I sat on the edge of my cot, head in my hooves.

On a nearby crate, a lantern's light flickered.

The sounds of Ponies living their lives on the opposite side of the single, closed door were muffled and distant.

Everytime I closed my eyes, even if only to blink, a fading yellow eye glared at me.

I wanted to clench my eyes shut, as if that would block my sight, but the only thing that greeted me when I did was that dying yellow eye.

I could only stare at the floor, trying to force my eyes not to close as the hours ticked by.

Somepony knocked on the door.

"Luna?" came the soft voice of Clover. "Luna are you in there?"

"Y-Yes." I croaked out.

"Are you alright? You've been in there all night..."

No.

But I didn't answer. It wouldn't do to let Ponies know their General was weak.

"Well... Um... Just so you're aware, it is morning... And you insisted on having breakfast at Breakfast Outlook everyday..." Clover reminded, her voice still muffled slightly be the door.

I... I had hadn't I?

I rubbed my dry eyes, trying to restore some normality to them.

The dimming yellow eye glared at me, but I pushed it away with the memory of of icy chains being dragged over permafrost.

"I'm... I'm coming." I said out loud, pushing myself to my hooves and making for the entrance.

The makeshift door creaked as I opened it.

Clover was the only one near the door, but other Ponies were not so steathfully watching from across the room.

I imagined I looked awful.

Clover certainly stiffened when she saw me.

"O-Oh... Luna... Are you alrigh-" she began.

"I'll live." I grunted as I brushed past, perhaps a bit more harshly than I intended

"Uh... Ok..." Clover said quietly.

Something about the way she responded made me flinch in a way I didn't like. But how could I tell her? How could I tell her that every time I closed my eyes I saw that yellow eye glaring at me, both in fear and in accusation. She would've thought I was mad! Hay I thought I was going mad! But how else was I supposed to feel?

I had killed that mare! That innocent mare!

I had brought war to her home. I was the one starving her city. I was the one starving her son.

But I saw no other choice.

I shivered, remembering that night of the Windegos.

The Night of Eternal Winter.

And since Pegasopolis wouldn't surrender voluntarily, it fell to me to make them surrender.

But none of that helped me when it came to Clover.

I resigned myself to silence as I made my way out of the tunnel system.

Clover followed behind me, but I didn't stop her.

Like every other morning since we got here, the morning light was dismal and grey as I finally opened the nearest door leading outside.

The lake had changed in the month or so we had been here. The rain was so constant that what grass remained after our construction had been washed away, all that remained was muddy clay that was trampled from the traffic of so many Ponies. Of the lake itself, what had been a relatively calm and clear body of water was now a cloudy soup of detritus and debris. The remains of plants was common in the mixture, but occasionally the body of a Pony, bloated and swollen with lake water, would float along the surface. Usually they were Pegasi that had fallen from the city or shot out of the sky with javelin or spellfire, but Unicorns and Earth Ponies who had been abducted and dropped from a great height were still fairly regular.

I had instructed that such bodies were to be fished out when possible and given a proper burial, but that didn't stop the bodies from appearing occasionally.

With as much fighting that took place over the lake itself, I was uncertain we would ever recover all the bodies inside.

Stygian waited nearby Breakfast Outlook, the usual cart filled with its usual covered food.

By now we had done this song and dance so much and so often that he didn't stutter as much as he used to. He still nerviously spoke when we ventured into new territory, but he was confident so long as we didn't venture far from:

"Good morning Stygian."

"Good morning General. Here's your breakfast."

"Thank you Stygian. I'll return with the cart when I'm finished."

"Of course Ma'am."

I suspected the colt was also Moon Marked. Perhaps not to such a degree as I was, but still enough to be awkward.

But today there was no such conversation. The colt must've noticed my dour mood and decided not to press the issue. And for that I was grateful.

I didn't want to add to the list of Ponies I had upset today.

Instead all Stygian did was step aside from the cart and allowed me to take it without a word.

"Thank you Stygian." I remarked, at least making the attempt to not be ungrateful.

"Of course Ma'am." he responded, swallowing his nervousness and hiding it well.

But not well enough.

I chose not to press the issue in turn, and pushed the cart towards the Outlook.

Clover stopped and stood by Stygian quietly.

I could feel their eyes on me as I pushed.

Breakfast Outlook had changed, just as the rest of the lakefront had. The grass was gone, but I had instructed my soldiers to keep the outcropping solid by embedding stones along the water's edge, to keep Ponies busy and to make sure my meeting point didn't wash out into the lake with the constant rain.

The cart fell still as it settled into its usual place. I walked in front of the cart as I pulled out the white flag, now dingy from all the dirt it had been subjected to.

I waved it above my head.

"Hey!" I called up.

I waited for a moment to see if anypony's head appeared over the battlement.

Nopony appeared.

Enough of this. The time for playing nice was over.

My horn lit as I fired a spell into the air, purposefully missing the battlements.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

The shapes of several Pegasopolian helmets peaked over the edge.

"Enough of this nonsense!" I called up now that I had their attention. "I know you're out of supplies! Nopony else needs to die!"

"You know nothing Unicorn!" came the distant reply as one of the Pegasi stood up above their comrades.

"Don't I?! Yesterday I had a mare sneak into my supplies!" I exclaimed angrily. "She spent her dying breath begging for the life of her colt! So yes I know you're out!"

The line of helmets withdrew for a moment, before reappearing.

"Are we supposed to believe she wasn't one of yours? How can we trust your word?"

"My soldiers aren't starving!" I yelled back. While it was true I was stretching the rations however I could, it wasn't true that anypony under my command wasn't getting enough to eat. In fact none of the prisoners in my care were starving either. "I could parade a few prisoners out here to show you! But every second you delay is another second you starve yourselves!"

Once more the helmets withdrew.

Despite my irritation at the situation, I forced myself to wait patiently.

The line of helmets came back into view.

"If we were to surrender what promise do we have that you'll keep your word?"

"You have eyes! Good ones too if you pride yourselves on your scouting! Look at the Ponies behind me! Do any of them look like they're starving?" I gestured behind me.

By now, a whole crowd of Ponies had joined Stygian and Clover, watching this whole affair.

"You are out of time!" I continued. "You know what happens next? You will resort to eating each other to keep this siege going! If you could've broken free or wiped us all out you would've done so already!"

The helmets shifted uncomfortably.

"... Oh stars you've already resorted to cannibalism?!" I shrieked.

"Stuff it Night Terror!" A Pegasus in Commander armor flew into view above the battlement. "Why would we trust the word of one who flies the Moon?!"

"Because you're too stubborn to realize you've already lost! Guess how much food we have left!" I shouted. "Go on guess! I'll even give you a hint! I don't think there's a single Pony down here concerned that they'll end up as somepony else's dinner!"

Even at the extended distance, the Commander managed to look embarrassed. But to their credit, they recovered swiftly.

"What do you know horn head?! Maybe we have maybe we haven't! You don't know!"

But the rank and file Pegasi didn't look so confident as their leader. They glanced at each other nervously, clearly not comfortable.

"I swear on my life any Ponies who surrender themselves will be treated with dignity and remain unharmed!" Now I wasn't talking to the Commander, but addressing the Ponies they commanded.

"Belay that! Anypony who surrenders will be court martialed!" The Centurion exclaimed.

"Remember! It may be you next time on the dinner table!" I countered.

Finally sick of this conversation, the Commander took their spear and threw it downward.

I easily stepped aside to avoid it. It had been thrown with much less force than the first spear that had been chucked at me during one of these calls for surrender.

If the Commander only half believed their own words, or if they were weak from starvation, I didn't know. But either way was technically good news for the end of this siege being near.

But the conversation was now over. They would not be talking again today.

I pushed the cart back without even eating.

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