Rather than fly all the way back to the portal in the Circen Desert, necessitating a two day flight, Twilight and her companions headed straight for Zebrica, since now they'd arranged to have everyone meet in the country, they should probably ask the permission of those whose country they want to hold it in. That had the distinction of being a big job since the zebras have a well documented history of despising the griffons, and of being fiercely neutral in conflicts.

Still, that was something for future Twilight to worry about. Right now she could enjoy the peace of soaring high in the air, dozens of meters above her troubles, with nary a care in the wor-

"Are we there yet? Seriously, all this flying around is getting boring."

Twilight sighed, her peaceful frame of mind creaking dangerously with the reintroduction of reality. "Does it look like we're there? I'm pretty sure if we were there we'd, y'know, be there. That doesn't appear to be the case."

Trixie blew a raspberry at Twilight, "Alright, sarcastic pants, I was only hoping for you to say that we're almost there, or that it'll be another hour, or that we haven't even left Saddle Arabia yet. How big is the stick shoved up your patootie today?"

Nightmare snorted with laughter, "Did you really just said patootie?"

"What's wrong with patootie?"

"Nothing, if you're five, or at least have the mental capacity of a five year old, which I suppose is close enough for you."

"Ah," Trixie nodded thoughtfully, "I see we're all being pleasant people today. How about you, Mayfly? What have you got in store for me?"

Mayfly stared at Trixie for several seconds longer than what is comfortable, then shrugged. "I'm not sure I yet see the purpose of insulting one's friends for entertainment value. I see even less value in insulting people like you."

"Ooh damn, that was harsh. Ouch, Mayfly, where did you learn to tear peoples hearts out like that?"

Mayfly beamed a smile at Trixie, "I've been practicing. Sunset often told me that 'banter' between friends is good, even when it becomes insulting, because said insults are still friendly."

Trixie growled quietly, "Ugh, I hate the word banter. The amount of ponies I've met that will act like complete twats to your face and blatantly insult you, then say 'it's just banter,' like that somehow exonerates them from being the massive cunts they clearly are, and that you're wrong for getting angry at them."

"But are they not now your friends for using the banter?"

"No, Mayfly, they are not."

"Oh." Mayfly drooped as she flew, "Still so much to learn."

Twilight kept her thoughts to herself, mostly because the moment she'd heard Sunset get mentioned it felt like her heart had tied itself in a knot. Trixie didn't seem to have noticed the wobble in her flight, thankfully, so Twilight carried on, staying quiet as she thought.

It was hard to overstate how much she missed Sunset, and yet there was also a note of guilt in that because Sunset spent so little time in her thoughts these days. There was simply too much to do, and Sunset was a distraction, as terrible as it was to say. There really wasn't room for her to be anywhere other than the back of Twilight's mind, apart from now. Thank goodness their flight didn't take them anywhere near the remains of Mount Chembechembe, because... Twilight didn't know, but she doubted it'd be pretty.

"Are you crying?"

Nightmare's question pierced right through the haze filling Twilight's head, and Twilight lifted a hoof to find that she did indeed have tears in her eyes. She wasn't full on crying, but it wasn't as though she could pretend it was something in her eye either.

"I'm sorry if mentioning Sunset upset you," said Mayfly.

"Don't be, because the alternative is never mentioning her at all, which is almost as bad as forgetting her." Twilight wiped her tears away, "I'm sorry, I just... we haven't exactly had time to process this, and I'm hardly the only one feeling her loss."

They flew on in silence after that, with even those typically incapable of saying nothing being quiet. The quiet continued until Zanzebra came into sight twenty minutes later, and it was broken by a gasp from Twilight, who hadn't seen the carnage wrought by the collapsing portal before, while Trixie and Nightmare had as they searched for her remains.

"Bad, isn't it," Trixie said in a low voice, completely failing to describe the utter carnage below. A whole third of the city was nothing but rubble, with nothing that could easily be recognised as a building left standing, as they were all knocked over, blown away from the crater at the epicentre where the portal had been.

"Makes you wonder what this would look like if you hadn't slowed the portal down," Nightmare said to Twilight after giving her a minute to take it in, having used the time to disguise herself as a thestral. "I'm not usually one to make a fuss like this, but you did well."

Twilight didn't agree so quickly, but only because it was hard to imagine it being worse than it was. This was already destruction on an unimaginable scale, so to increase that scale by two or three times was... equally unimaginable. She also doubted that how well she toned down the destruction mattered all that much to the zebras picking through the ruin of their lives. Far too many were down there, searching through the wreckage, seeking anything that was left. Twilight could only hope it wasn't the remains of loved ones they were looking for. The city had been evacuated, but- Twilight stopped that line of thought before she found herself sifting through the rubble as well.

"What if Faust starts doing this in other cities? She could basically hold the world hostage with this kind of power."

"All the more reason to fight then," Nightmare assured her. "I always thought your goal in this was to save lives?"

"Yes, but-"

"But what? You know what Faust intends to do, so stopping now because you're scared of this happening again isn't an option. Don't bother pretending that it is."

Twilight wished she could argue, but she knew it'd only be against herself. Seeing somewhere else suffer the same as this, or worse, was a strong reason to give up, but giving up would only lead to something even worse again. Were the lives saved really worth it if those lives became ruined in a different way later? Was losing your intellect, your very sense of self, akin to dying? It felt like it to Twilight. Nightmare was right, they had to push on.

"If only the ponies in Equestria could see this," Trixie said in a near whisper.

Twilight paused, the wheels in her head turning at Trixie's words. What if the ponies of Equestria did see this? Would it incite them against Faust, or cement them into a position of fear where they didn't dare move against her? Would it even encourage them to support her if it meant their safety? Food for thought perhaps, but probably something she should run by Luna and Cadence first.

Given a lack of context on where else to go, they flew towards the burnt out ruins of the Kumbi Mzee, hoping to find some kind of sign for where else to go. The Council of Elders were already there, surprisingly, but not nearly as surprisingly as Cadence and Luna being there, along with Ember and Flurry, not that Flurry went far without her mother.

"Ah, you arrived quicker than expected," Luna said as they came in to land. "I hope that means everything went well?"

"There were some hiccups," Twilight replied, her eyes flicking to Nightmare and Mayfly, "but things went well enough. The Sultan won't be attending, but Grand Vizier Amira will be here in his stead. Assuming they can come here at all, considering who else we're asking to come here."

"We were just discussing that with the Council," said Cadence. "They're holding a private meeting while they make up their minds. They're... not as resistant to the idea as we were afraid they might be."

"That's a relief. So how'd it go with you two? Are the griffons on board?"

Luna nodded happily, "They are, and there was a rather unexpected event where a formal treaty was made between the griffons and the dragons. Dragons will no longer illegally enter Griffonia, freeing up a large amount of resources for the upcoming invasion."

Twilight raised her eyebrows, surprised that such a thing could happen. "And you're sure the dragons will respect that?" she asked Ember.

"They will," Ember answered, smirking heavily. "I made sure of it. Let's just say that entering Griffonia will be an uncomfortable prospect for any dragon that tries it without permission."

Twilight nodded, not really sure what Ember meant by that, but fairly certain it was meant literally. "That's good. How about you, Cadence? Any luck?"

"Yeesss... I did find the crystal smiths we need, but there's some problems as well. First off, after your last visit to Baltimare, Faust has forcibly relocated the refugees to the Appleloosa desert."

Twilight winced guiltily. She'd hoped that the refugees would be left alone, but apparently that was too much to hope for. "Sorry."

"It's hardly your fault. They would've been moved at some point. I was just hoping that point would be after the war was over, when we could relocate them back to the Crystal Empire. There's nothing we can do about it now. The second piece of news is that Faust has recruited civilians to police the cities, freeing up her soldiers for more important tasks, like invading innocent countries, and defending Equestria."

"That's not good."

"No it isn't," Luna agreed. "I've tasked Rainbow, Lightning, and Vapor with scouting Equestria for Faust's forces, to see where they're concentrated, and how numerous they are. Hopefully that can give us a better idea of things when it comes time to launch our attack."

"Here's hoping. Maybe they can find Celestia as well. I doubt Faust is very impressed with what her daughter has become."

"They won't find her if she's in Canterlot, or the Everfree castle. I told the Wonderbolts only to get close enough to get a vague estimate on numbers and position, nothing more. The last thing we need is for them to get captured, or worse."

Twilight nodded, fully agreeing with the 'worse' part, although getting captured would be pretty catastrophic if one of them talked. Twilight suspected they wouldn't, but a cautious relocating of the various portals would have to happen just in case. All they had to do now was get the zebras to at least agree to host the summit, and then do everything else, starting with her most recent idea.

"I was thinking as I flew here, due to an idea Trixie gave me, but what if we informed ponies of what happened here?"

"I'm pretty sure they already know," Luna said flatly.

"They know about the invasion, sure, and they might even know that Faust withdrew her forces, but I doubt anypony but Faust herself knows what she did here with the portal. Not even those she evacuated. I imagine it was only a portal to them."

"While that may be true," Luna said thoughtfully, "I'm not sure what telling them would achieve. I imagine it would only frighten ponies. To be honest, the whole idea frightens me. What if Faust teleported to Griffonia and created one of those portals in the Eyrie? It's bad enough thinking she could dump an army anywhere using that kind of magic, but an unstable portal bomb capable of this kind of destruction?"

"I don't think so," Twilight said back. "If she had the power to move entire armies using those portals, why require ships? Why not bring twenty thousand of her soldiers here in no time at all? There's a limitation to where she could put those portals, but I'm not sure what."

"What if it's to do with ley lines?" Cadence suggested. "That portal fed on an incredible amount of energy, even before it went out of control. There isn't enough background magic anywhere for that kind of thing to feed on, so maybe she can only cast it on, or near ley lines."

"There is one that runs right next to the city," said Luna. "There's also the one that goes to Mount Chembechembe not too far off, but probably too far for Faust's purposes. It does sound feasible, Twilight."

"Yeah, but that still doesn't tell us why she didn't portal her army closer to Zanzebra. Maybe she needs something, or someone, to anchor the portal at one end, like a unicorn."

"That does sound reasonable," said Luna. "I suppose the threat maybe isn't as bad as we first feared. The Eyrie is at least safe because no ley lines run near the place."

Cadence raised an eyebrow at Luna, "Just the Eyrie?"

"Ammare sits close to a ley line, but has the luxury of being allied with Faust, so they should be safe, and Zanzebra shouldn't be hit twice if there's nothing here to create an anchor."

Twilight nodded, liking what she was hearing so far. "Okay, that's good. What about Equestria?"

"Haven't you seen a ley line map of Equestria, Twilight?"

"Yes, but I didn't overlay it with a map of Equestria's cities. Mostly because I didn't need to."

"Ah, well, how to say this..."

Nightmare cut in, providing the answer Luna was so reluctant to give. "Essentially every city in Equestria sits on a ley line, with the Crystal Empire sitting on a couple, the Tree of Harmony sitting on a few minor ones, and then there's Canterlot, where pretty much every major ley line from around the world converges under the Canterhorn mountain. So, while I don't disagree with anything you said, if you were trying to make yourselves feel better," Nightmare started to clap slowly, "good job."

"Shouldn't you be resting up at the Retreat?" Luna muttered irritably.

"I could be, yes."

"Then please go before you get into trouble?"

Nightmare sniffed, raising her muzzle imperiously. "I see how it is, the adults are talking, and I'm barely a toddler to you lofty alicorns. Well I never."

"You're a toddler compared to anypony if you're using that logic. Otherwise, you're over a thousand years old, so start acting like it."

"Yes, mom."

"Don't call me that."

"This isn't just a phase!"

Luna covered her eyes with a hoof, "Please, just go."

"Sure. Are you coming, Mayfly? I doubt there's going to be anything interesting happening with all these boring old ponies here."

"Are you saying that because I'm only six?"

"I- Wait, you're six?"

Mayfly nodded, "Changelings grow up and mature much faster than ponies, to keep the hive well supplied with working bodies. Did you not know that?" Mayfly stopped and tapped a hoof to her chin, "I wonder if that would still be true for a child of an evolved changeling, like myself? So much to ponder."

"Do you want to ponder it at the Retreat?" Nightmare asked the changeling. "We could ponder it over cookies and milk while Starsy reads us a bedtime story?"

"But I'm not sleepy. Nor do I desire milk combined with cookies."

Nightmare rolled her eyes and spread her wings, "Come on, Mayfly, lets leave them to it. The fact is that I doubt they need us hanging around in the way while they plan the summit."

Twilight watched them go, while also secretly enjoying the look on Luna's face. It was a look Applejack and Rarity had often worn when dealing with their younger sisters. Strangely it wasn't something she'd ever seen her brother Shining do. Guess Twilight had been too good for him to need to. It wouldn't surprise her if she started to see it more these days instead.

"Confounded mare," Luna finally cursed once Nightmare and Mayfly were away. "What were we talking about before she interrupted?"

"About how Equestria was riddled with ley lines," Twilight answered helpfully, "and about how it'd be fucked if Faust decided to blow it all up."

"Right, yes. Perhaps it'd be best if we changed the subject. You were talking about an idea you had, I believe?"

"Right, yes." Twilight clapped her hooves together and pointed them at Luna, "I was wondering about the benefits of showing the destruction here to ponies back in Equestria, and I wanted yours, and especially Cadence's input on whether that'd be a good idea."

"Mine?" Cadence asked, pressing a hoof to her chest. "Why me?"

"Because you know ponies on a more fundamental basis than Luna and myself. Their thoughts, their feelings, and most importantly, how they might react to seeing-" Twilight gestured at the city, "-this. Would it scare them? Or would it push them to resist the rule of a pony that could cause this?"

"That's a tough question, Twilight. Even you should know that ponies are going to react in lots of different ways. If you're looking for an answer where there's a good chance it'll cause ponies to start fighting back, I'm afraid I can't give it to you, even if it would. Nopony can predict how an entire country's worth of ponies will react."

"Then what would you do? If you were a pony living your life in Equestria under Faust's rule, and I showed you a picture of this and told you that Faust had caused it, what would your reaction be?"

Cadence went quiet as she thought about it, giving it her full attention. Putting herself into the hooves of an average pony wasn't something she'd done in a long time, but all the same she tried to. If she saw a picture of the carnage wrought in Zanzebra, committed on a scale previously unseen, she'd probably be in denial. And if she could be convinced of the truth, she'd probably be scared. How does your average pony fight back against that?

Twilight's heart sank as Cadence gave her answer, but couldn't say that Cadence was wrong. Denial and fear would probably be her reactions, but she'd take that extra step in refusing to allow another atrocity like that to happen. Unfortunately, it was easy for her to do that, so her reaction probably wouldn't count.

"You're right, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking."

"But surely it doesn't matter if ponies get scared," said Trixie. "Shouldn't it matter that some of them fight back?"

"But how?" Luna asked Trixie. "Without guidance, without a plan, they could end up getting themselves and a lot of other ponies killed. I think it best that we not introduce any new factors into things, and proceed with our plan as we have made it. The last thing we need is a lot of scared and angry ponies confusing things, or even worse mistaking our allies for enemies. Faust's crimes shall have to be revealed afterwards."

"Eh, fine." Trixie shrugged at Twilight, getting a half-hearted one back. Both of them knew that Luna was probably right, and that showing ponies what could happen if they fought back was probably a terrible idea anyway. "So now what?"

"Now we wait for the Council," said Luna. "Goodness knows how long that will take."

All that there was to mark the spot where she'd died was a patch of dried blood. Not many ponies got to see the spot where they'd died, let alone multiple times, and Twilight had to admit that it was pretty anticlimactic. She'd saved most of the city from destruction, along with thousands of lives, and had given her own life in the process. All she had to show for that was a dried up patch of dirty blood that could honestly have belonged to anyone.

"Do you want to know how we found you?"

Twilight suspected it was by her magical signature, since it stood to reason that an immortal alicorn would retain their magic after death. She didn't say that though, because it allowed Trixie to keep talking, and maybe feel a little cleverer about something she never actually figured out herself. It also gave Twilight time to keep looking around.

Fragments of the lives the zebras lived here were strewn all around her. Bits of pottery, broken furniture, the masks they favoured, and far more littered the ground amidst the rubble. How did you recover from something like this? If she came back in a year, would it all be cleared up and rebuilt? Singing a song of silent defiance that no matter how much you destroy, we can and will rebuild, better than before. Or would it be left untouched, the task too much to bear?

Twilight told herself off for being silly. Of course the only option was to rebuild. Let the destruction here in the present stay in the past, remembered only in memory and history books. It didn't deserve anything more than that. Let that sad little patch of blood be washed away by a tide of hope, reconstruction, and zebras in hardhats.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Hmm?" Twilight noticed then that she was smiling, and was perfectly happy to be doing so. "Sorry, I was thinking about something. Do zebras need to wear high visibility clothing when they're already quite noticeable?"

"What? That has nothing at all to do with what I was talking about! Great, I must be bad at lectures if I can't even hold your attention on a subject involving magic."

"Sorry, Trixie, I'm just... I don't know, but I'm feeling a lot of whatever it is."

"That is so helpful, thank you." Trixie sighed and walked up to stand next to Twilight, spotting the end of a piece of cloth poking out of the rubble. She pulled it with her magic, tearing it off. She cursed, dropping the fragment of cloth. "So now what?"

"What do you mean? You know what happens now."

"So this doesn't change any of our plans?"

Twilight shook her head and shrugged, "I don't see why it should. Faust still needs to be stopped, no matter what she's apparently capable of."

"Yeah, but this is way beyond our normal scope of things. We've gone from slinging spells on a battlefield to spells that can destroy entire cities in seconds. That's... I don't even know how to describe it."

"Isn't that the idea though? We're fighting back better and harder than she thought possible, so her only option is to do something so terrible that it scares us out of fighting."

"I'm sure that was hardly her only option."

Twilight laughed once, wondering where her current attitude was coming from. She felt galvanised, for lack of a better word. "Alright, so maybe it's not her only option, but she can't only have been hoping to wipe us out in one move. She knew some, if not all of us would survive, so she had to make such a spectacle of it that we lost the will to fight."

Trixie kept her opinion to herself, fairly certain that Faust didn't need ridiculous city destroying spells to turn them all into bloody smudges. There was no point to giving up, but she'd be lying if she said she couldn't feel the noose around their necks.

"Where are you going?" she asked as Twilight started trotting away from her.

"To see the crater," Twilight replied. "I'm curious about what's left in it."

"Magical radiation probably."

"And? That's hardly dangerous."

"Not to you perhaps."

"It isn't dangerous to you either, but if you should sprout a second horn, or indeed wings, I'll let you know."

Trixie sighed through her nose, but dutifully followed after Twilight to the crater, approaching it with considerably more caution than the alicorn did. There was an unnatural warmth to the two dozen meter wide pit, as well as a fetid smell as an exposed sewer dribbled its contents into the hole.

"Fascinating. Complete displacement of the area around the portal. I wonder how that happened?"

"It's a portal," Trixie said dumbly. "It probably portalled it somewhere. Twilight, what are we doing here? You seem weirdly happy standing here in the middle of all this. Are you just trying to distract yourself from thinking about Sunset?"

Twilight turned her head away, to hide the fact that while she hadn't been doing this to avoid thinking about Sunset, even though it had been doing a marvellous job in that regard, but because she was definitely thinking about Sunset now, and it still sucked.

Twilight squeaked as she felt Trixie's legs wrap around her neck in a hug, but quickly leant into it. Hugs were always nice, even now.

"Bit for your thoughts? Is Sunset's journal still bothering you?"

"No, actually. It's like the less I think about her, the less her journal bothers me. The problem is that I don't want to think less about her. It just seems that the world wants to give me other things to think about instead, and I need to think about those things, but then I feel guilty, like I'm neglecting Sunset."

"So it's complicated then?"

"When isn't it?"

"Touché. Need any inspirational words?"

"Have any to spare?"

"Give me a minute." Trixie picked the roundest stone she could find out of the rubble, and set about carving a decent likeness of Sunset's cutie mark into its surface. It took a few minutes, but when she placed that stone on the top of a pile of others at the edge of the crater, it felt more than worth it. Sunset at least deserved at bit of effort out of her.

"To our friend, Sunset Shimmer, who gave her life to make sure we kept ours, which is a pretty awesome thing to do really. It takes a special kind of pony to do that, and I'm glad that she was one of them. Like, really, really glad."

Twilight smiled through her sadness. It was far from the ideal epitaph, but them being here, today and every day afterwards, was Sunset's achievement. Hopefully they could make her proud.

Twilight pressed her head against the side of Trixie's, letting her tears fall, but not out of sadness alone. She felt better, lighter, and happier that she could finally be sad about it, rather than occupied with other things.

"Thanks, Trixie."

"You're welcome," Trixie said with a small shrug. "I just hope the zebra that stone belongs to doesn't mind us nicking a part of their house or whatever."

Twilight snorted out a laugh, "Fuck that zebra, I think we, and Sunset, have earned it."

"Yeah, fuck that zebra." Trixie swung her head around to make sure that zebra wasn't standing behind them. They were safe. For now. "So, you weren't also cracking a little at seeing this and not quite being able to comprehend it while facing up to the fact that we somehow have to stop the pony that caused this?"

"Me? Noooo... no, not me, not in the slightest."

"Oh good, so I wasn't the only one."

They spent almost an hour staring out over the crater, witnessing the silent aftermath of the portal bomb, only occasionally punctuated by enquiries on whether magical radiation really wasn't harmless, and that Twilight was totally, one hundred percent sure it wasn't going to horribly mutate Trixie into an abomination.

Eventually, after several reassurances that they spent their entire lives being bathed in magical radiation from literally everywhere, including their own horns, without turning Trixie more freakish than she already was, they decided it was maybe time they returned to the Kumbi Mzee and learned of the Council's decision. So, Sunset's memorial stone in tow, they made their trek to the highest point of the city.

"I can honestly say this has been really surreal," Twilight commented as they left the destruction behind, entering the part of the city where the damage was nearly unnoticeable. "Horrible, but surreal."

"Yeah, because the abstract nature of it is what really sticks with you."

"You know what I mean."

"Of course I do. Doesn't make what you said any less dumb." Trixie stuck her tongue out at Twilight as the mare huffed at her. "Seriously though, you missed the weird glittery magic residue that fell from the sky for a couple of hours afterwards. That was surreal. If we weren't so busy trying to find you, I might have spent a bit of time watching that."

Twilight squinted sideways at Trixie, "You're making that up."

"I'm really not."

"But magic residue should only last a few seconds at most. To make it last hours, the source would hav- Right, city wrecking portal bomb conjured by the single most magical being we know of. Glad I stopped myself before I sounded too stupid."

"Me too. I enjoy having at least a modicum of respect for you." They turned up on to the path to the Kumbi Mzee, the road changing from packed dirt to stone paving. "What's going to happen if the Council refuses?"

"I don't know, but I really don't think they will. It doesn't take long to decide on a flat out refusal. There'll probably be some rules and conditions that we'll have to follow, but I very much doubt that's going to be a problem."

"Okay, but what if they really do refuse?"

"Then we'll probably go to Griffonia, because it's the safest place, even if the Saddle Arabians will moan about it, and the zebras won't come at all. I doubt Chrysalis will care in the slightest where we end up."

"That sounds so much easier than all this."

"That's because it would be, but neutral territory with an eye on getting the zebras to join the security pact was the idea."

At the top of the hill they found Luna and Cadence waiting almost exactly where they'd been over an hour earlier, except that they were now playing noughts and crosses in the ash strewn dirt. The sight was enough to give Twilight pause for a few seconds.

"Are they still talking about it?"

"Something else came up in the middle of their meeting," Cadence explained. "We've been told that they've made their decision, but Councillor Fumbo wants to tell us in person, along with Mistress Tazama."

"In other words," Luna sighed, "they're giving us the run around because they can, because they don't want to show that they feel like they owe us, and are willing to host the summit for that reason alone."

"Luna is of course exaggerating," said Cadence. "I'm sure it's something important involving the sheltering of a lot of zebras that have lost their homes. Or maybe the prisoners."

"Sure." Luna scratched a cross into the grid of their current game, and made a face as Cadence drew a circle, making three in a row on the left side. "I rather feel like I'm missing something here. I haven't won once."

"I could never beat her either," Twilight said with a laugh. "Not until I worked out that she somehow always manages to go first."

"Don't tell her my secret!" Cadence shouted, smiling as she did, and laughing as Luna groaned.

"The simplest thing, and I never considered it. I think that calls for a-" Luna stopped, spotting a trio of zebras starting up the hill of the Kumbi Mzee, catching Twilight out since she'd thought they were up here because the Council was inside, even if it was burnt out. She never said that it made no sense to her for them to do that. "It seems we might finally have our decision."

They waited for the three zebras to reach them, seeing that Councillor Kifuniko had joined them, much to Trixie's displeasure over having to work out more "pointless fucking rhymes." At the very least they didn't seem overly unhappy to see the three princesses, which was hopefully a good sign.

"Sorry for keeping you so long," Fumbo apologised. "We hadn't yet figured out where we were going to keep the prisoners since where we would normally put them is..." Fumbo waved at the destroyed section of the city, "quite. To make things worse, where we could put them instead is being used for the homeless." Fumbo sighed wearily, "So many things to think about."

Cadence gave him a sympathetic smile, "We know that feeling all too well. If you feel there's something we can help with while we're here, don't hesitate to ask."

Kifuniko nodded her appreciation, "That is a kind offer of you, but enough we feel you have to do. Anyway, we are not here to make a fuss, we are here to give the decision you wish from us."

Luna raised her head a little, "You have made a final decision then?"

"We have," Fumbo told her, "and we have agreed that you can host your summit here, but only if certain criteria are met."

Luna grinned as Twilight and Trixie bumped hooves, relieved that the Council had agreed. "I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem. What are these conditions?"

"They concern the delegates," said Mistress Tazama. "And I don't just mean the griffons. All of those you invited here will have to endure the same conditions, although there is one extra for your changeling allies, but only because the other parties literally cannot do what they can."

"That should please Chrysalis no end," Luna said evenly, although she could easily predict that going over with the changeling queen about as well as griffon cuisine at a foal's birthday party, despite not knowing what the request for the changelings was yet. "What are these conditions?"

"Mostly security concerns," said Mistress Tazama. "In fact, almost entirely security concerns. Each diplomatic party is allowed no more than a dozen armed guards, not including their retinue. Their very definitely unarmed retinue, although the griffons have a slight advantage there. We don't want armies marching into our country just for a meeting."

"Very reasonable," Luna said in agreement.

"They will also be subject to random searches, not just for weapons, but other things that they might be trying to take both in, and out of the country. While I would like to think the best of our coming visitors, we can't sit still and assume that none of them might have turned traitor, or have other intentions."

Luna made a face, but otherwise didn't fight it. Although she expected nothing from her fellow ponies, or from the griffons and changelings to be honest, the Saddle Arabians might have developed a loyalist following for Faust, so caution would be advisable. "As you wish."

"The delegates will also have to accept that we will be performing around the clock security measures, not just for our own sake, or yours, but for theirs as well. We have no idea who might try to sneak in to gather information, so it is best we take all care to prevent such things."

That at least seemed fairly standard for an event like this. Or at least it sounded like it to Luna, since an event like this hadn't ever really happened before. At least not since her return from the moon. Again she accepted the condition, but was starting to worry about what that extra condition for the changelings was if this kind of security was being carried out. If it was what she thought it would be, Chrysalis might end up walking out. Maybe that might be no bad thing in the long run, but it could mean the loss of an entire army of changelings.

"There were some other security concerns, but even I can see that having the griffons submit to having their claws cut is a terrible idea, diplomatically speaking, so we can ignore them. However, there is the matter of the changelings. We won't push that Queen Chrysalis be forced to wear a inhibitor ring, but we will require that her and her retinue wear Kuua at all times."

And there was the terrible idea that Luna knew Chrysalis would hate. The problem was that it wasn't actually a terrible idea at all. It was actually rather sensible. It was also something Chrysalis would vehemently reject.

"I'm sure she'll accept those terms," Cadence said, raising an eyebrow at Luna when she shot a look of surprise at the pink princess. "Are there any other matters?"

"Only that we keep the prisoners away and unaware of the summit, no. Not security related at least. If you accept those conditions, I'll depart to start putting them in place."

"Of course, Mistress Tazama, thank you."

"What are you doing?" Luna whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "You know Chrysalis will never accept having to wear the Kuua."

"That's why we don't tell her until the last minute, then sweeten the deal with a full belly, if you catch my meaning."

Luna rolled her eyes, but otherwise accepted that might work at placating the changeling queen. All the same, she prepared for the departure of their least desirable ally.

"There is a few other matters that will have to be addressed before the summit," Fumbo said once they were done talking. "First is that we have nowhere to hold it with the Kumbi Mzee burnt down."

"Can we get hold of a marquee?" asked Twilight. "That would do, wouldn't it?"

"And put it where?" Luna asked back.

Twilight pointed towards the ruined part of the city, "How about in there, to remind everyone what we're fighting for?"

"I'm sure that would do more to scare them off fighting," said Cadence.

"We agreed there are limitations to where Faust can use those portal bombs, so there's a decent degree of safety that we can tell our allies about. Holding it there should instead remind them of what we're fighting against, and why."

"It's also fairly unoccupied at the moment," Luna said in agreement. If we can clear a flat area for the marquee, it would do quite adequately."

Cadence shook her head, not agreeing with either of them, but she was entirely uninterested in fighting a two against one decision. Instead she turned back to Fumbo. "Was there anything else?"

"We have nowhere for your delegates to sleep, since that capacity also died with the Kumbi Mzee."

"I guess we'll need several tents then," said Twilight. Nice ones, with decent furnishings. We should probably keep those outside of the ruins though. Maybe create a small, fenced off compound?"

"I suppose something like that would have to suffice," said Luna.

"Then there's the problem that with all the homeless zebras we currently need to shelter and supply for, we have no food to offer your delegates."

Trixie barked a laugh, "Is having the summit here starting to sound like a really bad idea to anypony else?"

"Chrysalis and her changelings won't be a problem," Cadence said to Luna. "If we can get hold of some food, and ask that the delegates bring enough for themselves as well, I'm sure we'll manage."

Luna sighed, knowing this whole summit was probably going to be remembered as a bit of a laughing stock because of these issues. "It'll have to do. Please don't say that there's more," she said to Fumbo.

"Nothing to do with the summit, no. There is the small issue of the remains of one General Snowbright. We haven't buried him as yet, and I was wondering if you have anything in particular you wanted to do with him?"

"A friend once was General Snowbright," Kifuniko said with sympathy, "so to you we thought we'd give the choice to do by him right."

Twilight shrugged as Luna gave her a meaningful look. They hadn't talked about Snowbright as yet, and since he was the first one they intended to put on trial over this whole thing, that had ended with his death. "He lived with his soldiers, so I think it's only fair he stays with them now. It's not like we can return any of them home."

"Quite. Where can we find his body?"

"By the rest of them," Fumbo informed them. "Now, if there's nothing else we'll be on our way. We have a lot to do, as do you."

All of them made a quick farewell to the zebras, leaving them alone once more to face the daunting task of getting this all done. Before they could even work of figuring out where to start, Cadence stood and stretched her legs.

"I'll make a start on tracking down some appropriate accommodations for our guests. I'm sure Daring might have some ideas. You three should go say goodbye to Snowbright."

"I did that when I killed him," Twilight said in a tiny voice. It bothered her how much this bothered her when Snowbright had been an arsehole long before the events surrounding Faust. I suppose it wasn't too much to admit that for a while he'd been their arsehole.

"Come on, Twilight." Trixie nudged Twilight, then smiled at her. "I can see this being one of those things that eats at you if you don't do something about it. Are you coming, Luna?"

"Of course. I could hardly pass up the chance to say farewell to such an adversary."

"See? Luna gets it."

Twilight sighed, feeling heavy. She'd already cried over Sunset today, so the prospect of getting teary over Snowbright sounded absolutely exhausting. The others were right though, so she dragged herself up.

"Could you take this to the retreat?" she asked Cadence, passing the stone adorned with Sunset's cutie mark to her. "Please? Just put it somewhere safe for now."

"Of course," Cadence said, giving her younger sister-in-law a nuzzle. "I'll see you all soon."

It wasn't too far to where the fallen of Mareitania had been relocated, a few miles outside of the city in what was a mass grave. There were only a couple dozen zebras working on taking care of them, and Twilight was glad to see they were treating the bodies with respect, and were even writing down the names off the tags each of them wore, on top of collecting the spare.

"Ugh, that smell," Trixie said as they landed, getting dropped off by Twilight. "Hot weather and corpses really don't mix."

"Quite," Luna agreed, scrunching her nose against the odour. "I should not like to remain here longer than necessary, before the flies start to devour us as well."

Apparently getting as much respect off Luna and Trixie as the zebras were giving the dead wasn't happening. Not that she didn't agree with them, but she liked to think she had the tact to keep her inappropriate comments to herself.

They were directed by a kindly zebra to the remains of Snowbright, covered by a sheet that at least kept some of the flies off him. Only some. A swarm of the insects buzzed away from the body as he was uncovered.

"That's disgusting," Trixie said as the flies quickly returned. Her horn lit up in the uncomfortable colours of dark magic as an aura wrapped around the body, killing the flies as soon as it touched them. His remains free of infestation, she quickly wrapped the sheet tightly around him. "I don't remember this sort of thing being so grim in Mareitania."

"Colder weather, less flies," Twilight replied laconically. "We should probably get on and bury him." A quick check with her magic confirmed that one of his tags had already been taken, presumably by the zebras for record keeping.

Unsure of where to put him, they carried him to one of the larger trenches and placed him inside at the end, barely distinguishable from the other bodies with him. They all shared uneasy glances, their discomfort at leaving him in an unmarked mass grave obvious, and overriding Luna and Trixie's earlier attitude. Given the lack of practical options, they did nothing to change it.

"Well, so long y' bastard," Trixie said after a minute. "It was nice knowing you, right up until it stopped being so. Try not to conquer the afterlife."

"You were a worthy adversary," said Luna, her voice full of respect, "although I suspect your superior army may have had something to do with what successes you had in Equestria. So long."

Twilight took longer to think of what to say, and never really come up with anything. Snowbright had been both a friend and enemy, as well as a source of frustration, elation, anger, and comradeship. He'd helped them free Mareitania, then repaid all they did by stabbing them in the back. Twilight evened that out by killing him, even if she didn't really want to. There really wasn't much to say that could sum all that up, so Twilight took the simple approach.

"Bye."

Each of them kicked some dirt over his body, then left to go deal with the future, leaving Snowbright in the past where he belonged. The good parts, and the bad, all of them could stay there as far as they were concerned.

Author's Notes:

Posting this at an almost reasonable time while feeling almost reasonably well rested. Well, not absolutely knackered at least. What is this wizardry?