"I have a question."

Fleur looked up at the ceiling and sighed, trying to decide if it was worth the effort of humouring the filly. Chances are it wasn't, but Fleur wasn't so cruel as to dismiss any genuine concerns.

"I swear Swift, if this is about breakfast-"

"Not every question I have is about breakfast!"

"I swear you ask those kinds of things on purpose just to be contrary."

"Damn it Fleur! Of course I do! But sometimes I have a genuine query, and I just want to ask how you're planning on getting this whole idea of yours started! Graffitiing some graffiti, while insulting to the original artist, isn't going to start a revolution."

"And I'm not trying to start a revolution, so that's fine. What I'm aiming for, is to stop Faust from rebuilding all the things we destroyed, slowing down her ability to wage war. With Mareitania in such dire straits, she's going to have to rely on Equestrians to make her weapons and all that. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Of course I do, and while that's great and all, my original question still stands."

Fleur grumbled to herself, wishing for a moment that the filly could be a little less clever. "I don't know," she admitted, feeling her ire rise as the filly grinned at her.

"I knew it! You're just doing this because it's the only thing you know how to do! You're so totally incapable of doing nothing, that you're forcing yourself to do something, even though you have no idea what that something might be!"

Fleur stared coolly at the filly, "Was there a point to that?" She nodded as Swift shrugged, "Thought not. I think our biggest problem here isn't how to get this started, but how to do it when Shining and I are both very wanted ponies. It's not like we can go strolling about the city."

"No, but none of the rest of us are wanted. You'll just have to rely on the rest of us to be your eyes and ears and all that stuff. When Bon Bon and the others get here, you'll have some kick ass hooves too."

"Yes, but eleven of us still isn't going to be enough to do all that I'm hoping to do."

The filly rolled her eyes, "Okay, I'm going to say it now. Trying to get other ponies involved is going to be a bad idea. Faust will come down on anypony found defying her like a ton of bricks, and ponies will get killed. I don't know about you Fleur, but I don't like the sound of that."

Fleur stood and moved to the window, looking down at the image she'd altered. She couldn't tell why, but after a good night's sleep somewhere safe, she couldn't find it in herself to disagree. Getting ponies to try and fight Faust was tantamount to getting them killed. Starting a movement out of civilians to try and do just that, was no longer the idea she thought it was.

"Might I make a suggestion?"

"Ahh!" Fleur jumped and span around, coming back down to find the calm blue eyes of the disguised Thorax facing her. She'd never even heard him enter the room. "Thorax! Good heavens, are all changelings this sneaky?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to."

Fleur dismissed it with a wave of her hoof, "Forget about it. What's your suggestion?"

"Okay, well, I know you don't want to get ponies killed, and I agree with that, but if you start attacking things Faust wants, others are going to see that, and they are going to try to do the same. You can't stop that from happening."

"So you're saying I should try and start something, just so I can be in control of it?"

"Yes, and yet also no. I mean you could if you wanted to, but the bolder ponies become, the harder they're going to fight, meaning that ponies will inevitably end up getting killed, whether you're in charge or not."

Fleur sat as she tried to figure out what he was saying, "So are you saying that I shouldn't do anything at all?"

"I'm saying, that if you want ponies to stay safe, you need to show them a way of fighting that minimises the risk to them. Something better than rioting in the streets."

"Even though rioting in the streets is going to be the inevitable conclusion to all this," said the filly. "Eventually a few attacks on a few places will inspire ponies to push back, and you know that's going to become total chaos. Some ponies get themselves killed, others want revenge, and boom! The city is now on fire."

"Stop! Both of you!" Fleur clasped her head in her hooves, "I know what can happen, and I know ponies might get killed, but what else can we do apart from nothing?"

"I didn't realise I was sheltering revolutionaries."

"We're not starting a revolution!" Fleur screamed. "Pretty sure this is the completely wrong context for that word anyway." Fleur sighed at Prim, the fashionista taking it with good grace as she pulled her designer dressing gown tighter around herself. "I'm sorry Prim."

"Oh, don't be. I'm not saying I'm glad for this development to be developing in my home, but I had plenty of reason to suspect you might be planning something." Prim smiled at Fleur as she picked up the jug from the coffee maker, sniffed it, then poured some of its contents into a mug. "I only wish for you to remain safe."

"Which is the opposite to riots," the filly pointed out.

"I'm not seeing you having any ideas," Fleur growled back at the filly.

"If you want to avoid inspiring ponies to emulate whatever it is you're hoping to do, my suggestion is to do it completely unnoticed." Prim took a dainty sip of her coffee, "Operating under the cover of night, and not using high explosives like other military groups I might mention, would keep you fairly invisible, and therefore uninspiring."

The filly snorted with mirth, "It's a nice idea, but how are we supposed to do anything meaningful without doing a little damage?"

Fleur looked over as Shining entered the room with Honeydew and his parents. "Come to add your two bits as well?"

"Not really," Shining replied. "You've all raised valid points so far, so I don't really have anything to say about it, other than that you can't do this like you did in Mareitania. If you try to build an army, you will be noticed, and I think the Mareitanians are smart enough to shut that that down asap."

"Great, so either I do nothing, be subtle yet ineffective, or get ponies killed in something that might actually make a difference." Fleur closed her eyes and breathed deeply, hoping for one of these ideas to seem better than the others. None of them did.

"And why would my idea be ineffective?" Prim asked with a sniff. "Sometimes you can do more damage with a needle than you can with a scissors."

"Except," Fleur said firmly, "that our needles are knives, and our scissors are bombs. Knives don't really do a lot to buildings, but bombs do."

"Then maybe you ought to alter your targets."

Shining scowled at Prim, "I'm pretty sure murdering soldiers in the streets won't gain much for anypony, except for more attention than we know what to do with."

"Stars above! That is not what I was suggesting! You need machinery, and supplies, and scaffolding to build buildings. There's plenty to destroy without having to resort to bombing things. Murdering ponies in the street... good grief."

Shining blushed as his parents looked at him with concern. "It's been a long few months, alright?"

"The last thing we need is you developing the same... issues as your sister," Twilight Velvet said carefully. It was clear on her face how much she hated to say it.

"I'm fine," Shining insisted. "Twilight will be too." He dismissed his parents with a quiet snort and turned back to Fleur. "So you meant disrupting the things needed to build buildings. Right, that sounds easier, up until security gets increased. That sounds like something we could do with relative ease, especially once Bon Bon and her team gets here."

"Agreed," said Fleur. "Right now what we need is some new intelligence on what's going on around Manehattan, and the easiest way to do that is by air. That means you, Blaze."

"You mean the changeling?" Prim said evenly.

Fleur winced and cursed under her breath. "Ah, you heard that?"

"I did indeed, and since he's in the company of Prince Shining Armour, he must be the changeling Thorax I've heard of from the Crystal Empire. The fact that he looks like no pony that should ever exist doesn't help him."

Thorax looked back at himself, "Is it really that bad?"

"It really is," Fleur confirmed. "Try something a bit more like a pony, and you'll be fine."

There was a flash of green, and Thorax changed from a impossibly garish red pegasus, to a mostly brown one, such like you might see flying down the street and not pay much attention to. "Is this better?"

"Much," said Fleur, pleased to no longer have to see his previous form. "Now, as I was saying, you're going to have to be the one doing the scouting for us, since you can fly, and none of the rest of us can. No offence filly."

"Some taken," the filly sighed.

"I don't think so," Honeydew burst out, loudly interrupting Fleur. "I don't know when you decided it, but I don't remember Thorax or myself agreeing to help you at any point. Don't presume to think that everypony here is on board with what you're doing, or is here at your disposal."

"Then leave," Fleur replied calmly.

"What? I can't just leave! If I get found I'll be done for!"

"Then don't complain when we decide to do things. Thorax, are you willing to help us?"

Thorax anxiously rubbed the back of his head as Honeydew glared at him, "I guess?"

"Great! Then we have no problem."

"Yes we do." Honeydew gestured wildly towards the window, "I know you think that you should do something to fight Faust, but have you ever considered whether it's actually worth it? Your princesses might already have a plan to stop Faust, so everything you could do here might be pointless. If you're worried about getting ponies killed, I think getting them killed for no reason would be worse!"

That made Fleur stop. Would they make a worthwhile difference in the end? Or would they end up doing it all for naught. Twilight had suggested she not bother doing anything, but it hadn't occurred to Fleur at that point that it mightn't be worth doing anything at all.

"I don't think so," Nightlight said to Honeydew, breaking the silence he'd maintained up until then. "If we can increase the odds of our Twilight, and the princesses, beating Faust by even one percent, then it's worth it. I'm with you Fleur; we can't do nothing when we could do something."

"You tell 'em honey!" Twilight Velvet cheered in agreement. "We're in," she added to Fleur.

"You're all insane," Honeydew muttered. "I won't do anything dangerous, but if you think I could give you some advice, I'm here, otherwise I'm leaving this all up to you."

"That was almost a vote of confidence," Fleur said with a smile. "I guess if you're all in then, that we-" Fleur winced as the sound of a throat being cleared interrupted her. "I guess that means you're out, Prim?"

"I was never in, Fleur. While I'm happy to shelter you for a little while, you will not be fighting a war out of my living room. While your changeling friend is out gathering the intelligence you require, I suggest you put your own thoughts towards finding somewhere more permanent to hide."

Fleur made a face, but made no move to defend staying where they were. Prim had every right to ask them to leave if they were to do what they were planning. "Alright. Let me find Thorax a map, then we can start looking for somewhere to work out of."

"How about there?" Shining pointed his hoof at a patch of warehouses on the outskirts of the city. Or at least the vague location of them on a map, which was one of those colourful tourist ones, rather than something more useful. "Last I remember they were empty and due to be demolished before the war started."

Fleur hummed thoughtfully, "I do believe they bought up by Tough Nut industries, to expand their operations. They made the armour that the Air Corps, Mage Corps, and Wonderbolts used. At least until the bombing that killed Mr Tough Nut. They'd just about rebuilt their main factory when the war reached Manehattan, and the factory was destroyed by our forces."

"So are they unoccupied or not?"

"I can imagine the Mareitanians claiming them to save them having to rebuild the places we destroyed." Fleur pursed her lips as she glared at the map, "I suppose leaving those places I un-destroyed was an oversight on my part. Intelligence agency, my flank."

"You were fine Fleur. If anything, I wish you'd been in charge from the beginning."

Fleur smirked sideways at Shining, "You ole charmer."

"I have you know I firmly believe what I just said."

"Uh-huh." Fleur looked up at the filly across the table from her, and let her expression fall flat as the filly mouthed something about Shining being married. "I think a warehouse is a bit big for us anyway. Perhaps we could find an abandoned house, or apartment, or anywhere ponies don't really go."

"Because there's nothing less suspicious than ponies going somewhere they're not meant to go."

Fleur leant her head back and sighed, "Why are you being such a massive pain in my flank today, filly? It's not even ten in the morning yet."

Swift shrugged at Fleur, "I'm just saying, going to places ponies don't go is a bit suspicious. Plus they're usually dirty, and cold, and generally horrible. I've done the whole homeless 'sleeping where you can' thing before, and I have no real desire to go back to it."

"Needs must, filly."

"Needs must what?"

"Huh?"

"Needs must what? I know ponies say needs must, but never say what those needs must, so... needs must what?"

Fleur diverted her gaze from the filly and went back to the map, because that seemed better than admitting that she didn't know what needs must either. "So apparently we want somewhere liveable for the softies among us."

"Does it even have to be in Manehattan?" the filly asked. "What about Fillydelphia and Baltimare? There's things Faust wants in those places too. If anything, Fillydelphia is probably a bigger issue for us because of the steel works which supplies all the steel to the things we're trying to stop."

"She does make a good point," Shining said to Fleur as she glared at nothing in particular. "We can't just focus on Manehattan."

"There's seven of us, soon to be eleven, but that's still a small number! We can't possibly do it all." Fleur paused, then slammed her hoof down on the table, gaining herself a dirty look from Prim. "Sorry." Fleur sat and pushed the map away, "We can't do all this on our own. We need to get others involved."

"No we don't," said Shining. "Nothing is going to be rebuilt so fast that we need to get help. We've got this Fleur."

The filly nodded with Shining, "We could always steal a boat if we want something more mobile to travel between the cities."

Fleur stopped and stared straight ahead, "Sweet Luna that's tempting. I've always wanted a boat. Too bad none of us are sailors."

"You'd be surprised," said Shining. "Dad and I have gone sailing plenty of times in the past. If you find us a boat, we can probably sail it."

Fleur bit her lip. Part of her knew this was probably a terrible idea, and that part was probably right, but the majority was currently caught up in a piratical fantasy that showed no sigh of fading. They could even give themselves a catchy name, and it'd be the most fun they could hope to have given the current situation. If they were going to go down, they'd go down doing something stupid, which was all you needed sometimes. "Alright."

Shining pumped his hoof, "Yes! Oh this is going to be sweet!"

"But," Fleur said loudly before Shining could get too carried away, "nothing too big, and we're waiting for Bon Bon and her team to get here first."

"I accept your conditions," Shining replied calmly despite the excited grin he had. "Maybe some kind of yacht, or something similar with a bit of speed. What do you think dad?"

"Preferably something with an arcane engine, because we have plenty of unicorns to recharge it if need be."

"Oh yeah! Then we won't have to search for fuel either."

Twilight Velvet walked over to Fleur, giving her a playful smile and a roll of the eyes as the two males went into an in depth discussion on the merits of using an arcane engine. "Boys."

Fleur said nothing, being quite excited about the idea herself. It was always nice to try something new, and the strange adventure they were about to embark on definitely counted for that. She also didn't respond for Honeydew's sake, as the mare followed the discussion between the two stallions with both interest and a frown. Clearly the lack of steam power was confusing her.

"Do you think we could find a cannon?"

Fleur blinked as the filly's question caught her off-guard. "What the heck would you do with a cannon?"

"The question you need to ask is what wouldn't you do with a cannon if we had one."

"I certainly wouldn't brush my teeth with one for starters, and the list after that is quite long."

The filly scoffed at Fleur, "You really are no fun today."

"We've decided that we're going to be sea faring rebels, and you're accusing me of being no fun? What kind of standards are you using right now?"

"The highest ones, clearly. Our time in Mareitania did set the bar pretty high. I haven't seen an explosion in over a week now! A week, Fleur! Do you have any idea how long that is?"

"I might, and no, we are not getting a cannon." Fleur looked sideways as she was filled with the feeling that they'd have a cannon before the month was out. "Where the hell is Thorax?" she asked, hoping for the distraction.

"Hopefully he's being safe!" Honeydew snapped angrily at Fleur. "I really think you need to remember that we aren't your minions in Equis, and we don't have to jump at your command."

Fleur met Honeydew's irate glare, and wondered briefly about the timing behind her seeming to grow a spine, and why she seemed so protective about Thorax... "Oh shit, you're in love with him."

"No I'm not!"

"You totally are."

"But he's a changeling!"

"So he can literally be whatever you want him to be."

"I- No- But- Shush!"

Fleur swapped her smirk for a reassuring smile, "There's nothing wrong with it if you are. At least I think there isn't."

"Well that's good, even though I'm not. He's just nice to me, and he's very sweet, and has done a lot more for me than most ponies I've met."

"And I'm sure none of that means a thing in any way possible."

"Well of course it does!" Honeydew froze, then dragged her hooves down her cheeks with a groan. "Oh dear."

"Oh dear nothing. There's nothing wrong for having feelings for someone, but I would advise against acting on them in the next day or two. Once we're out of here somewhere safe, feel free to tell him."

"I'm not going to tell him!"

"You don't need to," Shining said, joining the conversation. "Changelings are empaths, so Thorax probably already knows how you feel about him. Chances are he just doesn't want to bring it up until you're ready."

"That's even worse!" Honeydew buried her head in her hooves, but looked back up long enough to glare at Fleur, "What my original point was going to be is that we aren't here to be bossed around by you!"

"I know, I know. I only asked because I'm concerned about him and where he is, and not because I'm only interested in what he's doing for me. I know this isn't Equis."

"Good."

"Of course you do have to wonder how much of that Thorax heard," the filly said conversationally. "He's been hovering outside the window for the last two minutes."

All of them looked over at the window the filly pointed at, seeing a sheepish looking Thorax outside who waved back at them with a nervous grin. He waited until Shining opened the window for him, and made his way to the table as a blush grew on his cheeks. A blush that only grew the more Honeydew tried to hide behind herself.

"What's the news Thorax?" Fleur asked to spare Honeydew her blushes.

"Oh, uh, well I went to all the places you told me to, but all that's happened so far is that the places have been cleaned up. Nothing's been rebuilt so far."

"That's a relief-"

"But there was one thing though. Well, two." Thorax passed a flyer to Fleur, who took it in her magic and unfurled it. It took her a moment, but she did eventually figure out it was a leaflet extolling the virtues of embracing Faust's rule. It had been stamped with the signature of Prince Blueblood, and had a terrible picture of him on the back.

Fleur crumpled it up and tossed it into the bin, "That mealy-mouthed little weasel. First betraying Equestria's secrets to Mareitania, and now this. I can't wait until the princesses catch up to him." Fleur breathed deeply, then released it in one, feeling no calmer for it. "What was the other thing?"

"Just a rumour, but there's word that due to the war, and the food shortages, winter's being cancelled this year."

"What? But you can't just cancel an entire season! Can you?" Fleur asked, not actually knowing. Judging by the collection of shrugs she got in return, none of them knew either. "I guess I'll have to ask Twilight about that. Still, that's not entirely bad news, I suppose. We don't want ponies to starve, even if it does mess things up a bit."

The filly shrugged at Fleur, "It's not like winter's really going to be missed, is it? I know I won't miss it."

"It could also be due to the weather factory being put out of action," Shining pointed out. "I know Faust could take care of the weather, but I imagine she has other things to think about. Including hunting down my wife, daughter, and sister..."

"Good luck to her then, because I certainly don't envy her that task." Fleur nudged Shining and gave him a smile, "You know they'll be fine."

"I hope so." Shining stared into the distance for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, since nothing much is happening at the moment, I guess we move ahead with securing somewhere safe for us to live."

"Once Bon Bon and her team are here," Fleur reminded him.

"Right, but I still think we'd be better off scouting for a decent boat first. Unfortunately, that's not something you or I can do."

"And I don't know the first thing about boats," said Thorax.

Shining turned to his parents and smiled weakly, "I don't suppose you two fancy a trip to the marina?"

"If this is what having parents is like, I'm not sold on the idea. Parents walk too slow."

Twilight Velvet smiled at the filly in a way that could be described as motherly, so long as you amended it somewhere with the words 'long suffering.' "You asked to come, remember? It wouldn't have made any difference if you'd stayed back at the apartment."

All three of them smiled at the pair of soldiers that walked past them along the waterfront, although the filly stuck her tongue out at them once they couldn't see. "I can't believe the way they just walk around like they own the place."

"But they do own the place now," Nightlight said with a faint laugh. "We're on the opposite side to them, so we're the intruders here."

"I suppose that goes double for me since I'm a Mareitanian. Or would that be half? Or does that make me a double agent?"

Twilight Velvet laughed at the filly, "Or it leaves you as a filly that has no business thinking too hard about such things."

"Hey, I'm probably tougher than you are. Not many ponies could go through what I have and survive."

"You were wise to leave a probably in there," Nightlight said quietly.

"We're not doubting you," Twilight Velvet reassured the filly. "You are doubting us though, which is a bit unfair. We're just thinking that Fleur wouldn't want you to get into trouble."

"Oh no, you're not changing the subject. You look at me and see some kid, where what you're really seeing is a young adult who survived getting her wings torn off her back at the age of six, and grew up on the toughest streets of a country that hated pegasi. Pretty sure that makes me tougher than the majority of ponies in this country. Sure you might be a bit of a thrill seeker, Mrs Twilight, but that doesn't make you tough."

"And I could tell you that toughness isn't everything. Yes, you are a hardy little thing, I won't deny it, but that doesn't make you capable of fighting off any soldiers that decide they don't like the look of us."

The filly tapped a hoof to her chest, "Run and survive, that's my motto."

"Even if it meant leaving somepony behind?"

Memories of the time Fleur was captured in Prance flashed through Swift's head. Fleur had forced her to hide rather than get captured as well, even though the ones hunting them had let her go to lead Twilight Sparkle into a trap at High Rock as they attempted to rescue Fleur. She hadn't run then, because she didn't want to leave Fleur behind. "Oh Luna fucking damn it."

"Language!"

"Oh bite me. If you're going to go around reminding me of things I don't want to remember, you can put up with some bad language."

"Easy ladies," Nightlight said soothingly. "There's no need to go falling out. Twilight was only asking you a question, and didn't mean to remind you of anything. And darling, you know full well from our daughter what that blasted country does to ponies."

"He's right filly, I-"

"Swift," the filly said coldly. "Only my friends get to call me filly."

Twilight didn't push the issue, although it stung a little to be cast out in such a small yet significant way. "Alright, Swift, I didn't mean to dig up any unpleasant memories for you, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, and for your information, the one time I didn't run was right before Fleur got those scars. You'll have to ask her how she got them."

"Actually we already know," Twilight Velvet admitted. "Twilight told us not long after she came back, when she was telling us about a lot of the things that happened. That sort of thing happened a lot over the first couple of months after she came back, usually with her in floods of tears. Even now, what happened in Mareitania haunts her, and I hate that it's on her to try and stop Faust. Much more of this, and I don't know if she'll even be our little girl any more."

The filly stopped walking, forcing Twilight Velvet and Nightlight to stop as well as she turned to face them. "Are you even kidding me? Twilight is always going to be Twilight, even if she acts differently, and she'll never stop loving you or the rest of your family. Sure some shitty things happened in Mareitania, and dying would mess anypony up, but maybe you should stop focussing on the bad things that happened to her, and maybe think on all the good things that she did to help a lot of ponies, including me."

"What do you mean she died?"

"Ohhh..." the filly drawled as she found out she may have gone a little too far. Not that she knew Twilight hadn't mentioned having died to her parents, although she could appreciate why. "Did you know alicorns are immortal? Fascinating really, if you think about it."

"You're seriously telling us Twilight died in Mareitania?" Nightlight asked the filly, getting a queasy nod in return. "Oh my goodness, our poor Twilight."

"It was her own stupid fault, which she'll happily tell you. Well, which she'll tell you without the happily part, but anyway, she's immortal, so she's fine, so there's no need to worry, and certainly no need to bring up that I told you about it, ha-ha..."

"But what if it happens again when she tries to stop Faust?" Twilight Velvet gasped.

"What part of immortal aren't you getting?" the filly replied flatly. "She'll die, then she'll come back to life. Apparently she doesn't get much choice about it."

"We almost lost our baby!" Twilight snarled at the filly, who took a step back in shock. "You can stand there and joke about it, but our darling Twilight could've died in some Celestia forsaken country, fighting a war that wasn't even her own! She could be dead right now!"

"But she isn't! Twilight can't die! Permanently at least, and will now live to the end of time itself, so you really don't have to worry about her!"

"Good! I'm glad!"

"And I'm glad you're glad, but believe me when I say Twilight feels quite differently about it! Maybe you should really have a talk to your daughter about all this at some point. You might learn some things about her."

"Oh look, the marina!" Nightlight said brightly, before his wife could properly retaliate against the filly. "I know we have some things to think about, Twilight, but maybe we should save it for now? Or at least until we're safely away from Manehattan?"

"Fine," Twilight growled through her teeth, setting off down the steps to the wooden jetty, leaving Nightlight with the filly.

"Phew, dodged an arrow there. Thanks."

"Do you take some kind of special pleasure from pushing ponies buttons?" Nightlight asked the filly, giving her a hard look. "We've had our daughter return to us as a very different mare to the one that left to go to Mareitania, and that alone is hard enough to deal with without finding out that she died, and is thankfully immortal. We will never forgive Celestia and Luna for what they made her go through, and you would do well to remember how your mother would feel about you, if you-"

"My mother's dead. My sire is dead. I was born in a pegasi foal factory to be brought up into a life of slavery, except my wings were too small to allow me to be used to breed as well, so I was going to be killed. The last I saw my mother she was begging the guards to let me live, and their compromise was to rip my wings off and toss me out into the cold where I had a slim chance of surviving. She died giving birth to a unicorn, which only one of the guards could've put in her, so don't you dare tell me how my mother would feel if I died, because she knows full well the pain of having her children stolen off her, and often killed. Your immortal daughter... well, you don't realise how good you have it with that, just as you don't realise how much all us pegasi from Mareitania owe her for helping us to escape the very hell that was our daily existence."

Nightlight stared wide-eyed, and closed his mouth with a click, only to cautiously reopen it. "You still owe my wife an apology."

The filly shrugged, "Maybe I do, but she won't get it because I don't care about her, or you, because I'm too busy caring about Twilight, the mare that saved my people from slavery. Maybe you should stop thinking about all the bad things involving Twilight, and maybe think a little about the good things, and about how wonderful she is as you try to follow her selfless example. Now are we going to stand around here talking all day, or are we going to go find a boat?"

Nightlight stood quietly as the filly sashayed around him and down to the jetty, only daring to speak once he thought she was far enough away. "Ho-ly shit."

"Language!"

"Oh come on! I wasn't even that loud!"

There was a tense atmosphere in the apartment as night started to fall. Nightlight, Twilight Velvet, and the filly hadn't been very long as they searched for a suitable vessel, and when they'd come back, Fleur had been less than surprised that the filly had fallen out with them. What did surprise her was what they'd fallen out over, and while Fleur could see both sides, she could agree that Twilight's parents had put too much effort into worrying about how Twilight had changed, which helped nopony because Twilight was always going to be different now.

On the plus side though, they'd heard from the mare in question, Twilight, as well, and had at least learnt that there was now a plan, and that the princesses were heading to Griffonia on what was the first real step in making it work. Of course Fleur was left with no idea whether what she planned to do would make any difference, but as Nightlight had said, even making a small difference was worth it.

Unfortunately that piece of good news hadn't uplifted the atmosphere by much, mostly because the news that the princesses were seeking help to invade their own country was always going to be bittersweet, but also because half of the room wasn't speaking to the other half. Even Shining wasn't talking to his parents at this point. Fleur near cried with relief when the buzzer on the intercom went off.

"Hello?" Prim said curtly into the intercom, listening intently to the buzzy voice on the other end of it. "I see. Fleur, do you know somepony by the name of Bon Bon?"

"Yes! Wait, they're here already? Whatever, just let them in!"

"Would a please kill you?"

"Ahem. Please?"

Prim nodded and gave instructions to Bon Bon to head to the penthouse, unlocking the door for them as she did. It took as few minutes for the four ponies to reach the penthouse, and the entire time Fleur was bouncing on the tips of her hooves, much to the amusement of the others.

"Bon Bon!" Fleur shouted as they entered the penthouse, "I'm so glad you all made it! How'd you get here so fast?"

"Well," Bon Bon replied with a wan smile, "the good news is the trains are up and running again. The bad news is the trains are up and running again. Purely military as far as we could tell."

"Of course." Fleur waved them in, and a quick series of introductions was made, ending rather awkwardly on Thorax.

"You have a changeling here," Rocky stated flatly. "You do know we used to hunt those little bastards back when we were in Smile, right?" Rocky cracked a tiny smile as Thorax swallowed hard at the mention of that name. "Why the hell do you have one here?"

"He's friendly, and he's with us," Fleur said firmly, daring Rocky to make an issue out of it. "He's under the protection of the princesses, which admittedly doesn't mean shit right now, but that should give you an idea about what will happen if you try anything."

"He just looks like a pony to me," Flicker said as she eyed Thorax up in his pony guise. At a word from Fleur, he removed his disguise, and stood there in all his bug-like glory. "Woah, that's kinda freaky dude."

"He is not freaky!" Honeydew shouted, finally drawing to herself the attention that hadn't made it past Thorax. "He is a wonderful individual, and you would do well to treat him as just another pony."

"Sure," Crème said dryly, "just another pony that can disguise itself as anything, and lives off the raw emotions of others. So very regular. Still, it's nice to see you again, Honeydew. I dare say you'd have been safer hiding in Mareitania at this point, but we live and learn."

"Yes, well, if it weren't for Fleur I'd probably be back in Faust's clutches by now, building more of those blasted tanks."

"Don't think about that right now," Fleur said to Honeydew. "Since we're all here, we can now move onto the next part of the plan sooner rather than later."

"You mean how you're planning to fight back?" asked Bon Bon.

"Yes, but not quite. First we're going to find somewhere safe to hide and live, and since we need to be mobile, we've decided we're going to steal a boat so we can operate pretty much anywhere along the east coast. From there we can hopefully do whatever is needed to slow down Faust's manufacturing capabilities."

"Okay," Bon Bon said slowly, "sounds reasonable. Where is this boat?"

"At the marina. Nightlight's picked a good one out, and the marina's on lockdown, so it won't have gone anywhere. Unfortunately that will make it harder to steal, but we have you guys now, and I know you can do it."

"Just show us where to go."

"Alright, everypony go pack your things, and Prim?"

"Yes dear?"

"Thanks for having us."

Prim smiled affectionately at Fleur, "Any time Fleur, you know that, although I do wish you'd reconsider this scheme of yours. Since I know you won't," she added quickly, holding a hoof up to silence Fleur, "all I'll say is to take care. Or at least try to be careful."

Fleur considered it carefully, "I think I could manage that. Goodbye Prim."

"Bon voyage, Fleur de Lis."

It was with some pride to Fleur that other pictures of Faust had been altered like the one she had done. Of course that wasn't exactly the plan any more, so she hoped that actual resistance wasn't on the cards of many ponies. Still, she'd started a trend, and that always felt good.

"There's another one," the filly whispered, pointing to another picture just inside the entrance to an narrow street. "Seeing as how this only started last night, it seems to have kicked off pretty quick."

"What can I say? Ponies love having a trend to follow." Fleur shushed the filly as Bon Bon waved back at them, and scooted into covered. Seconds later the faint clatter of armour passed nearby, and they waited until it was gone before daring to move on. "That said, I can't wait to get out of here."

A change in the smell of the air suggested that they were getting close to the seafront, and the sound of water, and the quiet tapping of boats as they rubbed against their moorings suggested that the marina wasn't far away either. Bon Bon stopped them as Flicker went ahead to make sure the coast was clear, which they were fairly sure it was as a strangled cry followed by a splash reached their ears.

"Nngh, sloppy Flicker, sloppy," Rocky cursed, twitching his ears for any other guards that might have heard the commotion.

"Excuse me for only having my hooves to work with," Flicker hissed back at him, making most of the ponies there jump in surprise. "The coast's clear, so if we're going to go, we should go now."

"Where's the boat, Nightlight?" Fleur asked.

"I mightn't have thought to memorise where is was," Nightlight admitted with a nervous laugh. He pointed to the right, "I think it was that way." Twilight Velvet reached over and moved his leg so it was pointing more ahead of them, "Or over there."

"Direction never was your strong point, honey."

A shout in the distance behind them spurred them into moving, and for a minute the only sounds to be heard was the tapping of hooves on the wooden boards of the jetty as the ten ponies and one sort of pony, rushed to the boat.

"You don't think Prim sold us out, do you?" the filly asked as the shouting increased.

"She wouldn't," Fleur answered her. "We must've been spotted at some point on the way here. We'll be out of here soon, so just ignore it."

"That's the one," Nightlight said proudly, pointing at one of the boats, whose white colour showed it up in the dark. Fleur knew as much about boats as she knew about magic, which was very little, but she could tell it was big enough for all of them, while still appearing like it could produce a fair bit of speed. What she did know was that it must've cost somepony quite a few bits, and since they were stealing it, it sucked to be that pony.

"Everypony get on board," Shining commanded. "Dad, get it started. Fleur and I will get the moorings."

"We'll get the what?"

"We'll untie the ropes!"

"Ooohhh... right." Fleur ran left, while Shining went around the far side of the boat, both of them quickly doing their work while a different problem developed onboard.

"I don't know where the keys are Shining!" Nightlight shouted, far too loudly.

"Can't you hotwire it?"

"Son, this boat is a technological marvel of magic and engineering. You can't just hotwire it! Hey what are you-" The engine came to life with a soft purr that could barely be heard. "Oh, well Miss Crème informs me that you can in fact hotwire a boat like this."

"Good!" The shouts were quite close now, and the thuds of ponies running could be felt through the wood. "Are you done Fleur?"

"Uh... maybe? I don't see any more ropes." There was a splash as the gangplank slipped off the side of the boat and into the water. "Wait, didn't we need that?"

"Oh for fuck sake!"

"Langua- Nevermind! Now's not the time, I know."

Shining sprinted back around the boat, and in one smooth motion, grabbed Fleur under the chest and tossed her into the boat with a squawk, then jumped on himself, grabbing onto the rail and scrabbling for purchase with his rear hooves until Rocky pulled him over. "Why aren't we moving Dad?"

"Uh..."

"Dad!"

"I've never sailed something like this before! Just... give me a minute!"

"We don't have a minute!" Fleur shouted as the soldiers ran towards them. The one in the lead jumped for the boat, and would've made it if a roundhouse kick from Bon Bon hadn't met his face before he could land. The other soldiers, who didn't fancy a swim, were a bit smarter about it as they pointed a collection of crossbows at them.

"We have you surrounded! Surrender immediately, or we will fire!"

"Is there an option two?" the filly asked the soldier that had spoke.

"You have ten seconds!"

"Guess not." The filly stepped back as a purple orb surrounded the boat, courtesy of Shining as he smirked smugly at the soldiers.

"I'd like to see them get through that."

"I wouldn't," said Fleur. She stumbled as the boat lurched and started to go backwards, reversing out of its berth. She glared up at the elevated cockpit, getting an apologetic grin from Nightlight. A grin that only grew as they crashed into the boats behind them. "I thought you said you knew how to sail!"

"It's... been a while."

"Ugh," Crème groaned, "get out of the way." Rather than wait for him to move, or argue, Crème shoved Nightlight aside and spun the wheel to port as she smoothly pushed the throttle forwards, taking them out of the marina at speed, and away from danger.

"We'll anypony could've done that," Nightlight mumbled, earning himself a pitying kiss on the cheek from his wife.

"Is everypony okay?" Shining asked, quickly checking everypony over. Nopony seemed to be hurt, and none of them said anything, so he took the opportunity to slump against the side of the cockpit. "That was not how it was supposed to happen. They're going to be looking for us now, and probably get their griffons involved."

"We're safe for now though," said Fleur. "Let's just get some distance between us and Manehattan, and worry about the rest in the morning."

"Such as where we can put this," the filly quipped, pulling a black square of cloth out of her meagre belongings. She unfolded it to show the skull and crossbones motif it bore.

"Where did you get that?"

"Prim made it for me."

"What? But Prim never does anything for free!"

"Have you ever asked her?"

"...No?"

"There you go then." The filly held the flag up and imagined it flying just behind the cockpit. "This is going to be sweet."

Author's Notes:

And this is the chapter where Fleur, and ultimately I, learnt that being a resistance sucks, so be pirates instead. They're going to do things. It's going to be great, you'll love it. Please love it?