“Hey!”

The Guardian looked around, but he refused to look at her.

“I said, ‘hey’!” The Great and Powerful Trixie shouted at the unheeding creature. “Look at me you-you… reptile!”

The Guardian, however, ignored her, choosing instead to ponder the night sky.

Trixie growled. Nopony, or rather, nolizard ignored the Great and Powerful Trixie! “Oh! You. Are. Going. To. Pay! RIGHT NOW!”

Her horn flared with magic, taking hold of a trio of sizeable boulders nearby. With a smirk, Trixie attempted to levitate them and throw them at the Guardian, but her smile died when the spell simply fizzled into nothing.

Trixie blinked, confused, before her eyes narrowed in contempt. “You stupid Guardian! Stop stealing the magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” She stomped up to the huge creature and kicked him as hard as she could with her hind legs.

However, her hooves met no resistance and she lost her balance. Trixie landed in a heap and twisted around to glare at the creature as he slithered away. “How dare you dodge Trixie’s kick?” She hollered. “And what the hay was that? You were supposed to teach Trixie something! And all you did was scare Trixie half to death!” She paused. “N-not that The Great and Powerful Trixie was even remotely scared to begin with! But it was a good attempt! Trixie will give you that!”

The Guardian did not turn around, instead heading into the forest.

“Hey! Stop ignoring Trixie!” Trixie insisted.

A small, nasal voice spoke on her right: "He's not ignoring you..."

“Waaah!” Trixie jumped several feet into the air and landed horn pointed toward the cloaked pony that had startled her so.

Her eyes followed the cloak up to the skull hidden under its hood. Two burning red dots fixed on her under a strangely shaped, suspiciously sharp-looking horn.

“Who the hay are you, and why are your skin and muscles missing?”

The skeletal pony regarded her as if she were dense. But before he could reply, she interrupted him: “And what the hay do you mean that he wasn't ignoring me? Trixie was shouting at him and even kicked him!”

The cloaked pony sighed. “He wasn't ignoring you. Look around.”

For the first time since awakening, Trixie looked around the small clearing. “Well, what is it you want me to see? I mean there's a lot of red around, and blue…hair...”

Trixie shook her head. It couldn’t be. In a panic she looked at herself and sighed in relief when she noticed her mane seemed to be in perfect condition. Then she noticed something that made her tremble to the core of her being.

“I-is that...” she stammered, looking slightly green.

“Yes,” the cloaked pony said.

“But...” She motioned with her hooves at her own face, which was currently still in one piece. Unlike… the other one.

“Let's just say that the Guardian did not just try to scare you.”

“Oh.” The Great and Powerful Trixie grew confused as she floated off the ground and began glowing softly, wisps of light floating out of her and disappearing into the night. “Wha-what's happening?”

The skeletal pony might have shrugged. It was hard to tell, with his body covered in that black cloak. “Nothing. You are going beyond; as your ties to this world are broken one by one, you will begin the next journey.”

Trixie fell silent. It seemed so… sad. She let herself drift up, thinking about everything she could have done differently.

Seeing that his charge was well on her way, Mort nodded to himself and turned to go to his next appointment. Maybe soon he would get an interesting pony. Like that drummer. Or maybe a lead singer? He could get more autographs that way.

Trixie looked at the world below her. From her vantage, now that she was floating over the treetops, she could now make out the lights of a distant city and the shape of the Guardian snaking in that direction. It was a city she would never be able to perform at. Ever. All those ponies that would be deprived of her greatness… it was too much! The revenge she wouldn’t be able to enact… the lights around her body died as she grew angry.

“Oh, hay no,” she growled. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not going quietly after becoming lunch for an overgrown snake!”

Her ethereal form solidified as she slowly floated down to ground level. When her hooves touched the jungle floor, Trixie concentrated. After a few moments, the slightly-chewed magician's hat lifted from the ground.

Trixie grinned. It seemed like such a small feat when compared what she could do before… but it was a step forward.

She would get her revenge yet!

The sentries outside Celestia’s hall, opened the doors just enough for their fellow guard to gallop in, quickly closing them behind to avoid revealing anything to the curious nobles and servants that were wandering outside.

“Princess Luna!” the guard called out, slowing down as he approached the mysterious room.

Luna slowly emerged from the room, a frown crossing her countenance before she turned to stare at the guard, watching him shuffle uncomfortably in place. “I thought I ordered the hall closed to anypony and everything but the most important of matters.” She calmly walked up to the terrified guard. “What could be so important as to make you burst into the hall without even knocking?”

“Uh...” He took a deep breath. “Twilight Sparkle and her friends are here. You asked us to let you know immediately as soon as their chariot landed and uh... there is no other way to reach you than to walk into the hall, your highness since you blocked all sorts of magical scrying and communication.”

Luna stared impassively at the guard, not saying a word.

He cast a glance at the exit, calculating how quickly he could get there and estimating just how much time he had before he would be blasted into pieces.

“Oh.” Luna blinked and nodded. “So I did. Well done, guard. Bring Twilight Sparkle here, alone, and have her friends tended to.” She turned around to head back into the room.

“At once your highness...” he hesitated, drawing Luna’s attention back to him.

“Yes?” Luna asked, tilting her head a little.

“Um... how is Princess Celestia feeling? We are all worried about her.”

Luna sighed wearily. “What is your name, guard?”

The guard stood straighter. “Ebon Rain, your highness.”

“She will recuperate, Ebon Rain… tell everypony that the sun will soon return to its daily routine”

Ebon Rain nodded and left immediately, leaving Luna alone in the hall with her thoughts.

Twilight Sparkle walked slowly through Canterlot, with her friends following her a few steps behind. Around them ponies of all types argued amongst themselves over who was responsible for the current situation. It was too soon after Luna’s return, and the legend of the Mare in the Moon was clearly still fresh in the minds of ponies.

“I’m sure Princess Celestia is just ill,” a cream-colored mare reassured her husband.

“I heard at work that Princess Luna turned into the Nightmare again,” he countered, looking around fearfully. “She was away for a thousand years and she’s back and she doesn’t want revenge?”

Twilight encountered similar discussions along the way, mostly centered on Luna’s role in keeping the sun from rising.

“My, it seems ponies are rather quick to presume,” Rarity observed.

Twilight sighed. “I wish they wouldn’t talk about Princess Luna like that,” she said.

“Well...” Dash muttered from where she hovered. “You have to admit it looks kinda suspicious. The last time something like this happened it was her fault, y’know?”

Twilight nodded, frowning. “But that was more than a thousand years ago! And we freed her from the Nightmare! There’s no way Princess Luna would fall back into it just like that!”

“Um… Princess Luna doesn’t really have any reason to be jealous anymore, does she?” Fluttershy ventured. “I mean,” she scratched the floor, not making eye-contact. “She’s been pretty happy with the nightlife and—”

“Fluttershy’s right!” Pinkie Pie interrupted. “With all the parties and nightclubs and discotheques, and vampony-cults, there's no way she'd feel like nopony likes her nights!"

“Guessin’ ain’t gonna get us anywhere,” Applejack stated. “Let's hurry up and meet with the Princess. Then we'll find out what's really happenin’.”

A group of guards approached them. “Lady Twilight,” one of them said, saluting curtly.

“Ebon Rain!” Twilight Sparkle looked expectantly at the guard. “Can you tell us what’s going on?”

The black-coated unicorn shook his head ruefully. “I’m afraid not, Lady Twilight. It’s classified at the moment. Princesses Luna is in a meeting with Princess Celestia and Captain Lance… they require your presence there, in private.”

“Now, hold on an apple-pickin’ minute!” Applejack said, stepping up to Ebon Rain and leaning in to look him in the eye. “All of us here are friends of the princesses. We should be able to go with her.”

Ebon Rain sighed. “Princess Luna is pleased you are all here as well. But she has requested to meet with Lady Twilight in private. I imagine you will find out what's happening after that... maybe even with the rest of us.”

“None of you know what's happening?” Twilight asked, earning several shaking heads from Ebon Rain and the other guards in reply.

“I'm afraid not, milady,” Ebon Rain said gruffly. “The only pony besides the princesses that knows at this time is Captain Lance.”

Twilight Sparkle blinked. “I see...” She turned to look at her friends. “This sounds very serious, girls, so please let me go first; I promise that if I can tell you anything, I will.” She looked pleadingly at the others.

Her friends all smile back in encouragement.

“Aw, don't worry about it, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “I'm sure we can find something fun to do in the meantime! It's Canterlot!”

Rarity nodded. “She's right, my dear. Please go ahead. Perhaps Spike can show us around?”

“Come to think of it... where is Spike?” Twilight asked, looking around.

In another part of the castle, in Twilight's old room, a powerful snore shook her bags.

“He must’ve stayed in the Library, Ah guess,” Applejack said, while Rainbow Dash tried to stifle a giggle.

“Don't worry,” Ebon Rain spoke up. “Princess Luna asked that you were tended to for the duration of your stay. We have already assigned you rooms, and we’ll be happy to show you around the castle.”

“Sounds good to me!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Very well then.” Twilight smiled at Ebon Rain. “ Would you mind showing my friends around? I can find my way to the princesses, and I’d like somepony I know to stay with them.”

Ebon Rain smiled. “Of course, milady, but let Shining Star and Stalwart Shield escort you to the princesses in my stead.” At the mention of their names, two of the guards stepped and escorted Twilight away, leaving others behind with Ebon Rain and a few other guards.

“Hey, wasn't it funny how Twilight flinched every time they called her Lady Twilight?” Dash asked the others.

“Yes... it was very strange... I think... maybe,” said Fluttershy, who noticed the guards had traded looks when Rainbow Dash asked her question. No one else, except for Rarity, seemed to have caught on, either.

“Yeah, since when has she been Lady Twilight?” Applejack chuckled. “Why, they make her sound like some prissy noble!”

Ebon Rain opened his mouth, but Rarity was faster.

“Oh, dear.” She sighed, her hoof massaging her temple. “You really don't know, do you?”

“Know what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised,” Rarity said after a moment. “But you didn’t honestly think that Twilight Sparkle was a common unicorn?”

“Well duh!” Pinkie Pie piped up. “Of course not, silly! She's the Element of Magic!”

The guards traded glances, but a quick look from Ebon Rain stopped them from commenting.

“No, no…” Rarity shook her head. “What I mean is... you didn't think she was a... common unicorn, dear.”

“Sugarcube, Ah think Pinkie Pie already pointed out that there ain’t nothin’ common about Twilight Sparkle,” Applejack said gently. “If anything, she’s the opposite.”

The unicorn whirled around to face away from the group. “Argh! How crude can...” Rarity grumbled incoherently to herself for a few seconds, then, taking a deep, calming breath and forcing a smile, she turned to face the others again. “Allow me to spell it out for you... she is not a commoner, she’s a N-o-b-l-e.”

“Oh, we knew that,” Rainbow Dash said.

Rarity and the guards blinked. “You did?”

“Yes! We know she is a loyal, noble, quirky egghead,” Dash listed.

Rarity gritted her teeth. “Not noble that way! NOBLE capital 'N'!”

“Ooooooooh...” The collective light of understanding in their eyes was at that moment as beautiful as any gem she'd ever found.

“Wait... so she's rich?” Rainbow Dash asked and then grew excited. “Wow! And she probably knows a lot of influential and famous ponies right? So she might actually know one of the Wonderbolts! That makes her like... twenty- no, thirty percent cooler!”

“Is that true?” Applejack asked Ebon Rain, who nodded.

“But how did you know?” Pinkie Pie asked Rarity, who blinked in surprise.

“Well, she grew up in Canterlot, she could afford going to the most prestigious university in all of Equestria, she was selected to be Princess Celestia's personal student—”

“Wait! But that was because she really impressed her when she applied to start!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “She told us herself!”

“Well, yes. That is true,” Rarity nodded. “But one cannot apply to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns if one is a commoner.”

“Oh my...” a new voice said. “Did you hear that?”

The group observed a pair of unicorns that strutted up to them.

“I believe I saw these five walk through the hall in the company of Twilight Sparkle. Could they be her servants?” one of them said.

The other peered at them closely. “They are not dressed as hoofmaidens... and I have never seen them in Canterlot before.”

“Hey! Who are you calling a servant? We’re Twilight's friends!” Rainbow Dash retorted, glaring at the unicorn. “And for your information we have been here before! We were invited to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“My, how… brash.” The unicorn sneered at the pegasus. “And the way you address her... ugh. It’s positively unfathomable that a pony of her breeding would associate with a pony that did not know their proper position.”

The other unicorn looked Pinkie Pie up and down. “Just look at the state of this mane and such a classless pedigree. So obviously... inferior. Why don't you return to whatever backwater you came from?” She turned to the guards. “Guards, please escort them out.”

Dash was about to reply but Ebon Rain stepped in front of her. “I am afraid, Lady Glitter Horn, that these five ladies are esteemed guests of not only Lady Twilight Sparkle, but also personal friends of Princesses Celestia and Luna.”

Glitter Horn looked at them with scorn. “I don't know why the princesses would bother with this... rabble.”

“Come now, dear,” the other unicorn said, sniffing rudely. “Let us be away from them.”

“Please do,” Rarity spoke up, waving her hoof dismissively.

The pair of unicorns stopped in their tracks, turning around to stare at Rarity.

“I cannot tolerate the blatant murder of style that they both have succeeded at, wouldn’t you say, darling?” Rarity quipped, smiling conspiratorially to a nearby noble, who smiled shakily.

Glitter Horn rounded on Rarity. “How dare you? I will have you know that this is an exclusive—”

“Passive Design, yes,” Rarity interrupted, sniffing dismissively and turning her nose up. “I noticed it was his lackluster work immediately, but felt it would be impolite to bring it up until you decided to share your thoughts with us. Given that you pretend sophistication, I believe it is my personal duty to correct your… error.”

“These are the highest quality dresses in Canterlot! How would you even begin to kno—”

“Fluttershy, dear,” Rarity interrupted once more, levitating the hem of one of the dresses. “These two ladies have obviously gone out of their way in their desperate bid for relevance. What do you notice here?”

“Um…” Fluttershy glanced at the dresses and shrunk away, noticing that other nobles had stopped to observe and were whispering to each other. ”Um... I t-think, um... that... uh... the details... I dunno if I should—”

“Why, you’re absolutely right!” Rarity gasped, letting the fabric fall as if it were rotten. “The details on the dress are all machine sewn,” she hissed. “Why, these are not designer clothes at all! They are the common result of mass-production!”

There rose a gasp from the crowd, and more than one noble pony seemed close to fainting.

The two unicorn ladies stared, wide-eyed, at all the ponies around them, feeling their judging glances.

“Well, you know what you should do, dearies,” Rarity offered kindly, smiling at the pair in a decidedly vicious manner. “Go find yourselves better clothes if you want to socialize with the elite. Certainly you wouldn’t want anypony to confuse you with… poseurs.”

The pair took a couple of steps back before turning around and galloping away to the dismissive and mocking laughter of other nobles.

Rainbow Dash stared at Rarity in awe. “That. Was. Awesome!”

“That was horrible!” Fluttershy spoke up, glaring at Rarity. “I would never expect you to be so… so cruel!”

“Well, that was one type of character assassination I haven’t seen in a while,” a familiar, yet unexpected voice said, making the whole group turn around.

“It's only character assassination if the victim has character to assassinate, Lyra, dear,” Rarity responded, smiling at the unicorn.

"Still, not what I was expecting from a fashion designer."

“There are a few things that assassins and designers have in common,” Rarity responded, smiling at the unicorn. “A sharp edge and an eye for detail being two of them.”

Lyra smirked. “Well I wouldn’t take it that personally, Rarity. Glitter is just as her name suggests: pretty, but useless.”

Her eyes narrowed, turning to look in the direction of the departed ponies before settling on her demure friend. “I am sorry, Fluttershy, but I cannot stand by and lift not a hoof while a pair of upper-crust leeches insult my friends.” She huffed and flipped her mane. “Besides,” she said after a moment. “Those dresses were so last season.”

Fluttershy frowned but looked away, whispering. “I still feel you shouldn’t have.”

“Now, what Ah would like to know is what you’re doin’ here, Lyra,” Applejack spoke up, shaking her head at her friend’s shenanigans. She looked at Lyra in confusion, the mint-green unicorn smiling shyly. “Last Ah saw you, y’all were downtown in Ponyville.”

“Well... I have family here in Canterlot and I attended the University here along with Twilight Sparkle... and those two,” Lyra replied, waving her hoof in the general direction Glitter had gone. “They were not, as a matter of fact, the sharpest knives in the drawer.”

“Well, how about that,” Applejack chuckled. “Ah’m sorry, Lyra, Ah just never mistook you for a prissy noble.”

Lyra smiled. “It's okay. If it’s fine with the guards, I could take you on a tour of the palace.”

The guards looked at each other until, eventually, Ebon Rain shrugged. “We have to keep you company, but we can give you some space.”

“Sounds good to me!” Applejack said with a smile. “Lead the way, Lyra! Or should Ah say, Lady Lyra?”

“Just Lyra will be fine,” the unicorn replied, bemused as she started walking. “This way. Let me show you the gardens first. I’m sure you’ll love them! I used to play the lyre there everyday after class.”

“Did you and Twilight have to deal with those two idiots while you were studying?” Rainbow Dash asked as they walked.

“Sadly so,” Lyra said, grinning. “But it was more tolerable than you might think! They might have been bullies, even then, but it was always amusing to see the simple concepts go right over their heads.”

“Maybe all they needed was somepony to give them a hug,” Fluttershy offered.

“Sugarcube, Ah’d rather hug a viper.” Applejack snorted.

Their escorts had to stifle snorts of their own. It wouldn’t do for certain nobles to see them act so casually.

Twilight followed the guards through the palace, trying to keep calm. Although she knew her way around perfectly well, she had to maintain a certain profile while she was here—she couldn’t rush through the castle shouting Celestia’s name. She sighed. Things were so much easier in Ponyville.

When they finally reached the halls that led to Celestia’s quarters, the guard stepped to the side of the door and nodded to the sentries.

The pair, after ensuring nopony was trying to follow in Twilight’s wake, nodded back and opened the door just enough for her to get through. “Please, go ahead, Lady Twilight.”

She nodded and walked in. The first pony she saw was Captain Lance, waiting outside a door she had never seen before.

The old, grizzled guard still looked stalwart, like he did as far back as Twilight could remember. Although she had not lived all her life in the palace, she had seen the guards plenty of times during parades in Canterlot, and Lance had always marched proudly at the front of the guard, bigger and tougher than the rest of the younger troops.

“Twilight Sparkle!” he chuckled as she rushed up to him and nuzzled him. “It’s been too long! How are things in Ponyville?”

“They’re great!” Twilight said, smiling. Her smile slid away a little and she stammered, “I-I'm sure you've read the reports about the Ursa Minor and other little problems, but I assure you, those are few and far between.”

The old unicorn chuckled. “Well, you can tell me about that later; right now we have a more important matter at hoof.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked. “Everypony has been so secretive about it! Even Luna's letter was vague at best.”

“That is because only Captain Lance, Tia, and I know what's going on,” Princess Luna said, walking out of the mysterious room. “And we all trust you to use very careful judgment if you tell anypony about this.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded soberly, reigning in her curiosity. “Is Princess Celestia okay?”

“Follow me.” Luna started walking towards the strange new room. “And see for yourself.”

Twilight followed Princess Luna into the mysterious room, where her eyes immediately settled on the lone pony huddled in the middle.

“Princess!” Twilight ran to nuzzle and hug her mentor, taking note of the sorry state Princess Celestia was in. “What happened?”

For her part, Celestia rested her chin on her student's shoulder. She had visibly perked up by the welcome addition to the ponies around her. “I'm sorry, Twilight... I know I should be out there but I couldn’t. Not-not after seeing this.”

Stirred by that comment, Twilight Sparkle finally turned around to look at the room itself. Any words that she could have said stuck in her throat as her mind quickly connected the dots and came to the obvious conclusion. “B-but... how is this possible?”

“We don't know,” Luna confessed. “Somepony of considerable power cast a spell so potent that everypony in the palace that might have known about it forgot about this room, and, if anypony even knew about my sister’s filly... they forgot about her too.”

Twilight Sparkle looked at her mentor, curled up in the center of the empty room, staring longingly at the crib and the books and the dolls. Princess Celestia would levitate the dolls up, hesitate and slowly lower them down into the crib again, almost as if she was afraid of taking them out of their sacred space.

She loved Princess Celestia with all her heart, she was in more than one way like a second mother. Twilight had spent more time with the Princess than with her real parents, after all.

Celestia had been the one solid pillar in her life when Twilight’s mother had passed away soon after Twilight’s admission into Celestia’s school, stepping in after her father had secluded himself in grief, unable to see to his daughter.

To see her like this, deprived of the happiness that a foal of her own would have brought her... and to make her forget even having had one... it was horrible. “Who would do something like this?” she asked quietly, but the other three in the room could feel the cold anger in her voice. “Who would take—” She couldn't say it.

“Again, we don't know,” Luna said, her own voice angry, “but we intend to find out. Between the three of us we are three of the most knowledgeable ponies in magic. If we study the spells here, we should be able to gain some clues.”

“And I will conduct my own investigation,” Lance said standing at the entrance. “I only need a time-frame.”

“Twenty years,” Twilight said, drawing the attention of the three ponies. “It should be close to twenty years ago. Princess' Celestia's filly should be a young mare about my age by now.”

“Not that I doubt you have a solid explanation for your calculation...” Luna began. “But how can you be so certain?”

Twilight Sparkle walked towards the small bookshelf containing foal books. “Here... this rhyme book was first published around twenty years ago.” She smiled sheepishly. “I had a copy myself at home, before I moved into the castle.”

Lance chuckled and Luna smiled. “I am glad I immediately thought of you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“You couldn't have kept me away...” Twilight said with a sad smile of her own. “Not when my mentor needs me.”

Luna sighed. “Speaking of which.” She walked towards her sister. “Tia, you must rise. My moon has been in the sky for far too long; our subjects and friends need you to be strong. Concentrate... between us we can solve this and find your filly, but we can’t keep all of Equestria in a panic.”

Slowly Princess Celestia looked up, first at her sister, who had a warm, comforting smile on her face. Her eyes strayed to Lance, who nodded at her, his face tired but understanding.

Finally, her eyes sought out Twilight's. There she found strength, in the eyes of the one filly in her many years of life she had considered as close as possible to a daughter.

If anypony could find her lost daughter, it was Twilight.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and stood with purpose. She was tired from the tears, the lack of sleep, and the ever-present sting of the new found loss.

But, for her sister, her loyal captain, her faithful student, her subjects and... her daughter, wherever she might be, she could not simply lay there and do nothing.

When she opened her eyes, she was ready. “Let's raise the sun, my dear sister.”

Luna smiled and nodded.

“I’ll stay...” Twilight said, looking around. “I feel the magic in this room. I think I can start making sense of what happened here while both of you put Equestria at ease... and rest.”

Both princesses nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Captain Lance and Twilight Sparkle behind.

“I will leave some guards outside the hall.” Captain Lance said, the old unicorn looking around the room one last time. “Is there anything you need?”

Twilight shook her head. “I think I have it covered for now. Thank you, Captain.”

Lance chuckled, drawing her attention. “You have been hanging around the Princesses too much, my dear Twilight. You almost sound like them.”

Twilight blushed. “I'm sorry, Captain. I—”

The old unicorn shook his head. “No. Don't be. I'm glad to have lived to see you become the self-assured young mare you are today. I'll take my leave for now, my Lady.”

The lights of the city attracted the Guardian to the edge of the river that separated it from the forest. His head reared up and turned north, towards the distant mountains, where Canterlot was located.

His eyes narrowed, and a growl escaped his throat. “She escaped the Nightmare…” He pondered in silence before looking back to the closer city.

From the protection of the trees, he watched as the ponies in the city looked nervous, casting looks to the night sky. “But, then, where is the sun?”

A murmur drew his attention back to the sky as the night turned to dawn and then midday in mere minutes.

As he turned, he absently used a claw to dig at something stuck between his fangs. He glared at it, then snorted, flicking the saliva-soaked cape of the formerly Great and Powerful Trixie into the river, where it was swept away by the current.

He withdrew back into the forest, ignoring Trixie who glared at his receding form.

“I think I will need help,” she sighed.

Concentrating hard, her horn glowed, and soon a small breeze pushed her hat towards the city of Baltimare. There was only one pony she could think of that would even give her the time of day. It didn’t sit well with Trixie to receive help from her once more, but what choice did she have?