"That is super freaky. Your hip moves, even though there's nothing there."

Shadow glared at the filly, but there was no real malice in it. "Are you going to spend the entire time criticising me? It's bad enough that I'm having to practice walking again without you telling me how freaky parts of me are while I'm doing it."

"Dude, you have wings. Fly."

"This may be a shock to you, but wings get tired, and they especially get tired when hovering. I need to be able to walk at least well enough to give my wings a break every now and again."

The filly grinned slyly at Shadow, "So you will be flying around most of the time."

"Of course I will! Walking on three legs is also really tiring!" Shadow sat and groaned up at the sky, "I suppose I should be thankful it was one of my back legs. Apparently, losing a front one sucks way more."

"I'm sure Twilight would fully agree with that," Fleur said as she walked over to the two of them. "If it helps, you appear to be getting around on it pretty well."

"Finally, someone who knows how to show a little support."

"Hey," the filly sniffed, "I'm showing support by telling you what you're doing wrong."

"Calling me freaky is not showing support, or telling me what I'm doing wrong! Fucking hell," Shadow groaned, "you grow one pair of wings back, and you think you know everything about this."

Fleur smiled sympathetically at Shadow, "Are you really sure you're up for this?"

"Oh no you don't, you're using the 'I'm not sure this was a good idea' voice. I promise you Fleur, I am a hundred percent up for this, and I refuse to slow you down or be a burden."

Fleur smiled lopsided at Shadow, "You're a friend, Shadow, so you're never going to be a burden. Even if you ended up not doing much, you'd still be welcome to stay with us."

"Oh, wow, um..." Shadow cleared her throat, "that's making me feel... feelings. Uh, thanks Fleur."

The filly raised an eyebrow at Fleur, "You're just saying that because Twilight tried to make you go home after you got messed up in High Rock."

"You are exactly fifty percent right. The other fifty percent is that Shadow wants to help as much as she can, and who are we to stop her?"

Shadow winced at Fleur's words, "I don't need ears like mine to hear the pity in that."

"Sorry, I tried to keep it out. By the way, you're on a moving boat, so if you can walk on this, you can walk on anything."

"Except water," the filly said sagely.

"Right, or anything of a liquid consistency."

Shadow smiled happily at the other two ponies, "You guys are no less irreverent than the last time I hung out with you. All we need is Twilight, Trixie, Octavia, and Summer, and it'd feel like the good old days."

"If the good old days were actually that good," Fleur deadpanned.

"And we weren't being pirates," the filly added. "Although we did do a fair bit of piracy, if on land," she supposed with a rubbing of her chin. "If anything, we've done less piracy since then by a long way."

Fleur closed her eyes and sighed through her nose, "Filly, I am quickly losing interest in whatever point it is you're trying to make."

"Yeah, me too." The filly rubbed her hooves together, her mind filled with glee at the prospect of stealing stuff from under the Mareitanians noses. "So, are we almost there yet?"

Fleur pointed to the city in the distance, the light of the setting sun shining off the few skyscrapers it had, and off the clouds of the pegasus city floating above it. "Take a wild guess."

"Well I don't know! That could be Las Pegasus for all I know!"

"Urgh... you're only stuck with her for the rest of your life, Fleur, you can manage that." Fleur winked at the filly as she pouted up at the unicorn. "Yes that is Baltimare, and yes that is where we need to go. In there is a whole bunch of medical surplus to prevent any more incidents like Shadow's, and a tiny, near pointless crystal to stop Flicker being so damn paranoid about that inhibitor she keeps on."

"Could you imagine the crazy if she didn't have it on though? A less paranoid Flicker is a good one."

"Faust isn't mind controlling anyone in Equestria! That's why Blueblood is doing whatever the fuck it is he's doing!"

The filly shrugged at Fleur, "Tell that to Flicker."

"I have. Repeatedly."

Shadow looked up, then back down again at Fleur, "I get the feeling you've never had a little voice in your head telling you to conquer the world for the glory of the Lady."

"And you have?"

"Fuck no, I've got my implant."

"Then you're only confirming Flicker's point!"

"Exactly." Shadow smiled lopsided at Fleur, "I'm just saying, maybe that paranoia is perfectly justified from her point of view, because she has had a little voice in her head telling to her conquer the world for Faust, or whatever the hell it was telling her to do. After escaping that once, I'd be paranoid as get all out."

Fleur held up a hoof, no longer wishing to discuss it further, because that would involve telling Shadow she might have a point. "If getting her an implant means she can take that inhibitor off, then whatever. Mostly, we're here for the supplies, where I'm hoping you know what is needed."

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"Oh." Fleur scratched her head as she looked around the yacht, "I'm not sure we can fit everything. I'm also not entirely sure we can transport everything." Fleur waited a few seconds, then cursed at the floor.

"What?" asked the filly.

"I was hoping somepony would say, 'leave that to me,' or something, but alas, no such luck."

"That's a weird thing to hope for."

"Anyway... we need to find out where the medical centre is, which is your first job, Shadow. Once it's dark, you and Thorax will head out to find it, while we think of a plan."

"Smash and grab," said Bon Bon. "It's the only way we're going to pull this off."

Fleur blinked, having been expecting a stealthy plan from the ponies that specialise in stealth. "Okay... that's a plan, certainly. I think you're missing the part where there'll be soldiers around though."

"Deadly force. If we want to stop an alarm being raised, we need to put any soldiers we find down hard and fast. Then we can grab what we need and go."

"How about we save that for the exit strategy," Shining suggested, unknowingly sharing Fleur's thoughts on the idea. "If we can get to the centre without raising suspicion, we can load up quietly, then get out of here with speed if we have to."

Bon Bon shook her head, "We might not have the timeframe for that, and we have no idea what we'll be facing, so I suggest doing this as fast as possible."

"Or we could run flat out into a disaster," said Shining. "What if the hospital isn't as abandoned as we think? A place like that would be perfect for desperate ponies to loot. Desperate ponies that aren't going to like us charging in and taking their stuff."

"Are you saying they could attack us?" Twilight Velvet asked her son in surprise.

"We don't know what those ponies might do. Everything might be fine, and life continuing as normal if we we're lucky, but that's not something we should count on. Bon Bon is right in that we know very little about the situation in Baltimare."

"Which is why I'm saying that the less time we spend here, the better."

"But your plan leaves us no options if we get found out, and getting seen doing this will guarantee a Shades investigation, possibly drawing Black Rose away from Fillydelphia, and completely screwing that plan." Shining nodded as Bon Bon bit the back of her lips. "I wouldn't mind grabbing the stuff and running, but I don't think it helps our future plans in the slightest."

Bon Bon stood to attention, "Apologies Sir, I withdraw my suggestion."

"No need to apologise, and if you have any suggestions on how we're going to move all this stuff, I would love to hear it."

"So we can't just grab it all and run?" the filly asked.

"The amount we need, all of us would have to go," Fleur told her. "If we could find a cart, that'd be something, but it would also make us a bigger target."

"Thorax did turn into a bugbear," said Rocky. "Perhaps he could carry it while we run back?"

Fleur saw the look on Honeydew's face as Rocky suggested the idea, but said nothing just as Honeydew also did. Eventually a real problem could develop between Honeydew and the rest of them if they didn't stop thrusting Thorax into danger. It wasn't their fault he was so damned useful.

"I doubt he could carry all we need," said Shining. "He could lessen it though, if he's willing," Shining added quickly as Honeydew directed a look at him. "Unfortunately that still leaves us with having to find a way back to the boat without getting noticed, while carrying a whole load of stuff."

"I think," the filly said in a tone that sounded like she'd come upon a world changing epiphany, "we're going to have to accept that we can't do this entirely stealthily. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, am I right?"

Fleur nodded in agreement, "I hate to say it, but the filly's right."

"Hey! What's to hate about that?"

"With Thorax, how many do you think we'll need?" Fleur asked, directing the question at both Shining and Bon Bon. "Excluding me of course, because I can't run very fast even without carrying a load of stuff. The filly too."

"For once, I'm not going to argue."

"Might want to leave Crème to pilot the boat too."

Shining quietly counted around the ponies with a hoof, starting with himself, then Bon Bon, Rocky, Flicker, and then hesitated as he ended up on his parents and Honeydew. Honeydew, he knew, wasn't worth asking, but... "Damn it. Mom, Dad, are you okay coming with us?"

Nightlight winked at his son, "If it helps the cause, sure, your mother and I would gladly help. We're in this together, Shining."

"Of course," Twilight Velvet cut in, "a little instruction on self defence might go a long way in making us safer."

"Right..." For some reason, Shining hated the idea of that, even though it made sense. "I'll teach you some basics if we have time. Time, of course, being a thing we have until we wait for Thorax and Shadow to return. We really should wait for them to get back before planning too much."

"That's probably a good idea," Fleur said, right up until a rhythmic thumping came from the deck above. With a quiet frown, Fleur walked to the way out and looked up at Crème as the mare started smacking the deck again. "What are you doing?"

Crème pointed to the south, and Fleur squinted in the direction she was indicating as the others followed her out. Leaving the Horseshoe Bay were a dozen ships, each of them fairly large, and each of them flying the Mareitanian flag. It was hard to tell from the distance they were at whether the ships were heavily armed, but armed or not, they knew it had to be bad news.

"They're going south," Fleur said dumbly. "Why are they going south? Where's south that they might be interested in?"

"They might be heading around to Las Pegasus," said Shining. "Or Mareitania. Or any number of places really. Maybe we should also worry about the why? A dozen ships that size could carry a decent sized force."

"This is getting ridiculous," muttered Fleur. "There should be a limit to how much shit we can put up with at once. I guess that for now, all we can really do is take a note of it."

The filly snickered at Fleur, "I guess we're delegating that to be somepony else's problem? We could follow them and maybe try to sink a few?"

"Out of the question," said Shining. "We already have enough to do without creating more work for ourselves. Especially when attacking them would be suicide."

"I didn't say attack, did I? I said sink. Sneak in quietly and blow a few holes in the bottom with your magic, then run away."

Fleur pondered it for a moment, then shook her head, as did Shining. "That's a bit too much for us. We'll notify the princesses when we can, but that's all we'll be doing."

It was another half an hour before Shadow and Thorax returned, and their news wasn't great either, besides their destination being on the other side of the city.

"How have we not heard about any of this before now?" Fleur asked rhetorically. "A refugee crisis in Baltimare? Great."

"I can't blame them though," Shining said to her. "The deserts around Appleloosa were a pretty poor choice in the first place, and even worse when we... abandoned them. They would have to gravitate somewhere, and Baltimare was probably the least threatening option."

"I realise that, but after what was done to them, you really have to wonder if they're as much on Faust's side now, as they were Equestria's?"

"I'm sure their primary concern is survival," insisted Bon Bon. "If they've raided the medical centre for supplies, that's where our trouble lies."

"You'd think Blueblood would've gone right after the refugees," Rocky thought out loud. "Disenfranchised bunch like them would be easy pickings, and fairly easy to buy onto your side. Sure the Mareitanians made them refugees in the first place, but, well, y'know."

"That's really not how Blueblood works," said Fleur. "The unwashed masses aren't his kind of ponies."

"They might not be ours either." Bon Bon nodded towards Shining, "He mightn't get a very friendly reception off the crystal ponies, if there are any, and I doubt we'll get a better one if we take things they need."

"What do you think, Shadow?" the filly asked suddenly, engaging the thestral that had been sat there quietly since mentioning their findings. "These are your ponies that need the medical supplies, so what do you think we should do?"

"Why are you asking me? I don't want to take things that others need!" Shadow hummed and bit her lip thoughtfully for a moment, "That said, I doubt the refugees are so desperate for medical supplies that they need an entire hospital's worth. What they probably want is food. What if we found some food to trade?"

"With the food shortages we've found?" Fleur shook her head, "Not likely. It's a nice idea though."

"Oh. Right." Shadow rubbed her head, "Well, what if we try to get aid to them in the future? Give us some medicine, and we'll see what we can do?"

"They aren't going to trade their supplies on the promise of possible supplies in the future." Fleur looked around the room and sighed as no other ideas were brought up. "I think the only thing we can do is go there. At the very least, getting an implant for Flicker shouldn't be an issue. Bon Bon, tell Crème to bring us in, and let's get this show on the road."

"Yes ma'am."

"We're in a boat," the filly quipped. "There are no roads."

"There are in the city!"

The boat lurched as Crème nudged the throttle, and a few minutes later it was brushing up along the coast as the team going in assembled on the edge facing the beach, jumping off one by one into the surf and staggering ashore, save those lucky two that could fly.

"Good luck!" Fleur shouted to them. "Remember to have Shadow or Thorax come find us when you're coming back!"

The boat accelerated away, leaving the seven ponies, and a one changeling in the dark. Without a word, they made their way up the beach to the outskirts of the city, and waited patiently as Shadow and Thorax explained where to go. Once their explanation was complete, they took to the air, leaving the rest of them to make their way to the medical centre on hoof, which was a much harder task. The city was quiet, but they knew that was down to the curfew, and actually made them easier to spot rather than harder, because there were no crowds to blend in with.

Shining did wonder for a while about how the Mareitanians were policing the cloud districts of Baltimare, and very soon came to the conclusion that they weren't. How could they? With the griffons gone, they had no means by which to do that. How they were keeping the pegasi of the city under control? The answers he came up with weren't very nice, ranging from the usual Mareitanian method, to holding the earthbound portion of the city hostage in exchange for obedience.

Shining put it out of his mind, like he did so many things these days, and concentrated on putting one hoof in front of the other, and before he knew it, they were at their destination. "New Hope Medical Centre," he read aloud from the sign out front.

"With a name like that," Rocky whispered, "no wonder the refugees were drawn here like flies to shit."

"Feel free to rephrase that," Shining said sternly.

"Sorry sir, but rephrasing it wouldn't change what I mean." Rocky gestured with his head towards the building, "Lights are on," he said. "Guess that means we're out of luck on doing this quietly and without a fuss."

"Seems so," Shining murmured in quiet agreement. "Hopefully they are actually refugees, and not Mareitanians, because we are going to look like the dullest bunch of idiots walking in through the front door into a bunch of soldiers." Shining set his jaw after staring at the hospital for several seconds, "Let's go."

All of them hurried through the grounds surrounding the hospital, and were joined at the front door by Shadow and Thorax, who hastily disguised himself as the brown pegasus he'd been travelling as for a while. The lock on the door was already bust, and allowed the door to swing open at a push from Shining's magic as he entered.

Fearful eyes met him, before changing to concerned caution as they saw he wasn't a threat, or so they might've hoped. Shining hoped that was the case at least, because more than a few of the ponies that had set up their beds wherever they could were crystal ponies, and he knew they probably recognised him.

"Uh, hi." Shining smiled at the ponies around him, "Sorry to disturb you. I don't suppose you could tell me who's in charge here, could you?"

A burgundy crystal pony mare with a dark grey mane and tail, stood and dragged herself over to them, her head low. Shining wanted to say he at least recognised her, as he did most of the crystal ponies, but her washed out colours prevented him from doing so. "Doctor Gloves is in charge, your Highness."

"Oh, thank you, um..."

"Paradise, your Highness."

Shining nodded, not really recognising the name, and completely failing to connect the cheerful name and happy looking palm tree cutie mark with the dreary pony it was attached to. "Could you take us to Doctor Gloves? Please?"

"I could."

Several seconds passed with Paradise having not moved.

"Oh, you mean you want me to?"

"Please?"

"Follow me."

Shining sighed with faint relief as Paradise started to lead them through the hospital, but his attention soon became occupied with the miserable looking ponies lining the halls as they either slept, or tried to sleep. Of those awake, some looked up to him with hope, while a few had only anger for him. The ones that distressed him most were the completely indifferent stares that didn't care who he was, and might be thankful that he didn't kick them while passing. Most of the ponies wearing that expression were crystal ponies.

"There's a very high ratio of crystal ponies here," Bon Bon observed. "I thought they'd barely make up twenty percent of the refugee population, at most."

"A lot of the refugees have gone home," Paradise explained. "Tall Tale was undamaged in the war, and large parts of Vanhoover weren't too badly damaged. Most of us left here are those with nowhere to return to, including quite a few Vanhoovians whose homes were destroyed, and Ponyvillians who were forced out of their homes when the village became a prison."

"I suppose that makes sense," Shining said carefully, not wanting to spend too much time talking about home around the crystal ponies. Paradise didn't seem to want to let him though.

"I wish we could go home."

"You will, one day, I promise."

"But Faust has the Crystal Heart, doesn't she?"

"Nope. We do, and when this is all over we're going to take the Crystal Empire back." Shining said that in the hopes of inspiring confidence, and while Paradise's ears did perk up, she seemed mostly confused.

"Isn't it already over? Faust won the war."

Shining acknowledged the stern look he got from Bon Bon, knowing he had to be careful with what he said now. "I wish it could be over, but it isn't until Faust says so, or we stop her. And we will stop her."

"Oh."

Shining groaned inside, but he knew that was better than telling her that they shouldn't fight, or something. "Changing the subject, what's the supply situation around here?"

"You'll have to ask Doctor Gloves about that."

"Of course. How much further is he?"

"We're here." Paradise stopped at a door and rapped a hoof upon it, "Doctor Gloves, I have some ponies that want to see you."

There was a groan from inside the room, and a few seconds later a young sounding male spoke to them. "Take them to the clinic and tell them I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay. This way please."

"But we're not patients," Shining protested weakly as Paradise started leading them on to another nearby room, where they were told to wait as Paradise left to go on whatever errand had popped into her head. A minute later, they were joined by a brown and white palomino unicorn.

"So which one of you is hurt?" he asked, not bothering with introductions.

"Uh, none of us are," Shining replied with a weak smile.

"What? Then why did you come looking for me?"

"Because Paradise said you were in charge of this place."

"Pfft, barely. I think you could say I'm in charge if me knowing most of what goes on here is a qualification for that." He stood there for a moment waiting, "Well? Come on then, spit it out."

"How long have you been here?" Bon Bon asked, deciding to sate her curiosity. It didn't seem as though the refugees had just arrived here.

"A few weeks. Why?"

"We were told this place was empty."

"Looking to set yourselves up here, were you?"

Bon Bon shook her head, "We need medical supplies, and we were going to take them from here. We didn't know at the time that refugees had moved in. We're not looking to take anything off ponies that need it."

Doctor Gloves smiled crookedly at Bon Bon, "Just how much were you thinking to take? There's only eight of you."

"We need them for Nostralis," Shining explained. "The home of the thestrals. They have almost nothing in the way of medicine."

"That's why I lost my leg," Shadow said quietly.

Doctor Gloves peered at Shadow's leg for a while, "Infected injury?" Shadow nodded. "On the table, now."

"What? Why?"

"Because I want to make sure it isn't still infected. The last thing you need is for the infection to travel deeper, because you have nothing left to cut off."

"I feel fine."

"Don't care. On the table."

"Just do it, Shadow," said Shining, getting the thestral to give up with an unhappy huff. She clambered onto the table, aided by her wings, and lay down with her missing leg facing up. She squeaked as the doctor started to unwrap the bandages.

"Did that hurt?"

"No, your hooves were cold," Shadow squeaked defensively.

"I'm using my magic," Doctor Gloves deadpanned.

"...Oh." Shadow decided to stay quiet after that, even as her wounds were prodded.

"Stitching looks good, and it's healing, but it's quite inflamed so I dare say that there is a touch of infection in there. Nothing a course of antibiotics can't fix. I'll stick a clean bandage on there and see what I can find."

Shadow grimaced as the doctor bustled away, and the others looked at her. "What? I didn't know it was infected. I just assumed it feeling like that was part of the healing process."

"She's lying," said Thorax.

"And what makes you say that?"

"He's an empath," said Shining. "All changelings are. He can tell when you're lying, just as he'll be able to tell if you do it again. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I don't want to be a burden, okay? Besides, it's not like we had anything to fix it with in Batsburg, or on the boat, so there was no point in getting you worried."

"Shadow, you might be new with us, but you're still part of the team, and your health is important to us, especially when you already have an injury. If there's something wrong, tell us." Shining placed his hoof on Shadow's to make sure he had her full attention, "Is that understood?"

Shadow nodded, a bit annoyed at herself that she was having to fight back tears. "It won't happen again." She was still having to control herself when Doctor Gloves returned and placed a tub of pills by her head.

"One of those three times a day should see you right," he said as he started to wrap a fresh bandage around her stump. "I would say to come back and see me, but we both know that's unlikely. Especially if you're planning on cleaning this place out."

"That's not something we want to do," Shining said quickly. "Had we known before getting here that refugees were using this place, we would've thought of something else. That said, we'll happily take what you think you can spare."

"That's the problem though, isn't it? New medicines aren't being produced, and there are already ponies suffering and dying because of that. We have stuff we can spare now, but who's to say we mightn't want that stuff in a few months time."

"And we understand that perfectly, but there are more ponies than these here that could benefit from the supplies you have." Shining could tell that his line of argument wasn't going to get him far, so he changed his tact. "What's the food situation like here?"

"Steady," Doctor Gloves answered, giving Shining a suspicious glance. "We get some donations, and occasionally some from our new 'benefactors' in Canterlot, and we get by with rationing. Thankfully the water problem isn't an issue any more."

"Water problem?"

"That's right. Y'see, some well meaning individuals in Canterlot decided to put the refugee camps in a fucking desert. Sure it was away from danger, until it wasn't, but a desert? Really?" Gloves shook his head at the thought of it, "When you all abandoned us, our water quickly started to run out, and it was entirely up to us to move a great many thousand ponies to somewhere with running water. Thanks for that, your Highness."

"So you do know who I am."

"Sure do, and if you weren't probably afloat with your own problems as you try to fix this mess, I'd have told you to get lost the moment I set eyes on you. Same for the princesses, wherever they are." Gloves secured the bandage, and turned to fully face Shining. "I'm not giving up what I have here so easily. I wish I could, but I simply can't."

"I understand, and-"

"However, I do have an alternative for you."

"You do?"

Gloves nodded, "Nearby is a place similar to this, but tends to cater to a different class of patient. The medicine might be a bit different, but so long as you know what to use, and what not to use, it should be fine for you. It's empty as yet, so there should be plenty for you to take."

"Great!" Shining grinned with relief, "What is this place?"

"A veterinarians, about half a mile up the road."

"A vets." Shining searched for some sign on Gloves' face that he was joking, but there wasn't anything. "You can't be serious."

"I can be, and I am. As I said, much of it is fit for pony use, so long as you know what's safe. I'll even come with you to tell you what is and isn't, so long as you accept that I'm not giving you anything out of this place, beyond those antibiotics."

Shining held up his hooves, "Understood, and if a doctor says it, I'm willing to accept it."

"Oh, I'm not a doctor." Gloves smirked at Shining as the white stallion became shocked. "I'm a vet."

"A vet? Then how are you treating all these ponies?"

"Quite easily actually. I started my training as a doctor, but I found that their single minded focus on treating ponies to be quite limiting. There are far more than ponies in this world after all, so I moved onto veterinary medicine, and learnt how to treat all kinds of people on top of animals."

"None of what you're doing sounds legal," said Rocky.

"It is so long as I don't treat ponies in a professional capacity, such as the one I find myself in now."

"I'm pretty sure griffons don't take themselves to the vets' when they're ill."

"No, but cows do. What makes ponies so special that they get their own hospitals, while the cows, sheep, and other fully sapient creatures here don't?" Gloves smiled with satisfaction as Rocky failed to say anything. "About the only non-ponies lucky enough to be treated in hospitals with no problems are zebras, griffons, and kirin. Anyway, enough lamenting the state of things, shall we be off?"

"Hold on," Shining said before Gloves could start to walk off. "Do you know if there are any of the crystal implants here? The ones used to-"

"Fend off mind control? Yes, there are some, assuming that's what the box of crystals in the supply room are. Why, do you need some of those as well?"

"One of us does, yes." Shining nodded at Flicker, "Although I have to admit I'm sceptical about asking you to do it now."

Gloves sighed loudly, "The only difference now is that you know I'm not technically a doctor. You probably wouldn't had said a thing before that."

"Just let him do it," said Flicker. "He can't be any worse than a Mareitanian doctor, or whoever was going to do it back on the boat."

Gloves gave Flicker a tiny bow, "Finally, a pony with sense enough to accept her limited options. Follow me, and let's see if we can't save your brain from the bogeymare."

Flicker shivered at the cold touch of the swab that cleaned the area on her chest, right next to the base of her front right leg. "Am I really supposed to be awake for this?"

"I was for mine," Gloves replied with a shrug, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves that came up to match the top of the white on his legs almost perfectly. "It only takes a minute anyway, so no point knocking you out for that."

"Okay, and you're really sure you know what you're doing?"

"Absolutely. I would describe it to you, but doing that makes it sound worse than it really is." Gloves picked up a syringe and injected it into the patch he'd cleaned. "Right, give that a minute, then we can get on with this. While we're waiting, how about you tell me what's going on in the world outside of this hospital. Has Faust taken over everything yet?"

"Only in Equestria," Shining told him. "We don't know exactly what she's doing, but a lot of what we were forced to sabotage at the end of the war is getting rebuilt. We're trying to stop her doing that."

"That can't be your entire plan."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no endgame to that. That's not going to stop Faust, and she has considerably more resources than you, so she'll win eventually. You must have something else going on to stop her."

"I'm... not sure how much I should say about that," Shining admitted slowly. "There is more, but it's out of my hooves. We're just doing what we can to slow Faust down."

"I see." Gloves picked up a scalpel and sliced the skin that he'd numbed, not getting so much as a squeak out of Flicker. Shining wasn't even sure she knew he'd done it. "I'm guessing the princesses are still at large then?"

"Most of them, my wife included."

"Good. Maybe that means they might fix this mess they made after all. Then their incompetency can be forgotten in the surge of warm fuzzies we all get for them saving us."

"You sound like my sister."

"Oh? And who might she be? She sounds like a smart mare."

"She's Princess Twilight."

"Is that a fact?" Gloves picked up a crystal and held it up the light as he inspected it for dirt. "Always knew I liked her. Can't say I see the family resemblance though, although I can in your mother."

"And that's all you have to say about that?"

Gloves slid the crystal into the opening he'd made, and manoeuvred it around until it sat nicely. "Pretty much. The crystal ponies here still worship the ground their Crystal Princess walks upon, so they aren't complaining, and I imagine most ponies will happily accept the return of the princesses as well. After that, us disgruntled few will either have to accept it, or leave."

Shining stayed quiet for a while as Gloves stitched up the opening, then cleaned it again. "Is that it?"

"For the operation? Or for what we're talking about?"

"Both."

"Ah, right. The operation is done. You're welcome by the way. As for the other thing, not all of us were so enamoured with the princesses before the war even started. Equestria isn't intentionally a bad place, but it's a little stagnant in its thinking. It's an egalitarian society, but only for the ponies. All the other natives can either live in a barn as indentured slaves, or fuck off."

"That's rubbish."

"Is it though? Why don't you take a moment to think about it."

Shining did, and as he did he ran into a problem. He wracked his mind for any occasion where non-ponies had the same opportunities as ponies, but all he was ever presented with was more examples of where that just didn't happen.

"I'll take your gormless expression to mean I'm right."

"Why didn't you ever bring this up with the princesses?"

"And go against the princesses? Do you any idea what that means? As soon as you try, everypony is against you, and you have less of a voice than if you hadn't said anything in the first place. I'll stick with helping them however I can, thank you very much."

"So you haven't even tried?"

"Oh I tried." Gloves eyed Shining as he pulled the rubber gloves off his hooves, "There's two reasons I'm not rushing back to Tall Tale, and only one of them is because the ponies here need me more."

"I'm finding this all a little hard to believe," Twilight Velvet piped up from across the room. "Equestria has always seemed fair to me."

"Alright then, picture this if you will. You all know the story of Hearthswarming, where the history says Equestria was a rich, unclaimed land, ripe for the taking. Now, go ask the sheep about Ewetopia, and they'll tell you what I am now. Equestria and Ewetopia are the same damned place, at least until ponies took it for themselves and changed the name."

"You mean the sheep were here first?"

Gloves nodded at Twilight Velvet, "That's right. Sheep, cows, pigs... all of those that our ancestors relegated to farmyard animals, they were here before us. Equestria rightfully belongs to them." Gloves beamed a smile at all of them as they silently took that in. "Weird, isn't it? Finding out the truth of what happened to Faust, and about Princess Platinum, that was far less of a shock to me than it was to a lot of others, because I already knew what the ponies did when they arrived here. I bet none of you have ever even wondered why none of them celebrate Hearthswarming." Gloves leaned in closer to them, "They mourn on it, and there are no prizes for guessing why."

As Gloves had said, it wasn't far to the veterinarians, although it was far enough for them to witness the mass of tents that covered the grounds around the rear of the hospital and beyond. If they thought that only those in the hospital represented the entirety of the refugees, they were sorely mistaken.

One thought that occupied Shining's mind though, and possibly some others', was that the founders of Equestria were the biggest bunch of assholes to have ever founded a country. Platinum's crimes were already numerous and fairly well known, but this latest revelation was a step too far. Why had none of them ever noticed what Gloves had told them when it was in plain sight?

"None so blind as those that won't see," Shining murmured to himself with an unhappy sigh. He needed to fix this, if he got the chance.

"Here we are," Gloves announced quietly as they came up to a building a fraction of the size of the hospital. "Happy Waggers veterinarians, or as I like to call it, a hospital for non-ponies."

"Yes, we get it," Bon Bon growled. "How do we get inside?"

"Through a door I imagine, although we could try a window if you're in the mood for something exotic?"

Bon Bon chose to ignore Gloves, "Can you get us in, General?"

"We really need to get you out of the habit of using a rank that no longer has any meaning. But yes, I can get us in." Shining ran up to the front door, finding only a single lock that proved no obstacle to a pony that had been taught to unlock pretty much anything as part of their guard training.

As the doors swung open, Shining wondered why nopony had returned here. The war was over, and even when it wasn't, ponies still went to work for the most part. What had changed here to stop ponies doing that? Ponies in Fillydelphia and Manehattan had been trying to regain a sense of normality, so why not the ponies of Baltimare?

"All clear," Bon Bon as she pushed in past Shining.

"What a shocker!" Gloves beamed a smile at Bon Bon as she looked back to scowl at him.

"Do you know where the supplies are kept?" she asked in a tone most ponies would be wary of. Gloves however, didn't seem to give a shit if he had even noticed in the first place.

"Of course not, it's not like I've been here before. It shouldn't be too hard to find though."

"Okay, Shadow, you keep an eye on things outside, and warn us if anypony comes."

Shadow looked back and forth between Bon Bon and Shining, wondering which one was in charge. Was it situational? Or was Bon Bon taking charge because Shining seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts all of a sudden. Whichever it was, Shadow decided to stop caring as she gave Bon Bon a crisp salute and took off back outside.

All of them spread out to search, and barely a few minutes later there was a shout from Rocky that he'd found the supply room, where Gloves started picking through what was useful with an almost insane glee. Much to their surprise, a sizeable stack of useable medicine started to build up.

"And you're sure all of this will work?" Nightlight asked, picking up a bottle and reading the label. "I've never even heard of this." Nightlight squinted at the bottle in his magic, "Sulfameth... sulfamethoxazole and... trimethoprim. What are they supposed to be?"

"That is for the treatment of bacterial infections in a wide range of creatures," Gloves answered, "including ponies, except it doesn't say ponies on the bottle, because this is the veterinarian version. Ponies get their own fancy looking version, despite it being the exact same stuff. Probably costs twice as much too."

"Oh. And what about flunixin?"

"Anti-inflammatory. Mostly used for cows, but again, perfectly safe for pony use. Just don't use it for too long, or it can cause liver and kidney issues. Now there's this," Gloves held up a bottle for Nightlight to see, "monensin, an antibiotic that is fine for cows and sheep, but toxic to us ponies." He frowned at the bottle and placed it back on the shelf, "I'm not a hundred percent on why they'd stock something with such a limited use."

"Fascinating! What about that one over there?"

"And we've lost him," Twilight Velvet whispered to Shining with a smile. "Are you alright dear? You've been quiet ever since Gloves told you about Ewetopia. You don't really believe him, do you?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because it's absurd, that's why. There's no proof that anything lived in Equestria before ponies."

"And that doesn't strike you as odd? The whole place was just empty before we found it? Really? It wouldn't surprise me to learn that our noble founders struck all mentions of such things from the history books."

Twilight Velvet sat next to Shining and rubbed a hoof up and down his back, "Even if that's true, you can't expect us to give Equestria back. It's our home."

"No, but when's the last time you saw a cow or sheep walking the streets of Canterlot, or riding the train, or going to their well paying office job? Never, that's when. Gloves is right in that us ponies treat them as second class citizens, in what might be their own homeland."

"And you're going to do something about it?"

Shining nodded, "If I can, and I know Cadence'll help me. First though, we need to do a lot of other stuff. Are you almost done in there, Gloves?"

"That depends. How are you all for dressings?"

"I'll ask Sha-" Shining looked up, remembering that Shadow was outside, keeping an eye on things. "Right, uh, just throw it in."

"You're the boss. Do you have any idea how you're going to move all this stuff?"

Shining had to admit that he did not, although that wasn't to say he was without ideas. "Are there any sheets in there?"

"Sheets... in a vets," Gloves deadpanned. "Have you even been listening to a word I've said?"

Shining groaned under his breath, "Fine, no sheets. Do you have any ideas?"

"Sure I do." Gloves swaggered out of the supply room with a half dozen cat carriers held in his magic, along with a ball of string. "You might look pretty stupid though. Just saying."

The string bit into Shining's back, but with two cat carriers full of medicine to carry, complaining wasn't going to help. Someone had helped though, and he at least deserved a bit of thanks.

"You're welcome," Gloves said before Shining so much as said a word.

"And now you're psychic apparently."

"No, but you had this pained expression cross your face, and I knew it had to be because you were about to show some genuine appreciation." Gloves grinned at Shining, "Honestly though, I'm happy to help."

"You really are, aren't you? You really are one of those uniquely helpful bastards in the world. You complain, you insult, and you're never so happy as when you're helping."

"It's both a curse and a gift." Gloves held out a hoof that Shining gladly shook. "Anyway, I best get back to the hospital. You all take care now, and maybe put a little thought towards what I told you. Other than that, good luck with the whole stopping Faust thing."

"And good luck to you with keeping all those ponies safe. Bye." Shining waved to Gloves until he was out of hearing range, "Good grief. Anyway, we more or less have what we need, so let's get out of here. Thorax, can you grab some of these carriers and go tell Fleur we're on our way back?"

"Sure." There was a flash as Thorax changed into a bugbear, and he grabbed several of the carriers to take with him, lifting them with ease, even on his comically small bug wings that made the air vibrate with force as he took off. Even after a minute, they could still hear his buzzing.

"This was a strange day," said Rocky. "Or at least it feels like one of them, where you do something weirdly left field, and nothing goes wrong. And now we have to sneak through a city carrying cat carriers full of medicine. I mean, really, what the fuck?"