Twilight's mind was a mess when they finally found what they were looking for. She thought they'd have more time to rest or anything else, literally ANY thing else before she had not only to deal with them, but rather to see them with her very own eyes.

It didn't take long before the sounds of struggle, panting and grunting made the small group Twilight had taken with her to realize they had found a small group of the beings they all had learned to despise.

Always the mare of action, Rainbow had acted as scout, flying silently above the trees of the dense forest surrounding Ponyville to locate the enemy. Knowing just how grave situation was, she hadn't bothered with using her battle "camouflage" for the mission, instead just going as she was dressed.

At her sides, several of the royal guards who had come with her all the way from Canterlot, mostly being Unicorns and Earths, stood proudly with her, wearing their full armor and holding the few weapons they could find proudly. Spears, swords, shovels, pitchforks... Anything would do for those who still remained loyal to Equestria, anything to allow them to fight.

But one pony stood out from among all of them: the always gentle giant of Ponyville, but now having a guard's helmet on his head and the serene expression on his face completely gone, now showing pure determination in his eyes. He really looked like a true royal guard, despite not having the chestpiece due to how big he was... Big Mac, indeed.

She felt safe in their presence, she felt as if she could fall asleep and actually rest with them around to protect her, knowing all of them were there to give their lives away for her.

And the very same thought sent a shiver down her spine. How many ponies had already fallen because of her, for not being able to do something, anything for them? And if things went from bad to worse, how many more would fall to protect her?

As days passed, Twilight truly found herself wondering if she really deserved those wings she now carried in her back, as well as the gift of magic she possessed and had proven mostly useless against the menace ponykind was facing in that instant.

"Twilight! Over here!"

Her reflexion was interrupted by the hushed voice of Rainbow, knelt down next to a tree while the guards and Big Mac had taken a stealth position between the trees. Suddenly understanding what was happening, she quickly bent down and moved as quiet as possible towards her friend.

At first, Rainbow moved a finger to her mouth in the sign of "silence" before motioning at the other side of the tree and a small mound of dirt at its side.

"Se, brødre. Troféet vårt!" An unknown language came to Twilight's ears, as well as the others with her. Though she was no expert in different languages, she did know her way around magic. Right before the next being could say anything else, her horn lit up as she casted a new spell.

"Hva tror du denne tingen var? Kjempet hard, and it was indeed a good challenge… but never in our lives have we seen something like this."

Twilight had to resist the urge to clap when the words slowly turned to something not only she, but all of those along with her could understand.

Rainbow smirked at her friend, moving a finger towards her friend's forehead and tracing a small, oval shape on it. Twilight was not amused when she found the meaning of that sign, making Rainbow to stifle a laugh at that.

But every sense of laugh died when she saw her friend's face turn a lighter shade of purple. Hard steps sounded right next to the mound they were in, revealing two large and battle hardened Caribou walking away towards who knew where, carrying something large between the two of them.

All the ponies' eyes widened in shock when they saw a large, bloody, dead manticore being pulled as if it was a mere bag by the pair of brutes.

Twilight did know of the atrocities they made, but that was on another level, much worse than anything she had seen so far. Ponies generally had troubles just to route a manticore away from any pony settlement near of the forest, and yet those two Caribou had apparently killed it just by themselves.

The caribou were proving to be more dangerous the more time Twilight observed them.

"No matter what this creature was, it will make a great trophy in our tribe. Maybe we can even sell it to the 'king' by a good price!"

Selling it? Twilight wondered in her mind what was exactly that she was hearing. Why would a pair of Caribou want to sell something dangerous to the King?

"Oh, good idea. I bet Runemasters and 'magicians' from his court will go mad to see this."

"Eh, perhaps. I was merely joking, you know? What do you think they could see of useful in this? The King's clan already has control of their main city, so it seems they have no need for other things like this."

The king's clan? Was there more than one group of Caribou?

The group remained still and quiet as the Caribou passed by, chatting between themselves and adding even more doubts and unanswered questions to Twilight.

Apparently, Caribou were divided in clans, or maybe families as Twilight knew them. And if what she heard was true, some clans actually did not follow the King's attitude towards the ponies.

"What now, princess Twilight?"

A guard's voice interrupted her own musings when everything was calm, making her realize when she relaxed that her joints and muscles were aching for being so tense during all that time, despite only being a few minutes.

Looking at her hands, she was even trembling slightly. She couldn't hide it at all… she was afraid of them.

"Twilight?" It was now Rainbow's voice that filled her ears once more, suddenly realizing the concerned eyes of everypony on her. None said anything, yet they knew exactly what their princess was thinking.

"Princess? If i may…?"

Twilight turned to yet another guard, not finding it in herself to move her hooves. Fear had once again paralyzed her, and she hated that feeling.

"Y-Yes? What do you want to say?" In a strained voice, Twilight tried to collect her thoughts once more, trying to put up her façade of good and strong princess up for them. She had to look strong to guide them.

"… Well… i was thinking we could maybe… follow them?"

"Follow them? Are you stupid or what?" Fortunately for Twilight, the highest ranking guard had taken the charge there, looking at the younger one with a glare. "What if they lead us to a trap? We could already be stalked at the moment for all we know!"

"Yes, sir, i know… but you all heard what they said, right? They don't like the King, so perhaps… we could get them to join us to take out the king?"

"And what makes you think it's a good idea?"

"Well… the enemy of my enemy is… my ally, or something like that?"

Twilight did have to admit it sounded like a good idea from from their perspective. Maybe the could help, or even point out other options as to how they could proceed! It was actually a really good idea, maybe they could even become friends in the future if they could defeat the king!

Again, doubt reared its ugly head when the word "friends" came to her mind, remembering once more what her own pony friends had passed through with them. Maybe not the ones she was seeing right there, but still…

During her time in Ponyville, she had found she could make good friends with anypony, and even other creatures, like dragons, that river serpent (whose name she had already forgotten), cows, mules, and others. But being friends with a Caribou?

She was the princess of friendship, and it was her duty to try and spread the magic of friendship all around Equestria! But them? She simply couldn't find it in herself to picture Ponies and Caribou coexisting as one.

But why couldn't she? Why did she believe so firmly they couldn't be friends? It was her duty as a princess–!

"Isn't that right, princess?"

Twilight blinked several times, truly confused when her thinking was interrupted by a guard, seemingly the most high ranking member of those following her. Once again, all of their eyes were turned towards her, leaving her in the spotlight once more.

She had found herself in that situation so many times lately, and yet, it brought the same level of discomfort as in the beggining. She would never get used to it.

And a small voice in her head told her that she actually hated to be in there.

"I–I do apologize, gentlecolts, but i wasn't paying attention at all. What was it you were talking about?"

Big mac surprised her by actually speaking instead of remaining quiet as always

"We were wondering if we should follow them to try and see if they truly are different than those in Canterlot."

"Yeah, i mean… those looked more… err… wanderers?"

"Nomadic, actually." Twilight huffed softly when Rainbow once more smirked at her, though bringing some relief to the whole situation by making her smile.

Of course, they did have a point. Against her better judgement, she thought it a good idea to go after them and see who they were and if they really could trust in them.

She made a quick nod at them, with all of them walking crouched and quietly following the road, but keeping themselves concealed by the thick foliage of the forest.

Rainbow had decided to fly up and try to track them, returning shortly later with news of a small column of smoke very near.

Twilight had to admire the way the guards acted. She had used a spell to mute her steps, but they didn't need to try and be stealth. They WERE stealth.

…

Just like how her brother had told her how they trained them.

Oh, Shining. How it still pained her when the memory of his betrayal came back over and over in her mind and dreams.

She still believed firmly he was only being used, under the control and the corruption of the Caribou, always eager to do their will under a disguise of him still being in control and actually wanting it!

But she did know him. She knew he would never do something like that. She still knew her beloved brother was somewhere in the uncovered city, imprisoned somewhere over there in his own mind and doing things he never wanted to do.

Once more, she swore she would free all those who the Caribou had wronged and bring back things the way they were before THEY came.

…

Wait, uncovered?

Twilight suddenly stopped walking, even scratching the dirt below her hooves and drawing the attention of all those who were there with her.

"Twi? What's wrong? You heard something?"

Rainbow quickly asked in a hushed tone, voicing the concern of everypony looking at them, growing when they saw their princess with a shocked look, with her eyes wide open and even some color being drained from her face.

When they looked right where she was looking at, they all knew why she was that way.

Twilight had been remembering her brother, remembering that familiar pink sphere made of magic he was so skilled at casting. Sphere that now had vanished from over the city of Canterlot.

They didn't know exactly what that meant, secretly hoping somepony, somewhere had made something to disrupt the spell, or even things had turned against the Caribou in their own place!

Others couldn't shake that feeling of dread when they saw it, a feeling that told them something really bad would be happening sooner than later. Twilight included herself on that group.

She didn't know why or how, but a gut wrenching feeling came to her, making her want to do nothing else but to run home and hide from the world.