A column of soldiers marched into our warcamp. Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns all. Their weapons were shouldered as they marched by uncontested. Ranging from spears to shovels. The difference between my soldiers and these new soldiers was stark. While the marching column appeared relatively fresh and clean, the dirt and grime from traveling notwithstanding, the soldiers I had grown used to were worn, muddy, and looked like they had never seen a bath tub or running river in their life.

I realized I wasn't much cleaner.

The familiar colors of pink and white stood above the procession, on a cart that had pulled off to the side.

"Tia!" I called out, cantering forward.

My sister turned to see who had called, she wore an Earth Pony style breast plate with a simple traveling cloak.

At first confusion crossed her face, likely because she didn't recognize the filthy Pony running towards her. But her face lit up as she realized who I was.

"Lu!" she exclaimed, jumping from the cart and landing in the mud below.

We embraced, surrounded by soldiers both old and new.

And for a moment, the awful feeling in my stomach went away.

"I missed you Tia." I murmured.

"And I you." she replied.

We held each other for another few moments before seperating.

"So... Um... How've you been?" I asked awkwardly.

"Busy." Tia replied with a sigh. "Everfree City has been expanding with all the refugees. I've been working at all hours of the day getting things figured out."

"Everfree City?" I asked with no small amount of confusion.

"Oh right. A vote was held. It was between 'Everfree', as in forever free, and 'Ponyland', as in the land of Ponies." she nodded. "The consensus was Everfree was a better name for a city, but Ponyland would be a better name for a united tribe."

"Everfree..." I said slowly, testing the feel of it on my tongue. "I like it. It makes a degree of sense, being free from the mistakes of our past."

"I agree." Tia nodded. "Anyway, Everfree City got so many refugees we had to start making up jobs so everypony was actually doing something. That was when word got back to us that you defeated Grandmaster Ebony Rain at Casúrdomhain."

"Hm." I hummed, nodding.

"Somehow, the idea of a second call for volunteers got around and we started getting more volunteers." she shrugged. "Since you had already bested one of the remnants of the old tribes, we decided to make it official and started raising reinforcements for you. But it looks like we were too late to help with Pegasopolis." she remarked.

"Uh... Heh heh... Funny you should say that..." I awkwardly put forth.

"How do you mean? I've only been here for ten minutes and I already know you're holding a feast."

"It's... A bit more nuanced than that." I said nervously.

Stars above... How was I going to explain this?

"So as you know, nopony but a Pegasus can enter Pegasopolis." I started.

From the beginning would be best.

"I'm aware." Tia said slowly.

"So, since we can't actually attack the city directly, I opted for a... Alternate way to attack the city. We can keep them here, but we can't step hoof in the city. So I decided to use the supplies I took from Casúrdomhain to starve the city out. The feast I'm throwing is to tempt the defenders into surrendering, which I have reasons to believe is likely." I sat on my haunches and tapped my hooves nervously.

How would she react? It was a brutal method, one that didn't discriminate between peasant and soldier. But I didn't see another path forward.

Perhaps I hadn't learned my lesson from the peasant thief after all...

Tia's eyes were wide in surprise.

"I... See..." she said eventually.

"I know it wasn't exactly what you wanted when you gave me this task." I continued to explain. "But I've been giving them a chance to surrender every morning. Breakfast for two, brought to Breakfast Outlook every day. I try to goad them into surrendering by offering food everyday, but when they refuse I come back and give the spare meal to the first Pony I see. Usually Stygian here or Gold-"

"If you've been offering them a chance to surrender everyday, why do you think they're close to? Sun knows how much food they have stashed up there." Tia interrupted, looking up towards the foreboding city.

"That's..." A flash of a dying mare's yellow eyes. "If I must talk about it, I'd rather do that in private." I admitted.

"... Why Lu? What's wrong?" she asked, concern tainting her voice.

"Tia please... In private." I responded.

Tia looked like she wanted to protest. But something in my voice must've stopped her because she looked at me with concern in her eyes.

"I... Ok Lu." she said softly. "I put you in this position because I trust you. So I'll trust your judgment."

"Thank you Tia." I replied with equal softness.

Our conversation fell into a lull, which wasn't that much of a lull considering the sound of a moving army nearby.

"So..." Tia broke the silence. "Interesting camp you have." she nodded towards the lake.

I looked over to see what she was talking about.

I snorted in amusement.

From our vantage, the camp looked like a wide swathe of bare mud only broken up by the odd ditch, which I knew to be the trenches.

"Come then. I'll show you how we've lasted so long." I gestured for her to follow as I turned to trot towards the camp. "The wind's not bad right now, but that changes when they come raiding. Same thing with the rain, except that never stops." I started to explain.

"Never stops? What do you mean, 'never stops'?" she asked.

"The last time I saw dry weather was when we first surrounded the city." I shrugged.

"Then... How-" she began.

"Oh that's easy. Follow me." I jumped into the trench we were approaching. I looked up to see Tia's face appear over the lip.

"Whoa..." she gasped, seeing that the 'ditch' wasn't a ditch at all.

"Earth Ponies have been fighting Pegasi for centuries, and they developed a few methods to keep them at bay. Come on, there's more to see." I gestured for her to join me.

She hit the floor of the trench rather sloppily, but I knew she wasn't practiced so I didn't bring it up.

"We had to excavate most of this while Pegasopolis was trying to drown us out." I continued. "Beneath these boards, the trench goes a bit deeper, providing an irrigation system that feeds back into the lake." I pointed off in the direction of said lake. "Would've drained away elsewhere, but the valley's low point is directly underneath Pegasopolis." I started to walk down the trench, leading Tia onward. "The trenches extend all around the lake, providing cover from Pegasi above. Trust me, it's a nice place to be when they swoop down."

"That's all well and good, but where is everything else?" Tia asked as we passed a group of Ponies on their way to their posts.

"See for yourself." I grinned, pulling a door open.

In Tia's defense, it looked very much like boards were keeping the trench wall intact.

I ushered Tia into the bustling common room. Lantern light illuminated her agape face as she beheld all the Ponies.

"You've... Your whole camp is underground..." she gasped.

"Yup." I nodded, leading her further into the dugout. "I knew it'd be necessary from the start. With all the rain and wind we would've been miserable on the surface. Nevermind how much we'd need to replace with the lightning."

"I see." Tia hummed, dodging around a stallion that took advantage of the space I was making.

"This way. It'll be calmer deeper inside. We can talk in my quarters." I said, holding open another door for her, for we had crossed the room.

"Thank you... You have quarters?" she asked as she went through the door.

"Yeah. Is there anything wrong with that?" I asked.

"No! I'm just surprised is all. I wasn't sure if you'd stay with the other soldiers or not."

I mean... She wasn't entirely wrong with that. If I were one of the rank and file I wouldn't have batted an eye. I'd have hated being near so many Ponies, but I wouldn't have complained due to the circumstances.

"It's been nice to have a place to meet Ponies privately." I explained, following behind Tia and letting the door close behind me. "It's also been nice to have a place to keep things that should be kept secret." I trotted quickly, to continue leading Tia to my quarters.

"You don't have to justify it to me Lu. I have a similar situation at City Everfree." Tia nodded. "Running the city as Mayor is exhausting with so many Ponies."

"At least you don't have to worry about another Mayor wiping you out." I commented, leading her into another common room, this one sparsely populated, mostly filled with various containers, and lit by only a single lantern.

"Small blessings I suppose." she chuckled.

"This way." I said, turning around a stack of barrels.

Ahead, the door I had come to know intimately, stood resolute in the wall. I approached and held the door open for Tia. As I did, my emotions tried to overwhelm me.

"We can have that private conversation in here." I said, fighting the sudden wave inside my chest.

Keep it together... Keep it together just a little longer...

"Oh? I thought it'd take longer to get here..." Tia remarked stepping inside.

"I uh... Uh... Sometimes need to rush outside for something." I excused, getting a handle on the emotions for a second.

"Are... Are you alright Lu?" Tia asked, suddenly sounding concerned.

Instead of replying, I closed the door behind me. The feeling started to rise again, sensing that it was about to be unleashed.

I didn't even consider my bed. I went for the loose stump usually reserved for guests.

"Lu? Luna!" Tia exclaimed as I flumped onto the crude stool.

I told her everything.

Next Chapter: Chapter 116 The Memories Part 75 Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 53 Minutes