/Heyyyy! Guess who's alive? That's right, it's meeee! I'm back for more! My computer spazzed out so I couldn't write anything. I'm so sorry for how much you keep having to wait, but I'll try to update more often now that I have more free you so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter!/

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I sit beside Rarity at the sloppy mound of dirt we're calling Sweetie Belle's grave. It wasn't easy to pry her from her sister. It was quite similar to when we buried Trixie, actually. She didn't want to let go. She didn't want to admit Sweetie Belle was gone. We managed to calm her down, though, and she's been sitting, sobbing, for an hour now. She cried herself to sleep beside the mound of dirt. The others are asleep, too, all except Sunset Shimmer and I. Speaking of which, I feel a soft hoof on my shoulder. Sunset pulls me up. We both glance over at Applejack, who still clings tightly to Applebloom, tears staining both their faces. Applebloom lost one of her best friends today, and Applejack almost lost her own sister. I exhale slowly, and Sunset gestures towards Flash Sentry's mangled body. The others refused to bury him alongside Sweetie for clear reasons, but from the look on Sunset's face both of us are thinking the same thing.

Flash Sentry is a good stallion. He'd have never done what he did if Gilda hadn't tortured him into obeying her. We both know that, and we both know that he deserves to be buried as well, rather than left to rot at the base of this mountain. The two of us pick him up with our magic and carry him a few feet off. We dig slowly. I feel strangely numb, and my whole body aches. Neither of us speak, just slowly dig. At last an appropriately-sized hole stands in the middle of the ground. We push Flash's body in and begin to cover him with dirt. He may not be the same Flash Sentry as in the other world, but I know even Sunset, despite never having any real interest in him, doesn't feel quite right burying him like this.

Finally we pat the mound of dirt over his body and return to the others, where we lay down and embrace the warm, comforting hold of sleep.

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When Sunset and I wake up, the only one already awake is Scootaloo. She sits a few feet of from the rest of us, at the edge of the cliff. I nudge Sunset lightly and get to my hooves, approaching the silent filly. I sit next to her and look out over the horizon. Sunset joins me after a moment.

"Can you smell the blood in the air?" Scootaloo wonders quietly. "Under the layers of smoke and magic residue it can be hard to pick up, but when you do pick it up it's impossible to lose. I guess that is the kind of thing war can do to you, though. Even after a while, even when it's covered up by a bunch of other things, it's always there. The blood smell will always be there."

I close my eyes as she speaks and take a deep inhale of the atmosphere. Smoke fills my nose first. I flare my nostrils and sort through the scents, quickly recognizing the copper of blood. It's more familiar than I thought it would be. Unpleasant, yet strangely comfortable. I open my eyes slightly and glance to see Sunset Shimmer listening intently as Scootaloo continues to speak softly.

"Even when this whole thing's over, we'll never forget it. We've all seen to much death and loss, and destruction and disharmony. That's the kind of stuff you can never forget. Years later when Applebloom and I have foals of our own, they're gonna learn about this war in school. They're going to learn about their mothers, but we'll be called Agents. And you, Twilight, you'll be a war hero. Do you ever think about that?"

Suddenly I can't focus on Scootaloo's words anymore. All I can think about is the end of this war. The way she speaks of it, even after watching one of her best friends die, it's as though she just knows we're all going to survive. She believes that she will survive through the end and have children. It's the sort of childlike naivety we could all use now. The sort that we lost when Pinkie became Pinkamena.

Pinkie...

I jump to my hooves. Scootaloo and Sunset turn towards me in surprise.

"We need to save Pinkie Pie. Now, before it's too late." I say.

"I'll go wake up the others," Sunset says, standing immediately. "You two start forming a plan."

As she makes her way towards the others, Scootaloo and I start talking. Or at least, I start talking and Scootaloo starts wandering around our little area. I trail off after a moment, trying to figure out what she's doing. She walks slowly with her nose pointed towards the sky. Is she sniffing for the blood scent again? Is she going to use that to track Gilda's army like a bloodhound? That wouldn't make much sense, though, since we already know they're taking refuge in Canterlot. That has to be where they've taken Pinkie.

"What are you doing?" I ask finally.

"I'm picking up traces of unicorn magic. I can smell the last teleportation spells you and Sunset Shimmer used, and if I can, someone in Gilda's army must be able to. They'll know we're coming, and they'll be waiting to attack. We have to travel by hoof so they'll have given up on us by the time we get there, just to be safe." She explains softly.

I consider for a moment. Is it truly worth putting Pinkie's safety on the line to ensure all of us survive this ordeal? If we're all killed in the process of saving her, she isn't really saved. Scootaloo's right, we have to travel by hoof for everyone's safety. I join Sunset in waking the others, and Scootaloo repeats to them what she told me.

"Then we'd best get a move on right away, if we're gonna stop 'em from hurtin' Pinkie." Applejack says, promptly lifting Applebloom onto her back.

We nod. Spike is gently shaking Rarity and Rainbow Dash is trying to pull her from Sweetie Belle's grave.

"No! I'm not going, I must stay with my baby sister!" Rarity cries, digging her hooves into the dirt and sobbing.

Rainbow Dash wraps her front legs around Rarity's back legs and drags her from the grave, dropping her when they're a few feet away. Immediately Rarity scrambles to her hooves and makes a beeline back towards the mound of dirt. Spike jumps in front of her and the two go tumbling. They roll fast towards the edge of the cliff, caught in a beam of Sunset Shimmer's magic before they go over the edge. She moves them safely back towards us and releases them. Rarity pushes Spike off of her and tries to stand again. Her knees shake and tremble. Her lip quivers. We all stand quiet and rigid for a solid minute before Rarity's cry echoes suddenly through the sky. She collapses on the ground, curling in a fetal position and sobbing violently. Spike rubs her back soothingly as she cries. She suddenly grabs him and pulls him into a tight embrace.

A moment passes. We all watch Rarity's misery in silence, glancing at each other before Rainbow Dash finally approaches the scene. She grabs Spike in her mouth by the scruff of his neck and pulls him away from Rarity. She then offers a hoof to her unicorn friend and helps her stand back up.

"Look, Rarity, I get that you're in pain right now, but this is war. If we're going to have the slightest chance of winning, we need to put our pain behind us and focus on right now. And right now we Ned to get moving so we can save Pinkie Pie. It would be awesome if you could keep your head up. For me." She says.

Rarity stares up at Rainbow's gentle yet simultaneously firm face. The pegasus smiles encouragingly. After a moment of contemplation and glancing back at her sister's grave, Rarity nods slowly.

"I believe so. Yes." She murmurs, voice shaking.

"Good."

"Well then, ladies," I say after Rarity gets to her hooves "Let's get a move on"

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/I know this one was kinda dull, but don't worry. We're approaching more action VERY soon. I promise. Also hopefully more frequent updates but no promises. 'Til next time!/