"Bring your best pegasi. A storm is the only thing that would distract the group while you went for the draconequus." said the black alicorn.

Aquarius smiled. "Of course your highness! I will not let you down, I promise!"

"Your life depends on it." she said, lying down as he walked out of the room.

The alicorn let out a sigh as she observed her palace throne room. She was alone, as usual. The isolation tortured her constantly, like moon banishment. But it was worse this time. It was worse because she had the ability to return to her former state, be good, be loved. But she wouldn't. Her mind would not allow her to. She cried every night, alone. No one to hold her. No one to comfort her. This wasn't what she expected from power, not what she expected at all.

Her thoughts were interrupted as one of her pegasus soldiers entered the room. He heard her crying. Not even she heard herself crying. That's a regular thing now, so its no wonder she didn't notice. He had a very worried look on his face. "Are you ok, miss?" asked Epsilon.

The alicorn blinked and wiped away a few stray tears. She laughed at herself for a short moment. "Yes. I'm fine, thank you."

"You don't look fine." challenged Epsilon, walking closer then sitting down next to the distraught queen.

She sighed and chuckled to herself once again. "Am I going insane, Epsilon?"

He joined in the laugh. "Maybe. But is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes. My mind is all I have left." answered the alicorn, now her tone growing more serious.

The pegasus stopped laughing and thought for a moment. "You don't want this, do you?"

The alicorn lowered her head in shame. Was she really expressing emotion and weakness to one of her guards? Fuck it. Just fuck it. I don't care anymore. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I had so many plans."

"It's never too late to go back." he said.

The alicorn let out a sigh. "Sadly, it is. I have to continue what I started. I could never show my face among the crowd again."

"I know they all miss you. A lot. I know that they would forgive you if you wanted them to. They love you as much as you love them." reassured the pegasus.

She turned away and let a few tears escape her. "Everything I thought I knew was a lie. Especially after what I found out yesterday."

"Must have been hard to learn it that way." he said, moving over to be closer to the inconsolable alicorn.

She turned back to look at Epsilon. "It would have all been different. I'd of never made the mistakes I did, if only I knew..."

Epsilon lowered the alicorn's hood to brush her mane with his hoof. "It's not your fault. Aquarius used you, and everyone else around him."

"I should have been smarter than that. Now I'm stuck leading a country that's afraid of me." admitted the queen.

Epsilon got up, followed by the black alicorn. "Everything you have is what you make it. You can choose if you are happy or not. Please, my friend, always remember one thing, and never forget it."

"What?" she asked.

He stared into her burning white eyes and spoke in a stern tone. "When you look around, and think you have nothing left - You do."

His words echoed inside the alicorn's mind. For what felt like an eternity, she thought of everything she had been through in her entire life. Then it clicked. It all made sense. She knew what she was going to do now. A wide smile appeared on her face.

"You are very wise, my pegasus. Why aren't you the one who befriended me thirty years ago?" she asked.

"Don't know. Should have been that way." joked Epsilon.

The alicorn narrowed her eyes and stared out of the window. She laughed for a second before covering her head once again with the hood she had on her cloak. "Are your troops ready?"

Epsilon smiled. "Yep. So what's the plan?"

----------

Everyone except Discord burst out in laughter as they remembered the gala. He looked at all of them as if they were insane. "I don't get it." he finally said.

This only caused Dash and Spike to fall on their backs and cough in laughter. Celestia only giggled and covered her mouth, despite wanting to fall over just as well. Applejack walked over to Discord and whispered something in his ear, and he grinned.

"Alright everypony, calm down now. Applejack, where would we find Pinkie's rock farm?" asked Celestia.

"It's just a few miles east of Appleoosa." the orange mare replied.

Discord frowned. "Appleoosa? That's half across the country."

"Better get moving then." said Dash.

"Flying is the fastest route, if we walk we'll never make it there. Applejack, would you mind climbing up on my back?" asked Spike.

"No prob, Spike. Just let me grab-" Applejack stopped as the dragon fell to the ground with a quake. "Spike?! Wake up! Spike! Spike!!"

----------

Spike coughed as he found himself hanging by invisible chains. Everything was black around him, but this time he could move most of his body, save for his limbs. This time he wasn't as afraid, just very annoyed.

Welcome back.

"You have bad timing. I have to be somewhere." said the dragon.

I know you do. Time does not exist in this world, so you should not worry about such mortal things. We have years to talk in here, and you will wake up merely seconds after we started.

Spike gulped. "That's sick."

It is, isn't it? Maybe now you will understand the curse that is immortality.

"What are you talking about? How does this involve me?"

Have you no understanding of what you're doing to her?

"Doing what to who?"

Spike. Do you love Celestia? I mean, really love Celestia?

Spike didn't need to think. "Yes I do. She's everything to me. She was there for me when nopony else was. She's funny. She's beautiful. Every day, I wake up just to see her face. I want to protect her. I want her to be happy. When she is with me, I am complete. She is mine, and I am hers."

Then you will leave her.

A chill passed down the dragons spine as he thought about life without Celestia. "No. You're out of your mind."

You wouldn't say that if you knew who you were talking to.

"I would say it if you were Aumean herself. There is no way in hell I am leaving Celestia. I love her, and she loves me."

That is why you have to leave her.

"What on earth are you even talking about?"

Celestia is an immortal. You are not. You will die.

Spike was taken back by that statement. He was so young still, he had never really thought about his death that would come in a millennium. "I don't get it."

The longer you are with her, the more pain you force her to endure. Pain that only can come from the strongest of love. Celestia cannot deal with a companion, because anyone she ever loves will leave her. Have you ever considered what you're doing to her before now? She will spend over a thousand years with you, thinking of you, loving you. Then one day, when she wakes up, you won't be there. She hadn't known Stardust for even a century, and when he was killed in the fight with the Ursa Master, she went into depression and isolation for twenty five years. When you die, Celestia will be forced to live on, alone. Immortality is the worst fate there is.

It hit him. Everything he was doing hit him. Why had he never thought of this? The voice was right. He had to leave Celestia. He could not deal with the sadness that she would have. He wanted nothing but her to be happy, and if that meant sacrificing his own happiness... So be it. Guilt flooded his mind, and somehow he felt his chest twist into a knot.

"AGH!" screamed spike as he involuntary shot out a large jet of green fire.

Forgot to tell you. In this world, your emotions will inflict physical pain on you. You'll get used to it though, I deal with it every day.

Spike looked up, tears of pure anger focused on the empty space in front of him. "Who... Who are you?"

Isn't it obvious? I am your conscience.

----------

Dash smiled and flapped her wings as the dragon's eyes blinked open. "Hey guys! He's waking up!"

Everypony rushed over to Spike as he exhaled a large cloud of smoke from his nose. He slowly regained consciousness and reviewed his surroundings. A barn. Apple trees. They hadn't moved an inch from sweet apple acres. He looked up to see everypony staring at him.

"Are ya okay, Spike?" asked a bright yellow mare.

Spike coughed. "A-Applebloom?" This was wrong. He was so much weaker then the last time he came out of a conversation with... Himself. His eyes widened as he felt a familiar pain in his chest. He breathed deeply and growled, which made the ponies around him back up in fear. Discord didn't realize his pain as he was rolling around in the dirt.

"You should have seen yourself, Spike! At first you were like 'Oh, I'm big scary dragon, you can ride on by back Applejack!' Then you were all like 'Boom I fell over!' Ha! Hahahaha!" teased Discord, unable to bring himself to stop laughing.

Celestia shot the draconequus a hateful glance, he rolled his eyes in response and got up. Spike looked around at the ponies. Scootaloo and Applebloom were here as well. They all had very concerned faces. He didn't think about it too much, until something in the back of his mind started ticking. It was like, he had a word on the tip of his tongue, but couldn't say it. The ticks got louder. He looked around to see Celestia's eyes. They were bloodshot with black rings around them. Then it hit him.

"How... How long have I been asleep?"

"Yah've been out fer a whole three days, partner." answered Applejack. She sighed and stroked his scales with her hoof. It was obvious how much pain he was in.

"Three days!? What happened to me!?" he asked, although he knew very well what happened to him. Sort of. It's getting stronger.

Dash intercepted the question. "You were talking to Applejack, then you collapsed. None of us could tell what caused it, not even Celestia."

"I tried to see if you had brain damage. Something was stopping me from gaining access to your mind. Do you know anything about that?" she asked, a deep feeling of concern in her voice.

"Uhm... No." lied Spike. The last thing he wanted to do right now was get into a conversation with Celestia. As of now, he didn't even want to look at her. It hurt too much. Almost instantly as he thought that, in response he received a splitting headache in response. Great. It works out in the real world too.

Then the voice's words which he had heard the week before echoed in his head, drilling a hole through his skull. They were swift, and powerful. They were simple, yet perfect.

Your mind is the key.

Spike took a deep breath, calmed down, and rose to his feet. He thought of happy things. He thought of flying, he thought of gems, and he thought of Twilight. As his pain subsided, the dragon laughed and shot out a ball of fire into the air.

"I think he's okay now, everypony." said Scootaloo.

"Better than okay, my friend." said Spike. He jumped into the air and flew in a circle for a few moments before returning to the ground to pick up his passenger. "It's time we finally left here. Apologies for what happened."

"Not a problem, Spike!" said Applejack as she climbed onto his back. "Can't wait to try this."

Dash smiled at her companion and giggled. She got the same as a response.

"Ah think ya need tah know somethin' before ya go, guys." interrupted Applebloom.

"What is it?" asked Discord.

"Well, after Luna took over Equestria, and occupied Drasil, the survivin' griffins moved over to ponyville. They're thugs, it just ain't safe there." she said.

Spike chuckled. "We'll fly high up, so they don't see us. I just hope Applejack can cope with the lack of oxygen up there that fliers are used to."

"Awh shucks, don'tcha worry 'bout lil old me, Spike. Ah've been buckin' so long, Ah got the body of an athlete! Ah'll be fine even if Ah get a bit winded." joked Applejack. She smiled as the dragon turned his head to look at her.

"It's settled then. Let's go." said Celestia.

---------

Not high enough, obviously.

Spike growled as four griffins closed in on the group from both sides, flying in formation. Three of the griffins remained silent, while one smiled at Spike. "Names Wallace. Who're you, mista draggy?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Spike."

"Nice name yeah. I'ma call ya green though. Ya okay with that, green?" asked the griffin. He had a thick accent that would have nearly brought Discord to tears of humor, if he was paying attention.

"Do I look like I care?" answered the dragon.

The griffin laughed. "Well well well green, It looks like someone woke you up on the wrong side of the bed this mornin'. Me and my boys, we here to discuss your payment."

"What?" asked Spike.

"These are our skies, green. Ya can't just fly up here without payin' taxes. That'll be a thousand bits please." The griffin held out his talon as he spoke, expecting Spike to put money in his hands.

"You're out of your mind. What's stopping me from killing all four of you right now?" Spike shook his head and laughed. This was a pretty weird situation, though. Why weren't any of his friends talking? They look like they don't even notice the griffins. Is their tactic to ignore them and see if they go away? Maybe I should do that now.

Wallace laughed. "I really liked you green, I did. This is what's stoppin' ya from killin' us, boy."

At that moment, as if on cue, the three silent griffins grabbed and subdued Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Discord, as Wallace kicked Applejack off Spike's back. His heart sank. He said nothing. Without a moments hesitation, the dragon locked his wings and began a nose dive to reach Applejack. Her body fell lifelessly, she didn't even scream. He felt immense pressure as a cone of air formed around his snout.

Not going to make it...

One thousand feet.

Five hundred feet.

One hundred feet.

Ten feet.

One foot.

Crack.

Spike slowly lowered himself to the ground. He was nowhere near Applejack when she hit the ground. He'd of never made it in time. He stared at the pool of blood. The image of strength, torn and perverted by a gang of griffins who wanted a few extra bits. He had no tears. He had no words. He had no strength. He had nothing.

Just then, he could feel it. His heart pounded. It grew faster and faster, increasingly more painful. Then it stopped. It just stopped. He wasn't able to take it. Everything was too much for him this time.

Spike fell to the cold hard ground, dead.

----------

"Listen up you fillies! We have a long march tonight!" shouted General Aquarius.

The thousand soldier crowd groaned before the general. Over half of them were pegasi, followed by about three hundred earth ponies, and a hundred unicorns. They all wore solid black chest plates, with black helmets. Their manes and tails were red, and their fur was dyed white. Save for Epsilon, and one red stallion that was accompanied by a dragon of matching colour.

Aquarius cleared his throat. "The great one herself has tipped us that the draconequus and his party is heading east of Appleoosa. It is crucial that we intercept them there by tomorrow at noon, then overpower and kill the draconequus. You may kill any of the group members who try to interfere. Admiral Epsilon shall brief you on your specific duties while I prepare to depart." Aquarius nodded to Epsilon and left as the pegasus stallion approached the podium.

"It will be a long night, but we will get the job done my friends. My fellow pegasi, you shall brew and take with you storm clouds to fight with. Only bring a small patch of cloud each. Do not tire yourself, many small patches of cloud will create one large storm. I will be the commander of your regiment." he took a deep breath and looked up at the pegasi, who then left to collect clouds.

He began again. "As for the unicorns, rest yourself and do not use magic until the confrontation. The hundred of you shall be pitted against former princess Celestia." the crowd of unicorns gasped and whispered to one another. "This may seem a daunting task, but do not fear. One measly alicorn is nothing in comparison to a hundred of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria!" as he finished that thought, cheering broke out among the soldiers. Phew.

"Now you, earth ponies. You will be the blunt of our forces, do what you can to destroy the buildings around the town so they cannot take shelter. Make it impossible to land, and if they try, kill them. Use your hind legs to kick, not your fore legs." Epsilon turned to look at the large red stallion and the dragon sitting behind him. "Right colonel?"

The stallion let out a deep chuckle and smiled at his friend. "Eeyup."

----------

Discord flew over to the trembling dragon in concern. "Spike, wake up."

No response.

Discord slapped Spike as hard as he could. "Wake up!" he shouted.

Spike's eyes opened and widened, he flapped his wings and took several deep breaths. It was dark out. Pitch black. He saw some stray trees, and dirt below him. "Where are we?" he asked.

Discord looked closely at Spike. "What are you talking about, we've all been asleep? We haven't moved from camp since we got here. Why would we do that, we're already more than halfway to Appleoosa."

Spike shuddered and shot his eyes around the camp. "Where's Applejack?" he asked, in a panic.

"She's right over there." Discord pointed to a tree, and under it was Dash and Applejack, sleeping soundly next to each other. "You were rolling around, screaming something I couldn't understand, and then you grabbed your chest in pain. One hell of a nightmare. Spike, are you okay?"

Relief and fear washed over the dragon. That could have happened. There was no way he would have made it. His own mind was torturing him. Spike sunk to his knees and boiling tears melted the ground below him. "No. I'm not okay. I'm far from okay. I'll never be okay."

The usually playful and light hearted draconequus felt an uncommon sense of empathy and worry. Spike was sincere. Something was really wrong. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The dragon shivered. "Discord..."

Discord walked close and sat down next to Spike to comfort him. "Yes, Spike?"

"Kill me." he answered. His voice was grave. He was cold. He had given up.

Discord was taken back by that. "What?"

Spike sighed. "Use your magic, make a knife, cut my throat, and kill me. Please. I can't do it anymore. I just can't."

The draconequus was scared now. He didn't know how to handle the emotions of others. He had always just poked fun at them and lightened the mood so they got over it. This was different. This was horrible. "Spike... What's wrong?"

"I'm going insane, Discord. You remember when I blacked out for three days back at sweet apple acres?" he asked.

Discord looked up at his eyes. "Yeah, why?"

Spike told Discord the story of all three of his dreams. The draconequus seemed to be literally taking notes inside his head. It was a wonder how nopony else woke up, Spike made no attempt to stay quiet. He poured out all of his soul into Discord, a first for both of them.

Discord let out a sigh. "Well, I have good news, and bad news. Which do you want first?"

Spike laughed. "I could probably use the good news right about now."

Discord narrowed his eyes and looked at the dragon. "Well the good news is, you aren't going insane at all, and your conscience isn't talking to you."

"Well, that's good! ... ... ... Wait. What's the bad news?" asked Spike, his small sliver of happiness crushed by his own fears.

"Luna is."

----------

"We're just about to leave, your highness." said Epsilon. He stopped talking as he saw that the alicorn was reading some old scrolls. There was a purple ribbon lying on the ground. "Miss, are those what I think they are?"

The queen laughed. "The old friendship reports. They bring back so many memories. Except this one..." she levitated over a letter to Epsilon, and he read it. It was the letter that Twilight had sent to Celestia on nightmare night thirty years ago. The night she became friends with Luna. He suddenly realized why this made the alicorn so emotional.

He looked up to the alicorn with concern. "Your highness..."

She sighed. "I didn't have to kill her. I could have easily trapped her, or sent her away. She was just so persistent. She fought me despite knowing there was nothing she could ever do. It is my greatest mistake, Epsilon."

He decided it would be best to not interrogate her on it. She seemed stable enough. "I wanted to know something before we left."

"What is it, my pegasus?"

"Why did you tell Aquarius to target Discord specifically?"

She blushed at the question. "Oh... Well..."

Epsilon chuckled. "You still love him don't you?"

"More than anything."

--------

Spike once again woke up in the dark world. He has gotten used to this by now. He had things to say this time, though.

You shouldn't have fallen asleep.

"You aren't my conscience." said Spike.

Oh? Than who am I?

Spike growled as he kept trying to move his arms and legs."You're Luna."

Ha! Luna! Is this some cruel joke?

"What?"

That's impossible, seeing as Luna isn't even... Never mind. Why pretend anymore? Of course I'm Luna, you win Spike!

A dark blue alicorn materialized in front of the dragon. Luna smiled at him. Spike's eyes widened as the alicorn walked closer. "Hello, my little dragon." she said softly.

"What do you want with me, Luna?"

"I have already told you my desires. Will you fulfill them?" she asked.

Spike let out a sigh. "Can't say I haven't considered it."

Luna giggled. "A good first step."

"One last thing, though." he said.

Luna smiled at Spike. "Hmm?"

"Why did you kill Twilight?"

As he said that, he felt the world around him crumble. He was knocked out of his position, and Luna disappeared. As to be expected. So much for that.

----------

"Wake on up ya big lug! We got a load of flyin' tah do today." said Applejack.

Spike opened his eyes immediately upon hearing her voice. He grabbed her in and held her tight to his chest. She didn't have to get it. She didn't have to know. But Spike needed this.

Applejack looked around at everypony. "What in tarnation... Cmon let's get goin'!"

Spike released his grip on the orange mare and she climbed onto his back. "Couldn't think of a better idea. How long do you think until we get to Appleoosa?"

"Maybe three hours, according to my calculations." said Celestia.

"Egg head." mumbled Dash.

Celestia was shocked. "What did you just call me?"

Dash broke out into laughter. "You said you weren't the princess anymore. To show my utmost respect of your wishes to be treated normally, you are an egg head."

The sun goddess couldn't contain her amusement. "Okay, you win. Now, let's finally depart?"

"Agreed." the entire group said in unison.

----------

Applejack was crushed as she looked upon the ruins of what was once her family's home town. The apple trees had befallen. What was once a town is just a pile of scrap wood and saw dust. Bison carcass lay scattered. The smell of blood was fresh, however. This just happened.

"What the hay..." asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't get it." said Spike.

They five felt the earth tremble beneath their feet.  It wasn't a large thump, it was like a collection of smaller vibrations.

"Look up!" screamed Discord.

They stared on in disbelief as hundreds of pegasi clad in black plate armour, all with storm clouds, rose from the horizon coming at them at imaginable speeds.  They were closely followed by hundreds of unicorns and earth ponies.

Celestia instantly noticed the older pegasus at the front. "General Aquarius!" she exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were surprised that they would ever see Aquarius with their own eyes. Sure, everyone had told their stories about him, but meeting him face to face was just scary. He was apparently the fastest and most powerful pegasus in Equestria, even at his old age.

Spike took to the sky to confront the oncoming army, that's why it surprised him even more so when they did nothing but fly around him. As they approached the group, they stomped on their parts of cloud, shooting small lightning bolts at the ground below.

"Discord!" screamed Aquarius. He stood above the draconequus and smashed his hooves into the top of the storm cloud. Discord teleported a few feet away and returned fire, shooting his own lightning at the pegasus. "You can't run forever, freak of nature!"

"Rainbow! See if you can intercept the clouds from the pegasi! I'll deal with the unicorns!" ordered Celestia.

"You got it princess!" said Dash, shooting off from the ground to steal the storms away. It wouldn't be hard for her, she had been a weather pony for over thirty five years now.

Spike flew down and soaked the earth pony soldiers in green fire, killing over fifty in one go, and badly burning others. They scattered and screamed as he followed and picked off some more, only to be stopped at the sight of a huge beast blocking out the sun.

"Celestia! They have a dragon!" screamed Applejack from Spike's back.

"Can't help you right now!" said Celestia, holding up a shield and raining down small meteorites at the group of unicorns.

Spike flew upwards to confront the enemy dragon. He was larger than Spike, and looked considerably older. He had deep red and bright yellow scales. "Hey! Ah remember you! Yer that dragon that was snorin' all that smoke into Equestria!" said Applejack.

The red dragon lowered his head to shoot a ball of flame at the earth pony. Luckily, Spike dodged it just in time and returned his own blast, hitting the red dragon on the wing. It was a good hit, but the older dragon brushed it off. As Spike circled to the other side of his opponent, he and Applejack saw it.

----------

"Why are you here, Aquarius?" asked Discord, jumping away from yet another lightning bolt before shooting a yellow fire ball out of his paw at the pegasus general.

Aquarius laughed. "The queen wants you mounted on her wall! I was more than happy to oblige!"

Discord raised a yellow, ethereal shield above his head to protect from the general's lightning. "A bit overkill don't you think?"

"Maybe. I don't want to be dealing with your little friends, though. You know Dissy, you've gone soft." he challenged.

"What are you talking about?" asked the draconequus.

The elder pegasus continued his barrage of lightning. "You are companions with these things now. You were much better when you fucked up the universe. But wait, you lost your element to the queen didn't you? Ha!"

Discord gave him a confused look. "No. I gave my element to Twilight Sparkle. Not Luna."

"What? Is there something..." as Aquarius realizes what Discord was thinking, he smiled. "Oh right! My bad, I was there! How silly of me!"

"This is easy. You aren't even amusing me whatsoever." said Discord.

----------

Applejack's heart sank all the way from the sky to the ground as she saw Big Macintosh stare into her eyes with hate. What has become of her own brother? He is now one of Luna's men? No. This isn't possible.

The red dragon whipped around so the stallion riding on his back could get a better shot. Macintosh turned and delivered a painful buck to Spike's jaw, knocking him out of focus. The purple dragon turned and shot a jet of flame directly at the stallion, who ducked for cover just at the last moment.

"Don't hurt him Spike!" pleaded Applejack.

Spike panted heavily. "Not much I can do."

Macintosh stared down as Epsilon broke from the pegasi's formation and spun in a large loop. That was the signal. Luna's forces all began to retreat, save for Aquarius who hadn't a clue what was going on at this point. Macintosh smiled and winked at Applejack and Spike. He turned back to his dragon to bark another command. "Now!"

The red dragon locked its wings to the side and did a nose dive directly towards Aquarius. The general looked upwards in horror, as Discord teleported to safety. Rainbow and Celestia looked at the entire thing with the utmost confusion.

The dragon stopped in front of Aquarius, and flapped its wing to force a mighty gust of air at him. While his guard was down, Epsilon flew towards him and knocked him out of the sky. Macintosh jumped off of his dragon and landed next to Aquarius, only to deliver a punishing final blow to his skull.

Crack.

Epsilon and Macintosh broke out in laughter. "Now that's what I call justice!" said Epsilon.

"Eeyup."

Rainbow Dash walked up and inspected the dead general on the ground. Blood dripped from his unrecognizable head. "Uhm. What just happened?"

Discord and Celestia were speechless, and looked at each other. Their silent communication was interrupted as Spike and Applejack landed in between them. "What in tarnation..."

"Heya sis'." said Macintosh.

"HEYA SIS'? YA JUST TRIED TAH DARNED WELL KILL US BACK THERE BIG MAC, AND YER ONLY THING TO SAY IS HEYA SIS'? WHAT THE HAY IS YER PROBLEM?"

"Sorry." he said.

Epsilon coughed. "Please allow me to explain, Miss Applejack. Your brother had no intention of hurting you, see, him and I are both strongly against the Queen's rule. We played the part of good little soldiers for half the battle, so Aquarius wouldn't worry, then we stepped in and killed him."

She laughed shamefully. "Oh... Uhm... Mah bad..."

" 's okay." said the red stallion.

"I best be going now. I have to deliver the news that Discord killed Aquarius in battle today." Epsilon winked at the draconequus, who replied with a laugh. Epsilon flew off, and before they knew it, was out of sight.

"Gonna take off this armour. It's heavy." said Macintosh. "Ah'm gonna be travellin' with you folks from here on out."

"Fine with us." said Discord.

Just then, a yellow, pink maned pegasus flew out from behind one of the canyon walls. She immediately inspected the red dragons burnt wing. "Oh, Peppers. Are you okay?"

"Fluttershy!" said Applejack.

"Where have you been?" asked Discord.

"Hello miss Fluttershy." said Celestia, letting out a small smile.

"Hey Fluttershy!" said Spike.

Rainbow Dash burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Everyone turned their attention from Fluttershy onto the slightly insane cyan mare. She contained herself just enough to settle her curiosity. "You named your dragon Peppers!?"

Fluttershy pushed her mane in front of her eyes. "Oh, yes. I thought it was a very nice name." She got a nuzzle from the red dragon in response.

"Sorry for the roughness, Spike." said Peppers.

"Not a problem at all. You had good intentions. Sorry about your wing." he replied.

"Haha. It will heal, don't worry about it." bellowed the older dragon, flapping it.

Fluttershy was taken back by the sudden movements. "Not if you keep stressing it like that. We better walk for awhile. I mean, if that's okay..."

The group laughed. "I'm getting quite tired myself from all this. We should camp here for the night, and meet with Pinkie Pie tomorrow." said Celestia.

They all nodded in agreement. Except for Dash. "Wait a minute. Fluttershy, how did you get here? And where did you get a dragon?" she asked.

Fluttershy giggled. "Oh. Well that's a very funny story..."

----------

It was the black of night when Epsilon and the surviving troops arrived back at the palace. After giving them a pep talk and a pat on the back, he went straight to the throne room.

The black alicorn awoke from her sleep as she heard Epsilon come in. "How did it go?" she said in a quiet voice.

Epsilon chuckled. "Aquarius is officially out of your hands."

She smiled. "One less problem now. The arrogant fool thought I needed him alive to use the element of innovation."

"Yeah. Big Mac decided to stay with the group, just like you told him to." announced Epsilon.

She giggled in response. "Good, good. Did they buy your story?"

"Yup."