One clank after another, and another after that, and another after that. One of a million sounds of metal clashing against metal rattles the brick confines of the forge. This is followed up by a certain mare’s deep and guttural grunt as she struggles to lift her hammer. Beneath all of this clatter, Rosemary sings softly to herself, hoping a jaunty tune can help her to ignore the aches in her forelegs.

“A soldier lad came here last night,
with riding he was weary.
A soldier lad came here last night,
and the moon was shining clearly.
Bonnie lassie, will you gang with me?
Bonnie lass, will ye lie near me?
I'll get all your ribbons reel,
in the morning ere I leave ye…”

“You’ve quite the singing voice, when nopony is listening,” says the soft voice of another mare. Rosemary recognizes the voice immediately. “Hello,” Shae says with a wave. She stands at the forge’s front steps, leaning against the railing. She has a small package levitating at her side.

“Wish ya’d be seein’ me in a better condition, darlin’...” Rosemary laments as she turns away from the forge and looks at Shae. She moves towards the enchanting table, her movement slow and jolted. “What brings you out here, this, er, lovely evenin’?”

The sarcasm isn’t lost on Shae, who takes a look at the falling rain. It’s not an intense downpour, but it’s enough to warrant keeping her hood up. The rest of her overcoat is moist and dripping.

Shae removes her coat, revealing her black undergarments, and hangs it up by Rosemary’s jacket. “I haven’t heard a peep out of you in days. Normally I’d assume you were out in the fields, scrounging for ingredients, but I know what you’ve been up to.”

“Same thing for the past two weeks, love. Doin’ the Empire a favor,” Rosemary says as she takes a seat.

“Working yourself to death?” Shae remarks. “Let me see you in the light.”

“I wouldn’t advise that, sweetheart…”

Shae ignores Rosemary’s advice and lights up her horn, bathing the forge in magenta. Rosemary’s face is revealed, causing Shae to flinch. The exhausted mare’s mane is more chaotic than usual, with strands sticking to her sweaty, grime-stained face. She starts to retract her hooves, but Shae takes notice of them quickly, noticing several welts and bruises, as well as a telltale shudder to every movement they make.

“Told ya.”

Shae goes to the water bucket in the corner and picks up a dry rag. “Have you been avoiding sleep again?” She soaks the rag and returns to Rosemary. “You know there’s nothing to gain from staying awake for too long.”

“I’ve been sleepin’,” Rosemary snaps. She loses her frown the instant she puts it on. “Most nights...” She clears her throat as she lays her black falchion and a large soul gem on the enchanting table. “She takes the trooper by the hoof, and leads him to her chamber…”

Shae sets her levitated package down next to the sword. “She's given him some wine to drink, and his love it flared like tinder…”

Rosemary’s dim eyes widen. “Ah, you know that one?”

“Sundance taught me a lot of tavern songs back at the academy. It certainly made stormy winter nights a bit warmer.”

“She is such a treat.” Rosemary opens the package, revealing three seasoned buns and a wedge of goat cheese. “Ooh, and speaking of…” She takes a bite out of one of the buns, devouring half of it in a single bite. Her chewing is louder than her talking.

“Now, this is the part where I urge you to do this much…” Shae gently pushes Rosemary’s hooves away from the sword and soul gem. Rosemary is too weak to resist. “You need rest, Rose. Real rest. Please, if not for yourself, then for me."

After utterly demolishing her bun and sinking her teeth into the cheese, Rosemary snorts in amusement. "I getcha. I need to be at my finest to be useful, right? You can save yer speech for later, hon." She picks up another soul gem, setting it in the center of the enchanting table, next to the falchion. "I've only got three more swords to make in this batch, and then I'll settle in for the night."

The sword glows brilliantly for a second, the light of the gems fading in contrast. As the light dies down, a faint mix of green and red light mingles on the blade.

"There we go," Rosemary murmurs with renewed vigor as she picks up her latest creation. "Captain Gauntlet needs a new sword, and do I have one for him. It's like a weapon made of coffee and poultices, able to heal small cuts and revitalize its wielder, perfect for an extended battle. Or, in my case..."

"You’ll need more than magic to fix your condition," Shae retorts as she pulls the weapon from Rosemary's grasp. "Come along, I won't ask again. You're going to bed, even if I have to wrap you up and keep you under the covers."

Rosemary smirks suggestively, her weariness dissolving slightly as she tries to form some reluctance. "And what if I resist?"

Shae smiles sweetly as she heads towards the stairs. "Then I'll just get Celina to help hold you down. And Luna knows some adorable lullabies that I'm sure she'd love to sing to you.”

Rosemary bows her head. Just the thought of crawling beneath the covers, in any form, causes her eyes to droop and her crying muscles to relax. Her voice weak and labored, she continues her song. “Bonnie lassie, will you gang with me, Bonnie lass, will ye lie near me…”

Shae wraps her aura around Rosemary’s forelegs and removes her from the table. Rosemary chuckles as she allows her hooves to move on their own, until she finds herself mere inches away from Shae’s face. “I'll get all your ribbons reel, in the morning ere I leave ye.”

The magenta light fades just before Shae’s lips collide with Rosemary’s.

“Good day, everypony, and thank you for attending. I will now ask you all to stand at attention.” Tohro clears his throat, stomps his hooves as he stands up straight, and summons the most commanding voice he can manage. “Attention!!”

Beneath the stage upon which Tohro stands, positioned in perfectly aligned rows, stand a countless amount of Imperial soldiers. All of their eyes fall on him as they salute.

“Ah, now that’s respect. Greetings to you all, good soldiers of the Empire.” Tohro salutes back. “I thank you all for gathering here today. As you’re all likely aware, this time tomorrow, we’ll all be fighting what is, let’s not be folly about this, going to be a difficult battle. Ghastly Gorge isn’t exactly notorious for sunshine and rainbows. But let’s not hold on to battles long past. The Legion has changed, and we know what lies ahead. Now, to relay our plan of attack, I give you Captain Gauntlet.”

There is a shuffling of hooves in applause as the captain comes onstage. His helmet is clutched in one hoof, showing off his furiously red mane. “Well said, Corporal,” he says to Tohro in a hushed voice, before stepping forth and addressing the soldiers. “As the benefactors of Equestria and its people, it is our responsibility to take on the task ahead without fear. I ask you all to look at our upcoming battle not as a threat to your lives, but as a chance to show the Blackwings their actions are not welcome upon this soil.” Gauntlet waves behind him. “Corporal Tohro?”

Tohro flies up to the wall and pulls down a large map, which has been decorated with a detailed etching of Ghastly Gorge from an overhead view. Captain Gauntlet lights up his horn, creating gold specks of light on one side of the map, and blue ones on the other. “The Blackwings will be at a disadvantage, as they will be funnelling out of a quarry. As such…”

Most of the gold specks move across the gorge, concentrating around the quarry. The blue specks attempt to move against the gold ones, but are pushed back.

Captain Gauntlet finishes Tohro’s sentence. “Most of you will be across the gorge, bottlenecking the Blackwings and keeping them away from the chasm. In case any of them manage to get around you, pegasi being the most likely to do so, they’ll fall prey to the smaller teams of soldiers scattered around here.”

A few more gold specks materialize in front of the gorge, picking off any blue specks that come their way.

Tohro gestures to the gold specks on the other side of the gorge. “Unicorn and pegasus troops will be positioned along this perimeter. If any Blackwings try to fly over the gorge or make use of the bridges, take them out. If that fails, cut the bridges down. That’ll make things a little more difficult for their earthwalkers and less disciplined unicorns on their end.”

“Should it come to that,” Captain Gauntlet announces, “we will have sages on standby, ready to set up a one-way nexus to get our reserves to the other side of the gorge. I emphasize this: one-way. You will have to get back by your own means.” He taps his hoof against a new set of specks far behind the gorge, these ones being white. “If you have to choose between protecting our camp base or stopping the Blackwings, choose the former. We need to keep our healers alive at any cost. Any questions?”

“Actually, I have one.” Tohro slowly steps towards the front of the stage. “Some of you are scared, right?”

A few of the soldiers across the room dart their heads around, slightly falling out of line.

“If you are, you’d be a fool to deny it. I’m scared too. Hold on to that fear, it’s what makes you better than the Blackwings.”

Captain Gauntlet takes a step back, allowing Tohro free reign of the stage.

“I don’t like to patronize," Tohro continues. "When I was with the Blackwings, Shokenda built me up to believe I was a part of something special. It took some good friends and a lot of convincing for me to realize I was just another puppet to her. I lost my purpose. I sought desperately for a cause, and in doing so, I ended up here, among all of you. I know my cause now. I think mine overlaps with many of yours. We all want a free and equal Equestria, with its fate held within the hooves of ponykind, and all others who grace its soil. This land does not belong in the hooves of a mare with delusions of godhood. Shokenda dares to threaten this good Empire? Well, we’ll show her troops a good time, while she falls prey to the blade of—”

“Me?”

Caro is up on the balcony overhead, leaning over the railing with a bemused smile.

“That’s right,” Tohro says. Although the soldiers hear him, his voice has become softer. “Yes, the Blackwings have their wildcard. So we have ours. We let them have their fun…”

“So you all can focus on taking the gorge.” Caro thrusts his hoof into the air. “That’s right! Shokenda’s blood will run alongside that of the Blackwings. I won’t fail you.”

“Stay the course, Dragonborn.” Tohro returns to his bold voice of announcement and continues speaking to the soldiers. “Remember your training. Trust your instincts. Put mercy before cruelty. Hold on to your fear, but don’t let it control you.” Tohro gives a salute to the soldiers, and again to Captain Gauntlet, who steps forward to take the stage.

“We make for Ghastly Gorge in two hours, soldiers. Put your affairs in order and meet at the front gates. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” every soldier shouts at once.

Tohro rolls his eyes. “Oh, come now. You can do better than that. Be as loud as you are strong!”

“YES SIR!” the soldiers shout again, their voices like a gust of wind.

“That’s how it’s done! Now move out!” Tohro commands.

The soldiers take their leave, departing the auditorium in rows. Instead of the stern and conflicted expressions Tohro had seen earlier, there’s a healthy amount of smiles and determined grins. Captain Gauntlet shares the enthusiasm, offering Tohro a friendly bump on the barrel.

“For someone who has seen the worst sorts of ponies imaginable, you make for quite the motivator,” says the captain.

“Takes all kinds,” Tohro says with a flip of his mane.

“But, just for future reference, I am the one who orders the soldiers’ movements, Corporal.”

Tohro stares at the captain quizzically. “Oh, is that so? Why do you suppose they took my order this time, then?”

Captain Gauntlet makes a one-noted laugh, gives Tohro one more nudge, and makes his exit from the stage. “Two hours, Corporal.”

Tohro looks up at the balcony, hoping to see Caro there, but the Dragonborn is being dragged away by an elderly looking mare. For a moment, his heart races, but he takes a deep breath and calms himself. He looks down at his hooves and says to himself, “If only that were enough…”

~Shae~

Hello, Shae Sparkle, star pupil of Headmaster Frosthelm, admirer of Clover the Clever, beloved child of two of Wintercolt Academy’s finest instructors. I presume Sundance, Lancer and Eavesdrop are doing well? How are your studies coming along? You’ll soon be leaving the comfort of your home to take up your extracurricular project, of course. I know the outside world seems harsh, but surely it is full of good ponies. Right?

Yes… Yes, it is.

I have to stop talking to somepony that doesn’t exist. In the mirror, there is just Shae Sparkle, mage of Dragonrein. Friend to Queen Platinum. Rosemary’s sweetheart. Murderer of Clover the Clever…

“Mommy?” says my beloved Luna. She has just risen from a large bundle of blankets that had become wadded up on my bed. Judging by the pillows loused around the room, she and Celina must have had quite the pillow fight last night. That, or a very enthusiastic pretend adventure. I haven’t had a chance to tidy this all up, because I’ve just gotten in. I wanted to get back sooner, but Rosemary was rather… insistent. And now I have to force myself to stay awake so I can take care of Luna.

I sigh, turning away from the mirror and going over to Luna. I pick her out of the sheets and kiss her on the forehead. “Good morning, little one.”

I haven’t yet told her about where I’m going today. It’s too much for a little girl at this hour. Until I find the courage to tell her, this will just be like any other day. But she probably won’t entirely understand the gravity of the situation. Celina, however…

“Good morning, Mother,” says my other lovely daughter as she enters the room. She has to push the door with her shoulder, as she has a tray of alfalfa, honey-baked biscuits and celery balanced atop her muzzle.

“What in the world are you doing, Celina?” I ask incredulously.

“Balancing act… I’ve been carrying it like this since I left the kitchen. You always said I should practice poise, and I think— Woah!”

As I expected, the tray starts falling from Celina’s nose, and all of its contents come with it. It’s easy for me to catch every last bit of food in my aura, helping them land on the tray just as it hits the carpet. “Keep practicing.” I pick the tray up and set it on the bedside table. “Thank you for coming by. I have something very important you should know.” I turn to the little one. “You too, Luna.” I regret saying that the second her smile disappears.

Celina seats a seat on the bed right next to Luna. “Is something wrong?” she asks.

“No, not in the sense that anything bad has happened…”

“Has happened?”

“...How about we focus on breakfast first, dear?” I suggest. “Nothing even mildly challenging should be faced on an empty stomach.”

“Oh, I’m not empty-stomached, Mother,” Celina reassures me as she takes the tray to the bed and sits beside Luna. She takes a bite of celery. Just now, I notice that she’s a loud eater. I would tell her it’s uncouth, but I’m in no mood to criticize right now. “I’ve been eating quite a bit lately. I have to be in top condition for…” She trails off. “I’ll tell you later.”

I hope she gets the chance.

Luna runs across the bed and reaches for a biscuit, but Celina levitates the tray just out of her reach. She takes another fork and offers some of the alfalfa to Luna. “Now, now, little sister. You know what we agreed on. Eat your alfalfa before you eat anything sweet.”

Luna tries to push the tray away. “No,” she snips. “It’s dumb and gross, and it smells funny!”

“Keep your hooves off the tray, loved one,” Celina says.

“You never eat your a… al… alfuhfuh,” Luna grumbles.

Celina purses her lips as she realizes that Luna is correct. Not once, despite my urgings, has Celina ever taken a bite of the stuff. For what reason, I’ll never know. But I’ve had my distaste for beans since before I can remember, so I’m not one to act so above it all. Leave it to Luna to convince Celina to finally have herself a mouthful of alfalfa.

Suddenly, Celina turns to Luna and opens her mouth wide. “BLAAAARGH! ALFALFA MONSTER!!”

“Ew! No!” Luna shields herself from Celina’s playful roaring, laughing all the while.

Smiling at their antics, I feel the urge to join in somehow, but all the same, I feel that this is their moment more than it is mine. To them, this is just another morning of peace. Peace, despite the world of chaos that lies outside of this palace, and this city. I don’t want to put it to an end, but I have to. I trot back and forth, hoping I can bring forth the words I pieced together in my head yesterday. They’ve all fallen to pieces since this morning, and lie in a pile before me. “I, uh… I have to... go.”

Luna comes down from her fit of giggles, a curious frown crossing her little muzzle. “Go?”

“Go where?” Celina realizes my implications sooner than I hoped she would. Divines bless her cleverness. “You’re attending the battle of Ghastly Gorge,” she says. I expected a question, but her unwavering voice makes it sound more like a resignation, like she doesn’t plan on protesting.

“That’s right. A few of the sages, as well as a good amount of soldiers, asked that I be a healer, and I said yes.”

Celina doesn’t speak, and Luna doesn’t make so much as a peep. It disturbs me far more than it should. I would have preferred if Celina had protested; begged me not to go, so I would have some reason to tell the sages and soldiers that I changed my mind.

Still, I feel the need to defend my choice. “I’ve surveyed my options. I could have chosen to stay here with you, and every wisp of the Fae within me demands I do so, but… I can’t possibly be a parent to either of you if Everfree becomes Shokenda’s next target. So…” My words aren’t strong, and they certainly wouldn’t convince me if I were in Celina’s place. My last syllable hangs in the room like an unwelcome draft of cold air.

“Okay,” Celina says, standing up and taking a few paces away. “That’s…” She masks her tears by clearing her throat. “It’s your decision, it’s perfectly…” And the mask is removed. Celina brings her hoof to her eyes and tries to wipe them clean, but it’s no good. I open up one of my drawers and bring out a small cloth, levitating it over to her. As she dabs at her eyes, she turns to me.

For a moment, I remember what Celina once was. I imagine her malnourished, anemic corpse of a body, with nopony to bring back her effervescent beauty. But before I make the easy decision, I remind myself that it will not be that way. Luna is here. Celina dreaded loneliness, but she will not have it. All of Everfree knows what she is. I can assume most of Equestria knows at this point. She will never be alone.

I’m resolute in my decision as Celina embraces me. Knowing she is ready to let me leave Everfree with the burden of the possibility that I’ll never come back, that is all the permission I need. The last part of me that demands I stay here has been stamped out.

“Then…” Celina wipes her eyes one more time. “Then I have to show you something now. I was going to wait until later, but…” She walks to the tray and starts wolfing down a biscuit. At the same time, she tucks a few celery slices behind her ear.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Can’t say. But it’s...” Celina interrupts herself by stuffing the rest of the biscuit in her mouth and swallowing. “It’s mostly for you. It’s also for the rest of Equestria. I’ll, uh…” She opens the bedroom door. “I’ll send one of the sages to get you when it’s ready.”

I try to protest. “But, wait, The sages will be busy with—” Celina doesn’t let me finish my sentence before she gallops away, leaving me to sit on the bed and ponder what she wants to show me. I would assume it’s a book, or perhaps jewelry, but I doubt I could share either of those with the rest of Equestria… “What do you think she wants to show me, Luna?”

Luna just hums in confusion.

I spend the next few minutes sharing the rest of the breakfast tray with Luna. For a little one, she can eat like a mare. I assume it’s just one of the many oddities that come with being an alicorn child. She consumes two biscuits to my one, and I assume she has room to spare.

“You really should eat your alfalfa, dear,” I suggest. “It helped me become strong. I’m quite sure Uncle Caro ate plenty of it as well.”

Luna seems more inclined towards my urging than Celina’s. She smiles and takes the fork in her hoof. “Yes, Mommy.”

Aside from the occasional sounds of hoofsteps outside the door, along with Luna’s chewing, everything is struck with an uneasy silence.

Knowing that Celina has a gift for me, I can’t help but feel it would be unfair to leave without giving something in return. But I don’t think I have anything that would befit my daughters. It can’t just be a book or a piece of jewelry. It would have to be something that contains all of my love and affection, along with that of my friends and family.

Family… Mother… “Oh!”

“What is it, Mommy?” Luna asks, putting down her fork. During that period of silence, she’s managed to consume all of her alfalfa and take in a few more biscuits as well.

“Sweetheart, I want you to have something.” I crawl onto the bed and nestle up close to Luna. I bring my hooves to my muzzle and remove my glasses. “These were a gift from my mother, and the only thing I have left to remember her by. I think it’s only fair that you have them.”

“Don’t you need these to see?” Luna asks, looking at the glasses with her naturally curious eyes.

“No… They’re mostly for reading, and even then, I don’t exactly need them. I just think…” I sigh and collect my thoughts. I don’t want there to be any more crying in this room. “You and Celina are the most important things in my life, and I think you deserve something that will help you remember that.”

“Don’t worry. I will,” Luna says as she puts the glasses on. They’re a tad too large for her, so they lie askew on her muzzle. “Heehee! I feel smarter already!”

That is probably the funniest and most adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I can’t help but laugh out loud. It’s odd how much my laugh has changed. I used to giggle, but now my laughter sounds hearty and full of love.

A sage comes by, peeking his hooded head into the room and asking, “Am I interrupting anything important?”

“No, not at all,” I reply, stifling my fit. “Did Celina send you?”

“Yes, she did.” He gestures to the hallway. “Everything is ready.”

“Ready? She must have put a lot of preparation into this, whatever it is.” I stand and begin to depart from the room. “Come along, Luna.”

Luna gallops out of the room before I make it to the door, where the sage speaks to me. “And don’t you worry about a thing, Miss Shae. Should Princess Celina grow fatigued, my fellow sages are on standby, ready to pick up the slack.”

Still left unawares of what Celina even intends on doing, I elect to just smile and nod, playing along with this surprise. I follow the sage, as well as Luna, through the halls. We take the corridor stairs up to the second floor of the palace, then turn into a hallway that leads to the balcony overlooking Celina’s garden.

There she stands, with three sages on either side of her. Her pink mane appears to be flowing, despite the lack of any breeze; it’s a very still night, with the sky almost completely cloudless, and not a hint of noise to be heard in the air. Yet, just by standing against the darkness, Celina creates a soft radiance that makes the world feel a little brighter.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Captain Gauntlet comes speeding past, nearly toppling me over. He stumbles to a halt, turns, and salutes me with the wrong hoof. “My apologies, Miss Shae.” He immediately resumes his gallop towards Celina. One of the sages has to silently urge him to slow down.

“Princess Celina requires absolute concentration,” the sage next to me whispers. “Step out onto the balcony and be as quiet as possible.”

“Understood.” I levitate Luna onto my back and touch my hoof to her lips. She nods, understanding immediately. Divines bless her.

Celina’s majesty is even more impressive up close. She doesn’t stand like the delicate flower I’ve come to see her as; rather, she stands like a ruler, her chest thrust out, her legs erect, her head held high. Her eyes are closed, I assume so she can keep focus. Her horn is alight, the brightest I’ve ever seen it glow.

“Mother…” she mutters under her breath, so quiet I almost miss it.

I approach her and lean in close. “Yes, my love?”

“When you brought Luna to me, I became the happiest I had ever been. So happy, I reached out to the clouds and parted them with my will alone. It was on that day that I realized I’m supposed to be a light in the darkness… So, I figured, why shouldn’t I be the one to do this?”

“Do what?”

Celina opens her eyes. Her irises are as bright as her horn, slowly turning from purple to gold. “It’s almost morning.” She steps forward to the very edge of the balcony and walks right off. Her hooves step onto thin air as if she never left solid ground, and she keeps walking until she’s standing over her prized garden, right above the circle of sunflowers I helped her plant.

As Celina spreads her wings, it occurs to me what she meant. I should have seen the signs. She had been disappearing to speak to the sages. She had been practicing her levitation with her food, her toys, slowly working her way up to levitating an entire kitchen’s collection of silverware and plates. I assumed she was practicing her magical talents for the sake of itself, but I should have realized her end goal. If her words weren’t enough, the depleted soul gems lining the balcony would have been enough to clue me in.

She’s rising higher into the air. Some part of me wants to stop her. Tell her it’s too much. She doesn’t have to do this now. But who would I be to deny her this? If the worst happens, I’ll catch her.

It’s still a trial to watch her strain herself against the weight of her burden. Her magic flickers every so often, causing me to tense up. Her eyelids are strained, her lips are curled, and her face is turning from alabaster to red.

The sages step forward all at once, but Celina’s eyes shoot open to stop them in their place. Her eyes are now entirely white, both blinding and entrancing. “All will be well,” she says. I can feel the reverberations of her voice in my skin. It’s as if she speaks to me more than she does to the sages.

The sky has become brighter, bathed in the deep blue of an early winter morning. It can’t be long now… I pray, for her sake, it isn’t.

With a strong yet elegant call, Celina raises her hooves to the sky, just as she did on the day I brought Luna to her. This time, however, instead of bringing light to Everfree, she brings light to all of Equestria.

The sun breaches the horizon, and Celina lowers her forelegs, letting herself fall. Her eyes are closing again… I think she’s losing consciousness.

I levitate Luna off my back and set her down. “Stay here.” I gallop to the edge of the balcony and leap off, surrounding myself in my aura to slow my fall and push towards Celina. I reach out and seize her, holding her close as her legs wrap around my body.

We land in the very center of the garden. I make sure to set myself down gently as to not disturb a single petal. I let Celina go, softly laying her down among the sunflowers.

My expression is one of awe as I turn to the sunrise. Its glow seems more magnificent than usual, but I have a suspicion that it’s my pride in Celina’s achievement that makes it seem that way. I look at her, taking in how her body’s natural glow is at one with the sunrise, and even more mesmerizing. Should she need to sleep, I’ll gladly stay here at her side.

But it seems the gesture would be unnecessary. Her legs start to move. In an instant, she’s grabbed ahold of me, her chin resting on my shoulder. I’m too caught off guard to return the embrace before I realize that she’s crying again, but these are happy tears.

“I love you…” Celina sobs into my coat. “Please… Promise me you’ll come back…”

My chest twinges as I try to think of some way to tell her the hard truth. “Celina, you know why I can't make that promise..."

"I know, Mother. Just... please, just... lie to me. Say it'll be alright. Promise you'll come back. Please."

"I..." My throat tightens; I know she's worried, but I’m willing to make this sin just to see her smile one more time.

In case I...

"I promise."

~Vision End~

~Caro~

“Gently, now…” I wheeze. The straps of the waistcoat clench my fur and squeeze my barrel to an unreasonably tight degree, making even the slightest breath feel like a thousand mile walk.

“My apologies, deary,” says the outfitter. She’s a sweet old unicorn, having put up with my grievances against wearing armor. I’m amazed she hasn’t run out of patience, working with a stallion like me who flinches every time a piece of fabric or metal gets even reasonably close to my body. “I’ll loosen that up a little.”

It’s still uncomfortable, but a slight adjustment of the straps makes wearing this damn thing a bit more tolerable. At the very least, I feel safer. “Thank you. The only other time I’ve relied on armor was when I was fighting for survival out in the fields. That barely qualified as a pauldron.”

“Here. Give these a try.” The outfitter presents a set of cloth sleeves to me. “This will keep the armor from chafing. It’ll be a little warm, but still much more comfortable than having leather and metal rubbing up against your fur.”

“Like wearing a winter robe. That could be nice.” I raise my hooves, letting her levitation magic slip the sleeves onto my forelegs. They’re a nice fit, going all the way up to my chest while leaving my hooves free.

“Now for the hindquarters… Brace yourself, deary.”

I hold my breath as I feel a cold patch close around my flanks, locking into the waistcoat. No turning back now, I suppose… The discomfort is mitigated slightly by a silky drape hugging my hind legs.

“Swallow your pride for once, did you?”

In the mirror, I can see Tohro coming into the room. He’s fully dressed in Imperial armor, with a scarf thrown around his neck. How fitting, considering the unorthodox amount of snow that’s been bombarding this part of Equestria lately. Hopefully Queen Platinum has convinced the Weather Guild to let up for the battle at Ghastly Gorge.

“What took you so long to get here?” I ask Tohro. “The show is nearly over.”

He pats his bag of holding. “I had to make some preparations, just in case. You know how it is…”

“Have to make good of every moment, I know.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been so distant these past few days, mate,” Tohro says. He sounds so unusually grim, like something deep within him is about to fall apart. He’s trying to keep himself in high spirits, I know it, but dread is a powerful enemy, one somepony even as magnificent as Tohro can’t overcome. Such a shame. Even so, he manages to smile as he looks me over. “That set looks good on you. Is it custom made?”

This garb suddenly feels much less uncomfortable. “Rosemary suggested the design, but she was too occupied to make it herself. This set took three blacksmiths to create. I owe it to them to at least try it on.”

“It certainly makes you look like the hero you’ve wanted to be.” Tohro moves in close to get a good look at the seamless blending of fabric and metal, and how the armor forms to my figure to a point where if anypony else were wearing it, it might as well be a sin. He seems particularly fond of the trim. “That’s not real gold, is it?”

“What do you think?” I snark.

My attention is taken away from Tohro as the outfitter lays the gauntlets before me. “I need to step out for a moment, deary,” she says. “Silly blacksmiths forgot the plating for those.” She leaves the room and shuts the door, leaving me, my reflection, and Tohro to ourselves.

Breaking what could have been a painful silence, Tohro tousles the back of my mane. At least, what little there is of it now. I still have a hefty, unkempt set of grey hair to boast, but a good portion of it has been lopped off in the back. “I told you it would be a good idea to cut it here.”

“I never doubted it. I was just a little apprehensive about you using your hidden blade.”

Tohro deploys said hidden blade from his gauntlet. “We make do with what we have, mate. Besides, your neck is in one piece, so you have nothing to worry about next time.”

The dust in the room seems a little thicker all of a sudden, as Tohro’s smile fades away for a second that lasts all too long. He looks away from me, his eyes desperately seeking for something to acknowledge other than the sad truth, eventually settling upon my new pair of gauntlets. “You know, you might want to test their fit before the kindly one returns.”

I nod and do as he suggests, trying to fit my left foreleg into one of the gauntlets. Tohro helps out, holding it steady for me. As I suspected just from my first glance, my hooves are too bulky to fit.

“Damn,” I growl, removing my hoof. “I guess I’ll have to wear something more plain…”

“That won’t be necessary, mate. Just let me see...” Tohro kneels down and has himself a gander at my hoof. He looks a little disgusted. “Of course. You haven’t trimmed your hooves in months. Look at this, it’s distended like a breezie stung by a bee…”

I sigh, cursing myself for letting my greatest secret become unveiled. Hoof trimming, the one hygienic practice I’ve avoided. But I have a good excuse for doing so. “I’ve never had any reason to trim.”

“Until now, it seems. We’d best get these things whittled down if you want to go into battle fully armored, hero.” Tohro stands up and goes over to the outfitter’s drawers, searching through them with careless abandon. “Hm. Who leaves coins scattered about in their workspace?”

“What are you looking for?”

“Anything to cut your hooves down to size, mate.”

“This isn’t the armory. I doubt that she has—”

Tohro presents a roll of sandpaper and a worn, yet functional rasp. “You were saying?” As he comes back over to me, he takes the bucket of water from beside the mirror with him.

I’m a little reluctant to subject Tohro to this monotonous and rather dirty task. “We could just wait for her to come back—”

Tohro shuts me up with just a glance. “Caro. I know you. You wouldn’t let anypony near your hooves, except for me. I have to be the one to do this.”

“Don’t think you owe me for preening your wings. I only did that because I wanted to.”

“And I want to do this. Now, lend me your hooves, Dragonborn.”

I surrender to my friend’s insistence and allow him to hold my forelegs. He directs me towards the water bucket and dips my hooves into it.

Some time passes. I decide to fill the quiet room with some form of conversation. “You were inspiring up there,” I tell Tohro. “Those soldiers truly believe in you.”

“It’s amazing how far a little kindness can go, isn’t it, mate?” Tohro removes my forelegs from the water. He brings out his hidden blade once again, this time sticking it into the crevasse of my hoof. The grinding sensation is far from painful, but having a blade that close to such a sensitive area makes me whinge. What brings me calm, though, is knowing Tohro is the one holding my hooves. That’s more than enough.

“Will you be in charge, or just fighting alongside the rest of the rabble?” I ask.

Tohro answers as he begins picking scum out of my other hoof. “I’ll be leading the western offensive, and Gauntlet will take the east. It's a collaborative effort.”

“The bane of Gauntlet’s existence,” I jape. “Ah.” I retract my hoof a little bit. “Careful.”

“Sorry. Funnily enough, the good captain seems a bit happier than usual. It's uncanny, but also rather adorable."

There’s a sizeable pile of dirt, pebbles, grass, and other indecipherables on the floor now. It’s rather sickening to think I was carrying all of that in my hooves. It’s enough to make me want to trim them from now on.

"...Are you nervous?" I ask as Tohro picks up the rasp and starts grinding it against my hooves.

"No,” he replies as he makes an unusually loud scrape. “I'm lying. I'm not too enthusiastic about seeing Shokenda again, even at a distance."

Even with this impressive set of armor and some freshly cleaned hooves, I don’t see her being intimidated by me in the slightest. "I don't think I can defeat her yet, let alone kill her."

Tohro nods agreeingly. "We at least know that she can bleed, and that means she can die. All you need to concern yourself with is keeping her occupied while we lay waste to her drudges."

Her spoken desire for a historic battle comes to mind. I still remember every word she spoke at the gates to Neigh Hrothgar. "That shouldn't be too difficult. She wants me more than anypony else. She'll want to fight me. Intimidate me. Possibly break me, but not kill me. But she would hurt you, and Shae, and anypony else I care about. I won’t let that happen."

"All because you didn't appease her..." Tohro says with a grimace.

If I’m ever going to say this, I may as well say it now before my cowardice convinces me to say something else. "Tohro, let me be clear about this. I want you to stay away from me during the battle ahead. Shokenda would not rest at the opportunity to hurt you at my expense. This battle likely depends on me being as far away from my friends as possible."

Tohro pauses his grinding. I suspect he’s going to switch to my other hoof, but instead he just stays still, thinking this over for far longer than he should have to. “Yes. I understand.” He sighs, and resumes trimming. I’m ready to give him my other hoof when he needs it.

As of now, I’ve grown completely numb to any discomfort from the rasp whittling away at my flesh, or the armor encapsulating my body.

Caro Dragonborn, the stallion who will duel his sworn enemy alone.

Tohro Blackwing, the defector soldier who will lead half an army to fight his former allies.

"We're not going to see each other until the battle is done," I say.

"No, we won't,” Tohro says in return.

The battlefield that lies ahead; a stark and empty land that houses the unnamed graves of several Imperial soldiers and Blackwing rebels. Oregano Von Spice, former husband of Tangerine, lies there. My mother and father, Goldheart and Earthquake, lie there. Death surrounds Ghastly Gorge, along with all who enter it, and a battle that will determine the course of this war will ensue there tomorrow…

“I love you.”

Tohro stops trimming my hooves and looks up at me.