"Twilight, what the fuck is this?" Sparkler stared at the two awkward dogs that took up a good portion of the castle floor. She had actually kind of liked the peace and quiet that she had got up to during Twilight's little trip. No horrible invasions, no weird goofy stuff to deal with, nothing of the sort. She even got to hang out with her little sister, Dinky for a bit, which she had been unable to do for a few weeks with work and annoying blue pegasi ruining her work ethic.

But this was ridiculous.

Twilight smiled. "Well, things went rather weird in Canterlot, and then Ironhoof happened, and well the Diamond Dogs were amenable to send a few surviving members of one of the clans and we're here now."

Sparkler squinted her eyes. "There's so many things wrong with that sentence. But sure, let some Diamond Dogs gallivant around like they own the place; that'll make ponies so very trusting."

Roxie perked her ears up. "So that is yes?"

Sparkler cocked her head. "I will love teaching you the definition of sarcasm." The light purple unicorn breathed. "I bet Twilight would just love creating a school of friendship right here and now, but I don't want to run a halfway house for lost animals. That's Fluttershy's job."

Fluttershy's magenta eye twitched at that, her blue wings slightly puffed up at the mention.

Twilight sighed. "You know me too well."

Sparkler rolled her eyes. "I sure hope I do, I haven't spent years of my life thinking of ways trying to discredit you for nothing. While I think you have some misplaced good in your heart, like most alicorns do, I already have Luna giving me trouble, I don't need the menagerie. I mean Luna almost burned down a whole room making toast. Adding pets on top of that, sorry, but no thanks."

Roxie's ears slunk downwards, her muzzle down to the floor. "Roxie sees."

Applejack placed a hoof on the female dog. "Well, even if Sparkler here is a right pain in the way she's speaking to ya'll. I do have some space for at least one dog." Applejack glanced over at the haughty unicorn, who just crossed her hooves.

Pinkie piped up too. "And I bet Mr. and Mrs. Cake will love a dog too, I mean Mr. Cake wanted one for the twins and while I think this really wasn't his idea, I bet he'd be okay with it. I mean as long as you don't eat the twins and all that. Though the arm thing might weird them out a bit, though I could just say I found you at the pound."

Fluffy bent down and patted Pinkie's head. "Dogs no eat ponies. That's snake job. No idea what pound is, sounds like weight."

Sparkler stared up at the ceiling. "Since we've figured out this exciting idea, now Twilight, please tell me why Spike has been sending you letters every day, multiple times a day, ever since you left. I know he's like ten and all, but I don't like when letters just appear out of thin air-" Twilight and Sparkler began walking away lost in thought.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Nice talk everypony." She groaned and glanced over at Fluttershy, who was tapping a blue hoof rythmically on the floor. "What? I'm just saying that while I love prime egghead talk between those two, there's like two dogs and four other ponies in the room. Absolutely love being forgotten about."

Fluttershy curled a wing over Dash's leg. "Be nice." Fluttershy felt Dash lightly loosen her slightly aggressive stance, her wings falling slightly and the muscles the yellow pegasus had toned through years of animal care relaxed to a normal size. She blushed, still slightly unused to being an outsider looking in to herself. She shook her head, thoughts and feelings coming slightly unabated due to a week of horrible, horrible things. She glanced over at Rarity and quickly tried to save her mind from going down paths she usually didn't tread. "I mean this totally gives Rarity and me some time to see how our parents are doing."

Rarity glanced up. "Oh, I bet they'd just love to see us." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Though I haven't seen them in about a month. Orders and all." Applejack slightly nudged the white unicorn. "Among other reasons. Knowing our mother she'd just love seeing you."

Rainbow facehoofed. "Gag me with a spoon. Rarity, I've met your parents and they're so boring." She glanced over at Fluttershy, who was currently giving her a slight look. She realized her mistake. She backpedaled hard, since even without the Stare, Fluttershy knew exactly where she slept. "I mean, I'd love to see you and Shy's parents'. Not a problem. I'll just wing it- I mean just go on right over.

Pinkie and Applejack looked at each other and shrugged as they saw the rest of their friends walk off, leaving them with two large dogs and themselves to be at peace with, the silence echoing through the castle.

"Good to be home." Applejack said quietly, the words hanging in the air.

Pinkie didn't pay much mind to Applejack as they walked, letting her mind wander ever so slightly as she let the sound of a bustling Ponyville wash over her like a crashing wave. She liked the sounds of a town like this, each little nook and cranny of each building was like its own little world, slightly different than the rest. One moment she could talk to Time Turner about how her medicine was working and all about her day, or she could move to Berry Punch's bar for a glass of milk, or just sit there in the middle of the square quickly composing the next party she'd do. Of course on her time off, else she'd feel some kind of way about how nice the Cakes were being.

She breathed.

"Happiness is fleeting, Pinkie. Me and your ma have told you time and time again to get all this party nonsense out of your head. You wasted a decade's worth of good rubber trying to make your balloons." Igneous breathed, silently mouthing the words that he had heard in the pews that Deacon Blues had railed against the opulence of the outside world. He stared down and stared at his best hope for the family. "Sensation staggers the mind, Pinkie."

She blinked, her body used to navigating Ponyville, each step impeccably timed out in a rhythm as she fell back into memories that she had locked away for years.

Pinkie looked up at her stern father, his face stone-like and distant, his eyes a dull yellow. She had just wanted to ask about the colorful circle in the sky. She stared down at her cutie mark, her purpose undecided. "Colors can't hurt you. That's stupid. It's a color. Not anything else."

Igneous shut the door. "Colors fade quickly. Trust in your Sense, existence is a mess of feelings and emotions. It's painful for ponies like you to be out in the world before being taught all about it. You want to jump into that world without tempering your emotions? Why do you think we still follow the traditions? My father used the pairing stone, his father used it, his father did as well. Emotions are temporary. True love is fleeting."

Pinkie yelled through the door. "Well Granny Pie thought I was ready. And you know what? I'm going to find the best, most awesome pony ever and we're going to be super good friends."

Her father didn't respond as he locked the metal latch. She was used to the dingy walls, each stain was a story to her, each small crack a fissure ready to make her fall through the colorless world and go somewhere better.

She quietly said her words to an unknown princess far away in her castle. Granny Pie said it was the prettiest thing in the world, stained glass as far as the eye could see, whatever that was, and marble shaped out of the mountain itself, dwarfing any building ever. And princesses were special. They could fly away and leave if they wanted to.

Pinkie stared at the far wall, barely moving, hearing her sisters all play outside while she sat there, the only sense of time being the slit of light that entered through the slats of the door, the light moving as each day went on. She sat there and slept. During the times she could see, she pawed at the door, wordlessly hoping she could leave. She could smell the hearthfire cooking the meals for the rest of her family, her empty stomach growling at the slightest hint of food.

Three days later, her father finally unlocked the door.

"Pinkie? You okay?"

Pinkie shook her head and smiled. "Of course."

Applejack carefully eyed the pink earth pony. "Really? Cause you've just been sitting there on the front porch of the Corner not moving is all. Seems kind of weird just saying."

Pinkie stared up at Sugarcube Corner and smiled. "Just feels weird being back home."

Pinkie waved Applejack goodbye, the orange earth pony and smaller diamond dog shrinking into the distance. Pinkie stared at the door for a few moments, the Cakes normally taking a day or two to close the store for Nightmare Night preparations- the pair of ponies loved baking for holiday events and knowing the pair, they'd be baking up a storm in trying to outdo themselves yet again.

She pushed open the door, the brief tinkle of the bell telling her that she truly was back to the place that made her feel okay. She could smell the chocolate from here and she felt like she was ten again, there in the front room of a place that she would have only thought possible in her dreams.

Pinkie had run away towards the east weeks ago, the small filly had beelined through many a town, barely staying for more than a few days at most. She shivered as she dug into the loamy soil and carefully dug out a hole to sleep in. She had wanted to steal a blanket in Alderdale, the pattern had caught her eye.

She had snuck into a large wooden thing and carefully snuck around using her Sense to know when somepony was nearby. Pinkie had stretched out a hoof to the large yellow blanket, her basic reading skills failing her as it was a mess of words on it. She guessed it had to be since the large colorful flag outside had had the same pattern on it. Her mother had told her of patterns. Things read upon the wind and stones. These ponies had to be strong to weave magic in blankets.

She had ran once the odd music had started and a roar of ponies had started to scream nearby.

She carefully dug herself in, leaving herself space for air and drifted off to sleep. She dreamed of rainbows and colors.

"Hello, welcome to Sugarcube Corner-" Pinkie knew that voice anywhere.

"Hi, Mr. Cake, look what I brought home."

Carrot Cake stared up at the hulking Diamond Dog that hunched down and carefully held out his one remaining paw. "Sweet Celestia." He shakily held out his own hoof and tried not to tremble at the thought of Pinkie bringing home another odd pet like thing. He already had issues with Gummy. A new thing would take some getting used to.

"Do not worry, Fluffy mean no harm."

Carrot Cake internally screamed. This wasn't what he meant when he agreed to let Pinkie choose a family dog. Not at all. "Pleased to, uh, meet you. It's totally great to see Pinkie brought home some new friends." He imperceptibly shook as he took the diamond dog's paw and tentatively shook it, his grip weak out of fear. "Let me just warn my wife about you cause she doesn't like dogs all that much."

Fluffy nodded. "Fluffy sit on floor until you get back."

Pinkie cocked her head as she wondered exactly when Mrs. Cake said that because all she came up with was a complete blank. She felt a slight twitch of her left hoof and realized why- that was a rather rare occurrence.

Mrs. Cake walked in slightly covered in flour and, for a slight moment, very, very annoyed. Once she saw Pinkie sitting there she immediately brightened. With a slightly larger pep in her step she walked over and gave the pink earth pony a large hug. She held it there for a slight moment and let go. "Pinkie, where exactly have you been? I mean I get you and your friends go off on adventures all the time, though I do worry a lot about that, but a week without a letter or one of your care packages made me slightly more worried than normal. You know from a lemon chiffon to a light carrot cake in worry."

Pinkie hesitated for a moment. "Yeah. I would have picked up something better for the twins than a dog but things went all topsy turvy and well that was all I got."

Mrs. Cake stared up at the dog and rolled her eyes. "Carrot-" she breathed. "said you brought like a hound from Tartarus or something that would eat our foals Which going by the look of it was a slight exaggeration."

Fluffy cocked his head. "Why ponies think dogs eat ponies, Fluffy love ponies. They cute and small and colorful, though they have few colors."

Mrs. Cake smiled. "Well I didn't expect Pinkie to bring home something that would hurt the twins- though I think those two would have just liked seeing their Auntie Pinkie more than anything else. I'd wake them up, but they just got to sleep for once."

Pinkie nodded. "For once I agree. And anyway, it'd be better for them to wake up with me at one hundred percent instead of like fifty percent."

The earth pony baker stared at Pinkie, unaccustomed to the quiet and slightly off ball of energy that Pinkie tended to be. It had been a very, very long time since she had seen the party pony be even slightly off- sure the Party Incident was a thing and the whole clone fiasco was another, but those were uncommon. Mrs. Cake could see that something was wrong, Pinkie was barely talking in a conversation that should be a real icebreaker. "Well, sweetie, I'll leave you be for the day if you want. Now, where were we you rather odd dog? Now first things first, a bath is probably best-"

Pinkie pulled out a chair a carefully grabbed a muffin off the counter. She took a bite of it and frowned. It tasted like one of Mrs. Cake's buttermilk cranberry muffins. She knew the taste outright and yet it tasted off. Something was off about it, too much salt or not enough baking powder. Something felt off right here. Which was odd since she normally felt okay in Ponyville, everything was perfect again. Ironhoof was a bad nightmare. Maybe she'd have to talk to her family for the first time in a while, but that was a possibility.

And Pinkie Senses were just certain possibilities. Like a 99 percent chance, able to be wrong, but just barely. She put the muffin aside and stared at the Nightmare Night decorations all around her, spider webs draped on the ceiling, edible eyeball treats, little cakes in scary shapes, and yet she didn't care. She just felt drained and hollow. A week of horrible things hit her mind again. Every time she closed her eyes, she still saw Twilight on the ground, broken and bleeding, staring at her. Talking to her and saying that everything was okay. She still felt the Storm Beast's neck snap whenever she gripped onto something. The feeling of death just hung over her like a cloud. These things all threw her off her sunny state.

She just couldn't completely look at the world the same exact way. Sure she felt death when Granny Pie died, but she had been one pony. One life, not hundreds at once screaming in pain. She died peaceful, a hoof on Pinkie's head. Just serenely staring up at the ceiling, a smile on her face at the end. They didn't. She felt their lives wink out in messy ways. Her Pinkie Sense told her what they died from. And it was far from peaceful.

She felt wetness on her fur as she stared at the muffin.

Pinkie tried to steer her mind away from pain. Her dad had once said to never let her emotions get the best of her, and she kept trying to think of something that made her happy but she kept coming up with Twilight. And that made her mind drift to Moondancer. She tried to breathe in and out and yet she could only think of how her Pinkie Sense reacted to the unicorn. It was a black hole. Nothing was there. Sure she could feel love come from the mare in short bursts that overpowered her senses, but it was only while she was angry or unguarded. Otherwise, it was usually a void of no emotion, no feelings, nothing. Complete silence. She hadn't felt that before.

Pinkie had felt awful about tricking Moondancer. It was against every part of her Party Code, and yet a part of her, a small part, had felt jealous. She didn't want to say it out loud, but she did. Twilight had raced across Equestria to save a friend Pinkie never knew she had. And she felt Moondancer's love for a brief moment.

And Pinkie felt inadequate. She didn't feel that obsessive love for Twilight. Sure, she loved Twilight, but Twilight was sometimes stupid and silly and did dumb things. Or she was too sex obsessed. And sometimes when Pinkie tried to talk to Twilight like a normal pony, the alicorn was surprised she could hold a conversation.

Pinkie stared at the nearby counter, and saw her reflection. And she shivered as she saw herself reflected, smaller and mouthing words a part of her said every night. 'Doesn't it feel nice to be wanted?'

Pinkie carefully got up and blocked out the filly who was staring at her dead eyed in the mirror. She had felt everything in Ironhoof die or partially die and Granny Pie had said her job was hard, but she hadn't expected feeling what death felt like. Cold and clammy, a thousand needles jammed directly into your spine, every bone feeling stiff and stuck firmly in place. She did a bad thing lying to Twilight, and tricking Moondancer.

Emotions caused pain. She had thought her dad was trying to protect her way too hard- that he didn't understand her. And yet she never saw Granny Pie have ponies over. She only let Pinkie in to talk and the dusty room she had died in was bare of anything that told her life story. She pushed the muffin over and sighed.

She had run away from home when she was seven just because she wanted to know what happiness felt like. And look at her now, staring at a half eaten muffin, unsure of what exactly to do. Move and accept some sort of change or drown in helplessness.

She felt muted, and as she looked at her fur she saw the color drain from it. A light touch of her hair felt the bouncy curls straighten to stringy locks. She always hated this. Granny Pie had always said it was one of her least favorite parts of being special and Pinkie agreed. This cold side of her often hurt her friends and surprised them whenever it came out. She could hear the old mare in her head as she sat there, Pinkie's head firmly on a hard wooden table.

Pinkie, do you know what my own grandmare said to me when I was complaining about being a seer? She said, 'Filly, don't you mind what the others say about your moods. Things aren't always saccharine sweet. Sometimes a little bit of bitterness is needed. It refocuses your powers, see? Not every pony can handle whatever our little pink ancestor did with Discord, but I'm not minding." Granny Pie wheezed as she laughed, a low hearty chuckle came from the old mare. "That chaotic thing's gifts tend to be a thing you learn to either deal with and make better or you just go completely crazy. And I've been blessed to know when good things happen: barn raising, foals, weddings, the things your ma just gets all excited about. Though I do hate when a war's on its way. Or a drought. Plagues are bad too. You can feel it in your bones, a great big sheen of pain comes over you and after that kind of feel I get all kinds of down for weeks." Granny Pie gripped onto Pinkie's small hoof. "Don't listen to your father cause my son is silly about killing feelings. What does he want ponies to be? Dead, I say. Be gray if you want, but Pinkie always be true to yourself. The world outside is a scary place. There always has to be somepony protecting it in someway, no matter how small.

Pinkie blinked.

She had forgotten that day, the week after full of sadness and heartbreak, but even a decade after her death, Granny Pie was providing wisdom somewhere up there. She partially smiled and wiped tears from her eyes.

Pinkie got up and stretched. She had felt the big one. Things were going to get worse before they got better. And while she felt the pit of her stomach roil around in nervous waves, she had somewhere better to be. She carefully pushed the long bangs of hair out of her face and frowned. She had tried to act okay with Twilight, though some of the things the alicorn said to her in passing did hurt. She had to get something off her chest and with how messed up her mind was, why not right now.

She carefully pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled a quick note to the Cakes. Just in case things with Twilight turned, well, bad. Pinkie didn't hear what Moondancer and Twilight had been completely talking about, though her Sense had told her at least the gist of it.

And she had to get this off her chest to focus on the future.

Applejack stared at the Acres, the old barn providing her comfort, the rolling hills and semi-bare apple trees telling her that she would have to tip toe around the place for a while due to some rather bad timing with that whole mess. She hunkered down and pulled down Roxie to the grass, hopefully wishing that one rather bad talking to wasn't going to happen.

Roxie whined as she tried to get back up, rApplejack's hoof gently on her head. "What is going on? Roxie senses danger, but there is none here."

Applejack spotted Big Mac and Caramel trotting over to her, her brother's face told her all that she need to know. She carefully rose to her hooves and waved, hoping that her brother wouldn't be too mad about whatever he was glaring about.

"Applejack."

"Hey Mac. Caramel."

Big Mac glanced at Roxie. "So Applejack. How was your week? Mine was fantastic."

Applejack cringed at trying to figure out how to process the last week. "Fine."

Caramel rolled his eyes. While he preferred tall, dark, handsome, and quiet relationships, this was obnoxious. "Maccy. Stop it or else I'm gonna have to get Pinkie to postpone our little fun party until the winter. You ever seen strippers in parkas? Cause I don't want to find that out. Now talk like normal ponies, cause if I wanted to talk to a rock, I'd dig a hole and sit in it."

Applejack raised her eyebrow. "So I didn't talk to Rarity."

Mac closed his eyes. "I told y'all to talk about it. A week and you ain't talked to your marefriend? What were you doing out there?"

Applejack sighed. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Caramel sighed. "Guess that means no hanky panky then. Bummer, weeklong vacations are what my dreams are made of and yet we had a fun time ourselves." Caramel winked at Applejack. "But whatever they did, I guess it was rather important what with Mister Big Talker here talking my ears off about you saving the day over and over. Which for the record is so adorable cause if I had siblings, I'd be the exact same way."

Applejack just looked at Caramel and remembered why she didn't particularly like the stallion. Hard worker sure. Rather nice stallion, yeah. Fine with foals. Probably. But he sucked out air from the room by the sheer number of words that he spewed out once her opened his mouth. To paraphrase a Granny Smith quote, he spoke for two. Which made him a perfect match for Mac.

But he was just too chipper.

"I'll mention it if I have time, Mac, but I just want to relax for one second, get some kind of moment to myself and just take in the sights. And then I'll be back to normal, no problem." Applejack laid a hoof on her brother. "And sorry for skipping out on the harvest, it really wasn't my intention."

Big Mac groaned, "Don't you be going on about your intentions. I mean Granny was all worried sick about y'all and Applebloom wouldn't leave me alone with all her questions." He rubbed his face with a hoof. "It's fine. Nothing I couldn't handle anyway." He sternly looked at his sister. "But don't go running off again. Cause I worried that somehow you'd never come back. Equestria's a huge place and I've been hearing stuff at the bar every once in a while. Farming quotas being ramped up, ponies moving around. And I had you in some remote place of Equestria saving the world or something cause even if you ain't talking 'bout it I know that look."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, Mac, you got me." She hugged Mac the best she could. "Been a really, really bad week."

Roxie twiddled her paws, looking down at the scene. "So what does Roxie do now? Hug? Belly rub?"

Applejack looked up at the dog. "I didn't forget about you."

Caramel groaned. "AJ, please don't tell me that you brought a diamond dog home. I mean I work near Roseluck and the rest of the girls but they are some conspiracy riddled crazy ponies. Just the other day I heard them rant about how the Diamond Dogs would take over the town if they ever came back."

Applejack facehoofed. "We'll cross that bridge when ponies start causing trouble, but I really don't think the two we brought home will be much trouble, or their pack for all the good that is."

Caramel rolled his eyes. "Those girls just love hearing themselves talk anyway, though Ponyville has a problem about overreacting to things and I'm a terrified example of that. I mean don't get me started about spiders. Or thunderstorms. Or a whole host of things. So tell me why you brought Winona's red maned stepdog to the Acres."

Mac eyed his coltfriend.

Caramel pointed at Roxie. "Don't give me that look, I mean she's a dead ringer for the best collie in the whole area. And I'm not biased at all cause it's not my dog. She's just a cute, fluffy thing and I love cute, fluffy things."

Applejack shrugged. "I don't know why she looks like that. Just give me a place to hide her cause I don't want Granny- or especially Applebloom to find out a mess like this."

Caramel placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. This dog-"

Roxie bent down for a moment to scratch her ear. "Roxie's name is Roxie."

Caramel took the hint in stride. "Yes, Roxie here. Cute name. She's like six feet tall and built like a brick house. No offense. I mean I've never even seen a diamond dog before. I don't know how big they are. But even though your Granny is half blind and scraping death's door at times, she's got a mind like a steel trap. A completely bonkers steel trap, but this isn't going to work at all."

Applejack sighed. "I mean don't you have a hole to bury her in or something?"

Roxie chuckled. "Orange one forgets dogs can dig."

Applejack looked at Roxie and realized that the week she had must have drained her common sense. "Of course. The easiest solution stared me right in the face the whole time.

Dash groaned as the three mares walked up to the most nondescript house Dash had ever seen. Just a house, white, four walls, an okay garden- it looked like something her mother or father would turn their noses to. Though that was purely a guess what with those two never contacting her again after the Sonic Rainboom. Probably living it up in Manehattan or something, she guessed.

Rarity knocked on the door and waited.

Rainbow tapped a yellow hoof on the ground. She hated waiting.

The door opened and Sweetie Belle stared at the three ponies. "Rarity? Fluttershy? What are you doing here?"

Rarity cocked her head. "Sorry for not coming over a lot, Sweetie, Canterlot took up a lot of time, in more ways than one. Is mother home?"

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah. You want to talk to her or something?"

Rarity nodded. "Just want to say hello."

Sweetie looked at her sister funny. "You wanted to say hi to mom just cause? That's weird. One sec." Sweetie Belle turned and cupped a hoof to her mouth. "Mom, Rarity's home and wants to talk to you about something, Oh and Fluttershy's here too."

"Sweetie, honey, I tell you all the time to not yell in the house, that's unbecoming of a mare." Cookie Crumbles walked out of the kitchen and saw who was at the door. "Dearies come on in, it's felt like literal years since you've come to see me." She smiled as she hugged Rarity and Fluttershy. "I mean honestly, I'm how far away from both of you and it takes Canterlot to be hit by some bad stuff to come see your dear mother? I'd say I'd want more horrible things, but Magnum and I already lived through a war before. It's nothing good."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Mother, Fluttershy and I haven't even mentioned that. How in the world do you know about that?"

Cookie laughed. "I had to get creative dear. And like how I try to keep myself tangentially in your sister's life, I keep in touch with yours. Though mostly by accident, Twilight Velvet told me about how Canterlot was doing a few days ago." Cookie levitated a pot of tea over. "Now let's talk about something far less depressing than old age and war. Fluttershy how's the animals doing?"

Fluttershy held up a hoof. "Uh, sorry, but I thought you said Twilight Velvet? Like Twilight's mom?"

Cookie sipped her tea and set the cup down, careful to make sure a saucer was below the cup. She smiled. "Let's see you're one of Rara's friends. . .blue. . .ah, yes, Rainbow." She tapped her head. "Of course I know Velvet. She was slightly older than me in the School for Gifted Unicorns. Honestly, while I like Night Light and all from how she describes him in her little letters, our newest Princess has most of her foibles and push from her. Not the neurotic behavior, that's her dad for sure, but the rest."

Rarity and Fluttershy shared a look. The fashionista had multiple questions on her mind. "You never told us about this. I thought you went to school for baking or something. From how Twilight mentions her schooling- that's a place your have to work to get in. Not just. . .show up and be present."

Their mother sat back and crossed her hooves. "It wasn't the time to mention it. I mean what with raising you and Fluttershy to some vague ideal of mares- I was far too busy raising a family to care about any past fun I had. You'll get that when you have kids. Things fall to the wayside and change." She lazily stirred her tea. "The pony I was twenty years ago isn't exactly what I am now, hints of that pony flare up every now and then, I see her in the mirror sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Even if your little sister is currently in that teenager stage."

Rarity nodded, slowly trying to realize that maybe her mother was slightly more complex that she had realized. "How is Sweetie? I mean Rainbow here was talking about how Scootaloo was, and Applejack often talks about her sister, but with how busy I am- honestly I just forget she's there." Rarity fidgeted.

Cookie Crumbles stared at her daughters and sighed. "I keep trying to talk about school. What with the whole blank flank problem she thinks she's having, and the bullies, she's been really subdued. And I mean I have been trying to get into the PTA meetings and all that what with Cheerilee mentioning there's a real issue with her grades. Offhoofedly Sweetie's mentioned some fights she's got into." She picked up her cup and wistfully stared at the china's design, little splotches of black and white. "I think back to both of your childhoods and I don't remember you getting into actual fights. Something about Diamond feels off to me- and that's coming from me knowing her mother."

Dash leaned in. "So what do you want us to do about it?"

The older mare wryly smiled. "I don't know, Shy. But I know I don't like Spoiled Rich at all. And I haven't ever since she was young. I always said to let her comments slide off of you two like butter, but I don't know how Sweetie's dealing with that daughter of hers."

Fluttershy shivered at the memories that name brought up when she thought of her, the daily name calling, the kicking, the snide comments about a whole number of things. She stretched a wing out to Dash and quietly entwined a wing her marefriend.

Dash felt her draw close and sighed. "Well if you need anything, you know where to find us."

Cookie nodded.

Scootaloo breathed in and out as her muscles felt sore. She had tried to keep up the stretches and things that the doctor told her to do last week, and all the things she felt right now were pain. Dull aches in muscles that she forgot she had and her wings involuntarily twitched as she walked home. She had timed out the walk perfectly to a t, her steps hitching at points, each step slightly off with how her body naturally twisted, favoring her right side. Diamond Tiara had seemed off today, maybe it was the holiday coming up, but she seemed distant. Maybe she was sick or something. She hadn't been around for a few days.

Scootaloo didn't care cause that just meant one less day being bullied about being a 'cripple' or something the filly said. Dodo one day, penguin the next. Ostrich. All things that couldn't fly. She breathed in and out, slowly trying to get Twilight's calming method down, counting to ten.

"I'm only like two blocks away."

Scootaloo stopped as she saw who was standing a few yards away. "Silver Spoon?"

The gray earth filly carefully touched her glasses. "Hey."

Scootaloo carefully looked around. Silver had rarely, if ever said hi to anypony that DT hated, and the orange pegasus was often around the top of that 'do not talk to' list. "Is Diamond around?"

Silver Spoon shook her head back and forth.

"So what do you want to talk about? I mean it's nice seeing you and all and not getting the crap beat out of me for once, but it's odd. Not having that happen."

Silver looked down. "I just want to talk. In private."

Scootaloo waited for a moment and closed her eyes. Nothing came. Opening them again, she saw Silver just standing there waiting. "Fine." She awkwardly stretched out a wing and pointed at Silver. "Didn't have anything better to do.anyway, so when you see Dash- thank her cause I was going to have time with her today but I haven't seen her in a week."

Silver quietly walked behind Scootaloo.

Applejack coughed as she carefully walked through the detritus filled old storehouse on the southern edge of Sweet Apple Acres. She carefully ducked under a few loose and broken boards and looked at the small building's ramshackle interior- Granny had packed away so many things in the years since they had stopped using this place. The storeroom was stocked with things she had probably forgotten about- Granny was sadly getting up in years and the small place showed it from a corner dedicated to old family photos, cracked glass cobwebs covering black and white photos of generations of Apples, to old hoofcarts in another corner, too small for Big Mac, too big for AJ's own use. Applejack sighed as she stepped over folders of memories just sitting here gathering dust and slowly crumbling away.

"Mac, your family has a hoarding problem." Caramel waved the air with a hoof.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Everything here is perfectly still usable."

Caramel demurely smiled as he sat in an old rocking chair and leaned back. "Whatever floats your boat. While I love antiquing as much as any other stallion, this is a bit much and-" Caramel stretched. "-weren't we trying to find a perfectly good doghouse for Winona Two here?"

Roxie bent her head down and peered at the mess. "This is no den but it could work for Roxie." The diamond dog dropped down on all fours and walked briskly into the room, her tail lazily wagging about. She carefully stepped over chairs and gathered a few tattered blankets in her paws. "Feels like Appleloosa. Lived in a few farmhouses, some places like this." She carefully patted down the blankets in the middle of the room and carefully pushed some of the bigger furniture pieces away to give her room to maneuver. With a quick twist of her body, she walked in a circle and laid down on the floor. "Hmm."

Caramel sighed. "Cool, the dog's happy, now can we like talk about anything else? Like how exactly you got a dog cause I'm sorry but stepping around the question by saying 'we'll talk later' is fine and dandy but I'm curious and your killing me with the suspense."

Applejack stretched. She glanced around and sighed as she could see faded pictures of her mom and dad staring back at her- waiting for her to speak. "Fine. But it's going to be a long story."

Big Mac sat down carefully on a rocking chair and carefully rocked back and forth, the old chair creaking under his weight. "Well, Caramel and me finished the harvest, so we don't have to worry 'bout any of that. So I got all day."

Caramel stretched. "And anyway, with Nightmare Night coming up, I can just say I was preparing for the holiday. All my customers know how. . .extra I can be." He sat down in front of Big Mac's chair and laughed as he saw the farmer linger a little bit too long on his back. "So while I'd prefer getting some popcorn or something to prepare for whatever you're going to tell us, I guess I'll just wait."

Applejack groaned. "Okay. So I have to start all the way back with how we got to Canterlot-"

Scootaloo carefully opened the door to her house, taking the key from under the welcome mat and carefully holding it in her wing and pushed the door open. She sighed as she saw the pile of laundry that was near the door, probably Lyra had been focused on her work or something. She stepped over the mess and let Silver inside. "Sorry, I don't often get to have friends over."

Silver awkwardly smiled. "You should see what my parents have for messes. I used to have white fur before my dad let charcoal dust all over our house." She looked at the pegasus, who just shrugged. "I mean it's a joke. My family's weaponsmiths- so chaotic mess is comforting."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Huh, never would have guessed. From your cutie mark, I thought you were something else."

Silver looked down at her cutie mark and carefully traced it with her hoof. "I like making jewelry, though that's more for unicorns. Magic helps a lot when you're working with smaller materials."

Scootaloo just nodded and tried not to have her body involuntarily twitch as she moved. She could hear her parents argue loudly through the wall about something, but she didn't really care. Sometimes they argued about work, sometimes Lyra said something. Sometimes it was Bon Bon, she was used to something being odd. It was better than any orphanage she knew and anyway, it wasn't too common.

"Bon Bon, you should have told me-"

Scootaloo sighed. "So you want to go upstairs to talk about DT or what? Probably be a little quieter."

Silver nodded. The pair walked upstairs and quickly opened the door to Scootaloo's room, the walls plastered with Wonderbolts memorabilia and pictures of Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo laid down on her bed and stretched herself out. Silver just took a bean bag chair and squished herself on it.

"So DT's been acting weird."

"Yeah."

Scootaloo facehoofed. "I'm saying can you explain cause I don't have all day. Cheerilee did give us some homework and honestly I'm terrible at math."

"Quadratic equations aren't that hard. I could show you if you want once we're done." Silver straightened her glasses and carefully took them off her face, checking the glass for any smudges. "But DT's been distant. More so than usual."

"How so? I mean she seems perfectly snotty still. Quieter sure, but she's still a perfect ray of sunshine when she wants to be. And I can see by your face- that was completely sarcastic."

Silver coughed. "Yeah. I guessed. But I mean I haven't been able to come over to her house anymore. At all. She says I didn't do anything and I keep replaying stuff I might have said to set her off and nothing. Just we separate once school ends and I only get within like a few houses radius to her mansion."

Scootaloo sighed. "Sounds like you could just be in a rough patch or something."

Silver laid her head back and sighed. "She tells me everything. About her crazy aunt. About her family problems. About her dad's business. I think she's lonely and getting even more remote and distant isn't helping. You know what crazy stuff we did when she said she was finally an adult? We did things. Did a whole lot. And maybe I'm crazy, but you don't just ghost out on somepony without a reason."

Scootaloo groaned. "Fine. So when did this actually start?"

Silver leaned forward. "Her mom got back from Canterlot a week or so ago. I mean I'm unsure exactly when, but she had a big showing of her jewelry collection and her creations. Diamond told me that her mom had been obsessing over pleasing the rich in Canterlot for weeks. I knew that because that makes her come over to my place more- what with her dad being busy with his land and stores and her mom becoming like, uh, SB's sister when she's preparing for a show."

"So she got back and what?"

"Diamond didn't tell me much before she got quiet but it sounds like she's gone next level crazy."

Spoiled Rich breathed in an out as she carefully stared at each and every piece of jewelry she had made with her own hooves. Each brooch, each necklace, each cuff link. Not to mention all the other things the rich and famous had ordered from her in twenty years of just being the pony that had a way in the tight circles of Canterlot. She had filed away the Ponyville twang that she used to have to get in there- showing off barely competent wares in the beginning. Then the Blueblood line had seen a faint glimmer of something and she had been in.

And all of that now was meaniningless. A fancy foible that blemished her, her perfectionism ruined by that mare.

She felt her hooves tremble as she tried to repeat her mantra. "I'm rich and full of poise, I am better than those below me. I have a perfect life. Everything I want is mine to take."

She breathed, the words feeling hollow.

She had been in Canterlot one day. One day and then she woke up to pure bliss, the dream she had was so realistic, the idea of freedom so true. And then she woke up.

Her jewelry she had been holding, a ruby necklace, slipped from her hooves. She swore under her breath. "Damn."

"Mom, are you okay?"

Spoiled Rich turned and saw her greatest failure. "Yeah, sweetie."

Diamond carefully chose her words. "I mean, when I was at school you were looking at that. And you're still looking at that. It's been eight hours mom."

Spoiled Rich's eye slightly twitched. "I did other things. You see this mess in here? That's because I've been organizing it. Not just whatever you think I'm doing. Maybe your friends have parents that get obsessed about things, but not me, I'm better than that- far better than that."

Diamond halfheartedly nodded. "Sure."

"And anyway, if I was somehow here for hours, I'm surprised that nopony called on somepony as wonderful as me to have a chat about something. Iean I know Hoity Toity well enough to get in his shows with my creations, that has to mean something."

Diamond sighed. "Yes, mom."

Spoiled Rich cocked her head. She looked down at Diamond and glanced around her, unable to truly look her in the eye. Not because she was an abject failure, she was a pony in her mother's mold to be sure, but she remembered her dream. And Diamond wasn't part of it at all. She had no children in that world, that brilliant wonderful world, a shimmering wonder of freedom and complete joy. Sure it was a complete dream but children were terrible things when you came down to it, giving up decades of your life just trying to see how they turn out? She breathed as she stared at Diamond, the imperfections in her so apparent. She was a jeweler, she knew imperfections. She stared down at her hoof and clenched it. "It means something, it does, it does, it does."

Diamond stared up at her mom and saw the beginnings of another bad time. She reminded her of Aunt Screwball, the one her mother never talked about. The glassy stare and odd twitching telling her all she needed to know. She had lost her mind in Canterlot, whatever happened broke her mom and she didn't know how to fix it.

"Okay, I really should have just not said anything. If you need me, I'm going to go to Silver's place and study. Big test coming up. Or something." Diamond tried to run. She failed as Spoiled Rich grabbed on to her back leg and pulled.

"I keep telling you no running in the house. That's not proper behavior from somepony of your stature, quick trot, light canter, those are fine, but a brisk walk is the best to keep poise. You don't see me running. I'm here holding down the fort for you and your father while he lusts after mares younger than me." Spoiled Rich spat out her words. "But I'm not complaining, he has to pay them while I know exactly who he slept with. They look at me like I'm a failure, but who's laughing now. I'm at least well cared for and I don't have to sleep with that stallion."

Diamond shivered as she felt her back leg shift as her mom's rant reached its climax, the natural strength of an earth pony easily breaking a few bones when necessary. She felt her bone snap, the shooting pain in her leg almost making her pass out. She whinnied in pain as she rolled away from her mom, the action causing her to land back on the broken side and dragging the pain into a new round of agony.

Spoiled Rich stared down at her filly and felt nothing. "Sorry." Hollow apology. Like her own mother used to make.

Diamond looked up at her and tried to inch away slowly, not breaking eye contact. Through gritted teeth, she tried to talk through the pain. "You broke my leg. I asked if you were okay and you broke my leg."

Spoiled Rich sighed. "I've had a lot of things on my mind; I didn't mean to. I mean earth pony strength can be messy sometimes and I've been under a lot of stress."

"You broke. My leg."

"We'll get that zebra to fix it. From what I've heard she's rather discreet about these things. Though I really wonder if that zebra can speak Equestrian- that's a real thought."

"I don't care if you get Zecora or not, I'm telling daddy."

Spoiled Rich turned and glared at her daughter. She was so much like her at her age. Headstrong. Passionate. Childish. "And what? Tell dad that I broke your leg? That's rich. Foals fall down the stairs all the time. You fell down the stairs. Stairs can be so dangerous sometimes. Big house, lots of stairs."

Diamond stared at her mother. "What are you saying?"

"That it was an accident. Accidents happen. I'm sorry." Spoiled Rich patted Diamond Tiara's head. 'I never wanted kids at all. It was Filthy's idea. Legacy, more like a waste of time and money.' echoed through Spoiled Rich's brain, lightly congratulating her for her good deed. She didn't have to care for Diamond, it was so much easier to let her fend for herself. The world was a scary place. You never knew who to trust. "I love you, sweetie, now let's get you ready for dinner. After the day I've had, I'm starving."

Diamond nodded, unable to move much as she tried to get on three legs, her center of gravity shot and her leg screaming as it tried to find purchase on the marble tiles of the mansion. Wheezing in pain, she nodded. "Yeah."

Her mom whistled down the hallway.

Tiara felt tears come to her eyes as she stared at her mom in the distance. She breathed heavily as she hobbled to dinner, trying to smile through the pain.

She had tried to be understanding. Maybe her mom was tired. Trips were tiring. Yeah. But this was something different. An unraveling of things. She hobbled to the door and carefully tried to get her hoof on the door, awkwardly trying to balance herself on two good legs while her back leg hung at an unnatural angle. "Drat." Then she realized that because of Nightmare Night coming up, she had two days alone with her mother.

Completely and utterly alone with her. She could hear her mother singing some fun little tune. For a moment, she felt okay, normal even. Normalcy that the last week had taking away. Her mom had just been running on autopilot for that whole time, not saying much, not moving much. This was new.

And in the pit of her stomach, Diamond Tiara could feel fear build up, her body sending out signals to run with every step closer to her mother she took. She quietly wondered about her options. She had no idea what her mom was actually doing in the kitchen right at this moment. She could be dosing her food with like rat poison or something. Applebloom was always talking about how her stupid family was using it to kill things. She tried to breathe slowly. She had to figure out something soon or else she'd be in unimaginable danger.

"Yeah." Diamond grimaced as she looked at her leg. She had to get out of the house if it killed her. "I'll be right there."

Fluttershy and Dash walked slowly up the walkway to their shared abode. Neither had said much on the way back once they had said goodbye to Rarity, the white unicorn talking about all the ideas for Nightmare Night- something about her needing to have an all nighter just to get the yearly friendship costumes out of the way. Dash would have preferred to just reuse her Wonderbolts costume, but with the whole mindswitch happening, she wouldn't dare shove Fluttershy's mass into any of her costumes.

So Dash begrudgingly rolled her eyes as Rarity patted her on the flank and winked, hastily mentioning how 'unless somepony had been snacking a bit too much, she already had correct measurements.'

"You okay?"

Dash looked up to see Fluttershy perched on her back, staring upside down at her, magenta orbs looking directly into her eyes. "Yeah, why are you asking?"

Fluttershy draped her blue wings over her marefriend. "We've been standing in front of our house for five minutes and you haven't opened the door."

Dash sighed. "You know, it's technically your house so you can open the door."

Fluttershy paused. "Yes, but it's been a week since I stepped in there. It. . .feels odd. I mean what did my animals do for like an entire week? I keep them in cages for a reason sometimes, what with there being a whole natural order of things. And while Harry is a mighty good bear, he can get rather excitable about food."

Dash rolled her eyes. "We've been gone for a week. I bet they've been either living it up or Angel has caused a mutiny."

Fluttershy gasped. "He wouldn't."

Dash raised an eyebrow. "Shy, last month he led a charge on Caramel's food stand for carrots. Either you named him ironically or he's just always been a pain."
"
Fluttershy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I think I remember a certain pony in flight school cause a riot or two."

Dash sighed. "I wasn't that bad. And anyway, I was talking about your rabbit, so I don't know why you'd bring me up. And besides, that wasn't me doing those riots- that was Gilda. I just got dragged along for the ride."

Fluttershy opened her door. "I know that, I was just saying that's where I got the idea for the name from. And it's nice to remember something a little less complex than the things we just went through. A simpler time where things weren't always so bad. I mean things were terrible then too, but we didn't know."

Dash tried to grin at that thought. "Yeah, I was a circus performer while you were down here."

Fluttershy silently nodded, looking at the mess that she might have to clean up later- Angel had gotten into the carrots and left them all over the floor, the rabbit lazily on top of his hoard snoring away like he had not a care in the world. She smiled as she picked him up and placed him on his actual bed, a small fluffy pad that was far more suited to him than a pile of carrots. She carefully checked to see if he was okay and turned back to Dash.

"It wasn't sunshine and rainbows for me, Rainbow, I spent years trying to understand why my parents never looked for me. I mean it has been more than a decade since I fell down here and they've never sent a letter to Celestia about wanting to meet me somewhere."

Dash shrugged. "They could just be like my parents."

Fluttershy looked down at the floor. "Yeah."

Dash slid up to Fluttershy and touched her wingtip to her marefriend. "You want to talk about it?"

The polychromatic mane shake told her all she needed to know. "No, just after Ironhoof, I guess things were on my mind."

Dash felt Shy's head press underneath her own. She guessed this was what Shy felt most times. Protective and caring. Or maybe just not really made for a world a head shorter than her. It felt weird comforting Fluttershy- the last week had the usually yellow pegasus doing her best to make Dash's life better.

"I know. Starlight did some terrible things to a whole lot of ponies and diamond dogs."

Fluttershy looked up. "And you."

Dash paused, thinking of her short time under that spell, the memories that never happened still fresh in her mind. Possibilities of horror just there on the periphery, a small pegasus out there in her dreams, half formed and quiet. "

Dash rubbed a hoof in her hair. "Well it wasn't too bad."

Fluttershy frowned. "Not too bad? I saw your ghost melt before my eyes screaming in agony because of it, I saw each and every odd place you went too, all the stuff you did to get out of there and I don't call that a good time." Dash saw Fluttershy's eyes fill with tears as she spoke, "I saw everything and I was blinded by fear."

Dash tried to lighten the mood. "Is that an unfortunate joke cause Twilight told me you went blind for a little bit."

Fluttershy shook her head. "I bled from my eyes because of whatever Starlight did to you." Fluttershy rubbed her face carefully tracing the blood pools in her mind. She'd have nightmares for weeks after that image was burned into her memory. The bloodstains weren't there anymore, but she had to check. "I hated watching that."

Dash carefully hugged Fluttershy, resting her head carefully on the smaller mare. She felt the fear that her marefriend gave off, the trembling. "Bad joke." Dash breathed and slowly began trying to relax Fluttershy the only way she knew how- preening. She carefully pulled feathers that were loose and matted in weird tangles after the rush back home. "Shy, I wished you hadn't been there, well not there, but like not connected. That spell was. . .intense." Dash tossed feathers to the side and felt Shy push closer towards her.

"I was terrified you wouldn't come back. You're always rushing off somewhere being a superhero."

Dash grinned as she detangled her lover's mane. "Looks like Scoots isn't the only member of my fan club."

Fluttershy groaned. "Dash, be serious. I was meaning that Ironhoof wasn't like our other times. Twilight knew what to do on most of those- she saved Luna because she knew what was going on, she helped stop the Changelings-"

Dash interjected. "That one was Cadance and Twilight's brother, not exactly her."

"and she stopped Sombra.

"Spike saved the day on that one. Which makes me wonder how Spike would be treated there. Probably be drowning in gemstones."

Fluttershy laid back and looked at Dash. "What I'm saying is, Ironhoof wasn't normal. You have barely even said two words about what happened while you were under Starlight's spell and Pinkie still seems off. Not to mention the unknown ship that destroyed the town- that might come back later."

Dash patted Fluttershy's head. "If it does, then we'll just find a way to beat it. I mean look at the bright side- we got out of there. And that's with them surprising us- now we know there's something out there with whatever that crap was and we'll be ready."

Fluttershy's ear twitched with worry. "What if whatever coming comes here? Ironhoof was remote, there's Manehattan or any number of towns things could hit next and we'd-"

Dash flicked Fluttershy's nose. "And Twilight said I was the neurotic one- Shy, just relax. I'm worried too, but I can't fix what happened or worry about the future until it happens. I'm not Pinkie, I can't see the future, and honestly, I wouldn't care to. You want something to eat cause that usually gets my mind off things. Though I don't know what's in the fridge what with us being gone the last week." Rainbow rubbed a hoof through her pink mane trying to remember what was in that stupid thing.

"Yeah. And I don't feel like hayburgers."

Rainbow cringed, thinking back on the last time she had a couple too many. "Why did you have to mention hayburgers? I meant like fish or something."

Fluttershy tapped her hooves together. "I don't really eat fish all that often."

Dash groaned. "Okay, I'll try and think up something else. I think one of the Wonderbolts was talking about being a vegetarian, though that's not really my cooking specialty, quick and simple or seafood dishes. Not vegetarian stuff. That reminds me a bit too much of the terrible fitness smoothies Spitfire was always trying to give us for 'training purposes'" Rainbow shuddered. "But compromising isn't too bad. You could almost call it a date."

"A date?"

Rainbow realized what she'd said. "Uh, I meant-" She sighed, unsure of what else to call it. "Sure. A date. Though don't be telling ponies I can cook. It really hampers my cool points when they know that."

Fluttershy smiled. "Whatever you say. Rainbow, but I think you knowing something about cooking is fun."

Rainbow groaned. "I only learned how cause I didn't want to starve to death eating junk food while training. Nothing more."

"You don't have to try to explain yourself to me, Dash."

Dash blushed crimson. "I wasn't. I mean, I didn't mean to. But okay." She breathed out. "And that goes for you too."

Fluttershy nodded, her mane slightly covering her eyes. "Thanks. But can we try and talk to Twilight soon? I just don't want something like this happening again."

Dash smiled. "What gave you the idea I want more mental trauma?" Dash chuckled. "We can talk to her tomorrow."

Fluttershy carefully got on Dash's broad back and laid down, nuzzling into the pegasus' neck. "Okay."

The Southern Equestrian border was something Sour Sweet hated managing. She often bitched about her command structure to anypony that listened, usually Indigo Zap over drinks while she was on leave. Usually it boiled down to there being no action in the south. Klugetown was a colony of ponies set deep within Reptilian territory, gained only because the last snake had tried bringing back some ancient race memory and had crashed upon Celestia's shores, drowning in death and dismemberment like so many others. Frankly, it was supposed to be the easiest current mission. It wasn't facing Changelings, or the Northern Wastes, it wasn't protecting Manehattan. It was a warm climate, hot as Tartarus, and boring.

So why in Celestia's name was she looking at what she was looking at.

"Sugarcoat, tell me that isn't what I fear it is."

Sugarcoat groaned, her gray coat stained with dust. "Looks like we've lost Klugetown. "

The pegasus commander sighed. "You had one job." She put up the binoculars to her face and stared at the heaping piles of bodies stacked like firewood, each pony staring up at the sky motionless, their coats run red with dried blood. She could see the bodies varied in size from the largest adult to the smallest child. "Fuck." She felt slightly queasy, the idea of total extermination wasn't something that the corps of the army really talked about. It was supposed to be the worst case scenario.

"So what do you want me to tell the troops?" Sugarcoat lazily traced a hoof.

Sour Sweet sighed. "Bomb the thing. I don't want the snakes to see this as a victory. Raze the thing to the ground. If you can kill that cat in whatever armor that was, do it."

Sugarcoat nodded. "As you wish." The unicorn stretched and did a quick amplification of her voice. She began to whistle, first low and slow and began speeding up as she tried to tell each and every unicorn the plan. If the reptiles were sending a message, so would they.

With one final long whistle, Sugarcoat clocked the direction and timing. She turned to face Sour Sweet, who was still staring at the burning bodies, tendrils of black smoke slowly rising in the sky, ashes of ponies she used to know just lazing about in the breeze. "While I would love to sit and watch the explosions, we have far better things to do, Commander."

"I'll just be a moment."

The sky lit up as a number of juryrigged spells began falling down on the town, first a few basic fireballs, the scorching flames starting to light up the wooden frames of the houses, the town beginning to turn into a cacophonous mess as unsuspecting reptiles were caught in the blaze. Wordless screams and non-Equestrian shouts were on the air for a few minutes, small masses of flame ran about as unfortunate creatures lit up like candles.

Then the firework spells came in.

Sour Sweet watched as the town crumbled into dust.

And waited to see what would come out of it. She guessed the lucky reptiles were just underground. The thing she learned about the desert was that there was always some place to hide, right under your hooves. Dusty, dirty places.

Though the flames, she saw one lithe armored creature walk out and wave. She pulled up her binoculars and stared as the thing removed its helmet.

A cat smiled back and sat down on the sands. Just sat there basking in the heat of the flames, staring up at the sky. She could almost swear it was crying, though she didn't know why. The cat got up and began trudging towards them.

"Should we kill it?" That one cat took out a hundred soldiers by itself."

Sour Sweet lowered her binoculars. "It doesn't look like he's going to murder us."

"That's what those soldiers said. You know before they were murdered."

"Sugar, he's like totally fine. And if that's an ambush, it's garbage. Plus he's got intel on the place so going by Celestia's rules of war, that trumps like seven other for self preservation."

The unicorn rolled her eyes. "Yes, well I have been trying to amend that terrible edict of hers by constantly writing to both the Magisterium and Celestia herself. Wars aren't won by being nice."

Sour Sweet didn't care. She carefully felt the ground, her earth pony magic feeling slightly dull in the shifting sands of Klugetown. Ponies weren't really meant for these climates- sure there were southern breeds, but those tended to be isolationist. The main stock of earth ponies were rather focused on harder dirt. So she carefully felt around for any sharp protrusions or large things underhoof- the things that weren't normally in the sand. She didn't feel any hint of an ambush so she carefully cantered down the sand dune, sideways, trying to get any kind of purchase on the soft sands.

"Hey, buddy, while I feel absolutely fantastic about you slaughtering enough troops of mine to be classified as an unidentified lethal object, I'd rather have us talk like civilized things. Cat to pony. Like average, normal creatures. Also just in case, I have my unicorn assistant pointing like seven different spells at your head."

The cat leaned back, his armored suit looking rather unlike any armor Sour had seen before. Maybe Abyssinia had some great magitech smiths or something, but it looked too well done. "Fantastic. I'm rather sorry about my kind of off the handle way of introducing myself." The cat laid back on a nearby rock. "Name's Capper. Though I doubt you have heard of the best cat burglar in the whole wide world. Though I don't seem to have my papers to show off that fact."

Sour Sweet thought the name sounded familiar. "Well, I'm Sour Sweet, Commander of the Southern Equestrian Border, and that dour unicorn over there is my second in command, Sugarcoat Spoon. I'm the good pony, she's the bad one. Now can you try and tell me how you got that rather impressive suit of armor? And why you seemed to be helping the rebellion."

Capper stretched and carefully licked his paw. "These rags? Well that's a rather long story, but to shorten it, let's just say that I'm in debt to a rather important creature who has me deeply in the red. And rebellion? Honestly, these snakes hate your guts, all talking about eating your bones and all that jazz." He moved his paw in a circular motion. "Really, Ziggy's the craziest snake I've met and I've met a few."

Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat shared a look. They had assumed that this cat had been the leader all along.

"Who's Ziggy?"

Capper got up slowly. "I'm glad you asked." He cupped his paws. "Hey Ziggy, the ponies want to meet you now."

The ground moved. And as both ponies stared, they realized they had a problem on their hooves. "I'm Ziggy, how nice to meet you both." Sour Sweet stared at the largest reptile she had ever seen in her life, a hulking creature with a tail as long as he was tall, black as pitch and with deep, dark yellow eyes. He opened his mouth and his rows of teeth showed that he meant business. She had never seen a komodo dragon before. Those were supposed to be wiped out. They had been wiped out. They had been.

The last leader of the reptiles had been one.

"Capper, you were good bait." The komodo dragon clapped a huge clawed hand around the cat. "The Storm King is a good partner."

The cat groaned in pain. "Yeah, yeah curiosity kills a cat."

Sour Sweet looked at her army in the distance and saw the sand moving. She glanced at Sugarcoat and nodded. They weer going to get out of here alive. And save as many ponies as they could while doing it. "Now." The earth pony channeled most of her magic, shaping the sand into hard spikes aimed directly at the reptile- she didn't care about the cat, just getting away from the apex predator of the sands was necessary, survival instincts kicked in.

Sugarcoat matched her movements, years of training giving her motion a practiced dance, swerving past the spikes, summoning her sword and blocking the large reptile's first swing, the power pushing her back. "I told you so."

Sour Sweet groaned. "Give it a rest already- you can bitch and moan all you want when we get out alive. And drinks on me."

"Fine." Sugarcoat closed her eyes and focused, dragging the mana in the surrounding area around her and using the spell she had mastered years ago. With all her power, she began to teleport the both of them. Mostly cause Sour never paid for drinks.

"Oh no you don't." Ziggy opened his mouth and spat in the unicorn's face.

Sugarcoat screamed as the acid ate into her face, She grimaced through the pain and screamed as the effort took a lot out of her. With a pop, both ponies appeared on the top of the hill.

Sour Sweet pushed her companion. "You did it. You did it."

Sugarcoat's voice came out hoarse and pained. "Yeah."

Sour Sweet turned her friend over and retched as she saw Sugarcoat's face. Her glasses had saved most of her face, the glass running down her skin like water, the acid had ate away her eyes, the fluid running down, blood bleeding down her face. Bits of her mouth had been hit as well, muscle and bone sloughing off.

"I can't see."

Sour Sweet picked up her second in command and slung the unicorn over her shoulder. She could see the reptilian horde slaughtering her men, bits of resistance fighting back in an unwinnable situation. She felt tears on the corners of her eyes as she watched. "Sugarcoat, sound the retreat."

Sugarcoat amplified her voice. Whistling high pitched repeatedly, over and over gave the order she needed.

Full retreat.

Sour Sweet hated retreating but it was a rout, and while she knew the old heads at the guards would laugh about her not holding up the ideal stand to the last pony, she knew that was a tactic that led to defeat. Pure defeat you could never come back from. And she had unwittingly hurt her second in command. Things were more important than following the rules of war so completely. "Sugarcoat, drinks are totally on me. Forever."

The southern border of Equestria retreated northwards, leaving Klugetown to the reptiles for the first time in decades. In one day, they had lost entire generations of stability. Sour Sweet looked at the cloud of smoke as she ran northward, the embers of fires built on the bones and sinew of once living ponies telling her all she needed to know. Blackness went north and marred the sky as a message. The desert wasn't safe. And it wouldn't be for the foreseeable future.

"I shouldn't have said the South was boring." She cursed her luck, focusing on her footing through the sandy terrain, leading a band of her remaining army. "We only have a few days until we get back Sugarcoat, you'll be okay."

Author's Notes:

This took longer than expected