The trip to Griffonstone had been relatively peaceful in the end, considering what they'd left behind. Twilight hadn't quite been able to stop her imagination from thinking about what might have become of Celestia, or of why she'd done what she did to prevent Faust from letting them escape. She'd finally, finally gotten her friends back at last, and all she could think about was Celestia. You really couldn't make this stuff up, and it'd be funny if it wasn't so annoying.

Thankfully her friends had been more than understanding, possibly because they weren't fully aware of how involved Celestia had been involved in Faust's schemes. They might've been less forgiving had they known Celestia had tried to kill Twilight, Luna, and Cadence more than once. Even if that final act was enough to buy Celestia back some sympathy, it didn't earn her forgiveness, even if in the end she wasn't exactly the one to blame.

Twilight tried to put it all out of her mind. Luna was doing more than enough worrying for the both of them. Twilight had other things to worry about, like the latest addition to their roster, one Starlight Glimmer. A mare who has, in the past, been a dictator, a talent thief, and one of Faust's lackeys, on top of being a source of terrible ideas. Having to manage her might be a challenge.

"You look like you're thinking real hard there, Twi," Applejack said as she came and sat next to Twilight, leaning against the rail like the alicorn was. "Something on your mind?"

"I'm pretty sure I've consistently had something on my mind for the last three years now, Applejack. You might have to be a little more specific."

"Alright then, what's today's bee in yer bonnet buzzing about?"

Twilight snorted a laugh, not because it was funny, but because of how happy she was to hear Applejack being Applejack again. The laughter quickly died though, because she would have to give an answer, and there was no single answer to give.

"I'm worried about Celestia, and about Starlight Glimmer. I'm also worried about what Chrysalis is up to, and what Luna might find when she tells Chrysalis to withdraw. Then I'm worried about this whole thing we've got going on in general, and whether it'll work. What Discord did to the Tree of Harmony is also something to think about, and whether it'll prove effective in pulling our plan together. Then there's the fact that I'm so worried about all this that I'm neglecting you and the others, and I'm worried about that too."

"That's not really your standard level of worry." Applejack rubbed her head, expecting to adjust her hat. It was funny how after getting used to it being gone, now they were all back together again she kept thinking it was there. "I'm not really sure what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. The only thing you could tell me to do is to not worry, and no offence, but I don't see that happening any time soon."

"I hear ya." Applejack turned so she could see the others on airship, "I have ta confess that now we're free, I'm worried too. Being a prisoner was easy, if pretty horrible. Now we're going to be a part of things, and I honestly have no real idea what's going on, even with y'all telling me. Stopping Faust? I can't even imagine how you came up with a plan to do that, let alone carried it out. It scares me how much bigger things have got all of a sudden."

"All you need to do is help us finish off the oubliette. Once that's done, you only have to wish us luck."

"I think you're going to need more than luck. That Faust, she's... well, I reckon you probably know plenty about what she's like."

Twilight nodded slowly. "You could say that," she said before laughing weakly. "That's why we have a plan. That's why we only have a plan." Twilight turned to face the others like Applejack was. She could see Pinkie and her marefriend Azure kissing. Still weird. "There's a lot more than just Equestria counting on us making it work."

The Emperor was waiting for them as they came in to land, a broad smile on his beak. Twilight gave him a wave as they came in to land, but waited for the airship to stop and be anchored in place with a ramp before going to meet him.

"It seems your mission was a success," he said before she could say so much as a hello. "I take it the other ships made their way to Trottingham safely?"

"As far as we can tell, although I was hoping your griffons would send a messenger to tell us so once they arrive."

"Most likely they will. Is Princess Luna not with you?" he asked as Cadence descended the ramp, followed by Shining Armour and a procession of other ponies as they followed the princesses lead.

"She's gone to inform Queen Chrysalis that she can withdraw her army from Equestria for now. She's also gone to see what Chrysalis has done that she shouldn't have."

"Well, yes, I suppose she should. At the very least you can all call this a success."

"Not... entirely. We aren't sure what's happened with Celestia, but she refused to return with us, and even tried to kill Luna. That said, she turned against Faust, and even attacked her when Faust tried to stop us escaping. She wouldn't stand a chance at winning, so why would she do that if she didn't care?"

"Maybe she knows you're all the best chance we have at stopping Faust?" The Emperor shrugged, "Whatever the reason, we should be thankful she did what she di- What the hell is that?"

Twilight turned to see what the Emperor was pointing at, and saw it was Nightmare as she came down the ramp, chatting with Ember. "That would be Nightmare," she explained. "Not Nightmare Moon. Nightmare. She was created by accident by Luna and myself, then unwittingly given a body by Faust. You've met her before, just not looking like that. She normally goes as a thestral, or a grey unicorn."

"Oh, marvellous... Any other big secrets you have hanging around?"

Twilight raised her chin and hummed as she thought, "I don't think so. I might have to get back to you on that."

"Be sure that you do. Anyway, I've made arrangements about shelter for the ponies you've brought, although getting the old castle into habitable shape that quick wasn't easy. Hopefully they won't be there for long."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"So how long?"

Twilight blinked, stumped by the question. "How long 'til what?"

"How long until you're ready to go? My griffons are ready to attack at your word, as are the changelings I imagine, once they're finished withdrawing. We're all waiting on you now, although I dare say the zebras have less to do now than they did before since you sent their extremely token help home."

"Only because bringing zebras into Equestria right now is really bad idea after what happened in Zebrica, so we had no idea what to do with them." Twilight shrugged as the Emperor raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm not lying."

"Urgh, fine. Now how about you answer my question?"

"A week? Maybe two? It depends on how long it takes us to craft the oubliette. Obviously we will keep you informed about events, and we will make sure to tell you the moment we're ready. Until then you'll have to be patient."

"I suppose I will. For now I'll have the airship take you and your friends the rest of the way over the mountains to the encampment. I've had the portal moved there, with considerable care, so you should be able to move around easier."

Twilight was surprised by how thoughtful that was, "Thank you. Let my friends say goodbye to their other friends and family, and we'll be ready to go."

The streets of Manehattan were lousy with soldiers, Luna discovered as she flew over the city. There was no fighting though. Or at least none she could see. There were a few changeling bodies around, but Luna had expected more to warrant such busyness from the soldiers as they meticulously searched for their enemy building by building.

They were wasting their effort though. Chrysalis was nowhere near stupid enough to hide indoors where she or her changelings could be cornered. Manehattan was full of places only those with wings could get to, and for beings as skilled at hiding as changelings were, the soldiers stood no chance at finding anything.

On the other hoof, changelings were predatory, and only just fell short of being natural weapons, if only because they require their prey to remain alive to get any benefit from hunting. There was quite a few deceased soldiers lined up in places, so clearly the changelings were still fighting. Given enough time, they could put a serious dent into the Mareitanians.

Luna was suddenly aware of what Chrysalis was capable of when she applied herself, and had no need to spare lives. It was not a comforting thought.

"Where are you, Chrysalis?" Luna asked herself as she flew over the city streets, not caring who saw her at this point considering the trouble they'd just caused elsewhere. She'd been searching for a while now, and was annoyed that she could neither find the changelings, and that Chrysalis couldn't be bother to send one to guide Luna to her hidey hole. There was no way the blue alicorn flying around and around the city had been missed by the changelings.

A thought came to Luna. What if the changelings had already left? Chrysalis had given them forty eight hours to complete their various tasks, but that by no means meant that the changeling queen hadn't decided to skip out early. If the Mareitanians had put up some serious resistance, which was likely, then even Luna would've considered leaving early to let the Mareitanians waste time on searching instead of killing her soldiers.

"I swear, Chrysalis, if you haven't done your job as well as you've... apparently... done it... um, hmm."

More than a little flummoxed by all this, Luna decided to turn tail and go home. Either Chrysalis would turn up, or she could be dead, which brought a multitude of benefits with it, like Chrysalis being dead.

"I'm not sure what you're thinking about, but its making you altogether too happy. Maybe I should be thankful I can't actually read your mind."

Luna stopped and sagged, knowing a voice projecting spell when she heard it. Thank goodness Chrysalis couldn't actually read minds, although she was surely getting all kinds of disappointment coming from Luna now.

"Did you not have any plans to check the Statue of Friendship? The big thing in the bay that those sad little Mareitanians can't easily get to?"

That made a lot of tactical sense. Luna wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of it herself. Clearly what had happened with Celestia had slowed her wits enough to not even consider it. A long bath and some sleep would surely help.

"I'm not as patient as I look, Princess."

"Fine! I'm coming!" Flying back the way she came, Luna flew for the Statue of Friendship, the huge, tarnished copper statue sat in the bay of Manehattan. Built to commemorate something or other that happened when Luna wasn't around, and she'd hadn't bothered to find out about, the massive statue would serve as the perfect base for Chrysalis to strike from. That probably perverted its message considerably, but since it involved an alliance between ponies and changelings, they probably won some points back. The fact that Luna would've used it for the same thing as well was irrelevant.

Chrysalis was waiting on the outstretched limb of the statue that held a torch as well as an observation area that encircled it. She was leaning with both forehooves crossed on the rail, a dreamy look on her face that Luna had no desire to ask about.

"I have had the most wonderful day, Princess. It makes me sad that we're endeavouring to end it, and all future days like it, but unfortunately Faust needs to go."

"You could've sent a drone to fetch me here when you saw me," Luna said coldly. It was hard to not sound that way when dealing with Chrysalis. "I'd thought you'd abandoned your task."

"Would it matter if I had? Those Mareitanians are wasting time scouring every inch of the city looking for me or my children. No doubt they'll still be at it in a few days time. Of course I left them a few cocooned ponies and suchlike to keep them interested, so at this rate they'll barely make it back to Canterlot in time for your attack, and will be plenty tired when you do."

"So you're just playing games with them?"

"Now I am, yes. We ambushed them when they arrived, took a delicious number of them out, although not without some losses, then spent the rest of the time leading them on a merry chase." Chrysalis turned towards Luna, "I'd thank you for the wonderful time, but lets not pretend you'd enjoy that."

"Actually, I'm impressed. You did as you were more or less asked, and have excelled at keeping the Mareitanians distracted enough that you don't even need to be here."

"Oh good, that's such a relief to hear because I sent my children home over an hour ago."

Luna laughed, despite herself. At ease, laughing in the company of a fiend like Chrysalis. Strange times indeed. That quickly shifted into shame when Luna remembered what Chrysalis had done, and had to be confronted over.

"You killed civilians. Not many, granted, but enough to make it worth pointing out. I can guess easily enough why you did it, but you're changelings, so even a peaceful occupation would've been enough to cause panic."

Chrysalis sighed as her cheer evaporated. "You don't get to point me at something and tell me to do what I must, then complain about what I did do. Nopony died that wasn't in a uniform of some kind, and the panic caused by that drew the army here faster than some creepy looking talking bugs hanging around the place. You can't blame me for not thinking you might upset ponies when they find out that you sent me here, and that their loved ones are dead because of your poorly defined orders."

"I'm not blaming you. That error was on all of us. But you want your changelings to live in Equestria, and you've made that harder for all of us to make happen."

"That still sounds like you're blaming me," Chrysalis said bluntly. "So what do you want? For me to make a public apology? I'm sure that'll go down well."

"No, we will all be making that apology."

"Then what? The only thing I can think of apart from that is you reneging on our agreement and acting like our attack was just that. Is that what you're going to do?"

The other option was to kill her. Luna could imagine it quite easily. A quick summoning of her blades, a solid stroke across the neck, and Chrysalis was no longer a problem. The changelings could be encouraged to accept Thorax as their new king, and the process to bring them into Equestria would be that much smoother. All that needed to happen to make that a reality could be done within a heartbeat.

Luna didn't do it. That wasn't to say she couldn't, but she didn't. Enough blood had been shed lately, and there was plenty more to be spilled, and while killing Chrysalis solved a few problems, Luna really didn't feel like it.

"We'll think of something," Luna answered after a few seconds.

"The way you looked me then..." Chrysalis shook her head as she narrowed her eyes, "I could've sworn you were just about to try and kill me."

Luna shrugged back, dismissing the idea. "I'm pretty sure I've thought of it before."

"Yes, but that? It wasn't hatred making you think that, because I know what that feels like. That was tinged with sorrow, and felt far too close to happening."

"Hmph, like you've never thought of killing us."

"I have, but I'd rather feed off you. The love you princesses have for your silly little ponies could feed my hive for years. I suppose its that same love that pushes you along in this insane quest to stop Faust. Love can't move mountains, but it can motivate someone who can."

"Huh, I wouldn't expect such poetic things from you."

"Don't mock me, Luna. I was around to witness some of the greatest poets and bards Equestria had to offer while you were taking your sabbatical on the moon sized naughty step."

"Why must everyone feel the need to remind me of that?"

"It is rather one of your defining features."

Luna growled out a sigh, annoyed that the shadow of Nightmare Moon would always hang over her. Nightmare probably got it far worse. "You can return to your hive if you wish. You did your job, and there's no point dwelling on what could've gone differently. We'll keep you appraised of the situation so you'll know when we're ready to launch our attack on Canterlot."

"How gracious of you to sweep me back under the rug until you need me."

"And what would you prefer?" Luna asked angrily. It only got worse as Chrysalis raised a chitinous eyebrow at her.

"Why do I feel like today did not go as planned? I thought you'd be ecstatic to have Celestia back, so I'm going to assume that didn't happen."

"Not that you care."

Chrysalis shrugged her indifference to that. "Indulge me."

"No she did not come back with us. We succeeded in breaking Faust's façade, but all it did was leave Celestia unsure of which of her memories were real, so she decided that we all needed to die, and she'd go back to ruling Equestria alone."

"I see. How unusual. Where is she now?" Chrysalis asked, rolling her eyes at Luna's questioning gaze. "I'm sure that if she's willing to kill you, I wouldn't be far behind on her wish list."

"A fair point," Luna admitted. "We fought, and she escaped. Then, as we were leaving Ponyville, she was there watching us."

"And?" Chrysalis prompted as Luna went quiet.

"And when Faust appeared, Celestia attacked her, buying us the time to escape. Whether that was intentional or not I couldn't tell you, but I am thankful."

"I'm guessing that puts her back in Faust's grasp?"

"For now at least."

"Hmm. I wonder if she'll attempt to remould Celestia into something more obedient, or will she give up for now?"

"I don't know."

Chrysalis could feel how much Luna was hurting now the alicorn wasn't trying to hide it. That didn't mean she cared, or that she wasn't secretly enjoying the thought of what Celestia might suffer, but it did at least mean she could cut her new ally some slack if it meant Luna not directing that pain at her.

"Then surely the best thing would be to get on with whatever your plan is. The less time that Faust has to mess with Celestia's head, the better."

Luna nodded, then actually thought about what had been said. Chrysalis was right, of course, but Luna wasn't going to pressure events just so she could get her sister back. Rushing things could cause the plan to fail, which would be a disaster. At the same time, moping here only hindered things.

"You're right-"

"Naturally."

"-We need to get on with things. Have your changelings prepared, Queen Chrysalis, because the time is coming. Hopefully seeing them fighting on our side will at least get ponies to think."

"I'm sure it will, although having the support of the princesses would probably achieve more in that regard."

Luna hummed at the notion, "Not untrue. I will see you soon, Your Majesty."

"Oh yes you will. Farewell, Princess."

"So this is where you've been hiding out," Fleur said as they walked through the Retreat to the observation area. "To think this was hidden in the frozen north this entire time."

"Not that you could tell you're that far north," Octavia added. "It's quite warm in here."

"The orbs project both heat and light," Twilight answered to the unvoiced question, pointing at the glowing orbs dotted around the place.

"It does make it super cozy in here," Pinkie observed. "I bet there's all kinds of nice hidden corners were a couple of ponies could get up to all kinds of things in private."

"Like reading," Applejack said bluntly, "because this is a library."

"Actually I was thinking more like-"

"Land sakes, Pinkie, we know what you were thinking of!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh. You don't have to get all shouty about it."

"Sorry, Pinkie, but we're in polite company now, y'know? And there's young'uns' about."

"I'm like, sixteen now!" the filly protested, knowing full well who Applejack was talking about. "Maybe."

"Ya barely look a day past ten."

"That doesn't mean I'm not!"

Twilight smiled, happy to not only have all her friends here, but to also just hear them talking and bickering like they'd never been gone. It might not always be this way though. Soon the experiences that everypony had gone through would rear their ugly heads, and Twilight would finally see the damage that had been done. It was already fairly obvious with Fluttershy, as she'd barely said a word since being rescued. Spike had also latched onto Twilight's back and hadn't let go since.

It wasn't fair really, and Twilight knew it was horrible of her to think this, but the ponies she got back weren't the ponies she'd lost. They were... harder, more serious, and tarnished by their experiences in a large number of ways. Pinkie wasn't giggling and making jokes, Applejack wasn't so easy going, Rarity wasn't tutting at the dust, and Fluttershy was so locked up in fear at saying the wrong thing and upsetting the wrong pony that she'd decided to not speak at all. It must've been what they experienced with herself after her return from the Mareitanian civil war, so at least she understood their reactions back then a little better now.

At the very least her other friends seemed like themselves. Fleur and the filly were still upset at losing two of their ponies, but Octavia and Summer were more or less fine. Shining was also mostly okay, and happy to finally be reunited with Cadence and Flurry, although I imagine the loss of Rocky and Crème would show on him soon enough. None of them were willing to bet that Bon Bon would ever get over it, but she had been left in Griffonstone with Thorax, Honeydew, Twilight's parents, and Lyra Heartstrings, who had barely let go of her friend since their reunion.

"I wasn't expecting extra guests," a voice said as they neared the observation area. "Friends of yours, Twilight?"

"And the Bearers of the Elements," Twilight said back.

"I see." There was a flash as Starsy's projection asserted itself. "Might that have something to do with the Elements appearing here while you were gone?"

"Maybe? I don't know." Twilight looked back as Rarity cleared her throat. Fluttershy was peeking fearfully over her back. "Right. Everypony meet Starsy. He's not a ghost," she clarified.

"Then why is he see-through?" Pinkie asked, walking up to Starsy and waving a hoof through him, distorting his image. "Seems like a ghost to me."

"I am a magical projection based upon the stored mind and memories of Starswirl the Bearded," Starsy huffed. "I am not some mere ghost."

"Sure seem like one to me," Pinkie said as a final argument.

"Well I'm not, and that's final."

"Come on," Twilight said so that Pinkie'd stop antagonising Starsy, "I'll introduce you all to the others, then you can have a break while we sort out sleeping arrangements. I think we could all use a break after today. And... after the last year."

The introductions had passed pretty quick after that. Moondancer had been indifferent, while Mayfly had drawn mostly curiosity from those unaware of her. The others knew Ember to a degree, as they did Daring Do, and while Nightmare had drawn some comments, they seemed accepting of her since she had helped some of them at great personal cost. Condolences had been offered when they saw the stone bearing Sunset's cutie mark sat on a plinth at the side of the room.

There was one pony that had kept out of it though, and it was that pony which concerned Twilight the most. Starlight Glimmer was the oddity out of all here, which was an already pretty high bar to get over, and had held herself back as the others all made their introductions and reunions.

With a nod for Trixie to join her, Twilight went to confront Starlight, who swallowed nervously at her approach.

"C-can I help you?"

"Are you serious?" Trixie asked with a laugh. "Do you really think we're not going to grill you for whatever you know? Have you forgotten who worked for already?"

"But I didn't know anything! Why would she tell me? I wasn't one of her willing servants, and she knew that!"

"I know, we're just messing with you."

"Well, could you not?"

"In theory," Trixie shrugged.

"Look, I've already offered to help you, and you brought me to this incredible treasure trove of ancient knowledge, so what problem could we possibly have right now?"

"The problem is we have no reason to trust you," Twilight said before Trixie could say what she wanted. "I'm not asking you to say sorry, or prove you're with us, but I want to know more about you so I can form my own opinion."

"Really? Nopony ever wants to know about me past finding out what I've done wrong this time." Starlight frowned as Trixie laughed at her, "What?"

"Sorry, but that alone says so much about you."

"Gee, thanks. There isn't much I could say that Equestrian Intelligence hadn't already squeezed out of me. I'm sure Fleur over there could tell you plenty about me."

"And she has. I'm warning you now though, if you have a problem with her being here because she justifiably left you in your cell at Canterlot, then you can leave right now."

"That said," Trixie cut in, "if you were her, knowing what she did about you, would you have done any differently?"

"You mean would I have refused to help a mare begging to be taken with them so she didn't fall into Faust's clutches, knowing full well that Faust would make use of a mare with her skillset? Probably, but I guess that's just my opinion." Starlight looked down at the floor. "I suppose I can't totally blame her, or Shining Armour, not really," she admitted.

"Glad you think so," Twilight said quickly before Starlight could change that opinion. "Anyway, I'm not interested in hearing you tell me your backstory. I already know you grew up in Sire's Hollow, where you lost your only friend after he got his cutie mark in magic and went to Celestia's school. I'm not interested in you leaving home because your father treated you like a foal. I'm also not interested in why you blamed cutie marks for all your problems and tried to eradicate them. I will admit that I'm curious about why you thought that would work though."

"Cutie marks and talents make us different, and I thought ponies that were different could never see eye to eye and get along." Starlight shrugged. "I was wrong. Cutie marks don't make us different. Our experiences do, and I can't really eliminate that from a pony."

"Nor should you want to."

"No, I don't. Although there are plenty of arseholes out there that could use some readjustment."

"Um..." Twilight found it remarkably hard to argue with that. At the very least she could maintain that they had the right to be arseholes, even if they deserve a good beating for it. "Yeah, so, have you at least got all that out of your system now?"

Starlight eyed Twilight for several long seconds, "I guess so? Any unresolved issues notwithstanding. Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"What are you expecting out of this? Out of me? Are you so concerned about what you think I might do that you're willing to hold a pre-emptive intervention?"

"I think you misunderstand what interventions are," Trixie said flatly.

"You know what I mean!"

"No, I think that as the recipient of more than one intervention I can feel wholly assured that this is not one."

"And what could one of Princess Twilight Sparkle's 'oh so wholesome' friends need an intervention for?"

Trixie smiled darkly at Starlight, "Dark magic, and the questionable battlefield tactics that stemmed from that, like the mass and incredibly violent slaughter of enemy soldiers. Maybe even a teeny tiny case of murder that I never got punished for, since it helped us."

Starlight blinked, then blinked some more, totally stumped by that. She'd been expecting something stupidly trivial that likely only existed in her extremely narrow worldview of things, which she would mostly admit to having without too much difficulty. What she got though was... far beyond what she thought possible.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. I used it loads back in Mareitania to the point that I even deformed my horn before Twilight tore it off with her teeth after I lost my shit entirely and tried to kill her. And myself. While being sort of possessed. I even have eldritch beings of darkness claiming ownership of my soul because of it." Trixie shrugged, "Still can't stop using it though. Not entirely."

"I had an intervention over my rampant alcoholism that was developing back in Mareitania," Twilight added. It wasn't as impressive to say as Trixie's was, but it at least showed she wasn't beyond needing one. "Booze made all the bad things hurt less."

"Is that really the attitude you're taking with that?" Trixie asked, giving Twilight some serious side eye.

"They didn't stop you drinking!"

And just like that, Starlight knew she was far from being the most screwed up pony in the room. It had been a long, long time since that had happened, if ever. "Wow, you guys are- Ah... how do you even cope with, like, life?"

"Persistently," Trixie answered bluntly. "The six months I spent in a psychiatric hospital gave me enough reasons to not want to go back there, so my options are I function as a pony, or I die, which comes with some fun little caveats thanks to my idiotic use of dark magic."

"Sooo... if you'd been the one to come stop me back in my equalist days, would you have..?"

"Killed you? Yeah, probably, no questions asked. At the time at least." Trixie smirked nastily, making Starlight uncomfortable. "These days I'd at least ask you to stop first."

Starlight slowly bit down on the back of her lips, at a total loss of what to say or do, and more than a little scared since Trixie may as well said that she'd kill Starlight if she stepped out of line. Then she saw the way Twilight was looking at Trixie while shaking her head, and decided to question it a little.

"You'd have to do something pretty bad to warrant that," Twilight said to Starlight's questioning gaze. "These days at least."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence. How about you answer the question I asked. What do you want with me?"

"To get along. Maybe even be friends. I know you're a pony that's been hurt by things, and reacted to it in your own way, but it doesn't have to be like that-"

"Yeah, I know," said Starlight, cutting off Twilight before the alicorn could get going. "I had it drilled in to my head enough times. The thing is, words spoken through prison bars tend to lose their attraction, especially when they're telling me how great friendship is while giving me none. You've pretty much just put me on a leash here by threatening to kill me if I mess up, so how is this any different?"

"Because we are offering you friendship. All of us."

"Even Princess Luna? After she destroyed my village and beat the crap out of me?"

"You did try to kill her," Trixie pointed out.

"Details! Look, I appreciate the thought you're putting into this, but I'm going to help you stop Faust, then I fully expect to be thrown back into a prison cell because Equestria considers me to be a bad pony, and everypony knows you can't polish a turd."

"Nope!" Trixie said cheerily, "But you can wrap it in some nice shiny foil, which is just as good. Don't you get what Twilight's offering you? A chance to stick with us and avoid going back to prison by proving you're not that bad a pony? A pony worth something? I mean for fuck sake, Twilight and I have done some pretty heinous things, and we're apparently the good guys, so I really think that you, with a modicum of effort, could prove you're better than you were, and have a nice life out of it. All you have to do is work with us and boom, no more bad guy status."

"Just don't start any more cults," Twilight added quickly.

"Is it really that simple?"

Trixie found herself laughing at Starlight's naïve tone of voice, "We're pretty big on redemption around here. I mean look at us, two former Nightmare Moon's, one formerly evil Lord of Chaos... who isn't actually here, several ponies with more kills than you've had hooficures... and a pony whose dancing resembles an epileptic seizure. And there's me. Come on Starlight, just give it a try. You might even like it."

Starlight found that to be a weirdly compelling argument. Very weirdly. It was also accurate. Her desire to not go back to prison notwithstanding, the chance to prove she wasn't just some crazy despot sounded good. Maybe she could try being friends.

"Alright, I'll give it a go."

"Glad to hear it," Twilight said, genuinely relieved to hear that. "Just don't expect everyone here to treat you like a friend at first. You'll need to earn their trust."

"And not being a weird psychopath will do the rest," Starlight said jokingly, trailing off into an awkward laugh as Trixie's raised eyebrow informed her that she'd missed the mark by a serious amount. "Sorry. Guess I'll keep things like that to myself."

"We like self depreciating humour as much as the next self depreciating psychopath, but don't over do it." Trixie let a smile show, "But yeah, not being awkwardly weird will help."

"Got it."

"Now try and get some rest," Twilight told Starlight. "We have a lot to do tomorrow, and we'll need everypony on top form."

"Okay, I'll guess I'll do that then." Starlight pawed the grounded, showing a hint of anxiety. "Um... goodnight?"

"Goodnight, Starlight," Twilight said, with Trixie doing the same. She smiled at the unicorn then turned away with Trixie in tow.

"So how closely are we going to be keeping an eye on her?" Trixie asked quietly once they were far enough away to not be heard.

"Pretty closely," Twilight said back, stopping to stifle a yawn. "It'll be fine though. She seems like she'll be a good pony, given the chance to be. If my friends are willing to give her a chance after all she's done to them, I am too."

"Touching." Trixie shrugged, deciding it wasn't her problem. "So we're going to be making the oubliette tomorrow then?"

"That's right."

"Awesome. I guess I'll get some sleep then. G'night Twilight."

"Goodnight."

Twilight waited as Trixie headed off to her bed. After all this time they were back together. All of them that could be at least. She needed a moment to bask in that.

"It's great to have you back, guys."

Author's Notes:

Soooooo... regarding how I said I was going to finish all this, well, I am, but fuck me is it going slow. Even without the motivation issues, I don't seem to actually have the time lately when I do. Expect even slower updates unless I suddenly pull a chapter out of my ass.