Meanwhile, Starlight and Cadence were in a meeting regarding the states of the sectors in Equestria. After going over what has happened with most of the sectors on the map, they went over the statistics of the soldiers. Then they started to discuss about other matters concerning their members.

“Anything new to report?” Cadence asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary ma’am,” Starlight replied. “Everything's in order but there’s something that’s been on my mind.”

“What is it?” Cadance asked.

“Well… It’s about Twilight,” Starlight said.

“What about her?” Cadance asked.

Starlight took a deep breath and said, “She’s been running off a lot lately and is always coming back late. I realize she’s the Grim Reaper and all and it’s her job to keep things in check but even Pinkie hasn’t been able to locate her during the day. What makes it worse is Pinkie’s the only one who arrives half the time. I’m getting worried that she might be… plotting something.”

Cadence took what she said into consideration. She’s also noticed that she’s been in and out without telling anyone where she’s going. She never grew to worried about her since she’d been able to take care of herself but in the back her mind, she knew something was up. She just didn’t know what.

“I can see why you would feel concerned. However, she’s always put her job first and everything else second. Ever since The Princess of Light disappeared six months ago, she’s been doing whatever she could to repel the corruption. I can’t say I blame her for hating her but I doubt she would do something drastic. After all, we need her alive and Twilight is well aware of that. I have faith she won’t let us down,” she said with firm belief.

Starlight didn’t share the same idea. She knew how much she hated her ever since Spike’s disappearance. She wouldn’t talk about it but she knew that something didn’t match up. It was like she scheming about something. It didn’t bode well with Starlight at all.

“I guess you have a point… but, I can’t say I fully agree with you. You’re too blinded by biased options. You two are too close and I’m well aware you think nothing but the best of her. You don’t see her like the rest of us do. Sure, she places her job above all else but there’s something off about her… I can’t quite put my hoof on it but she has this… dark aura around her. Like, if anypony so much as mentions her, she has this strong release of anger from her. I fear that unless we keep a closer eye on her, she’ll-”

“What? Go off the deep end? Don’t you think I know that? To tell you the truth, I expected her to go loony… Ever since Spi-... he disappeared, she’s changed. It’s as if she changed into a monster. The same monsters she has fought time and time again. She could be...” Cadence said, deep into thought.

Starlight gulped at her comment. She feared that the worse could come to pass. If Twilight was planning to take over, it would already be too late.

“I...I’m sorry. I’ll just… go out,” she said with small beads of sweat.

She left the room but as she did, she saw Luna in front of her. She gave her a serious, but not angry, look as Starlight started to leave.

“You don’t have to say anything. The concern on your face is all but obvious,” she said, looking out the window.

They felt a chill in the air as they both looked out the window. As if something terrible was going to happen to the Empire.

“Sorry about that… I just thought that-”

“There’s no need to apologize. I’ll go search for her and make sure nothing is going on. Meanwhile, I need you to head over to Rainbow Dash and make sure everything is up to date. I will see to the matter myself,” Luna said, turning towards the door.

Starlight nodded and exited the throne room. Cadence looked outside the throne room, feeling like something horrifying was going to destroy the Empire.

She had only felt this way for awhile ever since the day the anomaly started to spread. The burden she was feeling on top of her shoulders only got worse as multiple cities across Equestria were obliterated. For all she knew, the Crystal Empire could be next. To make matters worse, the pony forces that she commanded were getting mauled on after the other.

“It’s only a matter of time until the shield collapses. Should that day ever come… I know I shouldn't be negative about the entire ordeal, but this is getting entirely out of hoof. Luna is preoccupied with Central Command, Celestia has left us, and Twilight has became a shadow of her former self. I cannot imagine who I will be losing next,” Cadence thought.

Just then, she heard Flurry Heart crying in her room.

“Well, at least I know who’s keeping me from giving up the Empire…” she said as she left for Flurry Heart’s room.

Meanwhile after Starlight left the throne room, she started to move towards Twilight’s room. Ever since she obtained this new power, Twilight has grew more distant from everypony that she knew and loved. Starlight wanted to figure out what was going on with her, but Twilight just brushed her off every chance she got. To Starlight, it seemed like she was keeping a secret. A trait that Twilight would never do more often than she would.

“Just what are you hiding, Twilight Sparkle…?” Starlight thought. Ten minutes later, Starlight moved towards Twilight’s door and knocked on it. “Twilight? Are you in there?” There was no answer. Starlight knocked again. “Twilight?” She didn’t get any answer. “Hello?”

“Starlight?” a voice called out.

She turned around and saw that it was Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy? What’re you doing up here?” Starlight asked.

“My shift is up. I’m headed to my room to make more medicine.”

“Hmm. Wait. Shouldn’t you do that in the medical area where there’s more at your disposal?”

“I had to come in here to get more supplies for the wounded. That and I needed to study more on how to stop the Corruption as Twilight commanded.”

“Hmm. Have you seen Twilight around?”

“Not really. The last time I’ve seen her, she headed into the castle. After that, she left for the forest when I passed her.”

“Right. If you see Twilight around, let me know immediately.”

Fluttershy nodded and went into her bedroom and closed the door as she entered. Starlight left the bedrooms and proceeded to search for Twilight a little further. Something was troubling as she left the castle. Twilight leave the castle for an assignment whenever she and Pinkie were briefed in the throne room. It seemed peculiar for her to head into the forest without a special reason. Just then, she heard Rainbow Dash called for her.

“Starlight!”

She turned around and saw Rainbow Dash fly towards her.

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash?”

“Can you please tell me where to find the area where they train the raw recruits?” Rainbow Dash asked, twiddling her hoofs.

“You mean boot camp?” Starlight asked in a deadpan manner.

“Well no, I get that. It’s the place with the double-decker beds?”

“You mean the bunkroom?”

“Yeah. That. What has Twilight been doing lately? Haven’t seen much of her in awhile.”

“I dunno, but I have a good idea what she is doing…”

“Huh?”

Starlight turned around and saw that Rainbow Dash didn’t have a single clue what she was talking about.

“The recruit areas are over there.” Starlight said, pointing her hoof towards the yelling.

“Ah. Thanks, Starlight.” Rainbow Dash said as she beelined towards the recruit area.

Starlight simply rolled her eyes and continued to walk. Ever since Rainbow Dash has been promoted to Captain, she has been enjoying her title a lot to the point of shouting at the new recruits during training. However, whenever a new recruit was sent out into combat or whenever there was a casualty, she started to become stern and hard on her new soldiers. She could only imagine how tough she getting on the trainees. Starlight kept moving along as she tried to find a clue on where Twilight could be.

“I wonder if Twilight left anything behind in the town square?” Starlight wondered.

She moved towards the town square and proceeded to search for any leads on Twilight. She asked any local residents to see if Twilight had passed by. Most of them pointed in different directions, yet gained no clue what she was leaving for. She continued to walk around to find more leads on Twilight. But Starlight was coming up short on any ideas of why she was leaving for the forest. Just then, she bumped into Rarity, who was with Lyra and Bonbon.

“Oh hey, darling. Are you looking for something?” Rarity asked.

“Somepony, Rarity. Have you seen Twilight around?” Starlight asked.

“I’m sorry to say that I have no idea where she went off to. Though I can infer that she was headed towards a forest for some reason.”

“Yeah. She had that look in her eye like she was going to see something.” Bon Bon said.

“I can only hope that she’s not being blackmailed or anything. It would be a huge detriment in our fight against the anomaly.” Lyra Heartstrings said.

Starlight looked at the Corruption surrounding the force field, then looked back at them.

“Don’t worry, girls. As soon as I find Twilight, we won’t have anything to worry about.” Starlight said, filled with confidence.

“I’m glad to hear you say that darling, because we’re not getting any lucky with the field right now.” Rarity said, feeling weary over the corruption.

“We will. Just sit tight. Also, make sure Pinkie Pie stays inside the Empire. We can’t afford to lose another Reaper out there.”

The three of them were taken aback by what Starlight just said. Rarity asked,

“Is there anything bothering you about Twilight? I’m sure we can do something to solve this.”

“I’m fine. I’m just making sure she does her duties.”

“Are you sure?” Lyra asked.

“Yeah.”

Bon Bon put her shoulder on Starlight’s shoulder and said,

“Look, we will not pretend that you aren't having a hard time with this war. This creature is tougher than it looks. But if there’s anything that you are having trouble with, anything at all. You come to us. Anyway, me and Lyra need to get ready for a recon mission. We have to focus on finding the whereabouts of Princess Skystar.”

“Okay. Hope you find anything on her.” Starlight said.

“Can do.” Lyra said.

After the two left, Rarity said,

“Like the two of them said, if you have any sort problem you are dealing with, come to us. We will help you in any way we can.”

“Thanks, Rarity. Just keep an eye out for Pinkie and Twilight.”

“Okay, darling.” Rarity said as she left.