“Do you think Moonlight’s going to be okay?” I asked as I gently stroked Neivi’s mane that night. Given Moonlight’s condition and on request from Citrus, Blossom had convinced the Overmare to let us stay for a little while longer so it was that evening and we were resting in some spare quarters together. “I mean, with everything that’s going on I can’t help but be worried about her.”

“Physically she’s fine, though I’m worried about what kind of effects the long-term use of that breastplate,” Neivi said as she snuggled up against me. “It seems to have similar properties to the same metal that Blossom exposed you too, if not made of the same material. I’m afraid that it might be too much for her to take.”

“Then why let her keep it on?” I asked.

“Because she needs to take it off herself,” Neivi said with a sigh. “If we scare her off she’s more likely to get herself hurt or worse. If we convince her she’s safe and that she doesn’t need it, then she’ll be okay.”

“I just hope you’re right,” I said as I nuzzled her gently. “I’m worried about her you know? And about this Stable, Blossom says that I should talk to you about, what we talked about before.”

“You mean you conceiving foals here?” Neivi asked and I nodded a little. “I understand why you’re worried, I probably would be too if I was in the same situation. The fact of the matter is that even with their method of switching ponies from the parts of the Stable, this was never going to work forever.”

“Yeah, she told me as much,” I said with a sigh. “They need an influx of new genetic material. I’m afraid that she’s going to do something reckless like killing the Overmare because she’s not listening to reason.”

“Do you think she’d actually go that far?” Neivi asked.

“Honestly? Yes,” I said with a sigh. “I get it, honestly I might even do the same if I was in her position. There’s something weird about what she said about the Overmare which makes me a little uneasy. I just hope that whatever Blossom does, it really will be what is right for the Stable.”

“Yeah, me too,” Neivi said. “If you really think this is the best way to help Stable 27, then I’m with you all the way. I said I was okay with it before and that hasn’t changed, you’ve got a good heart Firelight and that’s what matters to me.”

“Yeah…” I said and smiled a little as I rest my hoof on her back. “So, what are we going to do now?”

“I don’t know honestly,” Neivi admitted. “I think our first priority tomorrow needs to be gathering information. If the Society has come here as often as Blossom said we need to see if maybe we can learn something.”

“Right,” I said and flinched a little. “They’re not exactly going to like me though, I’m an Alicorn like the ones that took them away, to begin with. And I doubt I can just use an illusion to hide the fact without explaining where I came from.”

“Yeah, that is definitely a problem,” Neivi said as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment. “And I doubt they’ll just trust the word of a Zebra so I honestly don’t know how we’ll manage that.”

“Here’s hoping we figure something out,” I said as I gently wrapped my wings around Neivi. I smiled a little and stroked the Zebra mare’s long mane. “Though, I’m not entirely sure what that might be…”

“We’ll figure something out,” Neivi said as she leaned up and kissed me gently on the lips. “I love you Firelight, and I’d do anything for you. I promise we’ll figure something out tomorrow.”

“I love you too,” I said and nuzzled her gently.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my wings gently around the Zebra. She snuggled up against me and sighed a little. It felt like sleep wasn’t going to come easily for either of us, even if we were tired.

I sighed a little and stroked her mane gently. After everything that had happened, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sleep. Even with Moonlight safe with us again, there was still a nagging feeling at the back of my mind, like sleeping wasn’t going to be safe.

I sighed a little and stroked her mane gently and gave her a soft smile that I didn’t really feel. “You should get some sleep Neivi.”

“Are you sure?” Neivi asked. “I mean, with everything that happened, do we really want to sleep right now?”

“I’ll be right here the whole time,” I said as I nuzzled her gently. “And Moonlight is in a better mental state now. Plus she’s not with the Society anymore, they can’t force her to terrify us in our dreams again.”

“You’re probably right,” Neivi said as she sighed a little. “Good night Firelight.”

“Good night Neivi,” I said and smiled a little as the Zebra mare closed her eyes gently and drifted off to sleep.

I sighed a little and laid back in the bed. I don’t think I was going to get to sleep anytime soon. My mind kept wandering to what happened with Moonlight, I wasn’t sure if it really was safe to sleep despite what I had said to Neivi.

I sighed a little and looked around for anything that would take my mind off of Moonlight for now. The room was pretty sparse other than the furniture and our bags, there wasn’t much around to distract me.

I spotted a book poking out of Neivi’s bags. Maybe that would help a little, I levitated it out of her bag and blushed a little when I flipped it open and blushed when I realized that it was the same book she had been reading before. For a moment I considered putting it away, but then again maybe this would help me understand her desires better.

I opened it to the first page and started reading the book.

“A shiver ran along Violet’s body as she felt the gentle sensation of the Zebra mare’s lips moving along her flanks. She had never imagined getting this close to another mare, let alone a Zebra but Riean had stirred something in her that she had never felt before. She pushed her tail to the side as Riean started to move towards her tail…”

I blushed heavily as I kept reading and finally just shut the book and tossed it against the wall. “What the hay… why would anypony… what?” I asked as I felt my face become warmer and warmer as I thought about it.

Strangely though, the more I thought about it the more images of me and Neivi in the same positions together. I slapped myself as I tried not to think about that, I swear my mind was working against me right now.

I sighed and laid back as I closed my eyes. I just wanted to fall asleep. I drifted off to sleep a few moments later as I held Neivi gently in my wings.

I blinked a little when my eyes opened again and I realized that I was back in the same construct of the Temple’s main gathering room that we had used on the Mayor. That was weird, why was I here?

“Okay, what in tha name of tha fates is this place?” A familiar accented voice said as I turned to see a confused looking Storm standing behind me with Neivi. “It looks like a Ministry of Arcane Science Hub got a makeover by Nightmare Moon.”

“Well, that’s because this is a representation of the Temple in Haythens,” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses a little. “We made this with Moonlight to trick Mayor Steel. I didn’t think we’d ever be in here again.”

“Yeah… it’s weird,” I said as I looked around, a shiver ran down my spine, this place felt so much like the Temple. Then something occurred to me. “Wait, are you two really here or am I dreaming?”

“No, Ah was dreamin’ before this,” Storm said. “And then Ah just kinda showed up here, Ah don’t know how that happened.”

“Same here,” Neivi said as she looked around. “Do you think Moonlight drew us into a dreamscape again?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” I said as I looked around. “But, why would she do that? And where is she now?"

“Maybe she didn’t mean to,” Neivi suggested. “I don’t know, something about all of this is weird. We need to find her and see if we can get some answers on exactly what’s going on.”

I nodded as we started to look around for any sign of where Moonlight might be. I frowned a little, I just hoped that everything was going to be okay with her wherever she was.

A song began to sound from around us as if an invisible choir of ponies was singing it. A shiver ran up and down my spine, that was a song I recognized from the Society, it made me uneasy and looking at my friends I could tell that they felt the same.

“Moonlight, are yah in here?” Storm called out.

Over the song, I could hear the sound of crying, following it I could see chairs had been stacked in the corner, the closer I got the louder the crying was, I could see a figure every now and then hiding under the chairs, all I could see of it was white, but the closer I got the more uneasy it got until eventually the chairs fell, and revealed a small white pegasus filly.

“It’s alright,” I said, reaching a hoof out to that filly. She just squealed and tried to hide behind the chairs all the more, eventually turning enough for me to see her face, something seemed familiar about her but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. The light blue mane, her white coat, she looked almost like… “Moonlight?”

“G-Go Away!” She squealed and hid her face behind her wings.

“Moonlight, it’s okay, we don’t mean you any harm,” Neivi said in a calm and soothing voice. “We’re your friends.”

“I don’t have any friends!” She yelled back as she kept trying to scoot away more. “She’s one of them, they only want to hurt me!”

I flinched a little, she was scared of me. I didn’t blame her, she was a terrified little filly and I was a representation of everything that they had done to her. Everything they had tried to make her do.

“This isn’t our nightmare,” I said softly as I closed my eyes. “It’s her’s.”

“Then why are we here?” Storm asked.

“I, have no idea,” I admitted. “But we have to do what we can to help her, I think that’s why we’re here. She must’ve brought us here unconsciously.”

Before I could say more, I could hear the sounds of wings beating above, looking up I saw the more familiar Alicorn figure descending, a second version of Moonlight, acting as though oblivious to us being here.

“Be not afraid child, you are safe, we wish no harm upon you.” The Alicorn said.

“G-Go away! You’ll just bring her here!” The filly cried out and dived behind the nearest object she could hide behind.

“Bring who here, it is just us, just you and I.”

“Do you mean Nightmare Moon? Or the High Priestess?” Neivi asked as she shot me a look that suggested I needed to be careful.

“Don’t say that!” The filly said, diving out from behind her cover and darting over to Neivi, standing on her hind legs and staring Neivi in the face. “S-She knows when you call her name, she’ll come if you say it!”

“Child, I was already here.” A more insidious voice said, followed by a familiar, chilling cackle. “I never left.”

“Leave her alone!” I said as I stepped in front of the young Moonlight. “You aren’t going to lay a single hoof on Moonlight!”

Descending from above, from a mural of the full moon on the roof, Nightmare Moon came into view, landing before me before simply walking through me as though I wasn’t there. “You are mine child, you were born to be mine. It is why I gifted you my powers, it is why you exist.”

“No! You’re lying!” The filly yelled before she’d scramble over to Storm, pulling a wing down and hiding behind it. “I’m my own pony! I’m not meant to be here, or be you!”

“Filly, listen to me, you are seeing things, there is no pony here but us, you are safe.” The Alicorn Moonlight said, reaching out for the filly.

“Moonlight, don’t listen ta Nightmare Moon!” Storm called out. “Yer right, she ain’t who yah are. Yer a strong pony, yer stronger than she could ever be, show her that!”

“Leave me alone!” That little filly cried out, as she did the world around us seemed to start to melt and fall away, until we were standing in the blackness of nothing. When I looked to my friends, they seemed to be so far away, I could see them talking but I couldn’t hear a thing they said.

“Am I her?” The Alicorn said as she approached me.

“Or am I her?” Nightmare Moon said as she approached me.

“Or am I?” The filly said, staring up at me.

I blinked a little, I hadn’t expected to be asked that question or be put in this situation. Which one of them was really her? I looked between the three of them for a long moment as I tried to think of the answer.

No, she couldn’t be Nightmare Moon. She was never Nightmare Moon, she had shown us that when she tried to give us our deepest desires. She wasn’t a monster, she was our friend even if she had been pushed too far by the Society.

So that just left two options. I had no idea what to answer, who could be the real Moonlight? The Alicorn was kind and confident but… wait, Moonlight was still recovering from what had happened. She was in a bad mental state, and there was only one of the three that represented that.

“You, you’re her,” I said as I pointed at the filly.

“But it was I that protected her.” Nightmare Moon said, using her magic to force me to face her. “I stood guard over her as she lay there injured and dying, I gave her the strength to recover.”

“I am what she was destined to be.” The Alicorn Moonlight said, spinning me around to face her now. “She was always gifted and powerful, she never knew the magic she had or her destiny. The Princesses are gone, no pony has watched over the dreams of others in generations. Nightmares run rampant, and it is her that is destined to be the lonely night vigil, to protect those from themselves.”

“You may have protected her, but you also used her,” I said as I glared at Nightmare Moon. “You and the Society used her to attack her friends and tried to turn her against us. She is not you, she will never be you no matter how much you want it, and she will always be stronger than you are.”

I turned to look at the Alicorn Moonlight and sighed a little. “You’re not wrong, this world has lead to an abundance of nightmares. But I don’t think it is her destiny, I don’t even believe in destiny, your life is your choices and what you make of it. She wants to help ponies and has the ability to do it, that is her choice, not her destiny. And she will never have to stand alone as long as she has me and the others by her side.”

The two stared at me for a moment, before they looked to each other, the two speaking as one, voices unifying as they turned back to me. “Why must she be one, why can’t she be all three. Do you believe that the real Nightmare Moon would like what the Society worships? A bastardized icon of a time long past? And, if she chose not to use her gift to save those from their nightmares, then they run rampant once more and the world never heals because of the scars those nightmares leave behind.”

“For over 200 years Equestria has survived without the need of somepony to watch over nightmares,” I said. “And it’s done more than survive, I’ve learned a lot since coming here about ponies and other beings who want to help Equestria. Yes, this world is broken, there is death and destruction, but there is also hope. There will always be ponies willing to fight that good fight and protect and nurture that hope so that it may grow. If she chooses to not do it, then something tells me that Equestria will be just fine.”

The two stared at me for a moment more, before Nightmare Moon spoke alone. “You are a hypocrite.”

“What do you see when you look in a mirror.” The Alicorn said, glaring at me. “You are three in one, just like she is.”

Before I could speak, two mirrors appeared in the place of Nightmare Moon and the Alicorn Moonlight, in the reflections I saw both the now familiar figure of Daybreaker and the young Unicorn I used to be.

“You say she cannot be three, but you yourself are.” The two spoke together, coming around the mirrors.

“You are her when you are kind and compassionate, her love of life and happiness shows in those moments.” The Alicorn Moonlight said, motioning to the reflection of the unicorn.

“You are her when your anger and rage boil over, her strength and power shine brightest when you lose control.” Nightmare Moon said, motioning to the reflection of Daybreaker.

“Together, you are as you said, apart you are weak and vulnerable.” The two said together. “Unity is not one triumphing over the others, but the three coming together as one.”

I froze for a moment, they were right, I had made a terrible mistake. I lowered my head a little and sighed. “You’re right, she is all three of you,” I said and closed my eyes. “Just like I am. She’s afraid of you, isn’t she? Both of you, she’s afraid of what you’ll make her into so she feels a need to protect herself from you, to hide away.”

The filly walked up between the two and stared up at me for a moment, silently. Before she smiled a bit. “Life is full of ups and downs, I’ve known my share from life in the stable. Before I was pulled out of my home, before I was turned into her” She said, motioning up at the Alicorn Moonlight. “I thought my life would never amount to anything, my abilities, my gifts would be pointless. She showed me that there was a whole new world out there, a whole new scary world filled with things that just want you dead”

“And when one of those things came to get me, and I was attacked in cold blood for being no more than in the wrong place at the wrong time, and left dying. I felt the weight of my mistake.” The Alicorn said, Looking at Nightmare Moon for a moment. “I was dying, I felt my life slipping through my hooves and my powers fading. That’s when she showed up, she embraced me, she told me that everything was going to be alright that I just had to trust her and she’d never let me go.”

“And now she relies on me.” Nightmare Moon said softly. “She feels only I can be the means to keep her safe, to let her help ponies like she wants to. But in that moment, as she lay bleeding and dying, she realized if she can’t save herself, how is she ever going to save anypony else.”

“Fear is a powerful emotion, it can make you do things you never thought you could do.” The Filly said with a sigh. “I just, want this nightmare to end, for somepony to come and save me this time, and let me go home... “

I thought about it for a moment and held a hoof out to her. “Moonlight, I can’t promise that you’ll ever be allowed to stay in Stable 27. But I will say this, you will always have a home with me and your other friends,” I said with a soft smile and looked at the other two. “All three of you will.”

“Thank you.” the three said together before they turned to each other. “But as much as we wish for the nightmare to end, there is much to come, battles still left to fight, and until morning has come, the nightmare must continue.” The three turned back to me, all of them smiling similarly to each other. “There is still that good fight to fight, as you said, and maybe destiny isn’t real, but the burden of choice and responsibility still rests firmly on our shoulders.”

“That it does, but you’ll always have us there to help you,” I said and closed my eyes for a moment and new mirrors appeared with images of Neivi, Storm, and Lemon. “Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned out here, it’s that friendship is truly magic. And we are all in this together, fighting the nightmares both within and without.”

“There is one thing, I’d like to say.” Nightmare Moon said with a chuckle, as the world around us swirled and changed again, this time we stood on top of the roof of the clinic under the night sky, just like the first night Moonlight was with us. “Nightmares are horrible things, yet you want to worship somepony who has it in their name, Nightmare Moon, me.”

She looked to me with a quirked brow and coy smirk, chuckling to herself a little. “Did you think that is the Nightmare in my name? Nightmares as in fear, darkness, despair? Did it never occur to you, that my title Nightmare Moon, is not that of nightmares, but that I am a night mare?”

I looked at her stunned for a moment and then chuckled. “You know, I honestly never thought about it that way. That, is a really cheesy pun you know that right?”

“You try never getting your due and everypony loving your counterpart more than you.” Nightmare Moon said with a sigh. “I really am no different than Luna, I never wanted to hurt anypony, I just wanted them to see how much hard work I put into the night, I wanted them to recognize and respect me like they did for my sister. It got lost on them… pretty quick.”

“And then a few hundred years later a cult of crazies decides to worship you as a Goddess because they hope that you’ll grant them power,” I said with a sigh. “Yeah, give it a thousand years of history and a lot of misinterpretation comes around. I’m sorry for what the Society has done to pervert your ideals. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to stop them, we all will.”

“I know you will.” Nightmare Moon said with a smile before she faded to a more gentle and softer looking side. “I am only a part of her, because she asked me to stay when we meant in the dreamscape a long while ago, she knew what asking me to stay would cause, and I stayed because I knew it was important, responsibility goes hoof in hoof with what some call destiny, it may all be a load of crap, but responsibility overwrites choice in most things.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out,” I said and looked at her and then at the other two. “Are you three going to be okay? Is Moonlight going to be okay?”

“There has been some… very bad damage, It will take time to repair, but I think in time she will be alright.” Luna said, softly smiling at me. “You know, back when she first turned into that Alicorn version of herself, do you remember her calling you sister?”

“Yes, I’ve been wondering about that,” I said. “After last night I assumed it was because I had a piece of Celestia in me.”

“Yes, it is. In that moment Moonlight was lost in herself and the only thing that felt familiar was you.” Luna said with a smile. “Her fragment of my power reacted to you, you rushed to her aid and protected her, and it woke up that fragment - in a way, it wasn’t her talking, it was me, but not to you, but to your fragment of my sister’s power.”

“That, explains a lot,” I said. “I promise I’ll always protect her as best I can. Just like I would any of my other friends.”

“I never doubted you,” Luna said softly. “And even if you didn’t want to protect her, I think that fragment of my sister’s power wouldn’t give you a choice, the two are intertwined and the moment Moonlight’s woke up, yours woke up in you.”

“Wait, but the fire illusion thing… that happened before I met Moonlight when the Society tried to steal Dawn and her friends,” I said. “I thought that was tied into the Celestia fragment.”

“It is, but only partially,” Luna said with a soft sigh. “Magic is complicated, and sometimes situations can make something stir, but not wake. A surge in power, and being close to something that cries out to you, can bring out things that you never knew you had in you, it’s something that even Princesses failed to fully understand.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” I said and then looked at her for a long moment. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Luna said, smiling at me. “You’re a good pony, Celestia would be proud to know that a pony of your stature is the one that got her power. By the way, I think she’d like to meet you, one day, she’s still alive… sort of.”

“Wait… what?” I asked.

“Well. not physically.” Luna said with a nervous chuckle. “She uh… thought it’d be a great idea to, make herself immortal and lock herself in a computer.”

“I see,” I said. “Yeah, I’m gonna have to meet her at some point aren’t I? Preferably when I don’t have to worry about a million other things.”

“A time, soon enough, will come where you will be allowed to visit where she entombed herself,” Luna said with a smile. “Just stay strong, don’t get swayed by pretty words, and I think you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said and gave her a nod. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, all of you have. And I will make sure that Moonlight is kept safe, and the Society goes down, you have my word.”

“I look forward to it,” Luna said softly before she’d wave at me and the world around me started to warp and shift again, putting me back with my friends, and now just a singular moonlight, standing, looking very confused.

“What in tha sam hill just happened?” Storm asked. “Yah just kinda zoned out fer a bit and then tha three of them vanished and now there’s just one. What tha heck is goin’ on here?”

“That… is a very good question… I was having a nightmare, and.. I just kept wanting somepony to come and help, and then you guys showed up but… everything got all hazy afterward” Moonlight said with a groan and rubbing at her head.

“It’s complicated but the important thing is you’re going to be okay,” I said as I gave Moonlight a hug and nodded to my friends who joined in. “We’re all here for you.”

“Yeah,” Storm said as she nuzzled Moonlight. “Ah promise we won’t let anythin’ like that happen ta yah again.”

“I… is this a dream? Am I dreaming right now? Are you even real?” Moonlight said, looking even more confused.

“To answer your questions in order, yes this is a dream and yes we’re real,” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses a little. “The way I see it when you were terrified and called out for someone to help you, you brought the three of us into your dreamscape.”

“It’s a long story, but you’re okay now,” I said. “Or, at least you’re on the road to being okay.”

“We’re definitely real,” Storm said as she kissed Moonlight gently on the cheek. “Ah love yah Moonlight, and we just want ta help yah.”

“Help me with what?” Moonlight said, looking to storm, then back to me. “What the hay is going on here…”

“Like I said it’s a long story,” I said with a sigh as I explained it the best I could to her.

“I… I see, I think… so are we still dreaming? Because I don’t remember calling you guys here, or anything that you said…” Moonlight said with a groan. “Why do I feel like I’ve had a sack of bricks the size of the moon dropped on me..”

“I’m, positive we’re still dreaming, unless we got teleported to the Temple,” I pointed out. “Like Neivi said you likely subconsciously drew us into the dreamscape when you were having the nightmare.”

“I’ve never done that before…” Moonlight said, sitting down and looking at her hooves. “I don’t understand how this is possible, it’s always been a conscious choice for me to pull ponies from their dreams, I’ve never done something without knowing”

“I don’t know how it works,” Neivi admitted. “But right now it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Right I’ll uh… just… send you back to your dreams then.” Moonlight said, before one by one each of us disappeared, presumably back to our own dreams, the world around me starting to shift and swirl and change before I found myself back in bed with Neivi.

I rolled over the next morning and groaned a little as I rubbed my head. That had been, an interesting dream the night before. Either Moonlight was messing with my dreams or I had let that book get into my head.

I made a mental note to never touch that book again just in case. I shook my head a little as I looked over at Neivi who was still fast asleep. I smiled a little and gently draped my wing over her as I nuzzled her a little.

“I don’t know where I’d be without you Neivi,” I said softly as I snuggled up against her. I smiled a little as I enjoyed the feeling of warmth as I held the Zebra mare close to me and nuzzled the back of her neck a little. “I love you so much…”

“You’d probably be lost, wandering around the jungle,” Neivi said with a soft chuckle as she snuggled against me. “If you want to say sweet things to me it’s better to do it while I’m awake you know.”

“Sorry, I was just enjoying the moment,” I said as I nuzzled her a little. “I’m so happy I found you really. You and the others, you’re the reason I’m who I am instead of some pawn of the High Priestess.”

“I’m glad we found you too,” Neivi said as she snuggled up against me and then turned her head to look back at me. “I just have one question for you Firelight.”

“Uh, what’s that?” I asked though I had a pretty good idea of what it might be.

“Why is my book lying on the floor?”

“Well, see, uh…” I said as a blush came to my face. “I must’ve been, sleep levitating things, yes that’s it. I do that sometimes, yeah, that’s it…. You’re not buying this are you?”

“Nope, not at all,” Neivi said as she rolled her eyes a little. “Firelight, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re still getting used to things like sexuality so it’s only natural to be curious, it’s why I agreed to wait. I want our first time, your first time, to be something special.”

“Thanks,” I said as I leaned over and kissed her gently. “I love you Neivi.”

“I love you too,” Neivi said as there was a sound at the door. “Uh, were you expecting anyone?”

“Maybe it’s Storm?” I suggested hopefully, I didn’t want to think about the alternatives right now. I went to the door and opened it to find two security ponies standing outside. “Can I help you?”

“The Overmare wants to speak to you,” one of the security ponies said as she looked at me with a frown. “You’re to come with me.”

“Alright, just let me get Neivi,” I said and was about to turn when she raised her hoof.

“The Overmare just wants to see you,” the security mare said as she shot Neivi a look as she came into view. “The Zebra will stay behind. Overmare’s orders.”

“Neivi is…” I started to say when Neivi placed a hoof on my shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Neivi said. “I’ll go check on Moonlight and ask around the Stable about the disappearances. You go talk to the Overmare, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” I said and nuzzled her a little. “I’ll see you later.”

I headed back out with the security ponies. I didn’t know why at the time, but I had a bad feeling about what was going on. Something about the Overmare made me incredibly uneasy after what Blossom had said.

The guard ponies lead me through Stable 27. I sighed a little as I looked around at the mares who gave me a few looks. A very small number were curious, but most were either worried or angry, but they didn’t try anything.

The guards remained quiet as we headed to the Overmare’s office. Something about all of this was still weird to me, why would the Overmare even want to see me? I didn’t like this sudden turn of events and I had to do everything I could to keep this situation from going bad.

I just hoped that I could.

We finally reached the door marked Overmare’s office and one of the guards knocked on the door. After a moment it opened up and I was ushered inside where two more guards were waiting with a Unicorn mare with a yellow coat and blue mane was seated behind a desk.

“And you must be Firelight,” the Overmare said as she looked up at me with a smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t greet you properly after you arrived but I’ve been busy and you have your own things to deal with I’m sure.”

“Yeah, but that seems to be taken care of at least,” I said as I brushed my mane back a little. “Once Moonlight is back on her hooves and is ready to go we’ll head out.”

“Really?” The Overmare said as she looked at me curiously. “Because a little birdy told me that you have some sort of plan to help the Stable. You wouldn’t be lying to me or doing something under my nose now would you?”

I blinked a little when she said that, how did she know about that? The only other pony in the room had been Blossom and there was no way she’d tell the Overmare about the plan. How did she know about it?

“You have monitoring equipment in that room don’t you?” I asked and the Overmare’s mouth turned up into a small smirk.

“You’re a smart one aren’t you,” she said. “But Stable 27 is under my care, sometimes that requires me to know things that others might rather keep secret. But humor me, you think this offer will help the Stable right? Perhaps we can work something out.”

This wasn’t how I wanted to do it, but maybe if I could convince her that our plan could work. If not, well maybe I was starting to see that Blossom had a point. At this point though we had nothing to lose and could potentially save the Stable.

“Well, see the thing is as we see it that Stable 27 has a problem,” I said with a sigh. “Even with moving ponies from parts of the Stable to the other parts you’re still bound to have a lack of genetic diversity. You’re going to need more ponies, I’m not necessarily saying that you need to have them stay in the Stable, but if you let volunteers come in and conceive foals that would at least delay the problem.”

“I see,” the Overmare said as she looked at me for a long moment. “That is quite an interesting prospect, and exactly what are you offering us in return though? You’re asking for quite a lot given the risks that the ponies of the Stable could be exposed to.”

“But you know the alternative,” I pointed out. “And I’m offering you something that nopony in this Stable has ever had. I know all about what you did with Moonlight and Luna’s powers and that it’s fading if not entirely gone. If you agree to this, then I’m willing to help the program out by conceiving foals to pass on Celestia’s power. This is the best chance you have and it’ll help the Stable, I know you want what’s best for the Stable.”

“Yes, that I do,” the Overmare said as she looked me over for a moment. “It’s quite the tempting offer I’ll admit. You talked this over with that Zebra marefriend of yours I assume, it’s not something very many would agree to.”

“Neivi knows the importance of this,” I said with a sigh. “I admit I’m not entirely comfortable with making this deal either. But I do know that this Stable needs help, and if that’s the sacrifice I have to make in order to help save it I’m willing to do it. I love Neivi more than anything. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do something to help.”

“I see, well how fortunate of us for getting such a kind and generous mare,” the Overmare said in a tone that I had a hard time placing the meaning of. “I must say I’m impressed that Moonlight was able to find a mare like you on the outside. That world does not breed your type easily especially not Alicorns.”

“I’ve met some good ponies that helped me, well and a Zebra,” I said with a chuckle as I rubbed the back of my head a little. “They’ve helped me figure out who I really am and what my place could be in this world. I want to help who I can, and this Stable needs help.”

“Leave us,” the Overmare said as she looked up at her guards who looked confused for a moment.

“Ma’am?” One of them asked.

“You heard me, leave us,” the Overmare said as the security ponies looked at her worriedly for a moment. “Are you questioning your Overmare?”

“No ma’am,” the guard said. “We’re just not sure if we can leave you here with this… Alicorn. Not after everything that they’ve done to us.”

“Moonlight trusts her, I’m sure she won’t be a problem,” the Overmare said as she looked over at me and gave me a smile that made me strangely uneasy. “You wouldn’t try anything, would you Firelight?”

“No, of course not,” I said as I gave her a smile. “Like I said, I’m only here to help the Stable out.”

“There you have it,” the Overmare said as she levitated up a bottle of pills and popped a couple into her mouth. “I’ll be just fine, Firelight is a friend of the Stable she won’t do anything that would hurt it or me.”

“Yes, Overmare,” the guard who spoke said as she leads the other three out of the office, leaving the two of us alone.

“You’re putting a lot of trust in me,” I said as I looked at her confused for a moment. “I wasn’t expecting you to do that.”

“Yes, well I felt like we needed to continue this conversation in private,” the Overmare said. Her smile started to fade as she looked at me with a completely serious look before popping two more pills and starting to talk again. “You have more power than anypony in this Stable except for Moonlight, I’m sure you’re aware of what’s been happening with the project.”

“Yes, the power doesn’t seem to be transferring to Moonlight’s offspring, Blossom told me,” I said. “It’s part of the reason I wanted to make this proposal to begin with. If I can help with that, you can get more genetic diversity in this Stable.”

“As I said, it’s a very tempting offer,” the Overmare said, I noticed that her hoof was shaking a little. She was trying not to show it but there was something wrong with her. “I know that it would do a lot of good for Stable 27.”

“All you have to do is agree to open it up, we can get mares in here that are willing to help and they don’t have to stay,” I said with a smile. “This Stable needs help and we can both see that. Think about how much good this’ll do, everypony in the Stable will be happy. You could even possibly do away with some of the more…”

“You know, as tempting as that offer is, I’m afraid I will have to decline,” the Overmare said as she popped some more pills into her mouth. “There’s just too many risks to the Stable. We don’t know anything about the ponies you’d be bringing in, it’s too risky and likely will end in disaster.”

“You’re already heading to disaster!” I said as I narrowed my eyes at her. “This Stable cannot survive as it stands. If you don’t act, then there will consequences for this Stable in the long run. You need to take this offer, it’s what is best for the Stable and we both know it. And if you really want Celestia’s power, you know that I’m the only one you can get it from.”

“Oh, yes that I am very much aware of,” the Overmare said as her mouth turned into a wicked grin. “Tell me Firelight, have you ever heard of stealth magic?”

“That’s, magic that can be used without showing outward signs?” I asked as I looked confused. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it, usually it’s done with hoof movements or subtle wording.”

“I’ve been using it on you this whole time,” the Overmare said with a smirk as she popped another pill. “You’ve got so much magical potential, it’s such a shame you’re an Alicorn so we can’t use you more. Oh well, your genetic material will have to do, I’ve already taken the liberty of using your material to conceive foals with the four guard ponies that just left. I assure you, they will be well taken care of.”

“What are you… you took things from me so you could conceive foals?” I said as I stood up. I wished that I hadn’t had to relinquish my rifle, but I was more than capable of defending myself right now. “Why would you do that? I was going willingly, all you had to do was…”

“All I had to do was relinquish some of the power I hold in this Stable,” the Overmare said with a sneer. “This is my Stable, it is my decision what happens to the ponies here because I alone know what’s best for them. But don’t worry, your daughters will serve this Stable well, yes indeed. We will reach our goal and reclaim the Wasteland.”

“Are you insane? If you don’t start taking in ponies…” I said as a fire started to appear around me again.

“Uh-uh, your little illusion doesn’t scare me,” the Overmare said. “And if you try anything, I will have my guards kill your friends and Citrus.”

“You’re insane, you’d really do that?” I said as the flames vanished from my vision. “You would kill ponies just because I refused to go along with your mad plan?”

“I told you, I have all the power in this Stable!” The Overmare said as she popped another pill, the trembling in her hoof was becoming more pronounced. “You have no say in here Firelight, I can do whatever I wish. You will leave my Stable with your friends, well, almost all of your friends.”

“Almost all?”

“That Pegasus, Storm Wrangler right? She is still going to be of use to us,” the Overmare said with a cough. “We ran a test on her DNA she comes from good stock, minimal radiation exposure at that. She’ll make a fine addition to our program down here, and it’ll help us increase diversity.”

“You want to use my friend as, breeding stock?” I said as I narrowed my eyes at the Overmare. “You’re a monster, you know that right? She’s a good pony and doesn’t deserve to be used like that!”

“You think I care?” The Overmare snapped back as she popped another pill. “Do you think that actually matters in this world? Ponies need to serve their roles if you weren’t an Alicorn and you didn’t have that filthy Zebra I would force you all to stay. She will probably be let out eventually, in a few years once she’s bred with enough mares.”

“That’s still horrible!” I shouted at her, I was about to jump across the desk when I remembered what the Overmare said. She probably had some sort of signal that would trigger it, and I couldn’t put my friends at risk. “Why are you doing this?”

“The same reason why we do anything, survival,” the Overmare said. “As long as we have enough ponies and can use your power, then we are the future of Equestria. We’ve already proven that our method is viable, all we have to do is be ready. We will bring Order back to Equestria, the time will come, I promise you that. This is what is best for the Stable, and for Equestria and we’ve proven it as Stable-Tec wanted.”

I stood there and stared at her in astonishment. She was insane, but she believed that she was doing the right thing. How twisted was that? She was willing to ruin lives and take ponies away from their friends for what she believed was the right reasons.

Everything I had seen told me that what she was doing was wrong. She was hurting ponies just because of her own reasons. I couldn’t let her get away with this, especially not to one of my friends.

“I’m going to stop you somehow…” I said as I looked at her with a hard glare. “You’re not going to use my friend like that.”

“You don’t have any say in the matter, and we can keep you from getting to her,” the Overmare said with a smirk. “But maybe if you help us with more of Celestia’s…”

She suddenly stopped as if something was caught in her throat. She placed her hoof on her throat as if she was having a hard time breathing. She could barely get any words out as she tried to gasp out “Help… me…” as her mouth began to foam.

I stood there in stunned silence for a moment. I wasn’t a doctor, I could get a Doctor in here quickly, I was about to run to the door to call for help when I stopped myself. Why should I do that? She was a monster, she had been controlling the lives of these ponies without caring about the consequences. She had violated me when I had come as a friend. And now she was trying to steal one of my friends away to use for breeding.

I hated to say it, but I was starting to think that Blossom was right. She needed to die, she was insane and I had no idea what else she was capable of. She was going to hurt the ponies in this Stable and not care about what could happen. All she had to do was agree to the terms. I simply backed off and let it happen.

But something still nagged at my mind as she struggled to breathe, was I really fit to pass judgment on this mare? She was insane sure, but at the same time, if I did this would I be no better than the High Priestess?

Doing this would make me no better than either of them. No, I had to do what I could, I had to save her even if it was against my judgment. She was still a pony and I was not some all-powerful Goddess that could pass judgment on her actions.

I pushed open the door to the Overmare’s office and called down the hallway. “Somepony get a Doctor, the Overmare is in trouble!”

A minute later Neivi rushed in and examined the Overmare. She had a concerned look on her face as she tried to do everything she could and I stood back.

“What happened to her?” Neivi asked as she kept working. “This is a pharmacological reaction of some sort. Did she take anything while you were talking to her?”

“Just some pills she kept in that bottle,” I said as I pointed at a bottle on the desk where she had been getting them from. “That’s all I know.”

“These are antipsychotics,” Neivi said as she examined the bottle and looked back at me before getting back to work on the Overmare. “What happened?”

“She wanted to talk to me about the proposal, then she said she had taken my genetic material without asking,” I said. “And, she was going to force Storm to stay here for breeding.”

“WHAT?” Neivi said as she glared at the Overmare who was barely holding on. She lowered her hooves and shook her head. “There’s nothing I can do, this isn’t an overdose, the symptoms are all wrong.”

“You mean, she’s not going to make it?” I asked and Neivi shook her head. “I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner…”

And with that, the Overmare let out one final labored breath and went still. Neivi checked her pulse and shook her head as she looked up at the clock.

“It’s not your fault Firelight, you did everything you could,” she said with a sigh. “I need to inform Blossom and the head of Stable Security. Hopefully, we can figure out exactly what happened here.”

I sighed and looked at the now lifeless body of the Overmare. I hadn’t done anything to her, what was going on? Why had she died?

Did somepony out there know the answers to these questions? I honestly wasn’t sure, and I didn’t like the possibility that somepony really had killed her.

“Yah have gotta be kiddin’ me, tha Overmare wanted ta take me away ta use me fer breedin’?” Storm asked later as we were in the Stable Clinic with Moonlight and Citrus. Neivi was helping perform an autopsy on the Overmare “That’s insane.”

“Unfortunately it sounds like something my aunt would do,” Citrus said with a sigh as she looked at me. “I heard what happened, is it true that she’s dead?”

“Yeah, she’s… wait she was your aunt?” I asked and blinked in surprise.

“Yeah, White Lotus, she’s my mother’s sister,” Citrus said with a shrug. “Or, she was I mean. She and mom never really seen eye to eye. I didn’t think somepony would actually try to kill her though.”

“If what yah say is true, sounds like they deserve a freakin’ medal fer killin’ that bitch,” Storm said with a shake of her head.

“I know you’re upset and I don’t completely disagree with you,” Citrus said with a shake of her head. “But we’ve already been targeted by the Nightmare Society. They may try to take advantage of the situation.”

“She probably already knows, she’s got eyes and ears everywhere,” Moonlight said with a shake of her head. “I don’t like this, it feels like we’re going to be targeted at any time. And there’s not much we can really do about protecting the Stable from Alicorns right now.”

“I know…” I said softly as the door opened and Neivi came back in with a frown on her face. “Well, what happened? Do we know?”

“Well, this is all just preliminary based on the symptoms and state of the body,” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses a little. “Based on the status of the lungs and given all the information, I believe that her medicine was replaced with the poison from a local plant. There’s, only so much I can do until the final tests come back.”

“So, she was most definitely poisoned then?” Citrus asked and Neivi nodded. “That’s troubling.”

“Yes, my question is who would’ve had access to her pills,” Neivi said with a small shake of her head. “Because of the Overmare’s paranoia, the only ones that would’ve had access are the Stable’s medical personnel.”

“Well at least that narrows it down a little,” I said. “Unless she’s been meeting with the medical personnel from all three parts of the Stable.”

We let that hang over the room for a few minutes. None of us wanted to think about it, and really we had to figure out if even we should find who it was. What would we even do with them? Would we punish them? Praise them?

There wasn’t a simple answer to that. They had taken a life regardless of whether or not that life had done terrible things. I honestly had no idea what to decide, and I could tell by the looks on my friends’ faces that they didn’t either.

“What are we gonna ta do about this?” Storm finally asked the question that we were all thinking. “Somethin’ tells me tha suspect list is pretty big when we consider motive, Ah don’t like havin’ ta do this.”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Neivi admitted. “We’re going to have to…”

Before she could finish that sentence an alarm went off as red lights started to flash around us. I looked at the others and narrowed my eyes a little, that was too convenient to be a coincidence.

“Come on, let’s go to the Stable Door,” I said as Moonlight started to get up, I held my hoof up to stop the younger Alicorn. “Moonlight, you should stay here, you’re still…”

“No, I’m coming with you,” Moonlight said as she got to her hooves. “If this is the Society coming to attack us then maybe I can convince some of them to help us. I’m not going to sit back while they put Stable 27 in danger.”

“Alright,” I said in resignation as she got up and we headed towards the Stable door together. Once there, several guard ponies including Charcoal was waiting at the still closed gear shaped door as if ready for a fight.

“What’s out there?” I asked as I looked over at Charcoal who paused a moment. “Look, we want to help. You’re probably going to need all the help you can get depending on what’s out there.”

“Alicorns, Alicorns carrying Nightmare Society colors,” Charcoal finally said with a sigh. Even though I had a feeling that’s what it was, a chill ran down my spine when she actually said it.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Country Roads Bring me Home.

Details: You’ve helped your friend reconnect with their home after a painful absence. Your companions get an extra boost to damage and resistance while fighting along side you.