[Now that the fight is over and the truth of the matter of the past few weeks is out, smacking her in the face, Nephenee has had some downtime to think, especially with what Zetta said. He was right. They've been behaving foolishly...between this and the incident where everyone ganged up on Flare Star and Harvey, and probably thing that she doesn't know about, it's feels like everypony is being rash...acting out of anger or hurt or something else. And it's time to bring the issue to light.

She knows it might backfire onto her...but that is the way of things.]

...Ah've been thinkin' 'bout what Zetta said, 'bout how we all reacted, an' 'bout a few other incidents an'...

What the hay are we doin'?

No, seriously, what are we doin'? This is a place where friendships are paramount, where our support for one another has real power beyond what ya'd think...an' as Ah look back, this ain't the first time we've reacted badly. Jus' a few weeks ago, when Miss Liz left...folks jumped onto Miss Flare Star an' Sir Harvey for things done in sadness an' anger. We shoulda forgiven them, supported 'em...an' we failed.

We did it again these past two weeks. An' while we reckoned we was doin' the right thing...some of it obviously wasn't. Ah know 'hindsight is 20/20' an' all that, but some of the things like what we did...an' in some cases, still are doin'...that ain't right. [Her somber features grow heated at one thought.] Like waterboardin'? That shouldn't have been even considered, it's torture, for cryin' out loud!

[And as quickly as the anger came, it dissipates, replaced with a look of shame.] Ah'm embarrassed by how Ah reacted to some of this...when Ah saw my friends an' folks from my Commune, folks Ah should have protected, in what Ah thought was a dangerous situation...Ah suggested we steal into the castle, steal supplies...Ah didn't suggest that raid at all. but Ah did other stuff Ah ain't proud of...

Even if the aftermath of that forced me to get better an' face somethin' from my past that was holdin' onto me with an iron grip for almost a decade, that aftermath taught me that...what's goin' on here isn't gonna help us. If Ah'd held onto it...Ah don't know what would have happened. But Ah do know Ah ain't faultless in this, or in a few things even before now... so to any Ah've been short with an' such?

Ah'm sorry.

Ah'm not gonna lie...folks seem to be goin' downhill, an' we gotta put a stop to it. Because where we're headin' off to now? We ain't gonna be rescuin' anypony or stoppin' Cálice any time soon.

This is gonna sound funny comin' from a soldier, but...while Ah think we need to stay trained, since there will be battles in the future that need the strength of arms?

This isn't a war that will be won with weapons of iron and steel. It's gonna be our bonds that support us, an' those bonds are our true strength. Because even if some of us don't know where we belong, a lot of folks want to go home, an' that's the only way it's happenin'.

So let's work on forgin' them, both new ones an' those we already have.

~~~

( Private to Dandy )

I know we're supposed to thank the princesses and Zetta for their plan, but honestly?

I told you so.

So I'm sure there's a lot of people or ponies or yada yada whatever that are going to get on to say something. But let me just say something as quick and best as I can, even though words over four letters usually confuse the hell out of me.

Have any of you thought that maybe what's happened, all of it, was a good thing?

That's probably a stupid ass question to a lot of you, so let me follow it up with a few other stupid ass questions.

Have you thought why we're here?

I mean a lot of you have. And a lot of you have probably noticed that a lot of us are broken people, or ponies, or whatever you were before. "Functioning" doesn't seem to be the norm for us; "trashed to hell" whether it's emotionally or mentally, though, does. So I've gotta know.

Have you ever wondered if you were brought here because you were broken?

Because it's okay to be broken. And you won't always be. A lot of people are afraid that we're going to break this world with how broken we are. But I've got a surprise for you. Here's some spoilers.

The world isn't going to break. This world? Is going to help make you whole. Maybe not all the way, but better, and more than you would have expected. What's happening now? All the violence and arguing and fighting? Hate to tell you, but that's to be expected.

But the good news is that in the end it's all going to blow away. Friendship is hard. Love is hard. But they're going to end up overtaking us anyway, rather than anyone here finding some way to overtake them.

Friendship won't lose in the end, even if it seems ethereal and not like something you can actually understand yet.

Oh yeah? As for the giant asshole who pretended to hijack the planet?

I say forgive him. If you don't want to right now, that's cool. But it's something you, and anyone who was hurt by him, should do.

And if you wanna say otherwise you can talk to me. I think I'd be better at saying what I'd have to say there than here, cause man. The four letter words will probably end up flying in that conversation.

This happened twice, by the way in our world.

The first time, Marvelous and Tsukasa set everypony fighting one another, killing each Sentai team or Rider and sending them to a placeholding dimension where they would be unleashed on a combined army of Shocker and Zangyack.

The second time, Takeshi Hongo and Ryo Murasame, both Showa Riders orchestrated a massive Rider-on-Rider war and had us killing one another, and sending us to the Helheim forest to wait to be unleashed on the Underground Empire Badan. And then after all was settled and done, we STILL had a Showa Rider vs Heisei Rider war.

So... I kind of have to agree with Tsukasa on this one. If you orchestrate another one of these, I'm hanging up my Rider belt. I'm not risking losing friends over a fight that could easily cause ponies and people to turn on one another.

I've already told a few of you this. Some others may already have been suspecting what I'm about to say, as well, but I want to come out with it completely.

I knew that whole thing was a setup from almost the beginning, and didn't tell anyone. I was asked not to; by whom should be obvious at this point.

[There's a tired, dirty and haggard looking dragon on the scrolls. He looks thin, like he hasn't been eating or that if he has, it's not been enough to keep a healthy weight. His voice is one of weakness and total exhaustion, he's having difficulty holding the scroll steady. He'd done his best to get the shelter put together, but he's clearly hit his limit.]

Sorry everyone... I don't think I'll be able to get the emergency shelter done. The chambers are all dug and reinforced though...

[His voice trails off, his eyes roll back into his head and he passes out. The scroll flutters to the ground, showing how bad off he is. Mud and dirt caked into his mane, his scales more grey from dust and grime than his normal white, and the skin around his claws looks shredded while his claws are cracked... and then the scroll goes black.]

Okie dokie, so I'm making a checklist and I wanna make sure everything is right.

1. The Cakes are still kiiiinda mad at this whole shenanigans. So for the duration of 1 month, please direct all of your orders to the Night Market one. They're going on vacation. I think they said something about the Bahamas and left it at that. The Doctor and I have the run of the joint for that duration. Doctor, they said something about no experiments in the kitchen other than food experiments.

2. Lucia, Sunset, I've marked out a place that I think we can start building our very own house! I've already made up the design for it and I've got the interior drafted out. Whaddya think? There'll be enough room for House CHS to allow more to live here. Mako, if you can put in our order for the building to commence after the recent one, please and thank you.

3. Cake and Sudoku will be opening on Monday! Now that the crisis is over, please come for the grand opening par-tay and we'll totally have some fun! Here's a photograph of the front room and I hope its to everypony's liking!

4. Still taking donations for Cake and Sudoku! Unload your unwanted powers and stuff to be displayed under glass!

5. AJ if you're not too busy we need cider for this event.

6. I'm not banning anypony from Cake and Sudoku but mind not to get in the fight or Mr Hammer might have some words.

Okay that should be it then! Pinkie out!

[There have been a lot of posts on the scrolls after the battle; about the actions or inactions that were taken, about whether they were right or not, whether to forgive them or not, etc and so forth.

Fluttershy had her own thoughts on the matter, but that's not why she's on the scrolls right now. She didn't want to add to the growing tensions, and while it was all very important, she had other things to worry about right now.

The image of Futtershy on the scroll is looking a little...exhausted. Her normally neat mane is a little frazzled, and the dragonfly clip that kept it back was a little askew.

Still she managed a smile, if small and a little sheepish as she addressed everyone.]

U-Um...would...would anyone mind...helping us out?

The, um...the darkness had a...bit of a bad effect on the animals...a lot of them have gotten sick...and some are still really irritable too...and we could use a little help taking care of them...especially with the other Fluttershy still needing her rest.

If it's...not too much trouble, that is...I know a lot of other places need work too...but...any help would be appreciated.

Um...thank you...

I was in on Zetta's plan the whole time. I let myself be captured to play the role needed of me...and while I'm not proud of it, I still lied to all of you. I made you worry and I deceived you. I couldn't tell anyone, but that doesn't excuse what I did.

My word might not mean much, if anything, anymore, but...I'm sorry.

[Hey guys, Its Minako. And she looks quite thoughtful.]

Hey, guys? Maybe I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but I honestly think you guys need to give the princesses the benefit of the doubt on this one. And yeah, even Zetta.

Yeah, they kept things from us. That sucks, I get that. Maybe they should have been more open about that plan, or maybe not. I know a lot of ponies will use that against the princesses.

But in the end, I can't be angry at them this time. In fact, I completely understand why they did it. Sometimes we have to keep secrets to protect people. And sometimes, yeah, things will backfire when you do that. But that's the nature of being a leader. That's why being an alicorn here is earned, don't you think? Its not always straightforward and you have to make the best decisions that you can with what you know. Leaders...ponies in power...they don't have the luxury of being 100% transparent. Sometimes divulging the truth is more dangerous than than keeping the secret.

Besides. Hasn't it occurred to anyone that us being angry at the princesses for this - us acting like this - is exactly what the Pale Pony wants? The more she can manipulate our fear, the more our fear causes us to mistrust and even hate others, the more of an advantage she gets. She says friendship is a weakness? She says friendship doesn't matter? Well? We're just proving her right. And she'll keep stealing stars. Or, at least I'm pretty sure that's what Princess Celestia meant with that, because the whole Pale Pony absorbing stuff and...stuff.

...

I know ponies are mad, right now, and I admit I was cheesed off at Zetta when he first started this...but we need to show the Pale Pony that she's wrong about us, and that just because she's got all that power, doesn't mean she's right about that.

[With that, she gets down on one knee.]

So...Princess Celestia, Princess Luna...Overlord Zetta. I humbly apologize for not believing in you. I hope you can forgive me.

In light of recent events, I feel I must retire to finish some necessary business and training. To that end, I shall be travelling on a short vacation with my beloved. I apologize, but I cannot put this off any longer. You may ask me about my plans in person, at Golden Oaks Library.

When I return in about a week's time, I shall open the Spiral Horn talisman shop. Among other things, it will sell rings of silver tongue, Luna's shirts, and cloaks of protection from the elements.

- Lucia Bolido