“Hey out there in the wild jungles of Equestria, this is Vox Populi coming at you with the latest news from around Equestria. Reports are coming in from the Crystal Wasteland of Changeling infiltrators being fought off by a local group allied with one of the cities up there. I wish the best of luck to everypony up there still fighting the good fight.

In local news however, the town of Nightingale is still being held down tight by the Mayor. There have been reports coming in of some minor resistance efforts, but nothing major. If anypony out in Nightingale is listening to this, don’t give up hope. It’s always the darkest before the dawn, and I promise all of you, that dawn will come.

Now here’s a wartime classic from Sky Bolt, Everybody knows.”

A haunting tune started to play over the radio as we neared the main gathering area in the underground. A stallion’s voice started singing after a moment in a calm, somber voice.

“Everybody knows that a war is coming.

Everybody knows it deep in their hearts.

Everybody knows that the talks are over,

Everybody knows this is just the start.

Everybody knows it’s all over this,

Some gems and some coal traded by the rich.

That’s how it goes,

Everybody knows.”

The gathering area was the central part of the cavern that we had first arrived in when we first came to the underground. A lot of ponies and Zebras were gathered there, some of them I recognized from up top, others I had seen around the underground.

Soia was standing in the center of the group on an elevated platform. The Zebra diplomat was looking uneasy, but she looked like she was getting ready to speak. She sighed a little as she looked out and spotted the five of us and gave me a nod before she started to speak.

“I know we’ve all had a hard time over the past day,” Soia said with a sigh as she looked out at the gathered group. “Nightingale is in bad shape because of the Mayor, good ponies are being put at risk because of his actions. We may have to finally step in and help mediate the situation if the Mayor is removed from his position. This means our group will no longer be hidden away, but we all knew that the secrecy wasn’t going to last forever...”

“I don’t mean to interrupt Miss Soia, but Me and Firelight here have a ‘appointment’ we have to make. I believe it was briefed in at least my report.” Moonlight said with an awkward smile. “Don’t want to give the Mayor time to think about it or change his mind, now do we?”

“No, no we do not,” Soia said with a sigh. “Your plan was, unconventional but it does seem to have produced results. Doctor Neivi confirmed the success of your plan, though I admit that I’m still not sure what to believe,”

Soia got down and walked over at us. The Zebra looked between me and Moonlight and then over at Neivi who nodded a little.

“If this doesn’t go according to plan though, we will have to be ready,” she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. “The Roamani have a saying, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

“Don’t remind me, I can feel the dreamscape isn’t pleased with me using it like that.” Moonlight said with a shiver and a shake of her head. “Powerful magic seems to have a mind of its own, I’m only lucky it didn’t intervene.”

“Soia, we’ll be okay,” I said with a nod as I looked back at Neivi for a moment. “The Mayor believes us at least, and we can use that to our advantage. I would prefer to do this without any violence.”

“So would I Firelight, but we both know it’s not always that easy,” Soia said with a shake of her head. “We’ve got help coming in from Canterbury but they won’t be here for a few hours. If this goes south, I need my forces in place to make sure that we can minimize civilian casualties.”

“Understood,” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t go badly.”

“Good,” Soia said and nodded back to Neivi. “Let’s try not to make a habit of this unless it’s necessary, I don’t like poking around in ponies’ dreams. There’s something incredibly unsettling about it.”

“Alright, we’ll leave as soon as we can,” I said and looked back at Moonlight. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I am as prepared as I ever will be.” Moonlight said with a deep breath and a sigh. “Let’s get this over with, He should be putty in our hooves after the scare we gave him.”

“Of course, Neivi, lets get going,” I said and the Zebra doctor nodded as we headed back out of the cavern and into the tunnel that would take us back to Nightingale.

It was time to finish this once and for all.

00000

As we made our way out of the tunnel and into Nightingale proper, the town was completely quiet. There were a few ponies here and there but they didn’t notice us, they look more confused or worried than anything else, given everything that had happened over the past day I didn’t really blame them.

I sighed as we started up the stairs towards the town hall. That was where Mayor Steel would be waiting, I hated having to deal with this stallion, especially after what he had done to his aide but this was the safest way to do things without putting the town at risk.

That didn’t mean I had to like it.

“Alright, I’m going to the clinic to do damage control and see who needs helping,” Neivi said as she started towards another set of stairs. “Stay safe you two, I don’t want anything to happen to… to you both, yeah.”

“We’ll see you soon Neivi,” I said with a smile as the Zebra nodded and started up the stairs. I blushed a little when I caught myself staring at the Zebra’s flank for a moment and shook my head, I didn’t need to think about that right now. “So, uh, shall we?”

“Sure, lets.” Moonlight said with a chuckle, “Ever get the feeling she doesn’t like me? I mean, sure, I’m kind of, I don’t know, unique, but I can’t help but notice that I seem to make zebra uneasy just being around them.”

I paused for a long moment as I tried to figure out how to answer that question. Both Neivi and Soia did seem a lot more uneasy around Moonlight than they were around me, I wasn’t sure why, at least not right away and then something occurred to me.

“The only thing I can think of is that they you remind them of Nightmare Moon,” I said with a sigh. “There’s a lot in the texts about Zebras well, not trusting Nightmare Moon or any of her followers. I think the fact that you share the same ability as Luna makes them uneasy, especially when mixed with being an Alicorn.”

“Eh, maybe” Moonlight said with a sigh. “I mean, there was a whole week long event when I was born, the whole stable celebrated the birth of ‘a daughter of the moon’ or something like that.”

“Interesting, I wonder what that means,” I said with a shake of my head. “I mean, it could have something to do with Luna or even Nightmare Moon, if you were born into the Society that would be my guess. But I honestly don’t know a lot about your home Stable and its customs and everything, so, it could mean anything.”

“It’s because they said I visited them in their sleep before I was born, I showed my dreamscape powers and they identified that as a trait of the late princess luna, so I guess they said because I mirrored that trait I must be a branch of her power, a daughter of the moon.” Moonlight said and chuckled some. “It’s why they named me Moonlight, because Luna was just too obvious and could lead to confusion.”

“Right, which won’t make things confusing between our two names at all,” I said with a chuckle and shook my head a little. “But really it’s a nice name.”

My ear twitched for a moment as I thought I heard a rustling somewhere above. I looked up into the trees above as if expecting to see something up there. For a moment I could’ve sworn I saw a dark shape but it vanished before I could make it out.

“What the…” I said and blinked a little.

“What the hay.” Moonlight said, looking up in the trees. “What in Celestia’s mane was that.”

“I have no idea…” I said and shook my head. “We should get going though, we’ll worry about that later. It looked too small to be an Alicorn.”

“Alright, so, should we keep up the ruse that we did in the dream or should we be more… ourselves.” Moonlight asked, looking at me as we neared the door.

“Let’s keep the ruse a little longer,” I said with a shake of my head. “At least until the time is right, if he thinks we’re from the Society still we’ll have the advantage and he won’t suspect anything.”

“True, though when no alicorns show up to claim his chief of guard, that could really end up as the cat out of the bag situation.” Moonlight said, looking at that door more intently. “He and all his guard, including her, should be collected behind that door, all waiting for us.”

“Right, all we need to do is hope they buy it,” I said with a nod. “Are you ready for this?”

“There is one of two outcomes behind that door, either he took the cowards way out and lied to them and made them believe some twisted truth to justify what has happened, or he has told them the truth and instead of his head of guard, we will find him bound and gagged, waiting for his judgement at our hooves.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “I suppose, I am as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Right, let’s go then, we’ll figure out what to do when we’re in here,” I said and walked forward and pushed the door open.

00000

“Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay, things in Nightingale will soon return to normal,” Mayor Steel said as he spoke to the guards as we opened the door and entered the room. “I assure you all that once everything is finished here we will not have to worry about further incidents in the town.”

“Well, he’s not tied up, that’s not a good sign,” I whispered to Moonlight, the Mayor hadn’t looked up to notice us yet. “I guess he decided to save his own flank again.”

“Excuse us Mayor Steel.” Moonlight said, assuming that now familiar assertive tone. “But, it sounds as though you did not tell your guard the truth, is that safe to assume or am I missing something.”

“Well, uh…” Mayor Steel said and the guards, and in particular Commander Twist looked at him suspiciously. “You see, I was, waiting for… you, yes, I felt it would be better if you two were here, so that things would go more smoothly.”

“Well, we’re here now,” I said and narrowed my eyes at him a little. “Why don’t you tell them the truth now hmm? Or are you too chicken, we can always tell them ourselves you know.”

“Oh yes, do tell them about their glorious future, and how they are all to one by one become new sentinels and guards for the one true goddess of equestria, and live out the remainder of their days serving under the banner of the society, all to protect your flank. This settlement is hardly even worth it, There is next to no value in the ponies living here.” Moonlight said, looking to me with a smirk. “Honestly, our investment may be spent better elsewhere, and we can just go back to taking things by force.”

“What are they talking about? What did you do?” Twist said as she narrowed her eyes at Steel.

“I didn’t have a choice, they were threatening the town if I didn’t agree to turn you over!” Steel said in a panicked voice. “They didn’t give me a choice, you have you under…”

He was cut off by a hoof slamming into his muzzle from Twist. “You son of a bitch, you sold me out. You promised me we wouldn’t be touched by the Society in exchange for letting them take away some ponies and…”

And then she realized she had just said that in front of a room filled with guards, and they were all not happy to hear this. One guard levitated up a rifle and pointed it at the two of them. “You’re both under arrest for conspiracy and treason.”

“Well, that worked better than I expected…” I said with a shake of my head as I looked over at Moonlight and then at the guards who had now turned their attention to us. “Uh, any ideas for what to do now Moonlight?”

“The Truth of course.” Moonlight said, before she stepped infront of me. “Now, I know based on our act you have reason to be angry at us or believe us to be the enemy, I assure you that is not the case. We uncovered the Mayor’s plot and decided to use our unique abilities to bring his treason to light and to let all the good ponies of Nightingale know just who was their leader.”

“And how do we know this isn’t a lie too?” The guard that had spoken before said as he finished locking up the Mayor and Guard Commander. “You two showed up in town out of nowhere, exposed these two as traitors, and now you’re expecting us to just believe your word?”

“What position could we aim to gain from exposing them? We saved your sorry flanks from being forcefully turned into an Alicorn, having your mind erased, and forced to serve under some false god based on old world mentality. If this is the thanks we get for saving this settlement from being whisked away in the darkness, then Screw you guys too and when the Society does come and attack, I know I’m not going to help you guys fend them off.” Moonlight said with a scoff. “The nerve of some ponies, I guess what they say is true - The road to tartarus is paved with good intentions.”

The guards exchanged a look and pointed at us. “Don’t go anywhere, we will discuss this,” the one said and they started to talk amongst themselves.

“I think we were a little too convincing,” I said with a groan as I facehooved a little. “Where’s Neivi when you need her to back us up?”

“Maybe her ‘my bae needs me’ senses are tingling and she’ll come bursting through the door any second.” Moonlight said with a teasing grin.

“First off, what the heck is a bae? Secondly, we’re just friends if that means what I think it means,” I said with a shake of my head. “I mean what are the odds of her coming bursting through that door to our…”

And with that the door burst open and Neivi came in with Storm Wrangler and Lemon Lime close behind.

“Unless that’s exactly what she does…” I said and blinked in surprise. “What are you three doing here?”

“I thought you could use a hoof,” Neivi said with a shrug. “I finished up checking on things and got them topside.”

“Told you, ‘My Bae needs me’ senses.” Moonlight says in a very matter of factly tone.

“Yer a very strange Alicorn yah know that right?” Storm Wrangler asked with a chuckle as she shook her head a little. “So what’s goin’ on here?”

“Short version, the plan worked and exposed Steel and Twist as traitors,” I said and rubbed the back of my head a little. “The problem is that they don’t know what to do with us since all we have is our word that it was only a deception. Well, unless the former Mayor talks, but I don’t think he will.”

“Oh great,” Neivi said with a shake of her head as she walked forward and let out a loud whistle that caught their attention. “Look, I can explain this, you all know me and trust me right? The council has suspected the Mayor for awhile now along with some, associates of ours. When these two came to town, we believed that we had an opportunity to get to the bottom of these disappearances so we asked for their assistance in uncovering the truth. They are friends of Nightingale, and mean us no harm, that I can assure you all.”

“And to be honest, I don’t even know much of anything bout the society outside that they tried to abduct me, dumped a vial of gunk on me turning me into this, and without Firelight’s intervention, who knows what the Society was going to do with me.” Moonlight said with a soft sigh. “I’m just a stable dweller, this world, everything about it, is all new to me, I just, played along and did what I thought was right, hoping to help some ponies along the way.”

“I won’t lie, I was part of the Society, but I’ve turned my back on them,” I said with a shake of my head. “Spending time in this town, meeting Neivi and the others and actually knowing what it’s like out here has opened my eyes. I want to help this town, and anypony else who’s put in danger because of the Society, I promise you that.”

“Alright, we’re convinced,” the head guard said after a moment and sighed a little. “I’m sorry we didn’t trust you before but you understand what the situation looks like.”

“I do,” I said with a sigh and looked back at my friends. “But I also know that I’ve got some good friends here who trust me. That’s really all I need to know.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel the same from you and the others.” Moonlight said with a relaxed smile, her eyes drifting towards Storm Wrangler. “Maybe some more then others..”

Storm Wrangler blushed a little and pulled her hat down over her face. “Well, we’re here fer yah whenever yah need it,” she said with a smile. “So, what do we do now?”

“The only thing we can do,” I said and looked back at the guards and at Mayor Steel. “We’ll have to deal with these two traitors.”

“And figure out who’s going to replace them,” Neivi said with a nod. “Welcome to the fun world of politics in the real world.”

“Can I make a motion to waive one of the ‘traitors’?” Moonlight said, lifting her hoof. “I feel like Twist just got caught up in a bad situation and isn’t really happy or fond of what all has happened. I think if given a moment to speak her piece, she will show that she’s not a terrible pony, just a pony trying to make the best of a bad situation.”

“Yes, I was just trying to protect the town from the Society!” Twist said quickly. “As Guard Commander I was able to better protect the town. I never liked the Mayor, I was trying to keep him from going too far, I swear!”

“You backstabbing son of a…” Steel said and was quickly shut up by a butt of a rifle to the face.

“I’ve been dying to do that for awhile,” the guard from before said. “Fine, if she’s genuine she will not be charged, but I think this calls for a demotion at least.”

I sighed a little, it felt like things were finally calming down around here. I just hoped it was going to last.

00000

“Wait, this place is ours?” I asked as I blinked a little and looked around at the small two bedroom house that Neivi and Storm Wrangler had lead us to. A couple of days had passed since the Mayor had been arrested and things were starting to settle down.

Soia and her movement had left the underground to provide what help they could to Nightingale. They were currently in the middle of talking with the rest of the council about exactly what that was going to mean for the future of the settlement.

“Yeah, we can’t really have you two bunking in the clinic anymore and this place has been vacant for awhile,” Neivi said as she turned and looked at me and Moonlight with a soft smile. “You two don’t mind sharing do you?”

“It’ll be fine, bigger than my room in the stable.” Moonlight said, looking around. “Though if I hear noises from Firelight’s room, I might insist some sound dampening.”

“Really, from my room?” I asked and looked at Moonlight with a smirk. “I’m more worried about sounds coming from your room, I’ve seen the way you look at a certain pony.”

“Oh funny girl are you.” Moonlight said with a smirk. “I’ve seen the books Neivi reads, I don’t need to hear things to know what you two get up to.”

“WE’RE NOT A COUPLE!” Me and Neivi shouted at the same time, which just made Storm Wrangler laugh as she came in from the other room.

“Just keep tellin’ yerselves that,” Storm said with a laugh. “This place is pretty much ready ta move into. With everythin’ calmin’ down, Ah’d say that ya’ll shouldn’t get much trouble. Hopefully we can move tha fillies out of tha underground soon.”

“Wait, why are they still down there? Couldn’t they go back to the orphanage?” I asked and Neivi and Storm exchanged a look.

“We’ve kept it under wraps for the most part, but there are some concerns that somepony at the orphanage was working with the Mayor,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “It’s just a precaution of course, once the investigation is over we’ll move them topside permanently again.”

I let out a sigh of relief, though I was still a little worried. After everything that was going on, I didn’t want those three fillies to go through anything else.

“Could move them in here, I’m pretty good with foals.” Moonlight suggested. “And, I think they really have a shining for Firelight, so they don’t need to go back to the orphanage anyway.”

“Well, its up to you Firelight,” Neivi said as she looked at me. “They do like you, especially after they found out you’re from Pearl. You’ve already shown you’re good with them and it would be better than them going back to the orphanage.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” I said with a soft smile as I looked around after a second. “Uh, but where would they sleep? We only have a couple of bedrooms and the living room.”

“They can take my room, I’ll stay on the couch… when we get one. Eh, I’m used to sleeping on the floor anyway.” Moonlight said and smiled at me. “I don’t really need a room anyway.”

“Alright, Ah’ll tell Soia then,” Storm Wrangler said as she started to head out of the house before turning her head and giving her hat a tip. “Ya’ll have a good day, Ah hope yah like yer new home.”

“Thanks,” I said with a nod as Storm headed out.

“So, Moonlight,” Neivi said and looked at the younger Alicorn. “What’s with you and Storm? I mean, you have a mare back in Stable 27, don’t you want to go back to her?”

“Well, life in the stable is different then up here, down there - well, monogamy isn’t the norm, you have to think about the other ponies in the stable and that the stable needs to keep its population strong and diverse.” Moonlight said, sitting and rubbing at the back of her head. “I mean, Citrus already had two other suitors down there, I was just her first pick, she’s probably already moved on with one of them, so I don’t feel guilty about thinking about moving on too.”

“Oh…” Neivi said and shrugged a little. “That’s a bit odd, but I guess we have to expect things are going to be different in Stables.”

“Well, at least you’re not mad she’s stealing her away from you,” I said and Neivi’s eyes went wide and I just chuckled.

“Look, yes I’m into ponies instead of Zebras,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “And I’ll admit Storm is, cute in that wild way. But it’ll never work between us and we both know it, we’ve known each other since we were fillies. Storm’s a good pony, but, I don’t know if she’s the kind of pony for me…”

“Is your kind of pony tall, with wings and a horn, and maybe their name starts with an F?” Moonlight said with a smirk “I’ll outright say it, outside of her presence of course… but, yeah, I am interested in Storm, if I can be that honest you two can be that honest with yourselves and each other too, right?”

Me and Neivi looked at each other and I felt my face turning red. I honestly had no idea what to say, I was still trying to figure out if I really did feel that way about the Zebra, and Neivi wasn’t exactly jumping to answer either.

Maybe I did feel like that about her though, she was nice, cute, smart, pretty much anything anypony would want in a mare. I shook my head, I wasn’t sure what to say honestly, I sighed and was about to say something when there was a loud bell ringing coming from outside and Neivi’s ears perked up.

“That’s the alarm bell,” she said and quickly pushed past Moonlight and out the door.

“Uh, maybe we should follow her,” I said and started for the door too.

As we headed out the first thing that jumped to mind was that it was the Nightmare Society coming to attack us after what had happened with the Mayor. Strangely though as we left the house, there was no sound of gunfire or anything I would’ve expected from a battle.

And that’s when we saw what the source of the alarm was, there was a large, thing hovering above the trees. It was sleek and metallic with clouds coming out of the sides as it maintained its position above the town.

“What in the name of the Goddess is that?” I said as I looked over at Neivi.

“It’s a Raptor class cloudship, from the Enclave Remnant,” Neivi called back as she waved to the pony ringing the bell who finally stopped. “I should’ve known they’d show up here.”

“You don’t sound too pleased with them being here, they don’t seem to be shooting anypony or blowing things up - so I guess there’s bad blood regarding them?” Moonlight said, staring at that cloudship.

“You could say that,” Neivi said as she shook her head a little. “They’ve been here once or twice in the past ten years. They’re usually civil, but, well it tends to vary depending on who they send, and usually they try to get us to join up with them. Still, it beats what they did before the current administration.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard some stories,” I said with a frown as I watched as Pegasi dressed in black insect-like armor started to leave the Raptor along with several large crates. “The Society views them as, and this is the High Priestess’ words mind you, godless monsters.”

“Come on, I need to be there to greet whoever’s in charge,” Neivi said as she started up the stairs towards the town hall as we followed close behind.

“With the Mayor incarcerated, who’s going to represent the town? I mean… There isn’t a new elected official yet.” Moonlight whispered to me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered back. “I think the council, or what’s left of it really, is doing their best to make up for it until one is elected.”

“Well, why don’t one of us stand up, I mean, I think of all the ponies in the town right now we both are the most qualified ponies here.” Moonlight whispered. “And it might be a morale booster to have an Alicorn in power.”

“That’s a bad idea, ponies are only just now getting used to us being around,” I said with a shake of my head. “We’re not in much of a position to do anything, at least right now, ponies might be afraid that it’s a sign of the Society trying to take over.”

“Maybe you’re right, I have a feeling whoever is up in there is going to want to talk to us though.” Moonlight said, giving a soft sigh. “I hope they’re friendly, or this might go south quick, I don’t think Nightingale is in a position to defend if they decide they want to take over.”

“Yeah…” I said and shook my head a little as we reached the top of the stairs to the town hall where several Pegasi were unloading supplies from the boxes. “Neivi, what should we do?”

“Pray,” Neivi said with a sigh as she approached an officer who was directing the rest of the Pegasi to work. “I’m councilmare Neivi from the Nightingale leadership council. Are you in charge here?”

“For the moment, yes, I’ve got orders from the top to get this stuff unloaded,” the officer said as he turned to look at Neivi and frowned a little.

“We didn’t ask for Enclave help,” Neivi said as she narrowed her eyes a little at the officer. “Do you mind telling me why you’re here?”

“Call it a gesture of good faith, between like minded groups,” a smooth accented mare’s voice said. I turned to see a Pegasus mare stepping into view, she had a light blue coat with a darker blue-green mane and tail and was dressed in a suit and tie with a snowflake cutie mark. She was escorted by several ponies dressed in the same armor. “It’s good to see you again Neivi.”

“President Winter Breeze,” Neivi said as she looked a bit surprised. “I didn’t expect to see you come here personally. Why are you even here?”

“As I said, a gesture of good faith,” Winter said as she looked up at me and Moonlight curiously for a moment. “You know very well that I have ponies everywhere, Doctor. After what happened to Mayor Steel, I felt it was time to offer Enclave aid once more.”

“So, you have spies everywhere? What about down in my stable?” Moonlight said with a laugh. “Or do you not really have spies literally everywhere.”

“You’re a very strange Alicorn, you know that right?” Winter asked as she looked at Moonlight strangely for a moment. “But I’m not going to reveal state secrets. We’re simply here to provide aid to Nightingale.”

Neivi frowned a little and I was a bit confused to be honest. Winter didn’t seem that bad, certainly not like anything I had expected from an Enclave leader, why was I getting weird vibes from Neivi?

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have a shower up on your fancy little sky yacht there, would you?” Moonlight said, staring at winter. “I desperately need to clean up”

Winter blinked at Moonlight before she finally chuckled a little bit. “You really are new to the Wasteland aren’t you? Trust me, you’ll get used to the lack of showers, everypony does eventually.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “All your fancy technology, and not even you have showers? Must stable dwellers do everything!”

“Oh, I didn’t say we didn’t have showers,” Winter said with a shake of her head. “But it wouldn’t be a good idea right now. Ponies in this town are a resourceful lot though, I’m sure you’ll figure out what to do.”

“Our answer hasn’t changed,” Neivi said as she finally spoke up again.

“Pride gets you nowhere, Neivi.” Moonlight said. “Think about it, if you agree to accept their aid, their troops can bolster the town guard and protect Nightingale from assaults, a longer standing presence can improve relations and allow for larger improvements to be made. Really there is no reason to say no - they clearly have the best in mind for Nightingale.”

“Doctor Neivi, if you and the Council agrees to this there is a lot of good that can come out of it,” Winter added. “We have provided Nightingale with aid before, but we can provide more medicine and medical training plus food as needed for the town if you join us. We can also provide military training and soldiers to help defend against the Society and any other groups that might be interested in attacking the town, and we both know that you’re going to need that help.”

Neivi paused a moment, I could tell that she was considering it. She had a pained look in her face as if she wasn’t sure what to do even if it was the right call on some level. I gently placed my hoof on her shoulder and gave her a smile.

“And that’s just the start,” Winter continued. “We could provide power, plumbing, running water, we can turn Nightingale from a small town in the trees into a proper town.”

“So, you mean, basic hygiene, like… you know, showers and baths and stuff?” Moonlight said, ears perking and a sparkle in her eye. Turning to Neivi and grabbing her shoulders, giving her a shake “The showers Neivi! Think about the showers!”

“I think you’re a little obsessed with showers,” I said and chuckled a little at the other Alicorn’s behavior as I looked at Neivi for a moment. “Well Neivi, what do you say? I think it sounds like a pretty good deal.”

“I will take it to the Council, but I have a condition,” Neivi said as she slipped from Moonlight’s grip and looked at Winter. “The council is to remain in power as well as members being elected from the citizens of the town. It’s how we’ve always done things, and we don’t want to trade one tyrant for another.”

“If you agree to allow an extra seat on the council for one of my representatives, I accept your terms,” Winter said with a nod. “Nightingale is the jewel of this jungle my old friend, I would rather not see it tarnished. I’m sure the council will agree to these terms.”

She offered Neivi a hoof which the Zebra Doctor shook after a moment. “Of course, I’ll let you know what we decide.”

“Just send word to me aboard the Paxis,” Winter said as she and her guards flew off and back towards the Raptor above.

“Spirits, what are we getting ourselves into,” Neivi said as she watched the Enclave leader and her escort leaving.

“Relax, This is a good thing for Nightingale, I can feel it. Now come on, smile and relax, or I’ll have to crack a few bad jokes again.” Moonlight said, laying a hoof on Neivi’s back. “It’ll all turn out alright in the end, I don’t know why you have this distrust, but sometimes, it’s better to just bury the hatchet, rather than trying to bury it in their backs.”

“What exactly is the problem with making a deal with Winter anyway?” I asked as I looked at Neivi confused. “She seems to want to help.”

“Yeah, she wants to help, but there’s no guarantee that everypony under her leadership will,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “She’s also more, militant than other groups that share similar ideals including us. I don’t know, just, something about the way she does things makes me uneasy.”

“Afraid of the firm hoof?” Moonlight said with a chuckle. “Couldn’t of guessed based on some of your reading material. Oh, and by the way, you might want to hide your stash a little better.”

“I’m not…” Neivi said and blushed deeply and shook her head. “I have to go convene with the council if we’re going to make a decision here. I’ll see you two later.”

“Okay,” I said and waved as Neivi headed off before I looked back at Moonlight. “You do know that not everywhere in Equestria is going to have a shower right?”

“Well, not until I get there anyway.” Moonlight said with a coy grin. “Life in a stable have you doing loads of things that may not be a part of your ‘special talent’, I’m certified pipbuck repair pony and general maintenance pony, I can repair and even build things like showers and pumps with nothing but scrap parts. Gotta do your part in the stable, y’know.”

I chuckled a little and nodded. “Lets go find your marefriend and Lemon,” I said and started down another set of stairs towards the ground where Storm had gone off to.

“Not my marefriend… yet.” Moonlight said with a smirk, following along behind me.

“Hey, if you can tease me and Neivi, we get to tease you too,” I said with a laugh.

“Oh hey, we were about ta head topside ta meet up with ya’ll,” Storm said as we headed into the underground where the Pegasus mare was with the three fillies. “Ah just got done tellin’ them tha good news.”

“Are we really living with you two?” Dawn Star asked as she looked up at us with wide eyes. “Storm Wrangler wasn’t kidding right?”

“Of course not, why would she make a joke like that?” I asked with a chuckle as I looked over at Storm who shrugged a little. “Unless you’d rather go back to the orphanage…”

“No, no, that’s fine!” Blueberry said and Wind Chime shook her head a little. “We, don’t really want to go back, at least not right now.”

“Do you, really want us to live with you?” Dawn Star asked.

“Of course,” I said with a smile as I looked down at the fillies. “You three are great, I admit I’m not really used to taking care of foals so I can’t promise I’ll be the best at it, but I want to try at least.”

I looked over at Wind Chime who was looking up at Moonlight curiously and smiled a little. The filly was still not talking to anypony other than her friends and me, but she seemed curious about the younger Alicorn.

“Oh, hello.” Moonlight said, smiling down to Wind Chime, sitting and offering a hoof. “I don’t know if you know who I am, but my name is Moonlight.” She said softly, smiling at that small filly.

Wind Chime recoiled a little and shook her head as she backed up closer to Dawn Star.

“Sorry Miss. Moonlight,” Dawn Star said. “This is Wind Chime, she’s not really opened up to most ponies since what happened to Pearl…”

“I understand, I wasn’t there but I have seen it through… other eyes.” Moonlight said, sadness welling up in her eyes. “You three are amazingly strong, no pony will ever know just what it feels like to be you.”

Dawn Star smiled softly as she hugged her two friends tightly. I smiled a little and gave Moonlight a nod as I looked at the three fillies for a moment. I was only starting to remember what had happened that day, but even then I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they had been through, what they were still going through.

Moonlight was right, they were amazingly strong ponies for their age.

“Thank you,” Blueberry said as she looked at Moonlight with a smile. “Its not easy, we’ve always only had each other, well until Firelight came along.”

“Firelight is a very strong pony too, she’s had to go through some of the most traumatic and painful things.” Moonlight said, looking at me with a smile, before she turned back to the fillies. “You four, you’re in this together and as long as you have eachother, all of you, I know things are going to turn out alright in the end.”

The three fillies looked up at me for a moment and them smiled as the hugged me. I knelt down and hugged them back, gently wrapping my wings around them protectively as I did, I knew that these three were all that was left of my old town, and I wasn’t about to let anything happen to them.

“Thank you,” Dawn Star said softly.

“For what?”

“For being here,” she said and released the hug after a moment. “So, uh what are we going to do now?”

“Well, you three should get your stuff together and we’ll take you up to your new home,” I said with a nod. “Things are getting weird though, the Enclave decided to show up and…”

“Wait, what?” Storm Wrangler asked with her eyes wide. “Did yah say tha Enclave came ta town again?”

“Yeah, what’s got you so surprised, A place like this with the tight knit community, it’s the talk of the town everywhere. You’d have to be underground to miss it.” Moonlight said with a snicker.

“Very funny,” Storm said with a roll of her eyes. “Look, Ah just didn’t expect them ta show up right now is all. Ah shouldn’t be surprised Ah guess, Ah’ve heard they’re startin’ ta make contact with non-aligned settlements around Equestria.”

“Winter Breeze sounded like she had heard about the change of… what?” I said as I looked over at Storm who had a weird look on her face.

“Nothin’, don’t worry about it,” Storm said and waved it off dismissively. “Alright, let’s just get back topside, Ah’m sure Neivi and tha others will take care of it.”

“Well, in that case, come on,” I said and gestured for us to head out of the caverns to head back topside.

“This feels weird,” Storm Wrangler said as we went past a few Enclave soldiers. Most of them ignored us, but I saw a few of them looking at my Pegasus friend with a frown for a moment. “Ah feel like Ah’ve got somethin’ stuck in mah teeth or somethin’.”

“Why are they staring at you?” I asked as I looked over at Storm Wrangler. “I mean, you’re a Pegasus, they’re Pegasi, what’s the problem?”

“Its because Ah left tha Enclave,” Storm said and brushed her mane back a little. “Ah mean, a lot of ponies did but they don’t exactly like it. They see us as Dashites, traitors, tha only reason Ah’m not gettin’ any trouble fer it is because tha President is here."

“Why does that change anything?” I asked.

“Look, yah didn’t hear this from me, but Ah’ve heard Winter Breeze is tryin’ ta reintigrate Dashites into Enclave society,” Storm said quietly. “There’s a mare up in Hoofington Ah met once or twice that went Dashite and has been seen workin’ fer her here and there.”

“I see,” I said as we started up the stairs that lead towards the house.

“What’s the Enclave?” Dawn Star asked as we passed a dark grey Pegasus mare with a purple mane who gave us a strange look. “Are they another settlement?”

“Not quite, more like a government that’s got a lot of pull above tha clouds,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “Or at least it did, its been tryin’ ta get back on its hooves ever since tha Day of Sunshine and Rainbows ta mixed results. It’s, kind of a long story ta be honest, Ah’ll tell ya’ll later.”

“Geez, how many groups are there out there in Equestria?” Blueberry asked and I just chuckled a little at that.

“That’s a complicated question kiddo,” Storm said with a chuckle as she ruffled the filly’s mane a little. “There are quite a few, the Enclave, the NCR, Applejack’s Rangers, Nomad City… Ah’ve lost track honestly.”

I sighed a little and looked back up towards the Paxis. The Raptor was hovering above the town of Nightingale. I had to wonder if the council was actually going to decide to agree to Winter’s offer, it sounded good and she didn’t ask for much in return.

So what was the problem Neivi had with her? Something about all of this felt weird, I just wished I could figure it out. While sure I had heard horror stories about the Enclave, they had come to provide assistance to Nightingale.

So, what was the council going to decide?

“Excuse me,” a mare’s voice said from behind us and we turned to see a dark grey Pegasus mare with a dark purple mane dressed in Enclave armor looking at us.

“Dusk, it’s been awhile,” Storm Wrangler said as she frowned a little at the other Pegasus mare. She didn’t look happy to see Dusk, I made a note to ask her more about that later.

“Storm Wrangler,” Dusk mentioned with a nod before she turned her attention back to me and Moonlight. “President Winter Breeze would like to speak to the two of you, I’m to escort you to the Paxis.”

“She wants to speak with us?” I asked and blinked a little. “Why?”

“Uh oh.” Moonlight said with a chuckle. “Should we start running now?”

“Sure, but we’ll then shoot you and drag you to the ship anyway,” Dusk said in a tone that suggested she wasn’t kidding. “I would recommend coming now, she’s not a pony you should keep waiting.”

“I think we should come with her,” I said and looked back at Storm Wrangler. “Can you get the fillies to the house?”

“No problem,” Storm said though she wasn’t taking her eyes off Dusk. “Come on, lets go.”

She left with the three fillies before I turned my attention back to Dusk. “Alright, we’ll come peacefully, right Moonlight?”

“I was only joking, Geez.” Moonlight said with a chuckle. “As far as I know, we haven’t done anything wrong, so what point is there to running.

Dusk just rolled her eyes and we headed towards the platform where the Enclave transport was waiting.

“Firelight and Moonlight as requested Madam President,” Dusk said as we were lead into the President’s office on the Paxis.

“Thank you Dusk,” Winter said as she looked up from her paperwork. “I’m sure the two of you are wondering why I asked to speak to you.”

“It crossed my mind,” I said.

“Oh, and here I thought you wanted to see us for our stunningly good looks.” Moonight said with a chuckle. “Whats up prez.”

Winter blinked a little as she looked at Moonlight before she continued. “The Enclave has been aware of the existence of the Nightmare Society since one of our soldiers was extracted from Mount Pleasant Island 30 years ago after encountering them. However, it seems that we are not completely up to date as we’ve already learned. Since you two would be the most familiar with the Society I was hoping you could fill in the gaps.”

“Well, I know pretty much what is common knowledge, they break into your homes, treat you nicely and trick you into trusting them, then start abducting ponies in silence.” Moonlight said with a shrug. “Least, that’s what they did down in my stable.”

“Interesting, we had intel that they were targeting Stables looking for something,” Winter said as she looked at me. “And you?”

“I lived in the Society for six years, I can’t tell you everything though,” I said with a shake of my head. “We… they’ve been based out of Haythens in the temple for as long as I can remember.”

“What about numbers, defenses, that kind of thing,” Winter asked.

“It’s a good sized group, but only part of it is military,” I said with a shake of my head. “As for defenses, I honestly don’t know everything about it. The High Priestess and the other Priestesses used their magic to repel any attackers, usually Raiders or the occasional wild animal from the jungle. Well, except the time this crazy dragon attacked.”

“A dragon, how did they handle that?” Winter asked as she looked at me curiously. “That’s not something your average IMP Alicorn can repel, even a small group of them.”

“When the dragon attacked the High Priestess used some sort of spell,” I said with a shake of my head. “She drew on the magical energy of all the Alicorns in the Society and attacked it personally. It, didn’t exactly go well for the Dragon. Well, that was how we stopped one of them at least.”

“What is there a dragon magnet under the Temple or something?” Winter asked.

“Well, no but a younger dragon showed up once, she was kind of golden colored, looked kind of weird, not sure if she was a full blooded dragon now that I think about it…” I said and shook my head. “She was after something in the Temple, but I don’t really know what.”

“It’s not a temple, It’s a M.A.S. hub, it has an archive in the basement full of every experiment that they ever did.” A voice said from behind. “And while I’ll take the golden scales comment as a compliment, you ever comment about not being full blooded dragon, I’ll show you how full blooded I am.”

“She’s behind me isn’t she?” I asked and Winter nodded as I turned back to see the same dragon from before. “Well, uh, hi, this is awkward…”

“I have a name you know.” She said, walking over to Winter’s desk and throwing a stack of folders down. “It isn’t my fault you guys set up in a treasure trove of pre war information and technology and then refused to let anyone else play with your ball.”

“Thank you, Midas,” Winter said as she gathered up the folders. “And don’t take it personally, she’s new to the Wasteland.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, Midas,” I said as I gave the dragon a look, she really did have some weird more pony-like features but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. “You have, very nice scales, whatever color they are.”

“Most would say amber” Midas said, turning her attention back to Winter. “Alright, gave you all the intel you wanted, time to hold up your end of the bargain there snowflake.”

Winter frowned a little and shook her head at the name before she reached into her desk and took out a bag before tossing it to her. “You realize you’re talking to the President of the Enclave right?”

“Sorry sorry, President Snowflake.” Midas said with a smirk, snatching the bag out of the air. “Better?”

“Yes, much,” Winter said with a roll of her eyes. “Thank you for your help then Goldenrod. If you ever have any more intel you know how to contact us.”

“Oh ho, touche there” Midas said with a smirk. “See you later then snowball.”

“Of course Gild,” Winter said and waved her off a little before she turned her attention back to us. “Sorry, I didn’t expect her to walk in right after you said that. She’s one of the best intelligence gatherers in Equestria.”

“I prefer information broker.” Midas said as she waved and walked out the door, Moonlight hardly able to contain her laughter at this point.

“You meet the weirdest beings in this line of work,” Winter said before she gave us a nod. “Thank you both for your time, the Nightmare Society is one of the biggest threats to Equestria right now and the Enclave takes it very seriously. It’s why we came to Nightingale to begin with.”

“I’m glad to help however I can, but I only know so much about its inner workings,” I said with a shake of my head. “Are you going to be able to help protect the town and other settlements?”

Winter paused a moment and sighed as she looked out a window for a moment before looking back at us. “We’ll help as best we can, as long as the Council agrees to our terms we can provide Nightingale and any other settlements that join aid and military defense. However, we’re not as strong as we once were and our military can’t be spread too thin, especially given we have other things to deal with. I can promise that we’ll help as best we can against the Society, but we’ll have to approach this carefully if they are that powerful.”

“To be fair, that is the defense of their citadel, from what I’ve heard they aren’t nearly that strong when they attack places.” Moonlight said, looking from me to winter. “It seems like, a majority of them stay with the temple, and only the highest ranking and trusted members are allowed out.”

“That is pretty accurate,” I said with a nod.

“And, exactly how did you know that?” Winter asked as she looked at Moonlight. “I was under the impression you hadn’t been to the Temple, or Hub as it seems to be.”

“Well, she’s kind of been in my head a few times,” I said.

“In, your head?” Winter asked. “What does she mean by that?”

“I kind of, can walk the dreamscape.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “Kind of like Princess Luna, with a much more limited range”

“Curious, you’re the second pony I’ve heard of with some variation of that,” Winter said and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “If we remain here overnight I would ask that you stay out of my dreams. State secrets and all that, I’m sure you understand.”

“I think you’re mostly out of range, Like I said… limited range.” Moonlight said with a chuckle. “I learned the hard way to stay out of Neivi’s dreams, and Firelight’s too unless invited.”

“Of course, I’m just making sure,” Winter said with a nod. “Do, I want to know what happened with the Councilmare’s dreams?”

“I could get you a few books, I know where she keeps them.” Moonlight said with a smirk. “Though I don’t know where Firelight gets her inspiration for some of the things she has going on up there.”

“Anyway,” I said as I quickly tried to change the subject. “Is there anything else you want to ask us or are we free to go?”

“Of course, if anything else comes to mind feel free to talk to Dusk or any of the others and they’ll tell me,” Winter said with a nod. “Thank you for your help.”

“I can say this much, because it’s recent history for me.” Moonlight said with a sigh. “When they take ponies, they dose them with a potion that makes them change into Alicorns, it takes away their memory.”

“They also have illusion magic and limited mind control,” I added with a sigh. “I don’t know who can do that specifically, but it is something to keep in mind.”

“We’ll keep it in mind, thank you,” Winter said with a nod. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”

“The food up here sucks.” Moonlight said with a chuckle.

Winter actually laughed a little at that. “Tell me something I don’t know, trust me it could be worse. Try living in a refugee camp sometime.”

“You mean it gets worse then mutated fruits and vegetables, irradiated water, and friendly woodland critters?” Moonlight said with a chuckle.

“Try living on military rations, trust me you’ll be begging for all of those things,” Winter said with a shake of her head. “Anyway, I need to go over the information Midas brought, so unless there’s anything else.”

“No, I think we’re fine, I’m glad to have helped,” I said and gave Moonlight a nod. “Lets go, you can hang out with the President later.”

“Dusk, escort them out, make sure they get back home,” Winter said and Dusk nodded as she escorted us back out of the ship.

“Well, ya’ll are still alive, that’s a good sign,” Storm said as we came into the small house where she and Lemon were waiting with the fillies.

“Are you sure? Darn, I thought I died and went to Elysium, I swear I’m seeing angels.” Moonlight said, smiling at Storm

Storm blushed a little and returned the smile. “Yer quite tha flatterer,” she said with a chuckle before she shook her head. “So, what did she want with ya’ll anyway? Yah don’t exactly get called ta talk ta tha leader of a major faction every day.”

“She wanted to get any information we had on the Society,” I said with a shrug. “We told her what we knew, but the Priestesses kept a lot from me so I could only tell her so much.”

“It makes sense, Ah’ve heard Winter’s got ponies everywhere, except in tha Society,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “A crazy cult that wipes yer memories would be hard ta infiltrate Ah suppose.”

The door opened and Neivi came in and plopped down on the couch. She looked tired, she probably had just finished meeting with the council.

“Hey Neivi,” I said with a smile. “Is everything okay?”

“The downside to politics, even with three ponies it’s hard to reach a decision sometimes,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “We’re going to announce it soon, but we decided to take Winter’s offer. As long as she keeps her end of the bargain of course.”

“Of course,” I said with a nod. “I’m still kind of trying to figure out what the problem is with her, she seems nice.”

“There are a lot of stories around Equestria about what the Enclave has done, even after Winter took over,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “And Soia told me about them in Zebrica under a General named Stardust. They’re in league with the Starkatteri. So, its not easy to trust them at face value.”

“I see,” I said with a frown. “Did we make the right choice then?”

“Honestly? We made the only choice we could,” Neivi said. “We need help if we’re going to survive right now and as difficult as the choice was, it was the right one.”

“Hey, from everything I seen from Winter, she’s a good pony with a good head on her shoulders.” Moonlight said with a nod. “She means us well and honestly, being that I never knew the boogeyman that you talk about, I guess it gives me more of a unbiased opinion.”

“Yes, thank you Moonlight,” Neivi said with a sigh but she smiled a little. “That actually does make me feel a little better.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll face everything that comes together,” I said with a smile. “There’s nothing Equestria can throw at us that we can’t handle together.”

“Ah hope yer right,” Storm Wrangler said with a shake of her head. “Ah don’t like this ta be honest, but if yah think its tha right call Ah’m behind ya’ll all tha way.”

“Good, I get the feeling we’re going to need it,” Neivi said.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Black Sun.

Details: You’re starting to tap more into the strange abilities that you are only now beginning to understand. You gain an extra boost to your damage while combined with magic based attacks and access to special conversation options when using Illusion magic.