"Status report, Specter."

Specter smirked, "She's coming here, Discord. She believes me to be Shining Armor and I altered her method into having her come here instead."

Discord chuckled to himself, "Excellent. All is falling into place."

Specter raised an eyebrow, "I take it that things went smoothly here then?"

"The fact that you even doubt me is hurtful," replied Discord, snapping his fingers and teleporting himself to a rocking chair, "I'm not an old fool, whippersnapper."

"Duly noted," sighed Specter. He looked to the clock on the pole of the tent, "Perhaps I should be getting back now. The invasion is supposed to be soon."

"Should you be here by morning?" Discord wondered, sending the chair away with another snap of his fingers.

"Assuming Celestia cooperates fully," answered Specter, "then they should be here by morning, yes."

Discord felt giddy, "Oh, that's purr-fect."

Specter rolled his eyes and sighed, "Very punny, Discord. Really great."

"Thanks," smirked Discord, "I know."

"Dusky? Commander Dusky, are you out here?"

"Commander Dusky?" Specter repeated.

"Luna promoted Dusky Stone while you were gone," Discord advised, "a rather emotionally-driven decision, if I may say so myself."

"Predictable," Specter stated, insulting Luna's rational thinking abilities, "she really would be better off as Nightmare Moon, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe," thought Discord, "but then a new problem would arise."

"And that would be…?"

"Untold power," Discord warned, "you know not of Nightmare Moon's wicked power. She could match the power that Celestia has if she is left unchecked."

"How would you know that?" Specter thought, believing he didn't ask the question out loud.

"Hehehe," oozed Discord, "I've been around far longer than you can even imagine, whippersnapper."

Specter rolled his eyes again, then prepared to leave Discord for the evening. Discord smirked, watched Specter walk away, then assumed his disguise once more as he went to go meet Luna one more time for the evening.

"Now, you're gonna have to take it easy for a while, Rainbow Dash."

"Why's that?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at her bandaged wings.

Star cocked an eyebrow and briefly glanced towards Noct before answering, "Um, well, because if you use your wings, it could potentially damage them even more."

"And what about my hoof?" Dash wondered, looking down to it.

"We'll keep it in the cast for a couple weeks," Noct stated, "then we'll reevaluate from there."

"So I'll be sitting here, being useless, for the next two weeks?!" Dash sat back in her cart and jumped back up, the pain from her tightly wrapped wing spiking upward momentarily.

"Take it easy," Star warned, "you're pretty banged up and, if we're being honest, lucky you're not paralyzed in any way."

"So says you," Dash sighed, "you don't know what this will be like for me."

Lunar approached the three and looked to Rainbow Dash, "I beg to differ."

"Yeah, yeah," Dash dismissed, "you don't really know what this will be like though."

"Seriously?" Star quickly replied.

"Star," Lunar said, looking at her, "it's okay." He glanced back down towards Rainbow Dash and motioned his head towards the metallic wing, "Are you absolutely sure I have no idea what it would be like?"

Dash sighed again and crossed her hooves, "Oh, you know what I mean."

"Still," continued Lunar, "be thankful that you can eventually use your hooves and wings again. You have no idea what I'd do to get either both of my wings back or go back to just being a simple unicorn, you really don't."

"At least an alicorn like your-"

"An alicorn like myself," interrupted Lunar, "doesn't deserve to exist like this. I'd rather hide my deformed, alicorn self, and pose as a unicorn than continue living with only one wing, watching as the other Pegasi get to fly with ease while I sit back and wish for a different past and a different type of future. You don't want to live a deformed life like mine, trust me. There are four reasons why I still live my life, and they're all here." He pointed to Star, Lustrous, and Eclipse with his hoof while still looking down at Rainbow Dash.

"What's the fourth then?" Noct wondered.

"That's a secret that only I keep," he admitted, "because nopony knows it but myself, not Lustrous, not Eclipse, not even my daughter Starry Nights."

"I bet I know who it is," Star winked.

"Nevertheless," continued Lunar, extending his good wing, "I'd rather this wing be chopped off and revert back to being a unicorn than live as a deformed alicorn."

"And give up that powerful alicorn magic that comes with the wings?" Dash questioned. "Seems pretty selfish if you ask me."

Lunar was just about to answer back before Twilight stepped in and held him back, looking at Rainbow Dash with a displeased look. She smiled at Lunar, then answered Rainbow Dash in her traditional, lecturing ways.

"Believe it or not, Dash," she began, "but it's not all fun and games with alicorn magic. Do you know the troubles one has when it comes to balancing that out?"

"I bet it's not as hard as it is when you're a unicorn," Dash muttered, though she wished she hadn't.

"You're right," agreed Twilight, "it's not. It's immensely harder than when I was a unicorn. We have to hold ourselves back because the promise of ultimate power is our downfall. If alicorns fall victim to the nightmare and dark forces that are within themselves, then it's everypony for themselves, because only an alicorn can stop an alicorn."

Upon hearing Twilight's response, Star grew worried for Lunar. She approached him and rested a hoof on his side softly, looking up to him. Lunar, coming to his senses, looked down at her and saw the worry in her eyes.

"Is that true, Dad?" She asked, her voice sounding as if she would cry at any moment.

Lunar rested his wing on Star's back softly and brought her in for a hug, "Unfortunately, it is. But, like I said, I have four reasons for pushing forward, and you and your grandparents are those reasons. So, in a way, it's you who keeps me level-headed."

Star hugged Lunar closely, nodding at his response, "I guess so."

"Still," continued Twilight, "it would be wise not to test an alicorn's true strength. Why do you think I never harmed another pony out in the field?"

"And I never struck another pony to kill," added Lunar, "I only captured ponies, but I never did it to hurt them."

"Alicorn magic is no pushover," Twilight said, "and neither are the alicorns that have been entrusted with the responsibilities of harboring and housing said power. They know what can happen and understand the risks that can come with falling to corruption."

With the lecture on alicorns now firmly planted into their minds, Twilight, Lunar, and Star all left Rainbow Dash and Noct to clear their heads and take in some of the fresh air for a while.