Ponyville

The giant stallion did not sleep easy that night. "High winds," they said would blow that night, "winter rain, heavy and cold." They were not wrong. Big Mac did not truly understand why the little village needed such weather. All he knew was that it shook him, grasped him tightly by the throat and would not let go until it itself died. He did not like the rain.

His troubled eyes snapped open. The curtains, the windows, and the shutters outside were all closed and locked, but still the shutters clattered and the glass rattled. Rolling over in the bed, he was glad to see his wife at least slept on.

She used to live alone, he reminded himself, in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. There were Ponyville and Everfree storms there, so close to the forest. Fluttershy was braver than most gave her credit for, he thought with a smile, and he loved her for it.

He got up as gently as he could. The old mattress heaved as his bulk was lifted from it, but Fluttershy's little frame did not stir. Carefully stepping over the creaky floorboard, he made for the hallway. A swig of cider from the kitchen would help him settle.

Their bedroom door shut with a gentle click. Mac gave it an indecipherable look, one he'd perfected over many a year. Once upon a time it had been his parents' room. Then it was Granny Smith's - and now his.

And Fluttershy's. He smiled once more. He smiled a lot these days, or so folks said. Mac liked that. His wife made him feel complete, his daughter gave him new challenges and new rewards. Nopony needed gold or property more than they needed family, Mac knew, and his own family was growing strong again. I just wish you could've been here to see it, he thought at the door.

His ears flickered at a clattering. Not from the windows, this one, but downstairs. Inside. The small smile vanished. Something was banging about in the kitchen. Something or someone. Taking care not to wake his beloved family, he made his way down the wooden staircase, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.

The stallion gritted his teeth as he stepped into the kitchen. The front door was wide open and banging against the counter as cold wind and driving rain blew in at just the right angle to ravage the already warped wooden floor. Pots clattered on their hooks and cupboard doors flapped open as Mac strode forward to drive the door back closed. Frowning, he reached for the key to lock it again, but found it missing - it was still in the keyhole. Taking the cold iron in his teeth, he turned it, and though the door continued to shake, it held shut. He scuffed the wet floor with a hoof as the utensils settled, once again fixing his gaze on a door. Applebloom must have forgotten to lock it.

"Mac?" He must have accidentally woken Fluttershy. The slight pegasus stood at the door to the hall, rubbing her weary eyes, mane tangled from where she'd lain on it. "What are you doing up?"

"I thought," he began, but Big Mac had few words and his wife, seeing he was not troubled, didn't truly care for the answer. She yawned as she turned, and the rust-red stallion found himself yawning too. He crept back upstairs behind her and, abed once more, he found that simply having his arms around her settled his nerves enough, and he slept long and deep in the old family bed.

The Marshlow

The rain did not drum against the awning. A drumbeat has rhythm, some kind of pattern to it. The downpour did not. It beat relentlessly against the thin roof of the boat, almost a single continuous sound. It would have been almost relaxing if it weren't for the perilousness of their situation.

Rarity thought she'd known burnout before. Her horn throbbed after working too hard, too long, but a warm bath and hot tea was normally enough to soothe it. Sometimes an ice pack was called for, but only under extreme circumstances.

Of course, extreme for a seamstress is not quite so much for a practiced magician.

On the first day after the confrontation, Twilight had remained unconscious, lying in a fevered sleep. Longhorn had reassured them, telling them that this kind of thing was to be expected. "She used up too much energy purging her system," he explained. "And she didn't stop to rest after that. Purging is a nasty, tiring business in itself, but teleporting twice straight after... I wouldn't expect anything out of her for a couple of days more."

Rarity had protested at that, telling him that Twilight could teleport from dusk to dawn without breaking a sweat, but the bard had bluntly reminded her that she'd never been able to cast that kind of spell herself; she'd never achieved teleportation or felt the emptiness of a magical purge, and she had to submit to his better judgement. He was proved wrong, though, after a fashion, on the second day when Twilight stirred, and something came out of her after all. Vomit, all across the bed of the boat, flecked with gobs of blood, and when all that was done she continued to dry-heave. In between retches she was able to gasp for a small bottle from her saddlebag; and unmarked potion of a deep purple hue. A sip of that soothed her back to sleep, though she shivered as she slumbered.

Clearing the bile from the lifeboat took Rarity's mind of her troubles a bit. She had never levitated liquid before, so her going was slow, but Longhorn helped her to concentrate. He taught her the little cantrip to the famed Aqua Orb spell, but she couldn't help but note that her own orbs were small, and not of water but of puke, and every time she thought that, she dropped them.

Fortunately, Longhorn was doing a better job than her. "Life-giving water, fresh and clean, pure and sweet and mine," he muttered. Though there was perhaps a poetry to the words, he ignored it, focused on the task. None of the spell was quite true either, but the phrase was an aid to concentration - there was no magic in his words. Just as well, as Admiral Allweather hadn't written his spell to help levitate vomit.

When Twilight woke on the third day, she was a little steadier. She managed to keep down a couple of bites of their provisions; dried, stodgy traveler's bread and hard cheese washed down with only a sip of water. They'd packed jars of vegetables, pickled so as to make them last, but they thought it best not to offer Twilight any just yet.

"Don't drink too much now," she cautioned as Twilight took the canteen. "Ah don't want you hurlin' it all up again. An' besides, we ain't got much to spare. Without your help we can't purify the water from outside."

"I can make more," Twilight offered, voice desperately weak, but Applejack shook her head.

"Longhorn says yer not to cast magic," she insisted, "not for a while yet."

As Twilight recovered, Rarity began to think once more about her other troubles. The rain had not yet stopped and the lifeboat drifted aimlessly. If the Knights decided to come back with another airship, they were surely doomed, but none of those were particularly what bothered Rarity. Fretting about the future would be a waste of time. She could not worry about maybes when the past, and the things she had already done, were so much worse.

I killed him, she knew. He was defenseless in the mud and I killed him. She didn't dare voice her fears, for she knew AJ and Bluebell would tell her she did the right thing. They would try to console her, but she couldn't face talking about it. When she shut her eyes the dead stallion's face was there; his hammer haunted her dreams. He'd had a handsome face, until she'd rent it with her dagger. I had to kill him, but he didn't have to die.

She cursed the ponies who'd sent him. Twilight had never warned her of the Knights, not until after they'd left. When she'd first learned of them she thought they wouldn't bother them, but the reality, it seemed, was quite different.

Everything is different. Before Hearth's Warming she'd known there to be discontent with the Crown here and there, but nothing of consequence. Now there were rebels in the Western Expanse, and evils in the Eastern. Reignssia's branch manipulated the populace while Knight Commanders in Madraft and the Ukrein were all but raising armies. Secret, all of it, but growing by the day, and the princesses could do nothing about it but play the shadow game.

Spies and propaganda would have to do to fight the Order, Twilight had told them on the train. If Princess Celestia had their leaders arrested, they would have to explain why, and then the history of the Fifty-Years War and the truth of their alicorn nature would be revealed. Only chaos would come from that, they all agreed.

Fine, Rarity thought, let them play their shadow game. I want no part of it. I want to live in the light. I want to have to worry about when the rent is due and what I have to cook for dinner, not if I am being chased by ponies who want to kill me.

On the fifth day, Twilight insisted she be allowed to use magic. She would be able to set them a course, she said, and bring them to dry land, or else they would only continue to drift, and that would take them out to sea once the floodwaters receded. Longhorn could only agree, but he was reluctant in doing so.

"You keep yourself under control," he warned her. "You're still recovering - if you overstretch yourself you could burn out again, and then we'd be done for. I might be able to clear out your puke but I can't command the wind and waves." Twilight had laughed at that, the first time she'd laughed since the skirmish. It was a weak laugh, but Rarity was glad to hear it.

Even in her reduced state, Twilight's magic was stronger than Rarity's and the white unicorn found herself thinking once more about her friend's hornpower. She didn't ask, content merely to watch as Twilight's horn glimmered and the boat blew eastwards - slowly at first, but faster every day. Twilight slept long and deep when she rested, and kept strange hours. On the ninth day of their drifting, Rarity found herself yawning, the others all asleep, save for Twilight - who had just woken up and was bright-eyed, calling to waters to her beck. Twilight was no sailor, and the current she created to guide them shorewards was not the fastest, but their vessel was light, and her magic served. The mage was sat there at the flap that covered the entrance to the shelter, lifting it slightly to gaze out into the un-abating rain.

As the dressmaker lay down and closed her eyes, she saw the scene in her head once more. The marsh, before it drowned, the stallion dieing in the rushes - her knife, covered in his blood, and bits of bone and brain besides - the skull, she had found, morbidly, was not the easiest place for a stabbing, and the cut had not been clean. Unbidden, she let out of soft whimper of protest.

"You don't have to go through this alone, Rarity," Twilight said, quietly, so as not to wake the others. "We're all here for you, we can all see this is hurting you. You can talk to me. Please, talk to me," she added, and as Rarity opened her eyes the mage was staring her way, her own eyes sad and sympathetic, "I can't bear to see you suffer."

Rarity looked back nervously to where the other three lay sleeping. AJ had rolled in her sleep so that one foreleg sprawled over Bluebell's back. "I've never had to talk about murdering somepony before," she said, voice smaller than Twilight had ever heard it before.

"You didn't murder them," Twilight said. "You defended yourself."

"That's not what they'll tell his family."

Twilight turned away from the flap at that, letting it fall shut, and only the pale light from her horn continued to light the floating shelter. "We can get the truth to them, Rarity," she told her. "Once this is all over we can start to deal with the Knights-"

"No," Rarity interrupted, "I don't want to deal with anpony. I-" Her voice was thick, and in the dim light, Twilight could see tears starting to well in her eyes. "I don't want any part of this anymore. Twilight, this - this is barbaric-" She broke down completely, sobbing and gasping.

"Ssh, now." Twilight slowly shifted herself across the canvas. The noise and the movement weren't enough to wake the others. Rarity's voice had barely risen above the sound of the storm. She let her cry, drawing into a hug she hoped was warm and comforting. "It's hard," the purple mare said, when Rarity had calmed a little, "I just wish..." Rarity sniffled, and Twilight broke off, gazing down into the bottom of the boat. "I wish this was simpler. I wish that it was just us, our journey and our destination, with nopony in our way, but it's just... not."

She paused to think, but nothing more was forthcoming. "But you still have to go."

"Yeah." Twilight's expression was unreadable. "I... I don't believe in life after death, Rarity." The fashionista looked up at her, worried. "Princess Celestia does, and I know that... We know ponies and all sorts of other creatures have souls, I've seen that for myself, but... I don't believe in an afterlife."

"Why?"

"There's no evidence for it." Twilight scowled. "It's part of the reason I'm so scared of going. I didn't want to outlive you all and think there was nothing left after that."

"Oh, Twilight..." Rarity pulled closer, concern now showing not just for herself, but for her friend. "You worry far too much. You can't prove everything, and we can't do anything about what comes next... We just have to play our part."

Twilight chewed on her lip. "And what part are you going to play, then?" she asked, carefully.

"I don't know," the dressmaker sighed. "I thought we were going to be heroes again, just like the old days. I didn't know it'd be so... so different." She scuffed a hoof against the plastic floor. "I just thought... We've fought worse before, Twilight, haven't we?" Rarity's head came up, to look deep into her eyes. In each of their gazes there was tiredness and fear. "Things like Nightmare Moon, a-and the changelings..."

"Were they really worse, though? The changelings were mad with hunger; Lu - Nightmare wasn't in her right mind. She was - Rarity, this is different. These are just ponies who have convinced themselves they're right. They have power, and armies, and they don't want us alive, they can't just come straight to our doorstep to try and take control. They'd have to fight their way across the country to get here, and they'd do it too, cutting down everything in their way." Her stare hardened. "Rarity, Nightmare Moon was nothing compared to these delusional ponies. We can't just wipe them away with the Elements, or, or with love. This is about the way ponies think, about the way they're ruled. It's not even safe for me to say that everything we're standing for is right. This is so much more dangerous."

Rarity looked away. The mage sighed, brushing her mane out of her eyes. "I need all the help I can get, Rarity. When I was in that cell, under Hockfall, I was thinking - 'maybe this is better'. You know?" She was only gazing at the side of Rarity's head now. The muddied white mare didn't look around again. "That way I wouldn't have to fight all the way to the end of the earth for an unknown fate. I wouldn't have to guard some portal to nowhere alone, forever, and even if I could move away, to come back to Canterlot, I wouldn't have to sit around and watch you all die, of age, or whatever. But I know you don't think like that. I wish I didn't, but I do. You're the one who's been reminding me what I have to do, all the short way we've gone. If we've all got a part to play, I can't act mine out alone. Don't give up on me, Rarity." She earned a tired, watery glance from that. "I need you."

The rain beat down above and around them. Droplets leaked in from outside - aside from clearing Twilight's vomit, the bard and the dressmaker had been bailing out when they needed to, which mercifully wasn't often. Rarity sat, breathing shakily, for a minute or more before she finally whispered back. "Let me think about it," she begged, "please, dear, I - I don't know if I'm strong enough for this. Let me think, until we get to Cambridle."

Twilight nodded. "I'll give you as long as you need," she promised, with a tiny smile, and earned a smile back. Rarity lay back again and closed her eyes, though the shifting of the boat and plastic cover made for no comfortable mattress.

It's a water bed, she told herself. A water bed with no bedsheet. For once the dead stallion's face did not bother her. She did not dream that night, nor did she wake peacefully - AJ gleefully shook her awake far too soon.

"Look, Rares'," she insisted before Rarity could protest, "just look."

Confused, Rarity joined Bluebell at the flap, stepping over the snoring Twilight Sparkle to reach it. Lifting it with her magic, she gazed out into the chill blue morning. The sky was clear; the rain had stopped. And when Bluebell passed her the telescope and pointed, she smiled herself, the widest smile she'd smiled in days.

"Land," she whispered, quietly joyful. "Thank the princesses."

Hockfall

On the east side of the river, the great wooden platforms rose high above the streets below. Too big and old to be confined to its ancient bridge, Hockfall sprawled towards the sunrise, homes and factories scattered themselves across the high plain, far more disorderly than things were within the city walls. They had to be, to avoid getting in the way of the great courtyards below the mooring docks.

A hundred feet high and more they rose, on thick columns of steel and wood, with wide pulley-lifts on their edges, hauling goods and ponies up and down, up and down. Just looking up at them made Plunge Pool dizzy, nevermind making the ascent. He hated travelling by airship. He could handle being in the air aboard them, but he didn't trust their resting places. He'd rather they came all the way to the ground. But instead they perched on those ridiculous towers. It was supposed to be more space-efficient than having them come down into the city itself, but still.

On the mooring-dock above them, the wreck of the TRH Mistrider lay, forlorn and broken.

"I'd like to apologize again for my lack of-"

"Don't apologize, Cowlmane," Pool cut him off. "You were wrong, we all know. Our force should have been able to take five ponies as easily as they could have dealt with three. You aren't responsible for our troops' incompetence." He lapsed into fuming silence, angry at absolutely everything and everypony. He was angry that Cowlmane had only seen three ponies in the Underbridge before he had been knocked out, furious that Highpine had risked a civilian airship in an illegal operation, enraged at Twilight Sparkle for refusing to cooperate in the first place, and absolutely livid at his old headmaster, Dr. Right Honourable, for suggesting he go into politics instead of pursuing his dream career in hydrology.

"It was a miracle the gas sacks didn't rupture," Cowlmane observed. "Otherwise we would be down a fair few men more."

"It's a disaster as is," the governor complained. "It's a civilian ship, and the captain was killed in a military operation. How do I explain that to his family?"

The robed pony shrugged. "He died a hero. He lived long enough to set the survivors on course for home. Perhaps Captain Cone could publically commend his bravery."

"Captain Cone is a nervous wreck right now. He wants to get out of the city; he's terrified Laird Highpine will come to look for him."

The courtyard below the dock was empty. Pool had ordered it closed for however long it took the military to investigate the wreckage, but right now it was only him and Cowlmane there.

"I can't send him after Dr. Sparkle again." The governor's hoof scuffed at the cobblestones. "He's almost as scared of her as he is of the Commander."

"Highpine won't be down again for weeks," Cowlmane said, unconcerned. "He'll only come by carriage, and that takes long enough that he won't come down just to deal with one failure. Besides, people will start to wonder why the officer in charge of the recent mysterious debacle has gone missing - if he goes missing, of course. Anyway, there's that meeting the Commander has scheduled, the one with the Reignssian. He won't miss that."

Pool barked a mirthless laugh. "He'll wish he could. Ah, well." They turned to walk to the gate out into the streets. "Can you work on an official explanation for the disaster? Preferably one that won't implicate Twilight Sparkle, that wouldn't end well for us." Under his hood, Cowlmane nodded. "Thank you. I'll talk to our military lot. I don't plan to chase Dr. Sparkle further, but it would be good for us to keep tabs on her movements."

"It doesn't have to be our ponies to retrieve the Elements," Cowlmane pointed out. "If we inform the other Commanders that the Elements of Harmony are on the move, the Order will have a better chance of getting hold of them. Highpine only wants the throne, but the power of an alicorn is something other Knights desire more badly."

"Well then, let them take on Dr. Sparkle for themselves. I see no reason to involve ourselves further. We have strict orders from Laird Highpine not to reveal that the Elements are not in Canterlot, and with a bit of luck Twilight will avoid further confrontations more carefully now."

"You make it sound like you don't want the Elements."

"I don't want a war. None of the Commanders will go easily on Dr. Sparkle, and if she is killed..." The governor shook his head. "Celestia has always been very cautious when dealing with the Order, but I think there's a line there that I don't want to risk crossing. I don't think that the Princess would take her death well."

***

Dear Pinkie,

How have you been? I hope Manehatten is still as lively as you like it - though I can't see that place calming down anytime soon. Princess Luna goes there sometimes, in disguise - she loves the nightlife; she says it's quite different to Canterlot's, though I couldn't comment. I also don't know if I should have told you that about Luna either, but I don't think she'd mind me telling you. At least, I hope she won't.

We just completed our first observation - only just in time, too. I know we said we were going north, but we took a little detour into the Marshlow when we realised a storm was brewing there. The wild weather above the lowlands is fascinating, and there aren't many records of it, but now there's one more.

The whole place floods, though, when the rains come - Rarity wasn't fond of the inflatable raft we had to use to stay above the water, or the detour in the first place, but she didn't complain too much about the mud at least. She's feeling a little homesick right now, but hopefully she'll get over it soon. I think she could use a bit of your cheer right now. I can't make ponies laugh the way you can.

The detour added a little longer to our journey than we would have liked - it may take a couple of weeks to get back on track. The fastest way for us to get to Oslokai would have been through Hockfall, but the line north there is closed, and I have no idea what we're going to do about it. We might catch an airship, but I don't think any of us fancy flying right now. With the storm and the floods, I think we're all just glad to have solid ground under our hooves again.

I'd write more, but this is my last sheet of paper. The rest was destroyed by the flood. I'm sorry about that, but I'll write more when I can, I promise. Rarity and AJ send their love.

Missing you,

Twilight Sparkle

Stalliongrad

The sledge weighed a tonne, nopony was denying it - but none of them dared to speak up in front of the marshals. The burly stallions before it took the reigns from their exhausted compatriots as the pulling teams switched halfway to the warehouse.

"Where's the snow?" Red Axe muttered to his neighbour. "Why are they making us pull a winter sledge through the mud?"

The driver cracked his whip. Though it didn't lick at the backs of the team, the threat was still there, and the giant wooden cradle began to make its way through the streets once more. In some places the mud was frozen and the sledge nearly lost its balance as the heavy load within rolled about - in others it was wet and deep, and the colossal weight of the vehicle made it almost impossible to move. But those lashed to the reigns pressed on, the snap of the lash and the hunger in their bellies two forces stronger than dirt.

"There are no wheels left," replied Great Draft. "They say the foundry masters had them melted down for iron."

"On Tsar Ironbrow's orders?"

The huge earth pony snorted. "What do you think?"

Everything was on the Tsar's orders, but the gangmasters told them all he was too craven to refuse Canterlot's demands. If anypony was working them to their graves, it wasn't the Tsar, but the Princesses themselves. And for what?

"Sculptures," said Forepony Bore, clanging a hoof against the hollow iron, "another monument to themselves." It was surely to be an impressive work of art. The warehouse was almost full of the big tubes, arranged in rows, though Red Axe had no idea what they were meant to be.

It took a good hour to reach the storehouse from the half-way point, but when they did Captain Sights was waiting for them with their pay-purses - and, as a pleasant surprise, a mug of warm broth.

"Sorry for your trouble, lads," he apologised. "The Tsar hasn't authorised this week's weather schedule yet, so the weather squadron can't send the snow in." Axe liked the Captain. He was a military pony, in charge of defending the city's industry. He showed his face often enough, and was friendly for a soldier, though he didn't have to be. The labourer took his mug gratefully and drank down the thin vegetable soup with eagerness. Finished, he took the proffered pouch of gold and stowed it in his small saddlebag, not even bothering to count out the bitmarks. If any were missing (as they likely were) nopony would be able to do anything about it. There simply wasn't enough gold coming from Canterlot to pay for their work.

He walked home with Great Draft as he always did - the hulking stallion and his family shared the next room down from his own. The factory owned the apartments, and Axe was grateful for that. His job not only kept food in his childrens' stomachs, but a roof over their little heads too.

They travelled in silence, Draft with his head down, Axe looking from side to side at the empty streets. Ponies trudged by in threadbare cloaks, if they could afford them, but most, like themselves, had to deal with the cold. Many of those shuffling along around them were their co-workers, haggard and slow after a day of heavy labour.

A harsh wind still blew despite there being no weather orders - though they were a hundred miles from the ice wastes, the white wilderness was forever trying to creep southwards. Shops were boarded shut, bearded beggars sat in the mud - the only presentable structures were the statues in every plaza. Celestia and Luna, carved in stone and forged from bronze looked down on them, faces set. Some of the statues of the night princess were newer than those of her sister, replaced following her return to compensate for the damage done to them after Nightmare Moon's advent.

There were whispers in the shadows, Axe heard. Ponies who somehow scraped together enough gold to leave and were mad enough to come back had strange stories to tell. Some shouted in defense of the Princesses, though those brave idiots were lucky if they were arrested before the angry mob got to them. Others still hid, not talking of the Princesses, but with a quieter, safer message - that the cause of their poverty was more complex than some would have them think. They said nothing more, but there were subtle implications in their mutterings - they blamed the lords and captains and taskmasters, not the Tsar, and certainly not the Princesses.

It made no matter, not to Red Axe. It was too tiring to try and puzzle out. Besides, if he could, what difference would it make? Alone he was powerless to speak out, and nopony was like to listen to him anyway. Best to keep his head down, turn his ears, and get on with it all.

"It won't be like this forever," Sights had reassured him one evening, seeing his despondent face at the end of the shift. "You're a smart lad, and strong besides. We'll make a gangmaster of you one of these days, you'll see." That possible promise was enough to keep him going. Gangmasters were paid more and had less heaving and hauling to do.

They passed the Palace of White Gold, staring through the iron gates at the ancient statue inside. Steelmane, the Last Good King reared on a pedestal, a reminder of the days before the monarchy turned inwards on itself. Apparently, Celestia had tried to destroy the statue on her last visit, three hundred years ago, but the then Tsar had been furious. After that, all the Princesses' commands had been delivered from Canterlot by post or pony, not in person. If only our leader now was as strong, Red Axe thought.

On the far side of the plaza from the Palace was the Bastion of the North, but everypony called it the Castle of Screams. It was home to Stalliongrad's military leaders - and the city's prisoners. Spies for the Crown and other troublemakers ended up there, and supposedly on a still day you could hear the yells of pain from the dungeons, but Axe walked past the fortress every day and had never heard anything. They sometimes brought prisoners out to be executed on the battlements, but that was about it. The stallion shook his head as they walked on. There was always somepony insisting things weren't as they seemed here, but the city had been stable since Axe arrived. It was grim, yes, but somehow comfortably so.

Finally they stepped onto the narrow cobbled street of their homes. The ramshackle terraced houses on either side had been bought from the Crown and refitted so the factory owners could house more workers in less space. It wasn't a house to aspire to, but it was better than the streets that were the alternative. A draftspony's wage wouldn't pay rent.

The door Draft knocked on was battered and thin, and when the winds rose it would rattle against its frame, held only in place by a worn-out chain. They had to stand in the cold for a long couple of minutes before there was a clattering inside, and a scrawny unicorn filly let them in. The weary Draft met his daughter with only a ruffle of her mane, and the two disappeared down the dark hall without a word of farewell. The old house's stairs creaked, its hall was narrow, and on windy days the chill blew right through the building. At times Axe worried that one day he would come home and find the old terrace nothing but a pile of rubble, but it was better than being out on the streets. Anything was better than that, and he would do what he had to to keep a roof over his family's heads.

Cam Hall, on the outskirts of Cambridle

Sometimes, Mulch wished he was a unicorn. When he walked the grounds at night with a lantern clamped between his teeth, he couldn't whistle. He liked whistling. If he wasn't a groundskeeper maybe he could have been a whistler. If it had been a job, of course, which it wasn't. That fact was depressing sometimes, but then he remembered how much he loved his real job, and everything was all alright again.

The butler, old Bell Cord, was waiting down by the wrought-iron gate. "Will they be long?" Mulch tried to ask.

"What?" The butler gave him a confused look. It took Mulch a few moments to realise the lantern's handle was still in his mouth. He groundskeeper lowered his head to place the lamp on the ground.

"I said, will they be long? The ponies you're waiting for."

Cord frowned slightly. "No," he said, "not long. They arrived in town about half and hour ago."

"I didn't know we were expecting guests."

"Well, consider it a pleasant surprise." The butler's lips turned upwards in a slight smile. "I'm sure the little princess will think so too."

Mulch turned to spit into the short winter grass. "I'm not normally a fan of guests. They just want to roam the estate, whenever their not having tea with her highness. Makes me jumpy. Most of them don't respect the work we do here. At least it's not summer. With the birds away at least there won't be as many poachers. They come in, you know, when security's got other priorities." He spat again. "Can't be so quick to tackle an honoured guest. So what's so pleasant about it?"

Cord grinned as he unchained the gate with his magic. "Take a look."

Mulch squinted out into the darkness. With only his lamp and Cord's to light the way, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to see anypony, but then the lamplight glinted off the smiling teeth of the mares emerging from the night and he realised that this surprise was, indeed, very pleasant - and very surprising.

"Twilight Sparkle!" he gasped, as the party began to cross over onto the property. "Applejack - I-" He struggled for both words and breath in his astonishment. "We had no idea you were coming!"

"I did," Bell Cord said with a smile. "Should I assume the formalities, or- oof-" The wind came rushing out of him as Twilight swept him into a hug.

"It's so good to see you," she squealed. "Both of you," she added, looking to the groundskeeper, "especially as my last visit was a business one. It's fantastic to see another friendly face."

"Why?" blustered Mulch. "Is everything alright?"

"Just fine, sir," Rarity said with a subdued smile. "I think we'd just all quite like to get inside now." Applejack grumbled something resembling assent from behind her.

Mulch nodded, his gaze fixed on the two strangers behind them. "What's - what's going on?" he asked, confused.

"Ask the princess," Cord told him, "it's up to her whether to tell you or not." Ignoring Mulch's confused frown, he turned to lock the big gate again. "Good evening, gentlemen," he called up to the guardsponies on the wall as the party turned to make for the house. They did not reply, simply continuing to stare out into the night, their vigil undisturbed.

The hall's driveway was well kept, a rough sandstone path cutting straight up the middle of two perfect lawns. In each were dug several symmetrical beds for flowers, though they lay empty for the winter months. The hall itself stretched around them, its wings making up three sides of a square, the driveway cutting straight through the middle as they made for the great wooden double doors that such country homes were fond of. In the nighttime, with the clouds mostly blocking out the light of the crescent moon, the travellers couldn't see much, but those who had been before knew that in the daylight they would see its walls of rough, light brown stone, climbing ivy on its sides. The window panes were painted white, the doors were only lightly varnished. You could hardly tell it was royal property. It was not the grand marble palace of Canterlot, but something more subdued and homelike - something that its owners still loved.

"When were you here on business, Twi'?" AJ asked, as they traipsed towards the house.

"Before Shining Armor left. Right before," she added, meaningfully, then dropped her voice so that the two servants could not hear. "I promise I'll tell you about that as soon as I can, but it's too risky just now."

Princess Cadence was waiting for them in the entrance hall, the room well-lit with candlesticks complementing a fire in the hearth on the right-hoof wall. The pink alicorn held her composure as Twilight and her companions entered, but worry was etched into her face. As Twilight approached, she could wait no longer and dashed forwards, embracing her sister-in-law in a relieved hug. Rarity's low bow was ignored as the Princess started to fret over her old charge.

"Oh, goodness, Twilight," she gasped, "I'm so glad you're all safe." Twilight mumbled something into her mane that didn't carry to anypony's ears. "After the Mistrider came back to Hockfall..." She gave a shuddering gasp. "Auntie Luna was looking for you so desperately, in your dreams, but she didn't dare fly out herself, not past Hockfall... They said you were fine but when you didn't write..."

"It's OK," Twilight told her, voice low and soothing, "we're OK. I tried to write to you, but the letter got soaked before they'd let me send it. I burned out," she explained. "I was writing to try and build my strength up again, but I wrote too many letters and didn't have any paper left. That was stupid..." She pushed Cadence back to catch her eyes, hoping to show her she truly was alright, though she feared her eyes would show how weary she was. "We weren't hurt, Cadence. We're just... We're tired, is all. Tell me you haven't been worrying in front of Songbird?"

"No," the Princess said, "I - no, Twilight, I promise I didn't. She - I didn't tell her you were coming, though," she admitted, "in case something happened. She'll be so pleased to see you, she's asleep right now-"

"No she ain't," Applejack butted in. There was a tiny gasp, and a small door behind them clicked shut. Cadence frowned, but the farmer just chuckled. "I see she's just the same as when we last met." The princess couldn't not smile at that.

"Oh, she's grown a bit since then, but she still needs her rest. So do all of you, I suppose. There are rooms prepared for you upstairs, and there's hot water if you want to shower or bathe." Rarity gave a gasp of joy at that, and everypony chuckled - except for Bell Cord, who, with his employer around, had slipped quietly back into his calm, professional demeanour. "If you need something to eat, there's food, just ask. What's mine is yours," she finished, smiling. "Except, ah, when it isn't. My study-"

"Sorry, Princess, but wouldja spare us the lecture?" Applejack's interruption earned a reproachful look from Rarity, but Cadence just seemed amused. "We ain't gonna go sticking our muzzles where they don't belong. We'll be sleepin' too soundly for that."

"Of course," the princess replied. "Well, I'll try and see to it that you're not disturbed. Twilight, may I have a word with you before you go?"

"Of course," said Twilight. She smiled, despite the weariness in her eyes. "I'll see you guys in the morning, OK?" As her exhausted comrades slogged up the stairs, Cadence led her sister-in-law down a hall on the right and into a lounge with great windows facing the back of the house, though the curtains were drawn. "What is it?" Twilight asked, and the pink alicorn drew forth an envelope with Celestia's red seal. She handed it silently to her, and the scholar began to read.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

These instructions are for your eyes only. If you must discuss them, do so with your friends and Princess Cadence, but leave your travelling companions out. Neither of them will be coming with you once you leave Cam Hall - both of them will come to the capital, so that I may urge their secrecy on this matter.

From what we know of the Order of the Bloody Cross, each Knight Commander has different knowledge of the Elements of Harmony, and prioritises them differently. Your reports, added to the rest of our intelligence, indicate the Laird Highpine merely wishes to use them to strengthen his military. As such, we do not believe that he would give orders to burn down a city to retrieve just one, and that the Knights trailing Rainbow Dash were acting on the orders of another Commander.

I believe it imperative, therefore, that you make all haste for the East Coast once you are ready to travel again. I imagine that as you read this, you will be quite tired, emotionally and physically, especially after the fight. Governor Pool is wisely not admitting that the TRHs Mistrider was involved in any sort of fight. The ship just made it back to Hockfall, and its current state is being attributed to it being caught in a wild storm. It is not the Fettish Knights that are bothering me at the moment, however.

Other Commanders may be starting to become aware of your movements, and, as you know, they have spells allowing them to track the Elements. You could be traced to Cam Hall. To try and prevent any Knights taking action there, I have ordered an additional troop of Guards up from Londock to man the house and perimeter wall whilst you remain there. When you are ready to leave, write to me, and I will reply with further details.

Your friend and mentor,

Princess Celestia

Twilight had to read the letter twice. "There's no real instructions," she said, worried, "and she thinks the Order might be able to find us here - Princess, I'm putting you in danger, we should go as soon as-"

"You aren't going anywhere," Cadence interrupted, firmly but gently. "You and your friends need to rest. I'm sure Princess Celestia will have mentioned the extra guards she's sending?"

"Well, yeah," Twilight admitted, sheepishly looking away. "She did. But some of these ponies burnt down a city, Cadence-"

"Nothing like that is going to happen, Twilight." The princess cut across again, patiently, reaching out to place a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "You're safe here, and you're not ready to travel yet. I won't let you tear off into the night, you only just got here!"

Twilight swallowed, hard, stumbling over her tongue for excuses. "I, ah, but," she blustered, looking everywhere but at the princess. She was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She drew away, and Cadence's hoof fell to the floor, but the alicorn did not look hurt.

"You've been in a fight," Cadence said, sympathetically, "and not all the Knights made it back to Hockfall. I don't know what happened out there, but it must have been hard for you."

Twilight looked at her, eyes watering. "I think I killed a pony," she admitted. "He fell off the airship when I shot at it - I - he..." Her tears spilled forth with her words, and her voice began to thicken with distress. "Rarity... She, she had to, too - she was devastated - she keeps a straight face when she can but sometimes she just breaks down... Princess, I don't know what to do," she moaned, sitting down heavily on the rug, and allowing Cadence to pull her into a hug, resting her head on the pink mare's shoulder. "They were trying to hurt us, I know, but that doesn't make me feel any better... I tried to tell Rarity it was all OK but afterwards I didn't believe it myself..."

"Twilight," Cadence soothed her, "it is OK. Some ponies may have been hurt, but you're saving others, doing more good than harm."

"I just wish I knew that for sure," Twilight whined. "We said that by keeping the Elements from the Knights we're stopping a war, but how do we know for sure? We don't understand them, they don't even all understand each other."

"That's what worries me," the princess said. Walking away, she gestured to a light-blue sofa. "Shall we sit down?"

Twilight nodded, but hesitantly. She didn't want to be talking for too long, but knew if she sat, she might end up going into lecture mode. She took a tentative seat and sighed, pawing at her eyes with a hoof. Cadence offered her a tissue which she took gratefully. "I'm sorry..." she said. "I'm just - so tired... These last few weeks have been hard..."

"I can imagine," Cadence said with an understanding smile. "Aunt Celestia said they locked you up?"

"Yeah, but they didn't find the Elements. They knew I had them, though, that's what worries me."

"Why are you carrying three of them with you if they're such a liability? You're not leaving Equestria to fight Discord or anyone like that, so why do you need them?"

"They're relevant to our work," the lavender mare said. "It may be worth having them on hoof."

"How so?"

Twilight looked at her, surprised. "Don't you know what they actually are?"

"I know that they're powerful."

Twilight's eyebrows shot up. "They're alicorn artifacts, Princess. Didn't Celestia ever tell you that?"

"No," Cadence admitted, shocked, "I just thought they were magic necklaces."

"Their magic resembles alicorn magic more closely that any other type of magic I've studied," Twilight explained, "but where they came from, or why there were where Celestia found them, I have no idea. At first we thought that they were created on Mount Canter long before pony history even began, but now the spell I wrote to guide Rainbow to their origin is leading her east."

"When you say they're alicorn artifacts, what do you mean by that?"

"That we think they were created by alicorns."

Cadence blushed. "Well, that would make sense," she said, and the two shared a laugh.

"Don't worry," Twilight reassured her, "I can't blame you for asking. I don't know of anything else that fits their description. Alicorns - full-blown ones, if you don't mind me saying-" Cadence nodded understandingly. "They've created things in the past, but even if they were magical, they never held actual alicorn magic. Celestia made the Archmage's staff, for example, but that's nowhere near as powerful as the Elements, and only channels unicorn magic. The Elements will channel any energy of any kind, in a similar manner to alicorn magic. Like alicorn magic, they have a primary purpose for their channeling abilities, like how Princess Celestia's is to oversee the Sun's movements."

"And I suppose the purpose of the Elements is to maintain harmony, then?"

Twilight nodded. "Emotional harmony, yes. This means that they're most useful in repelling creatures who disrupt the minds of their victims, or whose own mentalities are corrupted, but they're still powerful magical tools in their own right."

"Like how Princess Celestia is a powerful magician even outside of solar magic."

The unicorn grinned at her foalhood friend. "Exactly. And, just like the sun - this doesn't leave this room, mind - the Elements' magics aren't exclusive to their bearers."

"I did already know that," Cadence said. "Most mortal unicorns can't ever achieve anything using an natural well."

"Some more powerful ponies have managed it. That's why it has to stay a secret. The Elements, though, are a lot easier to tap into."

"The Knights clearly know that they can use them, so why put them at risk?" Cadence looked confused now. "I don't suppose I'm complaining; you clearly understand them much better than me, but I can't help but wonder what you need them for. You may not have been accosted in Hockfall if you didn't have them with you then."

"You may be right, but the Princesses and I agree that the benefits outweigh the risks. Part of the reason we're bringing them is because of their usefulness in channeling energies. They allow their bearers to cast spells from almost anywhere on the magical spectrum - for example, letting a pegasus use dragon or unicorn magic to teleport letters. That's alicorn magic, crossing magical boundaries like that."

"That's how Rainbow Dash was writing to you?"

"Of course. We've only got one dragon on our side, and he's probably in Neighjing by now."

"Hopefully." Cadence sounded slightly worried by that. "They haven't written yet."

"If anything had happened to them, we'd know," Twilight reminded her, and the princess settled a little at that. It was true enough. "But we're not just taking the Elements in case we need their magic. They're breaking, remember, and Rainbow Dash was getting close to their point of origin. I'll decide for sure once I get there, but I might keep going to investigate the Elements once we're done with the Dread Gate - if I can go, that is."

"That's not fair," Cadence complained, quietly. "You told your friends at home you'd be back within a year."

"That was a lie already," Twilight replied, grimacing. "I don't like it, but I didn't like any of this at first. But now we're here, traveling, I have a job to do. The princesses are trusting me to help protect Equestria. I want to see Fluttershy and Pinkie and everypony again, I really do, but since Laird Highpine beat me up in Hockfall I've realised I can't just let problems like that - problems like him rest."

"That's very selfless of you," Cadence said. She smiled down at her former charge, proud at how far she'd come, though the smile was tinged with sadness. "I only hope you'll explain the truth to Pinkie and Fluttershy when it's all over. You won't balk?"

"Not if my friends stay behind me," Twilight said. "In the Marshlow I was trying to explain to Rarity that I don't like all this at all, but she's helping me keep going. I know she cares too, Cadence, she just - I can't make her see..." She stopped, trying to figure out what she meant. If Rarity truly didn't want to go any further, she didn't want to manipulate her into doing so, but she needed her support, her pragmatism, her grip on reality - and that was something Twilight felt she had been losing ever since Celestia had told her the truth about her alicorn nature. Nothing was quite the same anymore, but Rarity was the same. She'd changed, a little, but not in a way that had rocked Twilight's world. "I need-"

"Don't worry, Twilight," the pink mare cut across. "I understand. I'll talk to Rarity tomorrow." They sat in silence for a moment, both thinking about what they had each just learned. Cadence, having worried Twilight would have needed a drink, had put a glass jug of water in the room, but had forgotten to pour it. She took it from the table it rested on, along with a glass, and offered it to her sister-in-law, but the lavender mare shook her head, smiling with a polite declination. A thought struck Cadence as she replaced the jug. "Twilight, what would happen if the Knights got the Elements?"

Twilight shrugged. "Honestly? Who knows? We've not experimented with letting many other ponies use them, so I don't know how they'd work for ponies not attuned to their emotion, though anypony would be able to squeeze some power out of them. Even then, the Order might be able to find some ponies who could bear them properly. None of us who wield them for Celestia are like, more like our Elements than everypony else. Rarity has her selfish streaks, so does Dash. Applejack will tell a lie if she thinks it's for a good reason. We aren't the Elements of Harmony, we're just ponies who can use them to their full power.

"And all that aside, all the Knight Commanders want different things for them. Some would use them to topple Luna and Celestia, some would use them to try and raise their dead lord. Heck, some of them think they could use the Elements to become alicorns themselves. But it doesn't matter, truly - we need the Elements, just as much as we need the Order to not have them." The thought of Highpine or any of his allies having even one of the Elements made her shudder. She'd wielded them herself, felt their immense power - even decaying, they could still be abused. "Just like the Knights as a whole - none of them have the same goals - but they've united in the past to meet an end, and I don't want to see what would happen if they did so again."

"Yes," Cadence agreed. "No matter what you think of the diarchy, the Knights united would be a dangerous force." She set aside her empty glass as she continued. "Do you think Highpine is the most dangerous of them all?"

Twilight had to ponder the question. "The High Fets are almost entirely under Highpine's grasp, along with the biggest city in the region - that is to say, Hockfall. We didn't know he still held sway there, but with Pool... I wouldn't so much say he's on Highpine's side as he is under his control, but still, Slateshore controlling the city is a big deal. Militarily, Highpine could never marshal the troops needed to threaten the Heartlands alone, but his grasp on Hockfall means he controls the main trade route between the Heartlands and the rest of the world. It's been closed before, with awful consequences. He'll never try anything on his own, but if the other Commanders decide to mobilize then he becomes a key player."

"He locked you up without even an excuse," Cadence pointed out. "If that's not trying something I don't know what is."

"I think he thinks the Elements will let him compete with the other Commanders, but they won't really. I think. He needs more sway, though, because from what we can gather he wants the sisters' throne for himself. He's desperate to have some influence, but their men in Reignsia and Manegolia are by far more powerful, even if we have all of the Sapphire Ocean, Celegia, and the Eastern Sea between us and the Khans' hordes...

"Ya know, the Manegols actually believe that Princess Celestia is evil - I mean, with the Knights and the ponies they control, it's all social conditioning, but in Manegolia they've always believed it. Well, some of them, 'cause of their tribal myths. Something about their own sun god. The rest are all kind of alright. I'd like to go there some time, I think it'd be a - a great -" She yawned. "Oh, jeez, I'm sorry, princess. I'm starting to ramble... I'm just - oh, gods..." She yawned again, one hoof coming up to cover her gaping mouth. "I think I need to go to bed, as much as I'd love to talk more. Maybe if I had some coffee-"

"Nope. You go and get some rest, Twilight, we'll have plenty of time to talk over the next few days." Cadence grinned as she stood, reaching out to help the exhausted unicorn to her hooves. "You've said a lot as it is. Are you sure you haven't told me anything I shouldn't know?"

"Most ponies think you're an alicorn the same as Celestia and Luna," Twilight pointed out. "I don't think you should be left out of any of this. And besides, you're my friend, my brother's wife, and I trust you. I'm not going to turn my back when I need help." She tried to forget that she'd been reluctant to come here at first. The princess knew what made her tick, and seeing her again had bolstered her spirits.

"Oh, Twilight. Come here." Cadence pulled her into a hug before they left the room, warm and sisterly. "It's so good that you're safe... I'm sure Rarity will come around if we give her space and time."

"She's had both," Twilight replied, grumpily, pulling away. "She barely said anything on the boat, and said even less in the Westwoods - she kinda pulled apart from us there. I think she's slowly talking herself out of continuing. The closest I got to changing her mind was when I pointed out the hard truths."

"Well, I'll see what I can do." The princess reached forward and flicked a bedraggled lock of mane away from Twilight's eye. "You sleep well, OK? For as long as you need. You're here to rest, so make sure you do that."

Twilight chuckled. "You'll be lucky to see me awake before noon. What time is it now - ten, eleven at night?"

"You think that's lucky? Twilight, dear, don't kid yourself, you look a mess most mornings. I'll be cursing my luck if I see you crawling out of bed, not thanking it." Laughing, Cadence pushed her away. "Now go on. Bed. That's a royal command."

Twilight left, muttering something under her breath about that not being constitutional, but she giggled anyway. She dragged herself upstairs to the guest rooms in the house's north wing. She had her own room there, that Shining Armor and Cadence had insisted on setting aside for her, despite her protestations, though she was touched by the gesture. Stopping outside it, she heard the sound of running water coming from the room opposite hers, and guessed that Rarity was finally getting the mud out of her hair, a weary smile touching her lips.

Her own mane would have to wait, she was far too tired to wash it now. She practically staggered to the bed and collapsed onto it, falling asleep within seconds. There she lay, Dr. Twilight Sparkle, Mage of Canterlot and Lady of the Court, filthy and ragged, and with a slight trail of her drool gracing the covers - and truly at rest for the first time in weeks.