."

"So how am I supposed to find it then?"

"That is up to you," Luna told Twilight. "You will be granted full access to everything Starswirl ever wrote in the hopes you could glean the location of his hideaway. Use whatever methods you wish to find it Twilight, or all may be lost."

"Yeesh," Trixie snickered, "no pressure."

Twilight ignored Trixie, and not because the unicorn was one hundred percent correct. "Alright, I'll do it. You with me Dash?"

"If it gets us closer to getting our friends back, heck yeah!"

"I'm afraid Rainbow can't go with you," said Luna.

"What?!" Rainbow flared her wings threateningly, "Why not?"

"Because you're a Wonderbolt," Luna said simply, "and we are effectively at war. I'm afraid your commitment to the Wonderbolts and the safety of Equestria overrides anything else right now. I'm sorry."

Rainbow wilted under the weight of Luna's words, and her wings sagged to the ground. "B-b-but Twilight needs me! My friends need me!"

"Equestria needs you."

"My friends need me more!"

Luna growled under her breath, really not in the mood for such petulant whining when there were far bigger things to concern herself with. She was immensely grateful when Twilight spoke up instead.

"It's okay Rainbow. What Luna's asking is far more important. All you'll be doing with me is reading through dusty old scrolls, which I know you'll hate. If you stick with the Wonderbolts you'll be in the thick of things, making sure there's still an Equestria to save, and be first in line to save our friends when the time comes."

"But what about you? And Pinkie? I don't want to leave you guys!"

"I'll be fine Rainbow, and Pinkie will either come with me, go back to Ponyville, or maybe go home with her sister. Whichever she does, she'll be fine too. You're the one that's most in danger here."

"Then why are you okay with me going to fight?"

Twilight didn't answer for a moment, wanting to formulate a reply that didn't make her sound like she wanted to get rid of Rainbow, which she really didn't, but didn't also make her sound like she was emotionally dead inside and okay with her friend risking herself like Rainbow inevitably would. She was actually halfway to begging Luna to let Rainbow come with her just to avoid the issue.

"I'm not," Twilight replied eventually, "but we both know it's the right thing to do. We're all going to have to make sacrifices before this is over, and this is just one of them. Keep Equestria safe for me, yeah?"

Rainbow rubbed her eyes and nodded, "Fine, but you better take care of yourself without me."

"So had you." Twilight hugged Rainbow, and they both held each other tightly for several seconds until they broke it off. Rainbow then faced Celestia and Luna and saluted.

"What are your orders?"

"Nothing for now Rainbow Dash," Celestia said kindly, knowing how hard this must be for the Element of Loyalty. "You can stay until the meeting is over to say your goodbyes."

"Okay. Thank you."

Twilight sighed with a mix of sadness and relief. She knew Rainbow only wanted to protect what friends she had left, but her uses would be limited in the expedition to find Starswirl's retreat. That didn't make it easier though. Leaving her friends behind was one thing, but telling them to stay behind was another. Still, they all had a job to do, and they would do it.

"Beg pardon," said Shining Armour, "but who's to be in charge of Equestria's defence? Apart from what exists in the Royal and Night guard, and the Wonderbolts, we have no real command structure."

"We are yet to determine any of that as yet Shining," said Celestia. "Ultimately though, leading the defence of Equestria falls upon us, the princesses. We can either choose to share command, or nominate one or two of us to lead our forces in battle. As I feel my skills are better utilised elsewhere, I'm nominating Luna as leader."

"In that case I also nominate Luna," said Twilight. "How about you Cadence?"

"I'm hardly the right pony to lead an army Twilight, so I agree with Luna being in sole command."

Luna dipped her head in a small bow, "Thank you for your confidence. If it's acceptable with you Cadence, I'd like to borrow Shining for a little bit as his knowledge from his time as Captain of the Guard would be most useful."

Cadence looked at her husband, who shrugged back, "I'm yours as long as you need me."

"Thank you. Celestia, I think it's time to make the declaration."

Celestia nodded sadly, "Very well. I'll make the public announcement tomorrow morning; Equestria is now under threat of war."

"This is insane," Rainbow muttered, leaning back into the padding of the sofa she shared with Pinkie and Maud. "Equestria is really at war."

Twilight nodded, having never thought she'd see it happen either. She wanted to think that they should never have gone to Mareitania, but then she just felt guilty at the thought of leaving all those ponies to suffer under the Duke. What she certainly didn't think it was, was fair. Two countries getting dragged into conflict because of Faust. It made the idea of beating her all the more delicious.

"Why did Celestia say we were at war?" Fleur asked. "Mareitania hasn't actually attacked us, or declared war on us, or anything?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and prepared herself to explain. "After Equestria demilitarized itself centuries ago, laws were written for what situations an army could be raised in. First is if we are attacked. Second is if we are threatened with war, and third is in defence of an allied nation. The third option is off the table, so to legally create an army, we have to be under one of the first two conditions, and it'll be too late to do so once we are actually under attack."

"Oh..."

Twilight wanted to explain further, but felt it would only confuse the issue. The only reason she knew that much was because she'd had to learn these things as a princess. Otherwise Celestia kept a firm lid on all things military, apart from the E.U.P, which wasn't really an army. It just looked like one.

She was stirred from her thoughts by a knock at the door, followed by Celestia entering through it. She wore her usual impassive smile, but it wasn't hard to see how troubled her eyes were.

"Sorry to disturb you all, but I have a task for Rainbow." Celestia held a letter up in front of Rainbow that the pegasus took in her hooves. "Take that to Captain Spitfire please. It's a summons to a briefing Luna will be holding with Shining Armour tomorrow."

"Okay, gotch- I mean, yes ma'am." Rainbow saluted for emphasis. "I guess that means it's time for me to leave then." She stood and embraced Pinkie, causing the pink mare to start crying again, then hugged Twilight. "You two better take care of yourselves."

"And you," Twilight said back. "What you're doing makes my job sound easy."

"Yeah..." Rainbow started to leave, but kept looking back, unwilling to make the final steps towards leaving them for good. She stopped, her hoof on the threshold, "Bye guys," she whispered.

"Bye Rainbow."

"B-b-bye..." Pinkie fell against Maud and sobbed as Rainbow went out of sight.

Twilight's eyes lingered on the doorway for a moment, before she turned to Celestia. "What about me?"

"Canterlot's about to become a very busy place, so I've ordered the transfer of all Starswirl's writings to your castle in Ponyville. Apart from that, I'm leaving it all to you to decide how you go about this, what ponies you use, and where you go."

"Okay." Twilight wanted to say more, but seeing Celestia still raised her hackles enough to make her need to bite her tongue around her fellow princess.

"I wish I could talk more, but I think you understand that there is much for all of us to do, and that we need to do it. Take care of yourself Twilight."

"You too," Twilight said back, at least capable of being genuine in her sentiment that time.

Twilight waited until Celestia was gone, then sat back and sighed before turning to Pinkie. "Are you sure going back to your family farm is what you want to do?"

"I-I-I'm sure. I'm not a smart pony like you, so I won't be much help with what you're doing, and the thought of being in Ponyville without any of my friends..." Pinkie shook her head, "I'll be safe at home, and maybe I can find some other way to help while I'm there." Pinkie smiled as bravely as she could.

"As long as you're sure." Twilight pulled Pinkie into a hug, then looked at Maud as she impassively watched, "Please take care of her."

"I promise."

Twilight held the hug a little longer, then let go, allowing Maud to pull Pinkie to her hooves. "Let's go home Pinkie."

"'kay. Bye Twilight."

"Goodbye Pinkie."

Twilight waved until Pinkie was out of sight, then let her hoof fall to her side as she found herself wishing both Rainbow and Pinkie could come with her. But she knew that Rainbow couldn't, and she understood Pinkie's reasons, even if she disagreed that Pinkie wasn't smart. Pinkie was a lot smarter than she ever gave herself credit for.

She was disturbed as a white body, a grey body, a blue body, and a small yellow body surrounded her on all sides and held her, reminding Twilight that while her Ponyville friends were gone, she was far from alone.

"Thanks guys." She sniffed and wiped her eyes, trying to get herself to at least look normal, and capable. She did still have a job to do after all. "So, the quest is before us. Who's with me?" Fleur and Octavia immediately looked guilty.

"I want to Twilight," said Fleur, "but this sounds like it's going to involve a lot of travelling, and there's no way I can do that with my leg; I'd only slow you down. That and Swift can't interrupt her treatment or her wings might grow back wrong."

"Hey!" the filly squeaked, "Don't drag me into this! I want to go with Twilight!"

"Filly, you can't."

"But Twilight could do my treatment easy!"

"Do you really think Twilight has the time to do that? And drag my slow ass around? I'm sorry filly, but we can't go."

"How about Twilight decides then?" The filly looked up at Twilight, her eyes large and dewy. She stuck her bottom lip out as well. Twilight swallowed nervously as the lip trembled.

"I'm sorry filly, but Fleur's right. Your treatment has to come first." Twilight started to sweat as the trembling intensified. Fleur must have been giving her lessons.

"Pleeease?"

"Oh alr- No! No, I'm afraid you cannot come." Twilight almost collapsed as the filly released her from her grip.

"You guys fucking suck."

"Noted." Twilight wiped away the layer of sweat that had built up on her brow. "How about you Octavia?"

Octavia shook her head, unable and unwilling to look at her friends. "I... I can't..."

"Why the hell not?" the filly asked.

"Because- Because I just can't, okay! I'm sorry, but I just can't put myself through that again."

"We're getting away from the war this time," Trixie pointed out. "In fact, I might say what we're doing is pretty damn safe in comparison. Safer even than staying here."

Octavia didn't agree. "You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into," she said, her hooves starting to tremble. "I can't bear the thought of getting any more blood on my hooves, so please, don't make me go."

"It's okay Octavia," Twilight said soothingly. "Nopony is making you go."

"Okay, I just- I-" Octavia ran a hoof back through her mane, "I'm sorry, but I just don't have it in myself for another big adventure. I'm also not saying this entirely for myself. If I go, Summer will go, leaving behind the life she just started to build for herself. Please don't ask her to go too."

"I won't," Twilight promised. She couldn't fault Octavia for not wanting to go on another adventure after Mareitania, and she didn't want to tear Summer's life apart either. That didn't mean that theirs and Fleur's refusals didn't sting, but she could mostly understand.

"You guys suck," Trixie said, accurately echoing the rest of Twilight's thoughts that didn't understand. "The fate of the world is hanging in the balance here, and you're being all 'boo-hoo-hoo, I can't do it.' What the actual fuck guys?"

Fleur rolled her eyes and smirked, "I take you're going then?"

"Oh hell yes I am! I've got nothing better to do, have no responsibilities, and-"

"Am completely emotionally dependant on Twilight?" Octavia suggested.

"What? N-no I'm not! Why would you even say that? Idiot..." Trixie blushed, but persevered, "Besides, I think the whole 'fate of the world' thing is the major overriding factor here."

"I wasn't lying," said Fleur. "I'd jump right into this with you if I could, but I'd only slow things down, and the filly can't interrupt her treatment. I also think Octavia having a mental breakdown might slow things down as well."

Octavia rubbed the tips of her forehooves together in a circular fashion, "You didn't have to say it quite like that you know. Fleur isn't wrong though Trixie; we really aren't the best ponies for this."

"Fine, whatever. I'm going anyway."

Twilight smiled at Trixie, happy that at least one of them was coming. "Trixie, they have good reasons, so stop it." Twilight pulled them all back into a hug, "I'm going to miss you guys-"

"While we're off saving the world," Trixie added. "But, I guess I'm going to miss you too."

"Good luck you two," said Octavia.

"And take care of yourselves," Fleur said as well.

"And bring back souvenirs," said the filly.

"Okay," Twilight said back to all of them. She sank deeper into the hug, and was suddenly struck by the feeling, surrounded as she was by her friends, that after all that had happened there was something she was forgetting.

Author's Notes:

Ok, posting this a little later in the day than I intended, but I was dying on the side of a hill at the time I usually do this, and omg I'm so bloody unfit it's laughable.

In other news, wow episode ten was some seriously good stuff. No kidding. !0/10. Loved it. not saying more for spoilers sake, but seriously, hell yes.