Author's Notes:

Pre-reading credit for this chapter goes to Jinzou.

“You what!?”

“Yeah.” Suddenly it was quite hard for the crimson pony to make eye contact with her former rival, Daring Do. Between them, Berryshine shifted from foot to foot, fuchsia coat shimmering in the moonlight. Even the room felt like it was waiting with bated breath. “Daring, A.K., whatever… the reason I bolted from that ‘Terrifying Tower’ before was ‘cuz I saw somepony die there.”

“Mind explaining this? And how I didn’t see such a ‘death’ in that hollow tower!”

“I’d rather be blunt now, if you don’t mind.” This interruption was not served with its usual dollop of disdain from Viscera. Yearling's jaw nearly dropped an entire foot at this. “And it was on the isle the tower was on - We could get into the tower, we wouldn’t have been waiting for you. You know the date this happened, yes?”

Waiting for us? Daring Do wanted to pursue this. But Viscera had asked for a date, and such an attention-oriented archivist whirred into motion before she could stop herself.

“A Thursday. Two Thursdays before Nightmare Moo-”

“Correct,” Viscera responded. “And that this was… during the time where Ahuizotl was looking for the last of the treasures in our hunt. Where… the Griffon’s Goblet was used.” Daring dared not say any further. Way too much pain still laid that way. Especially with Bravel-

“Yeah, well, he wasn’t alone in wanting to get to that artifact.” A dry laugh shook the crimson pony’s frame. “I could have cared less though. I was trying to make a breakthrough that’d probably make me richer than everypony else in that tower combined.”

The last red-tinted triangle of Viscera was suddenly present, twisting through the practiced motions of her makeshift claws. “See what happened last night wasn’t the first time I dallied with teleportation. It was… just the first time it worked.”

“And you owe it to a different stone this time.” Daring Do’s eyes narrowed. “Then what happened, Vis?”

Viscera, after a long minute, ruffled Berryshine’s scruffy hair. “Well, I kinda failed. It wasn’t enough to port anypony else, let alone me. I was certain I’d gotten something right in the mixture, but the spark… just wasn’t there. I’d left a lot to start my thieving life and I didn’t…”

Her voice cracked again. Again?! she thought. After all these years, all these new horrors, and this still holds my tongue?

“I… decided to try and bounce off ideas from the head mechanic. She was nice. Pink coat, red mane… think her name was Tinker…” Voice like bells, she didn’t say. Berry’s was too. Couldn’t jinx it, not after… whatever it was that let her breathe air tonight that spirited her from Canterlot.

“Dammit! I knew something was sketchy with that piece of horseshoe leather and I didn’t even…. I saw her. Right in that pony’s lab. She said it was suicide if we didn’t have a way out, the storm was too heavy to fly or go through with water. Queen Cipactli…. She just opened her jaw, longer than I saw anything could…. Celestia, it was… so much blood.”

Viscera swapped at her chin as she continued. She always hated talking about this. But she was shoulder-deep in that moment again - it had spurred her… whatever it was that got to the zebra’s hut in seconds.

She’d have to know it to understand what happened to her in that little tent over a week ago.

“And then one of my chips dropped to the floor as I staggered back and… it let out this amazing light. Like… like all broken spells did, but this one was failing to teleport a whole pony so it… it went off like a flash bomb.” A hoof jutted out to the visor over her body, smooth red glass over her jade eyes. “This… this kept me from being seen, but I knew the Queen would… would find out.”

Her eyes looked to the alleys and thatched roofs just outside the window she was straddling the sill of.

“So I pulled out the wings. Broke for it, just as the storm started up again. Took me a day to get halfway across before the wings snapped. Another two to swim to safety on it in the squall. Don’t know what happened to the others at that point, but… I do know what happened eventually.” Viscera fought down that buckball-sized lump in her throat. “They all died. An’… And I know Cipactli got to them. She had their names, their locations – everypony’s but mine.”

“Wait… that was the one time?” Daring Do checked the book swinging from her hip at this declaration. “Dr. Caballeron said that his attempts to contact the trap-springer were protested at first given the one blemish on her record at the time when…”

Her eyes finally shot open. Twin pools of billowing pink boring into Viscera’s very soul.

“This was the job you left without pay!”

“The only one.” Now it was Viscera’s hiss that sounded reptilian. “And there’s only one other living being in history that’s evoked that same reaction. So yeah, Daring. Take your victory lap, call your editor – oh, wait – cue your flying pigs, you finally figured out the only two times in history Viscera ran scared. Can I please go now?”

Daring was undeterred, however – not even Viscera’s sarcasm-dripping snipes boiling the blood rushing through her brain. “No… it was more than that. Everything you’ve done at this point, every boneheaded maneuver Rappid and Cori ever said you pulled from the moment you landed in Ponyville… there was always somepony that benefitted, wasn’t there?”

Viscera could not be hearing this, not at near-midnight with a hoof out the window and Berryshine as a witness. “Seriously, Daring Do-Right, I’m leaving. See ya.” But her rear legs didn’t budge as Daring deciphered away before her. Not even when she noticed two familiar beads of compound magenta watching from beyond the door.

“You knew – all along, you knew –that fighting Queen Twilight was a suicide pact. Yet on you marched. Despite yourself. Despite your foes. You never stood out this long in a fight against me, and your escapes were never this clean or this constant.”

“So what? I still came here to try and survive; that’s not news, Da-”

“-you didn’t come to Ponyville to survive; you came to find something more than just surviving.” A.K. stated. Even now, the moonlight only made her look more irreverent. Like how it always felt to Viscera. Unreachable. Unstoppable. “This is the first time I’ve seen anything approaching selflessness coming from you, Viscera, and you’ve always wanted to deny it. I don’t care what hole you scurry for this time. You’re not leaving with Berry, and you’re not leaving until you answer my question.”

Why would Viscera even want to? She knew the score by now, especially with what hadn’t come down on their heads. Distance wouldn’t save any of them from her long, not after all the extraordinary things they’d done! The fact she expected the pony before her to roll on down to her capital, break the bank on your powers, and get her off doing it should’ve shown that!

“Gonna have to get to that question sometime this century, luv.” Viscera wasn’t certain how she wasn’t spewing lava instead of invective right now.

A.K. sighed. Between them, Berryshine shifted awkwardly, only stopping when Gympis entered the room. “You’re right. I didn’t ask my question yet. Because I want you to remember how you answer. Because every path you could have taken to avoid that confrontation with the Queen was open to you. All you had to do was stop. But you didn’t. So know I ask you that question you refuse to ask yourself.”

Daring Do, explorer and inscriber in one, finally reached forward and pulled Viscera down from her perch, settling her on all fours in the bedroom’s center.

“After all you’ve seen, struggled through, stolen, and saved, knowing what you know….” Daring’s voice was suddenly as tightened as it was when they were fighting over four innocuous stones in Mayor Mare’s presence. “Was coming back – to Ponyville, to another guaranteed fight with Twilight’s cohorts, to Dr. Hooves after every increasingly uncompensated request – was that worth it? Because you’re either becoming a hero or a masochist. And I’ve spent enough time watching the worst of history repeat in the face of suckers for punishment.”

Now Viscera needed a glass of water. Not cider, not anything harder, water. Was it worth it? She’d lost a limb on day 2 here and watched it grow back in front of her! She’d spent her fifth pushing Royal Guards out of streams and being chased by dragons! She’d nearly been cooked by dragons in the seventh, by alicorns in the eighth!

And yet… all she could see was Berryshine. And Powder Puff. And Withers. And Rainbow Stars, and…

And her. The one that’d started it all, the reason she’d gone to that building in the first face, braved fire and flames and Princes alike.

With that moment, she knew her answer.

Viscera slid her visor down over her eyes, four words coming from the very un-griffin like maw beneath that metal beak. “It is worth it.”

It didn’t feel like her voice anymore. But she didn’t want it to be. For once, Viscera actually didwant to be something more than the scraper-by who had wandered into Ponyville alongside a wayward changeling. And almost as if that call of curiosity had struck again, that very Princess Gympis walked out to nuzzle her cheek.

Daring’s shoulders settled at last. “Well. For a minute there, I thought the Queen had gotten-”

“She did have me. And the next step is finding out how. Which means we have to survive this wedding, and so do the Elements.” Viscera’s forehooves clamped back onto the wooden lip of the window, but she showed no hint of jumping out. “And you’re wrong. History doesn’t repeat.” Viscera’s eyes turned back to the town sprawling below them.

One word flashed through Daring’s mind after seeing Viscera’s newfound resolve. The name of the pony that had spurred Daring to such great heights as a hero.

Bravely.

“But it rhymes.”

The next day came almost instantly. Too quickly, even with Cori’s inklings of a plan filtering through the group's ears.

Mayor Rappid Fires had left early this time. again on point in the city of Ponyville, was busy attending to another shop in the square. This time, however, it was Rich’s Backyard Bargains, and Filthy was noticeably not behind the counter that day. With the various statues and wood sidings assembled by the workponies in the store though, perhaps it was for his suit’s own good he would not be in the middle of it.

“How have you been? You’ve been quite the elusive pony as of late.”

Rappid let out a sigh she hoped was as shaky as it felt, then turned to the wealthy stallion next to her. “F-fine, Mr. Rich. I assume your wife is doing better now?”

“Somewhat,” Filthy shifted his front hooves, his tone lowering so far Rappid had to bring her neck to hear it. “She is… putting together the finishing touches.”

“On what?” If this had anything to do with Twilight’s demand for gifts the Cloudsdale mayor would have had to resist adding a couple more words to her statement. Something along the lines of ‘burn in Tartarus’, possibly dancing among the flames with the purple-maned mare as well.

‘The headstone.” And suddenly, all thought of frolicking in Rappid’s mind flashed away. Even now it was still so hard to comprehend the amount of loss this city had suffered. How much of its time had gone to memorializing amongst the madness? Well, Rappid had an idea –her second to last meeting with the Rich family among the Pools of the Two Sisters showed that. “And the Board?” she weakly stammered.

Thankfully, Filthy Rich was happy to change the subject as well. “Secured in a new building to Ponyville’s north. All except Amethyst Star, the poor darling. Between Derpy and the business she has with Dr. Hooves, I don’t know how she gets any sleep.”

Rappid found herself rather uncomfortable – and wobbly on her feet – as she was reminded of how little rest she’d had in the seven days she was here. “I wouldn’t wish such unending misery on my worst enemy.” Namely, because she had a lot worse in mind, for that ‘worst enemy’ had done to her, her home city, and its Best Young Flyer.

“I’ll… well, we remember how you stood with us at the pool.” Filthy rubbed a hoof along the back of his neck. “I was wondering if you would do the same now for… for my wife.”

“Gladly, sir,” Were it not for Viscera’s retelling of how she was careening into the path of a Sonic Rainboom, Rappid would have called this ‘the least she could do’, a standard of life she felt she’d been missing out on as of late. It always felt like it was too late for her, in so many ways and forms. But here? Here she could be prompt. Would be prompt. And she would help Ponyville heal, as only a leader of equines could.

SPLISSSH!

A splash broke through the cacophony of sounds in the store to them, and both ponies could tell the source. “Hold on Filthy, I’ll be right back!” Despite her warning, Filthy was setting out toward the same stream anyway, his hooves beating on the dirt roads almost as quickly as the white wings of Rappid did, taking her through the sky.

On the edge of that bed, the target was easy to find in the churning current – a light purple pegasus, struggling to stay on the muddy banks of Bucephalus Brook. Rappid was at the scene first, tugging at the hooves enough to get the lime-maned Flitter out of the water.

“Goodness, you must be soaked!” Rappid’s sleeved forearm was over the green-maned pegasus before she could speak.

As she moved to station herself between the river and its former captive, she couldn’t help but notice the red hood of Viscera looking back at her. Before she could ask why she was here, Viscera pointed to a spot on the ground to her right, and by the time Rappid’s eyes traveled to the dry red bow sitting on the grass, the thief had disappeared. Hastily, Rappid offered the decoration back to Flitter who nestled it in her dripping mane with shaking hooves.

“C’mon – we have to keep the hypo away, Miss Flitter.” Filthy’s eyes went from rescued to rescuer. “And… Spoiled is waiting for me. You’ll have to inform her of the circumstances, I’ll try to make it as soon as I can.”

“T…thank you,” “I can’t believe Stormy would d-do this to me! And all because I said…” Rappid regretted taking off as she did when she left. But she assured herself she could relay that tragic circumstance from Filthy Rich later.

Now, her presence was needed for another mare’s comfort.

It took Rappid under a minute to make it to that spot behind the Rich family mansion, her touchdown only idly noticed by the crestfallen Spoiled. “Hello again, Rappid.” A twinge of haughtiness still infected her tone, but it was deep – buried, perhaps, by the pressure of guilt and sorrow – for that tone to swell within her body. She looked… almost done. “I’d hoped you had a chance to come, really.”

“Kinda owe it to you.”

“No, you don’t.” More than anything, Rappid wanted to give voice to just how that statement rang true, like the bar she’d wielded rang into Luna’s skull. But her mouth kept closed as she drew closer to her, spacious courtyard almost welcoming her in to accommodate the still pink pony at the end of it.

Rappid drew to within five feet, her hooves clasped together, and then finally – Granite. Beautifully woven granite, drawing up to a point at the peak, that almost reached Spoiled’s height. Curls cut into the stone just around each corner. And in the center of this obelisk, this… monument, the captivating cursive of ‘Diamond Tiara’, curling in the same bent as the top of the tombstone.

Stepping aside, Rappid regarded the grave further. As she went level with Spoiled Rich, she could see words underneath Tiara’s nameplate, small enough that the deceased filly herself could have scratched them out with her hoof.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

Rappid couldn’t agree more. Every rosebush and tulip-filled flower bed she could think of was there, giving the place an ethereal aura. And even right below her feet, a single Ghost Orchard flower in a pot at its base showed just how far the Rich and Clover families had come since their dust-up at Roseluck’s Botanicals.

“It’s quite beautiful.”

“Thank you. But it’s not what I meant.“ A frown spilled out, one she actually looked like she was struggling to keep off her face. “It was how seven words could tell three lies.”

This was a blast of ice water to Rappid’s senses. “How so?” Surely Spoiled could not be that much of a perfectionist, even in a place this magnificent!?

Spoiled's hoof went to each of the words below Tiara’s carved name, eyes rippling as she spoke. “Rest? When I know how I found her and what happened to her?”

Her voice shook, words almost catching in her throat as she continued. “Peace? Seeing what’s become of the place she’s called home and that I’ve made famous??”

Her voice took on a slightly shriller tone, though her body language did not follow that frantic bent. “Ambition? When she was too young to even dream of life outside the… the School… that I left her alone in?!”

Finally the first of several tears slipped free from her cerulean eyes, Rappid having to rap hooves around her neck as her demeanor shattered entirely. Sharp, jagged inhales and exhales rocked her body, even now too proud to fully break down before her.

At the angle Rappid was at, she could see Lucky and Wild Clover, racing across their position on the Rich mansion’s back balcony to assist the white-speckled pegasus. But how to keep Spoiled from breaking down complete right now?! The mind reeled for an answer.

“It is…” How was Rappid short on words now? She’d gone through the same and didn’t even have a body to bury until she’d come down and seen the grave for Featherweight! How could now be the time when her tongue-tied… That’s it! Ties! “Filthy wanted me to come, and considering I’ve,… lost a child in that Massacre too, and… I figured we could be a little bit less miserable together, right?“

“I suppose so.” Yet Spoiled’s hooves pushed away from Rappid, despite the weak smile she shot back. Stability was achieved for Spoiled. There was still so much to go, so much to do.

But Rappid was here.

That was a start.

And she’d continue to be there despite the danger her secret occupation foisted on her. With no rest. With no mercy. No matter what.

And then, just as that moment sank in for Rappid, the din of the budding rosy sun in the sky was broken. A disembodied voice rang from every hill, every corner, every alley of the sprawling village before them. And yet, the voice was not unfamiliar. Not in the least.

“Welcome, Ponutville! Welcome, at long last! Your Queen is speaking, and your time is ticking, for the biggest occasion of the millennium. But oh it’s not me beating back Nightmare Moon – after all some things lose their luster when you do it twice.”

Rappid was suddenly lucky her coat was the shade it was, or this lawn would surely be stained forever with what little color in her face draining from it.

“So now, as I have spoken to my fair-weather Elements, I now announce to you – Princess Dash and I are getting married! And not only that, but some other beautiful occasions are being set up, one I do so hope everypony can make time for!”

“Like for example, the list of ponies you’re all gonna sending to Canterlot for my ‘honeymooner’s harem’ bash! And that if she doesn’t, their parents’ll be bashing in your fucking Square until darling Redheart herself can’t tell them apart!”

“What is this?!” Spoiled’s scream echoed a second later in Rappid’s mind, both ponies’ teeth gnashing at the news! Neither of them had heard of this. Has the Queen lost her facilities? Rappid’s inner pony belted out How would she not think the Thestrel-hybrids would stop her, knowing what she was planning at 100 decibels in the Ponyville sky-

And then another gallon of sharp ice lanced its way into the pegasus’s very bones. Queen Twilight’s voice continued, despite the epiphany sinking into Rappid’s coat like the sweat building on her forehead.

“-Orrrr, better yet, the fireworks display I’ve got set up that every one of you can see from your very spots in MY town. Though, they’re not safe for children, so I’ve had them detonated from a safe distance. Like, say, an undisclosed location in the Tenochtitlan Basin?”

Undisclosed, my puffy plot, I know EXACTLY where they’re going off and so does A.K.!

Rappid’s tongue felt fit to snap from the tension exerted on it. Wild Fire, barely inches between her and Spoiled, sank to her knees. Clover was at her side in seconds, but the tears had already started.

And finally, there’s the-

Then Cori was up at that spot with some news of her own. “Yeah I heard, so did Filthy when he was taking Flitter to the hospital – get the gang together and alert the Mayor!”

“Right. No way she stands for this rectal smoothie the Queen’s serving up!” Rappid had a nasty memory shoot through her mind of just how she’d handled the address and Iron Pony II, but soon shook them off like so many cobwebs. “Her own citizens vanished en masse?! This won’t be solved by sitting it out now; Spearhead’ll make s-”

“No, she’s already appointed us and Filthy to assist that effort! I need you to call her because Viscera’s vanished!”

“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t know how she disappeared!” A.K. Yearling’s voice ricocheted through the halls. “And yes I know how ironic that is considering how one of my books center around noticing this!"

The other two Thestrel-hybrids there were too busy etching crevices in several of the artifacts to be delivered to the Queen to answer her. Colada and Powder Puff, behind Rose’s register in the flower shop, looked like they’d get vertigo just looking at them.

“I mean she’s not here, which means Operation Wed-In Break Fast has to go on without her!” Cori shot back. Her hair was a mess and her hooves flew over the outfit she was knitting together. “Now go let the mayor know – we’ve got to have you ready to fit into a column, and Equestria only knows what’ll happen if we foul up the decoy deto-”

“-and exactly how was she able to leave? Didn’t anypony keep tabs on her after her stunt last night?” bellowed the amber pegasus. “And now I’m going to have to hoof it to the Basin to keep my home from becoming a barbecue pit, too!”

“But you’ll make sure everypony knows Viscera skipped town!”

“If only to know what to do when she returns, yes!”

“Then… Don’t worry.” A wicked smile spread across Cori’s face. “Viscera already got the memo, actually. And so will the Elements.”

“Wait, what? Why do you think this is the case?”

“Because we have been keeping tabs on Viscera – and we know the Guard will too, the second they see her bail from city limits.”

“But… then Viscera’s running into a deathtrap!” A.K.’s hooves skittered over the rows of soil-stuck petunias next to her. “We have to go-!”

“That’s the point, Yearling! We get rid of the Commanders early, that’ll be that fewer ponies left to keep track of who’s where! And with that, that means we’ll have ways of getting the pieces we need from it when we’re called to act!”

“Gold-? Wait a minute, are you serious about this?” “Because it sounds like you’re trying to make the Queen think we’re twiddling our hooves on… purpose.” Her last word couldn’t have been spoken with more of it, as a matter of fact.

Cori turned back to her work, the weaves of fabric now turning into a golden tunic and mask that looked quite like a Thestrel’s pallor. “Almost, is that right? Not to worry, Daring; I’ll inform Rappid as soon as she’s finished misinforming Ponyville about Viscera - and the Queen, by proxy.”

Cori’s expression soured as she finally finished her stitchwork. “Twilight’s doing this to distract us, divide us - cause the pony who vanished away upon seeing her face to vanish again. And for my operation to work now, she has to believe she’s succeeded. On multiple fronts.”

“How so?”

“With a sparkle of our own, Yearling.” Cori revealed an amethyst cluster in her left hoof, the bows of silver spinning out from that makeshift bud hinting at expert metallurgy and design only one pony in city limits could boast of. “Got another read off this by Vis as soon as Rarity returned. One which the Mayor’s gonna be letting her and the rest of the good Elements know right about…”

“… now!”

Unneeded breath puffed out Viscera’s chest as she took in the scene. The second she knew of the plan, Viscera actually requested Spearhead visit Rarity with a special souvenir. That jeweled clasp the fashionista had given him a case ago was what allowed her access to the conversation ensuing now. Her inner pony marveled at how fast she’d now taken to using that premonitory talent as a tool – y’know, between its rants about invading the Element of Generosity’s privacy just to tell her it was possible.

“Thank you, Guard-Commander.” Rarity was speaking now, her lips a trembling blue as she looked at the ramshackle repairs of her Boutique – one Viscera still remembered scaled more than a week prior. “But I think I can manage from here.”

“The shaky legs suggest others, Miss Rarity,” the Town Guard replied. “And you’ve tackled worse issues before than a meeting with the Queen.”

“Yes, but… the fit she had after losing Spike… And what she did to the heads on Canterlot’s… oh!” Her hoof caught on a jagged shard of glass, beads of red welling up on perfect ivory fur. “I do think I should get a move on.”

“Yes, well…” I assume you’ve a duty for this….wedding she has planned?”

“I… must. For Pinkie’s sake. And the…the sake of the pony I am now, rather than what I degenerated into before.”

“Before?” The quiet timbre of Commander Spearhead’s voice rang around the room. “Rarity, if you’ve done anything wrong, Ponyville will understa-”

“Oh, darling, thank you for the concern. I’m still very touched that you’ve been this way.”

Even Viscera could see this statement was a swerve from a likely uncomfortable line of inquiry. But unlike Spearhead, she didn’t have a length of polished keratin massaging her burly chest or a flutter of violet-dusted eyelashes to put her mind off the violet-maned unicorn’s dodge.

“But we must be secretive about this. Your shift is almost over, and we cannot be in contact with anypony else until the wedding is over.”

A nod from the Town Guard’s head pegasus, and all was silent once more.

“So it falls to Dr. Hooves to see it through. And since it’ll likely cost bits to bring them around the Queen… I may have to contact the Rich family.” Rarity’s throat bobbed as she swallowed thickly, the task even now unenviable but necessary. Because of either the Rich family’s previous track record or her mysterious current one, Viscera could not tell.

It seemed Spearhead shared her curiosity. “Perhaps I could-?”

“No need, dear. The Clover family will suffice – thankfully, their dreadful row with the Riches is over.” Her shadow-swathed silhouette then became awash with light, hoof motioning to an evelope sitting on top one of her dressers. “If you could, however, there is something I must send to Princess Cadance before I start…”

“Anything, Rarity.” Though Spearhead’s eyes did widen at the name across the envelope he received. “Is… is this the Rhy-”

“The walls have ears, dear – do wait until Hooves has this.” Rarity’s gaze turned to the intact windows lining her store, Viscera’s limbs rooted to the ground as a plan percolated in her noggin. “These… Thestrels… may be up for the task, but not without proper targets in mind.”

Rarity’s body wobbled with the balancing of eight on her left rearleg.

“But if we can… then Princess Cadance may have her requested way to run the table on our new Queen.”

Viscera was running. Despite the spaciousness of the path, she clung to the center of it, her legs pumping. Everfree’s trees sped past her as two ponies raced beside her. “Damn it… Vis… was it even right to leave them behind like this?” wheezed Withers, his bandaged haunches shaking dangerously between each gallop.

“No other way!” replied Viscera. “And with you knowingly sprung from the clink, it’s the only way we’re getting out without stragglers on our tail.”

“I’m with you, Vis, you know that! But…” said the lilac earth pony pumping feet behind the thief. “This… still feels… wrong, though!”

“Don’t worry, It’ll all be worth it in the - DODGE!”

Viscera’s eyes had swung to the right, and it was her scanning of the treetops that made her lurch towards Berryshine. Fuchsia flanks were smothered by crimson arms, the spear that had narrowly missed thin twanging harshly tin the rut it’d left in the ground. Withers had come to an equally unglamorous halt, tumbling over his crossed-up hooves and clambering to the dirt.

But of all three ponies present – four, counting the descending armored batpony – Berryshine’s eyes were still locked on Viscera. “Didn’t think the Queen was right in saying that you’d fuck off the second she called for your head.” Commander Hel’s grin only grew as she looked over to Wither’s direction. “But I’m not complaining.”

“Wha… but how?” It was rather hard for the albino Caball henchpony to get out words. And for his reward, all that came from Hel was a callous cackle.

“Nope, no audio clues for you this time. Oh, boooys…“ And the clinking clash of four suits of armor heralded the platoon of Night Guards bustling from the trees to join. “And to be sure I don’t have to worry about your little failsafe – Persim!” Before Viscera could react, a beam of jade blue burrowed into her barrel, sending her skittering again. Two ribs folioed under the impact, and she fought down the urge to cry.

“Whatever escape hatch you used yesterday didn’t have a magical trace, but those Blood Stones did.” Commander Hel gave a curt nod to her lieutenant, still saving vapor from her smoking horn. “So now that you’re in a cradle, Vis….”

Hel leered down at the injured pony.

“...let’s put you in a grave. Guards! The other two rejects are yours to do with as you wish. After all, they’re fugitives.”

Two triangles of blazing red shot out from the treeline as Hel finished her sentence. One whistled in front of Hel’s head. “Wait, what the-“

Two vicious bursts of light covered the clearing in blinding light. Two violet lasers then careened into the helmets of the two Night Guards behind Berryshine and Withers, the sizable dents testifying to their knockout power.

Berryshine and Withers, having had their heads to the ground the whole time, rose in unison and plowed into Night Guard #3. Just as Hel was clearing her eyes, Viscera’s whipping tail brought the helmet from one of the other falling Guard's into Persim's stomach, sending her flying.

Then it was down to the Knight Commander and master thief, and the latter’s headlock through her front had them both squirming around in an undignified position. Suddenly, Viscera was quite grateful for her mask, shrouding her blushing face as Hel tried to make her loosen her grip.

“Fuck, Viscera! So rough. Do you have family who know you’re like this?” Viscera refused to oblige the taunting with a response. Until their struggles attracted the hooves of the charging Withers into Hel’s hedonistic head. Another curbstomp from Viscera sealed the deal for the commander, the crimson mare staggering from her abdominal wound.

“Dunno Hel, you have any holes you’ve kept a Prince from filling?!” Viscera’s response, while a bit late, came all the more furious anyway. The arriving Amethyst Star from the treeline would behold her falling to all for knees, soon rushing over to help her.

Past this assembling trio, Jasmine Leaf was busy pulling Berryshine off another unconscious Night Guard she was still raining hoofblow after hoofblow upon. By the time Berryshine had been calmed down, Amethyst’s horn had healed the dents in Viscera’s ribs once previously matched by that in the armor of Berryshine’s newest speedbag.

“Won’t be the sturdiest, but it’ll hold,” Amethyst informed Viscera. “Nice work on the new bombs - Blood Stones, right?”

“Thank Princess Dash, it’s her Gala jewels that made it possible.” Viscera then turned to the Caball stallion. “You got the paint, Withers?”

“You got the plan?” Withers merrily pulled out a can of Whirl Grey paint from one of the cloth sacs ringing his neck.

“Sure do, luv. Get her armor off and to Derpy – the paint should help her pass long enough to free the ‘honeymoon harem’.” Viscera’s next words were to the entire group. “And thank you all. For everything.”

“No prob, Vee.” Jasmine let out a laugh of her own. “I’m gettin’ the hang of being a rabble-rouser.”

Viscera then turned to Amethyst. “Now, get me in that gift box Filthy gave you, and let’s roll. We’re getting closer to the deadline than I thought.”

“Mind tellin’ an old friend what craziness you’ve got cooked up this time?”

“Just might,” Viscera snickered. Their trek through the Everglade glen finally brought the five ponies to a clearing with a large altar set up in its center, burnished bronze and pewter candle holders ringing each edge of the elaborate table. “Derps is gonna be pretending to be Hel while Cori sees her off to Canterlot to rescue the ‘harem’. Rappid and Bulk are hiding in the pillars, I’m going in here. Rarity and Filthy’ll make sure we’re at the same spot the Queen’s at when the ceremony continues. Then all that’s left is…”

“Is what?”

“Well… let’s just say it’ll be a reverse of how I first got introduced to the Queen’s handiwork.” If that didn’t go through however, Viscera was likely on her own.

For what measure of ‘on her own’ qualified as, anyway, what with the image of that mysterious winged being still tunneling into her very so-

“Mr. Standard? I’ve got a lead for you,”

Currently in front of the Town Hall’s main room, the Knight-Commander’s eyebrows quirked up at the mention of it. He’d had no idea how this little Crystal Pony before her had gotten past the initial checkpoints set up outside the hall, but if it was to help make his job easier, he wouldn’t complain. “Yes, little one?”

Kitted out in a sparkling white dress, her usually diamond-shaped hair woven into a bun, Cori spoke. “It’s about Canterlot. There’s a-”

“How do you know of this?”

“Your… Guard isn’t as tight-lipped with info as they think.” Cori gulped.

<Not unless you’re here to warm me up from the cold, blueberry buns.>

“And believe me, I wish they were.”

“Then why are you telling me of something I’ve already called them together to do?” Iron Standard asked.

Fighting back the bile gathering in her glittering baby-blue neck, Cori continued. “Because the Queen’s planning on blowing them up too,” she lied.

Iron Standard looked like he’d snap off his crest with how fast his hooves flew to it. “What! How?! They’re the ones who volunteer-”

“That’s the point, Standard. She knows who’s there and what she might do, you think she’s chancing a getaway?” Twilight might, actually, the Crystal Pony thought. But she’s earned zero benefit of the doubt from anypony. Especially the one who saw her stroll into Canterlot with the previous Princess’ head on a pike. Right now, her plan relied on exploiting the lack of trust between commander and countess. And judging by the tentativeness knitting its way across the old Royal Guard’s face, it was working.

“I… see,” The Royal Guard leaned in closer to peer at Cori. She hoped he didn’t recognize her from her previous exploits in Ponyville. If that happened… “And I assume you know of the golden ponies too?”

Apparently, Standard wasn’t clued into the Guards’ actions. Not… too surprising, tragically enough, considering what Cori had been able to get away with last night at the Canterlot Castle. “Not… too much. But I do know if they’ll be anywhere… it’ll be in there. Far from the Queen.”

Cori thought of the amber-coated pegasus just underneath the struts of the last departing chariot for the Basin.

“I am… not certain this is actionable information, Miss Cori.. Most of it is hearsay.”

“Please, Standard. Neither pony in this room is a fan of the Queen’s auctions and I know that your biggest regret was. Especially with Kibitz .” Gympis’ words on Standard’s condition rang through the ambassador’s head.

Knight-Commander Iron Standard shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’ll call them - see if they can stop this plan in Canterlot. It... is within my jurisdiction. But I expect there to be something worth stopping there, young mare.”

Cori’s voice waved as she thanked him. “Don’t worry, I think you’ll find quite a missing ponies case on your hands, Iron…”

“...which means we have to be in and out of there fast!”

The Crystal Pony was speaking to Minuette at a mile a minute. “Port me back the second the cargo in the center of PonyvilleTrain Station leaves. And let’s hope that Forget-Me-Not spell Amethyst places on Viscera goes through. .I’ll need Winona.” Her nose, specifically.

“Right, because she’s got the nose for the direction…”

“... and the colorblindness to see that vivid light beacon it’s giving off. Won’t be a frequency anypony else can find, though.”

“So what’re you doing?”

“Covering Derpy. I know how long it’ll take Standard’s best flyer to reach the others. Second he does, A.K. disengages and flies the rest of the way to the basin. My redirecting Standard will give her the best head start. And this…”

Cori revealed the pieces of armor attached to the wall-eyed pegasus. That, plus the dye job to her formerly blond mane gave her a very different appearance indeed .”Is to give us - and Daring - a head start.”

Derpy nodded, but her attention was drawn to the Friendship Express whistling its way past the tunnel in the mountain leading to Canterlot. The light reflected on everything quite nicely that today, she thought. The chrome of the pony-drawn train’s smokestack, the steel of the rails twisting around to their position in the station, even that odd winged being swooping to a perch over those mountains.

Wooow. Especially that being. Was it part of the troupe? Derpy almost asked the nice Crystal Pony next to her. But for some reason, her eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the being. Its coat looks nice though, a dark violet-red. And its size… it almost made the mountain look like a perch Oooh! Derpy’s eyes brightened up. Perhaps she’d got to some muffins of her own as well! I could tell Amethyst about t-.

But then their eyes met. Amber bored into amber and the being’s eyes were like cat’s pupils, drawing the mailpony further and further in, the thought of freedom and vengeance and riddle-me-this wedging its way into the grey pegasus’s mind like-

The titanic being spread its magenta wings and left, golden embroidery twinkling in the light. The Express was but feet away. “Oh-! Derpy! The train’s coming, Flash Sentry’s with ‘em! Get ready to spring the trap, let’s go!” The clipping of hooves as Cori beat hooves away toward the town center - toward her own plan, her own rescue - brought Minuette back to reality, as she helped edge Derpy toward the shadow of the train station’s awning.

But Derpy’s mind was a million miles away. And as she stared blankly, so did that strange being, spreading two wings as wide as she was long and disappearing behind the mountain. Moving to the east.

Her hooves clenched hard against her sides, her teeth bared in the same scowl as that giant quadruped she’d seen.

Find the Viscera. Follow the Viscera.

And as the Express steamed in, filled to the brim with the servants of that very being who’d taken her precious Dinky from her, she smiled.

The little pony that’d come back in her head would soon be sated. Viscera wouldn’t be hard to find soon.

Not hard at all.

“-so, we’re gathered here today to unite Q-Queen Twilight Sparkle and P-Princes Rainbow Dash in their hooves in marriage….”

Viscera shifted in her makeshift box, certain she could feel one of her knees push out one of her ribs. Tight fits were a bitch, but the purple alicorn and cyan pegasus ahead of her were worse.

It had taken an entire series of site-to-site ports after this tabernacle was delivered to the center of town, and buy the time it landed in the spot she was at, her head felt like it’d gone through a

Immediately, Viscera recognized Moon Dancer’s tone. Minuette and Jasmine had made note of how shaky her voice was after Iron Pony II, and that trait had not receded now. If anything, it was worse.

Not that she could confirm, what with this entire altar Viscera was stuck in shrouding her vision!

And also the smell. The pungent smell of lemony acid. Did Filthy need to work over the alter this way-?

BA-BLAM!

And then the bundling across from them. The familiar snapping up of amethyst energy rang up around it. But Viscera knew full well neither of the happy couple was the target. In fact, that they and the Princes’ eyes were drawn to it was the point, as the minister of this ceremony was quickly spirited up and out of sight before they could notice. Viscera smiled. Apparently, Gympis got in.

Idly, Viscera wondered if the foursome would ever notice just how short they were on Royal Guardsponies present.

“Go. Back entrance. Feel free to rape the fuckers ripping up my town before she dies.” And suddenly, whether Twilight knew who else had come with her entourage was gone, as was the possibility.

Thankfully, the settling of cream-covered hooves next to her signaled the final piece of their scheme settling into place.

“And to you both, the bonds of love are more precious than anything, whether it lasts a century, a decade, or even four minutes…”

One of the Guards came back, the flagging form of a being with four golden black-spotted legs on its back. “Princess. Found this golden pony outside. We think one of the other Guards may have downed it, though none will confirm.”

“They’re never alone. Carry it outside. And the next time you interrupt our knot-tying, I’m tying your dick into a pretzel, got it?”

The guard wilted. Even here, Viscera could finally discern the smell of this ‘downed’ golden pony - and the pungent aroma of cutting unto her sinuses.

Cori was in that oversized facsimile of a Thestrel, likely swimming in the plasma-like ichor.

Cori was here. Moon Dancer likely noticed too.

It was time.

“Oh, how I apologize… Did I say four minutes? I meant three. Two. One…” Music to Viscera ears, that sudden heft to Moon Dancer’s voice was.

Then the ’corpse’ the Guard pony was carrying shifted dangerously. And in a dozen seconds, the balance of power in all Equestria, for the briefest of moments, took a sharp turn.

Within the first two seconds, both Goldilock and Bulk burst out of the cavities in the columns to either side of the room. Viscera scurred out from under her hidey-hole too, her pupils narrowing to slits at the realizing where the Queen had held her impromptu wedding. Specifically, by the casualty listing chalkboard before her. One she knew was once the property of-

This is the Ponyville Schoolhouse! They’re getting married in the place they exacted their Ponyville Massacre?! Rage boiled in her through. Suddenly her steps toward the statue almost set circular ruts on the floor beneath her.

She’d noticed this place before. She’d run by it. Known so much of what transpired there. But this… this was the worst of it all, that the Queen would see so much glee in the onslaught she orchestrated here that she’d make it the venue for her own wedding.

At the same time, Gympis’s chitin and igniting horn etched out from between a cream-colored visage and she blasted Princess Dash clean into the corner. Too close to dodge the blast, and hurtled back at too fast a speed to halt, Dash was out on the bloodstained floor within seconds, the last shreds of Moon Dancer fading away as Gympis leaped back.

At the same time, the crunch of the column as it shattered around Prince Shroud’s barrel bathed the room in white clouds of dust. Then Goldilock grunted with exertion as she turned and aimed the pillar between her forehooves up to catch Toxic in the face. He would quickly stop its path with his own horn however, touching the pillar as it did so.

Cori’s horn flashed out next, a spike of hardened turquoise threaded with silver light as it hit the pillar. A snarl was all Prince Toxic Haze got out as he turned to the Crystal Pony.

But Goldilock, now within a foot of him thanks to the shrink-wrapping Cori’s magic had done and thankfully ignored in the chaos, reared back and head-butted the changeling. A sharp crack rang out as he staggered back, gouts of green blood spraying from just underneath his horn and sending him staggering back.

It also kept him from spotting the other pillar speed toward him, chains attaching them turning it into a ricochet of its twin’s flight path, Unfortunately, the swing of this artifice was too narrow to hit the mark, and the edge of it whistled past him.

Fortunately, Cori had grabbed onto this edge mid-flip, and her swinging rear legs smacked into Haze, sending him into the chalkboards – and la-la-land – with furious impact. Spiderwebbing cracks danced out among the spots on the chalkboard, both his and Dash’s records of their last time in this room crumbling down on his fallen form in a hail of plaster and call.

The trajectory of Goldilock’s column crashed across a bubble of shimmering amethyst and split in half, core just partly able to curl in before being sent spinning through the side door and into the hallway. Queen Twilight, now shielded and seething, turned her horn on the incoming Gympis, now almost wholly swathed in golden-pallor and fired. The impact sent Gympis speeding back just under the windowsill but not completely down. It also set Cori’s tail alight, the Crystal Pony leaping back in fright trying to pat out the flames.

What wasn’t seen in this turmoil was the crimson pony scaling the statue of the mare of honor, looming over the entire room, in a series of looping flips. What wasn’t seen was the tapping of hooves as her own Thestrel-lization took over, just as she front-flipped over the horn that every statue bore. And what Queen Twilight did not see as her horn ignited for a body-splitting elbow upon Goldilock was the speed at which Viscera’s thrust-out rear leg came towards her blind spot from above.

Queen Twilight, however, felt it- at stabbing, a twisting blossom of torment beginning from the point where hoof met skull. Vis, in all her gleaming metamorphosed glory, had brutally curb-stomped her into the floor. Her golden body passing through her barrier like it was a pool.

The wood under Twilight’s falling form buckled and bent, her snout was driven into the splintering wood as Viscera bounded off her. The Queen didn’t move, though her chest rose and fell limbs spread-out at twitching angles among the calamity the Thestrel hybrids had wrought.

There was no time to further the damage. The entirety of their time was solely to get in, grab the goods, and get out. A signal to Gympis – she was up to help down the tied-up Moondancer. Goldilock leaned heavily on the destroyed pillars, the winged Thestrel trying to catch her breath. And beside them all, Cori finally dipped her tail into the pile of jam the corpse had that mimicked the Thestrels’ plasma-like ichor. A column of steam issued forth as the fire died out, a breathy sigh escaping her throat.

But as Viscera was busy surveying the four downed monsters, this twisted dysfunctional foursome that she'd just crashed upon, she realized something had to be said. This was the first – possibly the only – time anyone had so cleanly got the drop on Queen Twilight. Still too dangerous to capture, still too powerful to kill, Viscera’s heart was pounding at what she’d done.

This was a climactic confrontation, and she wanted to make it count.

As her three allies – no, friends! - crowded around her, and her gaze turned back to the golden facsimile of Twilight’s shining statue, Viscera breathed in. Blood, and urine, and a hundred other bodily discharges still haunted the edges of this macabre room, along with the faint lemony scent of… polish.

One such source was approaching her from one of the wedding bands, currently in Gympis maw as she had slid it off of Dash’s forelimb. The other was in Twilight’s and Viscera was all too quick to slide it off. None too subtly, either; her hooves left angry red scars on violet fur as she tugged it free.

Viscera then turned to the downed Twilight. Their last encounter had no words, and yet so much was translated. Even now, familiarized panic gnawed at Viscera’s mind: Twilight, like Queen Cipactli so long ago, looking down on ponykind like they were more grist for her mill. And now this crimson pony, this one who’d lost limbs, long hours of rest, nearly loved ones to her madness.

Viscera had so much she wanted to shoot back at those fluttering orbs of amethyst below her, to rings of gold in her hooves and verbal acid biting at her maw.

“This was for the massacre – in here, with the Wonderbolts, at Canterlot, and of the trust everypony so futilely put into you to rep Harmony.”

“Facedown on your back with a mare pounding you silly? Did I stop your honeymoon or just spoil it?”

“Cori was right. Everypony’s life is worth it. A pity you barely count as a pony anymore.”

“From today onward, I’m gonna make your reign, your friend’s reigns, your every. Waking. Moment. As much hell for you as it is for everypony but you.”

“Equestria’s last ruler may only be a head. But you should’ve quit when you were.”

Stuck in a chaotic classroom, columns snapped before her, royals scattered around her, walls and flooring still caked brownish-red with her namesake, every thought of parting words coiled through her like snakes from a nest. It would all be so perfect, so beautiful, so delightfully life-threatening – as all good jobs in her life had been.

But, as with Daring, only four words did actually escape Viscera’s lips as she drew on that bundle of nerves within her, that clutch of amygdala-hooked synapses that yearned for escape.

“Kiss my ass, Sparkle.”

With a rending screech of Thestrel-given teleportation, the air around her rippled. Viscera, her three friends, Moon Dancer, and the very statue behind them was gone.

Untraceable and undeterred.

Just as Viscera was when she went into the belly of the baroness.

Space itself seemed to screech in protest of unloading so much in one area at one nanosecond, as four ponies and their 24-carat cargo appeared in the cavernous cellar of Berryshine’s tavern. Viscera, gaze still affixed to the floor, shot her eyes up to meet the various ponies, all in the middle of setting up to leave before they showed up. The pregnant pause in the room right then and there seemed to stretch forever. But soon, everypony in that tavern was cheering (Well, most if them. Viscera had to assume Filthy Rich’s warm smile was his equivalent).

Viscera herself was still shaken over what had transpired, and where. Her body trembled, even before the flood of ponies rushed to shake her hooves, Lyra and Bon-Bon themselves settling for no less than hugs. Her head buzzed with triumphant glee even as Spoiled remarked that this was something that could fetch a pretty bit from Rhythmus.

And her heart… oh, that organ thwacking its metronome proudly in her chest almost wanted to leap out and join with those jostling ponies at the bar taps all around her, even as-

“I knew you’d come through, Vis!”

Well on the subject of bars and ponies. Just as Viscera and Cori pulled off her in a hug, just as Gympis gave a short nod to her before buzzing toward the Clovers (and notably far away from the setting-up Octavia Melody – Berryshine was there. Smile curved enough to pop the cap on the bottle of red cider in her hands and the other looped around Viscera’s neck, both ponies embracing among the roaring crowd.

“Where’s Colada?”

“Back with Roseluck and Junebug at the shop! Needed to make sure nopony here gave away the bar! And with the Queen like… wait, you know where she is?”

“Right in the Ponyville Schoolhouse,” Even Viscera’s voice felt alien to her. She’d never recalled feeling so overjoyed after a mission, whether from the thrill of seizing a prize or the relief from escaping a failure. But then her jade eyes locked onto Berry’s amethyst, and suddenly she realized where the true prize had resided all along. Ever since she’d found her first pony to save. The first with a name. The first to stick up for her, even among other friends. Even before she, and Rappid, and Cori and Gym-

-well, okay, second-best friend, then. But the one who she was just now recognizing was so inviting to everyone, especially the ones holed up in a bar she’d nearly been ruined – physically and mentally – for trying to bring to the suffering in this village. She wasn’t just a helper, she was the helper. And in her eyes, Viscera saw the pony that…. Only one other had been. Before the Ponyville Massacre.

That pony now stood before her. Viscera couldn’t - wouldn't - let her chance slip away again. This wasn’t like the Terrifying Tower. And Viscera was done running from danger. “Before you say another word, I wanna apologize,” she rasped out.

“F-for what, Vis?” Berryshine had to crane her neck to meet her eyes, hear her voice.

“For the first kiss of mine I wasted earlier.”

And then Viscera’s lips crashed into Berryshine’s.

Whatever din the starting party in this tavern was at, it started threatening to burst out from the building now. Thank Cadance that Vinyl had soundproofed this safehouse from anypony noticing from the outside of it. Thought it could not be said for the ponies inside when the first of her records went on the dashboard.

Never thought nightmares would come so true /

Though now I wonder when debt comes due /

But now I seek to fight, and love anew /

Eve-‘n in spark-lin’ visceral hue…

Four-o-clock, and finally the drumbeat of Vinyl Scratch’s jams wasn’t buzzing through her ears. Viscera had to say though; despite her normal disdain for the DJ’s music, it provided a perfect way to mask Berry’s moans. And the bed splitting between their thrashing. And the lamps shattering when Berry was shuddering in her –

Now Viscera really had to shake some cobwebs loose. The buzzing wasn’t just from that DJ; that was for certain. Some of it was definitely owed to the tousle-maned.

Tell you what though, niece, you’re dead wrong. The only thing I want after this is something cold and wet.

As the rise and fall of her fellow mare’s breath rocked the carpeted floor they were on, Viscera remembered just who owned the building they were in. And what it served.

Damn it.

Viscera’s lips twitched, and she reconsidered that frosty. But… they could still share it together. She knew her way around a tap. “Don’t worry, Berry. I just wanted to get a glass. While Vinyl’s busy not shattering them with her songs.”

“StrawCran tap’s my fav,” came the reply as Viscera gingerly made her way to the door.

“I’ll keep an eye out, luv.”

However, it would be her ears that alerted Viscera to oddities first, as a chorus of rasping breaths came from the door just before the stairs leading to the bar. At first, Viscera thought she wasn’t alone in the after-party activities. But something about it felt wrong. Despite the muffled gasps, nopony was answering them. Not even in their throes.

Viscera shouldered open the door. The room was empty but for a chair – and the cream-colored unicorn tied and gagged to it.

“Moon Dancer!” The crimson pony rushed to her, noticing the ring of iron still around her horn.

Halfway to her, the thief finally remembered just who she’d been spirited from, then returned to, then spirited from again in Ponyville. First in Iron Pony II, now from this wicked wedding. And suddenly, she realized the glasses just an inch from falling off her nose might not be the only broken thing in this room.

Knowing what this yo-yoed unicorn was doing here was now the utmost interest for this pony prizefighter. She almost forgot just how she’d gotten to the room and back with a foaming glass of cranberry apple cider, but did notice the twitching snout and tongue she raised it to lapped at it greedily. “Easy, Moon. Now tell me what-”

“Who’re… you?” Even with her whistle wettened, Moon Dancer’s voice was labored and short.

“Viscera. Apparently this now marks two times we’ve saved your life, as much overtime work as the word ‘saved’ has been doing lately.” “Care to tell what got you tongue-tied?”

“W-what got me…. Hold on, did you take the statue?”

“Pardon?”

Moon Dancer twitched violently at that word, in a way Viscera swore could only be from bad experience. Like her and ‘failure’. “You had a statue! I saw it in the room from the wedding is it still here?!” Suddenly her voice was shooting up by an octave a second.

Viscera shot an eye back into the room, noting it was minus one such rearing alicorn of gold.

“Oh nevermind, the better question is - why did you even bring it to begin with!?”

“Don’t see how that’s any of your busines-”

Moon Dancer’s rushed tirade blew right past the bashful indignation of the half-dressed Viscera. “Queen Twilight knew - from taking Spike, that bird, the vault, she fucking knew and you went ahead and took her statue?!”

“Last time before I wire that jaw shut, Moon! Why does it matter that we took some hunk of gold?” Viscera snapped. But the look Moon Dancer shot her back sent her heart pushing its way into her esophagus.

Viscera was used to her authority carrying some sizable heft. From the beginning of her prizefighting path, her body was taut with muscle and impish malevolence, her tone heavy with suaveness and sinister intent. But more often than not, it was couched with the taunts of a sweat-generating showdown with daring, or with the nonchalance of a series of traps before that she’d weave through with ease. Sometimes, though, more precise force was needed to push out a damned from a lump of coal.

And then Viscera’s true voice came out.

When that visceral tenor - the one that promised bloodshed if answers weren't forthcoming - came out, most people either clammed up or wilted back. There was no third option. Mainly because Viscera brokered no such option.

Until this cream-coated unicorn’s eyes met hers.

Moon Dancer’s eyes, however, hadn’t changed from the panicked gleam that the tears in them had welled up. And her next few words showed just why.

“Because The Queen flooded that ‘hunk of gold’ with trackers - and in four hours, she’s gonna kill everypony near it!”

Viscera’s jaw fell open. Not in shock, but pure horror. Her eyes locked on that cavity in the room where once resided a quadruped of princess luster, only slowing down when she was certain it wasn’t anywhere in that basement’s hall. Then even further, the beats from her chest abated upon knowledge of another factor. “Impossible, man. Magic can’t bypass magic, only ponies can! And unless somepony’s in that statue…”

Cold sweat flashed across Viscera’s coat. Moon Dancer’s sunken face darkened even further. “Did you even stop to wonder, for one second, why I was the only pony among four that was brought back to this town?!”

Right. Viscera needed to gain control of the situation. If it wasn’t here, then where ever it was would soon be flooded with incoming Queen Twilight in a second!

Then her mind shifted to the very ponies who’d commissioned their caper. The Riches, right! And they’d... “Alright, so we just have to destroy that statue and everything’s fine then.” Viscera was leaping across that spacious tavern basement before she could stop herself, the crises of Moon Dancer to let her go falling on ears as deaf as they were prickling with despair. Vibrating hooves found their way onto Rappid Fires’ shoulders, and the white-coated pegasus was soon shaken awake. “Where’s the statute, Rappid!”

“In transit, do you not care that it is... “ And Rappid’s sleep-dusted eyes finally traveled to a clock. “Three thir-.”

“We screwed up! That statue; it’s a Twilight trap! Where is it?!”

Upon the mention of Twilight Rappid’s eyes shot open. Processing the rest of Viscera’s statement took some time -and a Turnip Hayseed level truckload of “WHAT?!”s ripping free from a white-speckled maw - for them to process.

The answer after that, however, was of little comfort to either the prizefighter or politician. “No-nowhere here! The Cloudsdale mayor was up and alert now, even the hangover chased away as she struggled to piece together the transfer in her mind. “ Filthy Rich… after he had the bands he said Golden Gavel and Cori could do what they wanted with the Statue. Said the pads were better used for Tiara and Spoon’s graves than anything the queen cou-”

Viscera's left forehoof pointed desperately to the clock on the walls, in such a fervor the crimson pony was scared it’d snap off.

“Right!” Rappid refocused. “I don’t think it’ll be too hard to find it, Cori said she and Princess Cadance had a plan for using it to hold the Equilixir Daring had to put into a Guard! But the only place it was safe enough to test... “ Nightmarish realization hit both ponies at once, Rappid’s with audio to match. ”Oh Celestia, it’s going to the Crystal Empire!”

Forget her throat, the blood pump of Viscera’s was now squashing itself flat against her wrapping-covered rearhooves. The Empire?! The one spot supposedly shielded from Queen Twilight’s fantastic rampages? The one with the last sane alicorn in Equestria?!

… And Viscera had just delivered the Queen a key into its very center.

The wedding-crasher could feel her heart skip a beat in that now way-too-silent cellar.