• Published 20th Jan 2012
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Harpflank and Sweets - Arcainum



Lyra and Bon Bon: THEY FIGHT CRIME. And robots. And monsters. And ponies. And more robots.

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Season 2 - Episode 21: They'll Shower Us With Nothing

HARPFLANK AND SWEETS: SEASON 2
by Arcainum



Opening Titles

The justice has been doubled! Though the world has been saved from Nightmare Moon, Metropony remains under threat. With the Empire gone, a new wave of super-criminals has emerged to fill the vacuum of power! How will the bastion of Harmony fare in an increasingly Chaotic world?! New friends, new enemies, and new adventures await those stalwart heroes named...

HARPFLANK AND SWEETS: SEASON 2, EPISODE 21 - THEY’LL SHOWER US WITH NOTHING

Scene 1

The door to ExTech opened with its customary hiss and Lyra and Bon-Bon stepped through, Lyra trailing behind her partner like an admonished child.

"Still don't see why I couldn't have just smacked him around a bit..."

Bon-Bon spun on her heels and treated Lyra to the full force of her "Seriously?" frown.

"You couldn't just 'smack him around a bit' because we're meant to be heroes! I swear, sometimes I feel like you've forgotten what that me-"

"You're here! Oh man, Tavi, they're here! Guys, you have to see this.

The moment they had entered, Vinyl Scratch's head had snapped up from her work and she had leapt from her chair, galloping toward them and skidding to a halt mere moments before colliding into Bon-Bon. The two heroes blinked in surprise, and curiosity crept into Lyra's morose expression.

"What's got you going? I haven't seen you this excited since you tried to weaponise Fluttershy."

"Hey, one day I will find a way to make that pony dangerous, mark my words." Vinyl shook her head furiously. "No, wait, that's not important! What's important is… Tavi! Where's the stuff?!"

"One... minute..."

Octavia waddled into view from the main office, stumbling along on her hind legs as she struggled to carry a collection of brightly-coloured plastic… things. Gasping with effort, she slumped onto Vinyl's desk, letting the assorted gimcrackery tumble across its metal surface. As her three friends trotted to her side, she pulled herself back to her hooves and cast a weary glance in Vinyl's direction.

"Because levitation would've been too much effort."

Vinyl stuck out her tongue, then whirled back to Lyra and Bon-Bon. "Okay, so, you have to check this out. Derpy's been working overtime on the whole ‘make the city not hate us’ thing as usual, and… oh, man... guess what we just got straight from the manufacturers?"

Bon-Bon looked closer, Lyra peering over her shoulder. As one, their eyes widened and their mouths dropped open.

"Are those…action figures?"

"Is that us merch?!

Vinyl grinned. "That it is, my friends. That it is. Say hello to the first run of the Harpflank and Sweets action figure line. It's got all the Elements, Nightmare Moon, a couple randoms… Hay, there's even a Flim and Flam two-pack."

Lyra and Bon-Bon scrambled forward, driven by pride and love of licensed goods respectively. Lyra lifted her tiny plastic self close to her face, gaze following every contour.

"I don't know, seems kinda…tatty."

Vinyl shrugged in response as Octavia stalked back into the main office. "Well, this is just the prototype. Once we've given our approval, they’ll tidy up the design and-"

"What does this button do?" Bon-Bon was scanning the Sweets figurine with a practised eye and was reaching her hoof curiously toward the button on its back.

Vinyl dropped the miniature Redheart she had been levitating idly and hurriedly replied. "Uh, I wouldn't press that, they haven't qui-"

"I think the way Lyra sits is kinda weird!"

Silence fell. Bon-Bon froze, one hoof hovering over the innocently smiling toy and smile plastered across her face as the lab ground to a terrified halt. Lyra turned slowly to face Vinyl, who smiled nervously as sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Say, Vinyl. That was a pretty sweet impression of BB there. Who'd they get to do the voices?"

Vinyl swallowed. "Oh, well, you know the Commander, she wanted full cooperation, so… I, uh…" Her eyes shifted awkwardly, searching for an escape. "…I tossed them some audio from the lab recorders. For, uh, placeholders. You know."

"Oh. Audio from the lab recorders. Cool."

Silence descended once more, with a vengeance. Bon-Bon very slowly lowered the toy, laying it down on the desk with an echoing click. She coughed.

"Well, Vinyl, these are certainly-"

"Sit funny, do I?"

Bon-Bon flinched and inwardly cursed her loose tongue. She hadn't meant it maliciously, she had just been impressing on Vinyl her worry for her friend's health! "I was just saying that-"

"Oh, yeah, sure you were. Well, I've just said some stuff too! I wonder what gems Little Lyra has in store?!" Lyra jabbed at the button her figure's back, and the tinny electronic voice chattered away.

"BB sure can talk sometimes, you know?"

Bon-Bon gasped indignantly, bringing a hoof to her chest in righteous surprise. "How could you? Okay, so I go on a bit sometimes, but that's only because I happen to find it quite difficult sometimes to…Are you flapping your mouth? You're flapping your mouth! Stop flapping your mouth!"

Lyra nonchalantly glanced about the room even as she continued noiselessly mouthing gibberish in time with Bon-Bon's words. Bon-Bon's hackles rose.

"Oh, so now it's time for the childish games like always! Well, it's not going to work with me this time, Lyra! If you have something to say, you're going to say it, not hide behind your joking and your moaning and your running awa-"

"My what?"

There was a dreadful, painful, awful silence. Lyra's voice had been calm, cold, but her quivering fur spoke otherwise. Vinyl bit her lip as she looked from Bon-Bon's horrified shock at herself to Lyra's barely-contained rage. Quite apart from two of her best friends seemingly about to tear each other apart emotionally was the fact that should they choose to do so physically, she really wasn't sure ExTech could take it. She saw Bon-Bon's expression harden and moved to intercept.

"Hey, guys, let's… let's just take it down a notch, and-"

"Your running away. You know, the way you never stand up to your problems, or talk them through with me. The way you just retreat into your little artist ball, hiding behind your music and your tantrums until someone comes along and solves everything for you. You know, that running away."

Lyra opened her mouth to speak, then stopped, visibly restraining herself. Every pony in the lab was holding their breath, ready for the explosion. But it never came. She just closed her mouth, turned, and walked out.

The lab remained silent. Somepony coughed. Vinyl opened her mouth to speak, but Bon-Bon just met her gaze, shook her head, and walked out herself. As her staff released their collective breath, Vinyl fell to her haunches and sighed, wiping her brow. After a few moments, she called across the lab to the main office.

"Tavi? Can... can I have a hug?"

Scene 2

"Then why didn't you tell us?!"

"I didn't know! I'm sorry!"

Bon-Bon stopped outside the Commander's Office as the voices filtered quietly through the thick metal door. Derpy's voice was raised, her target's response full of shame and apology. Bon-Bon shook her head. What was wrong with everypony today? She stepped forward, letting the door slide aside.

Commander Derpy was hovering over her desk, hooves on her hips. Below her cowered Fluttershy, who turned to Bon-Bon with pleading eyes as she entered them the office. Bon-Bon saluted.

"Uh, Commander. Fluttershy. Am I interrupting something?"

Derpy opened her mouth to speak, then rubbed her temple and floated back down to her chair, motioning for Bon-Bon and Fluttershy to sit.

"No, I just… It's nothing. There are more important things to deal with now." She leaned forward, slipping into her official tone without skipping a beat. "We've found an Element."

Bon-Bon's eyebrow raised in surprise. "An Element? We've actually found one ahead of time?"

Derpy nodded and glanced at Fluttershy, who winced. "Yup. Turns out Fluttershy has been keeping secrets."

Fluttershy snapped back with as much indignation as her demure nature could summon. "I haven't been keeping secrets! I… I haven't seen her since I joined M.A.R.E. and, um..." She shrunk back into her chair. "I forgot. Please don't be mad!"

Derpy sighed. "It's alright, Fluttershy. This whole thing gets stranger with every new development and, well… Vinyl has a couple of theories. But what's important is that, for the first time, we have the chance to approach an Element on our own terms."

Bon-Bon nodded thoughtfully, thinking back to Twilight's eventful recruitment in Canterlot and the debacle at the Hedge Maze that had led them to Fluttershy. "So, who are we looking at?"

"I'll let Fluttershy handle that part of the briefing."

Fluttershy swallowed as Bon-Bon swivelled to face her, blushing at the sudden attention. "Um, well, it's my friend, Rainbow Dash. She's a Wonderbolt. Or, um, she will be."

"Wait, you know her?"

Fluttershy flinched again. This, obviously, had been the sore point for the Commander. "Y-Yes. She's my best friend; we were at flight camp together. It was her who said I should go to, um, Iron Will's seminar where I met you. But after I joined M.A.R.E. I just… forgot."

Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes. "That seems a little… strange, for you to forget your best friend. Redheart hasn't been keeping you that busy, has she?"

Derpy cut in, pressing a button on her terminal as she did so. "As I said, Vinyl has a few theories on that front." The viewscreen on the back wall flickered into life and Vinyl appeared onscreen, shouting something to someone out of sight.

"I said the green button! The green! The red button just-"

There was a colossal explosion offscreen and Vinyl's mane streamed behind her as she gritted her teeth against the wave of dust and bits of lab. The smoke died down and she coughed, turning back to the screen and grinning.

"Uh, hey, Derpy. Just clearing something up with a newbie, you know how it is." As Derpy slapped a hoof to her face in a time-honoured gesture of abject exasperation and Fluttershy giggled at her carefree attitude, Vinyl noticed Bon-Bon. "Oh, BB… Did you, uh..."

Bon-Bon shook her head. "No, Vinyl. I haven't seen her all day."

Vinyl sighed. "Ouch."

Derpy eyes flitted suspiciously between her subordinates. "Is there something I should know?"

Before Bon-Bon could reply, Vinyl waved her hoof dismissively and laughed brightly. "Nah, nothing to worry about, Commander. Lyra's just, uh, doing her thing. What did you need me for?"

Derpy glared for a moment before a letting the matter drop. "You said earlier you had some thoughts on the Elements, and why we've had so much trouble finding them."

Vinyl's ears pricked eagerly, and Bon-Bon could almost see the explanation lining itself up in her mind. "I do! I've been asking around about Twilight and Fluttershy and, well, the results were pretty surprising. It turns out that a few of our Canterlot transfers, get this, had known Twilight for years!"

Derpy cocked her head in confusion. "So?"

"So, we briefed everypony in M.A.R.E. about the Elements! Gave them descriptions, names, everything. And not one of them said anything about Twilight. Same with you, Flutters. You've got a couple acquaintances on-base that you knew before you joined, right?"

Fluttershy nodded slowly.

"Now, I know some of these ponies pretty well, and they never said a single word about you. But here's where it gets really weird. I don't exactly follow racing, but it turns out Rainbow Dash has been making a splash for months. She's got a near-perfect winning streak, she's one of a fraction of pegasi who can pull off a sonic rainboom, and she's being inaugurated into the Wonderbolts in a few days." Vinyl scratched behind her ears in embarrassment. "And, uh… we didn't notice. At all. We're talking a kingdom-class celebrity, and not a single pony in M.A.R.E, including her childhood friend, had the faintest idea she existed. Which is where my theory comes in."

The ponies in Derpy's office imperceptibly leaned forward in anticipation, even Derpy hanging on Vinyl's every word. She took a deep breath, as if afraid of even postulating what she was about to say.

"I think something's messing with our heads."

Fluttershy brought a hoof to heart in shock as Bon-Bon's eyes widened. "Messing with our heads?"

Vinyl nodded glumly. "The more I investigate, the more it worries me. There's no evidence to support it, no changes in anypony's brainwaves or anything, but… it's the only explanation. For some reason, we're not seeing things that are directly in front of our face. I think Discord may not have been bluffing when he told you guys how powerful he was, BB."

There was a moment's solemn silence before Derpy cut in thoughtfully.

"But if that's the case, why are we finding them now?"

Vinyl grinned. "That's the good news. I reckon that as we gather more Harmonic energy in the form of Element Bearers, the resonance between the magical waveforms of each Element is breaking down the Chaotic magic that Discord is theoretically using to alter our perceptions, which is inherently entropic anyway, making finding the rest of the Elements just a matter of letting time pass and letting the ones we already have interact!"

Derpy moved her lips silently for a few seconds. "I'm… sorry, could you say that again?"

"As we gather mo-"

"No, no, I meant with words."

"… Okay, Discord is apparently the spirit of Chaos, right? And we've already proved that the power of the Elements, which I'm calling Harmonic energy in the paper that I'm totally going to get round to writing soon, is directly harmful to his 'Chaotic' energy. So what if us awakening as Bearers... I don't know… broke some kind of seal? It led us to Twilight, who gave us a little more Harmony acting against whatever Discord is doing, which let Lyra recognise Fluttershy when she met her at the Hedge Maze. What I'm saying is, the more Elements we find, the easier it should be to find more."

Derpy nodded and reached for her terminal. "Good work, Vinyl. I want this to be your main priority from now on. Keep me posted."

Vinyl waved. "Roger, Derpy."

The screen cut out and Derpy turned to face Bon-Bon and Fluttershy again. "There it is. We need to find the rest of the Six more than ever. Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy, blushing slightly at Derpy's reverential use of 'the Six', sat up straighter, doing her best to appear professional. "Um, yes?"

"You're on this one. I know you're not one for field work, but you know Rainbow Dash personally and… well, you know what's at stake."

"Y-Yes, ma'am. I'll do my best!" Despite her fervent reply, Fluttershy's eyes betrayed her terror.

"Take care of her, Bon-Bon. I'm counting on you and- Where is Lyra?"

Bon-Bon cursed inwardly. Derpy had a way of making you let your guard down, of forgetting the razor-sharp intuition hidden beneath the layers of motherly amicability.

"Lyra's… indisposed. Emotional issues. Permission to run this one alone? As just Sweets, I mean. I'll keep an eye on Fluttershy, don't you worry, Commander."

Derpy narrowed her eyes, then her expression. "This is important but... Lyra's Lyra. Permission granted. The mission's simple. Head to the Rainbow Raceway, make contact, and bring her into the fold. I can't imagine it'll be too hard."

Fluttershy smiled nervously. "Um, you don't know Rainbow Dash."

Scene 3

"Wow."

Bon-Bon's awed whisper was effortlessly drowned by the roar of the crowd. By the sound of it the vast cloud-stadium was full to capacity, and the races were in full swing. Beside her, Fluttershy stepped back as the noise, almost a physical presence, washed over them.

"Oh my."

"No kidding." Magic tingled in the whiteness beneath Bon-Bon's hooves as she stepped forward. Looming on the outskirts of Metropony's Cloud District, Rainbow Raceway was the city's - and, by extension, Equestria's - premier pegasus racetrack, floating high above the city as a fluffy testament to pony ingenuity. The entire structure was constructed of revolutionary 'cloudcrete,' magically condensed clouds that could be herded and shaped with all the ease of a normal cloud, while lacking the nebulous nature. The practical upshot was that ponies of any species could treat it as pegasi would any other cloud.

And so it was that Bon-Bon had tentatively stepped from the balloon that had carried her into the sky, gulping as she tried not to glance down at the dwindling sight of the skyscrapers below. It wasn't as if she was just scared of any old heights, she told herself. Being scared of heights that could kill her was perfectly legitimate.

The entranceway, a great arch decked with rainbow fountains, beckoned. Bon-Bon nodded to Fluttershy and the two stepped into the shadows beneath it, bypassing the ticket booth with a wave of a badge and a stammered apology from the guard. There had been some advantages to M.A.R.E's reveal, at least.

As they strolled through the covered passage to the stands, Bon-Bon glanced at her temporary partner, who was looking anxiously about the tunnel as if the shadows themselves were ready to leap at her. Bon-Bon had never understood Fluttershy, even in the months she'd spent at M.A.R.E. The Element of Kindness had kept very much to herself so far as Bon-Bon was concerned, and Bon-Bon hadn't pressed the issue. It was as if there was a wall around the reclusive pegasus, a wall that only a few ponies could find their way through.

Lyra had. A guilty stab of envy and pain hit Bon-Bon as the image of her friend rose unbidden from her mind. The unicorn and the pegasus had become fast friends after the Hedge Maze incident, with Lyra's effusive personality filling the silences left by Fluttershy's self-effacing quiet. Lyra seemed to have an innate understanding of how far to go when around the delicate Fluttershy, never pushing too hard or protesting too loudly. And when a couple of less-than-savoury recruits, somehow slipped through the M.A.R.E. approval process, had accosted Fluttershy in the Infirmary one late-night shift, Lyra had been bouncing them off the walls before Redheart could even raise a hoof.

Bon-Bon shook her head furiously. Lyra was an issue for later. She was on a mission, and that was all that mattered. She realised Fluttershy was smiling at her. She cocked her head.

"Um, don't worry, Bon-Bon. Rainbow Dash is a wonderful friend. I don't think we'll have any trouble."

Bon-Bon smiled back weakly. The guilt of her momentary resentment burned brighter as they left the tunnel and stepped into the stands proper.

The stadium’s atmosphere was intense. All thought was eradicated by the sun, the sound, the sensation that filled the air, sending shivers through Bon-Bon's spine and stopping her in her tracks. Beside, Fluttershy stared.

The stadium stretched away from them, almost half a mile across, a triumph of cloud architecture. Ponies filled the stands, screaming and whooping as what Bon-Bon assumed was the Wonderbolts rocketed around the track. The crowd's energy was almost palpable, and Bon-Bon found herself wiping sweat from her brow. No matter how long she lived in this city, it found new ways to surprise her.

"This… how have I not been here before? It's amazing."

Fluttershy was, surprisingly, dealing with the atmosphere far better than Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon could only assume she had visited the stadium with Rainbow Dash in the past.

"Y-Yes, it's pretty spectacular. It's the largest, um, pegasus-made structure in Equestria. Rainbow Dash always said she'd race here one day."

The mention of Rainbow Dash brought Bon-Bon back to her senses. No time to be gawping. She trotted forward, squeezing through the standing-room-only crowd clamouring at the fence in an attempt to get a closer look at the racers. The race was coming to a close and the assorted pegasi were nothing more than a blur that even Bon-Bon's enhanced vision could barely follow. The oddly-familiar announcer, however, appeared to have no such issues.

"For those tuning in at home, the racers are coming up to the final straight in this year's Wondermeet, and Spitfire is still in the lead as expected! She's well ahead of the pack but, of course, so is crowd favourite and newest Wonderbolt member Rainbow Dash! Spitfire has the edge in technique, but Rainbow Dash's record beats-per-minute gives her one hay of a sprint advantage! Looks like we may have a Wondermeet where the racer of honour flies home with the trophy!"

Bon-Bon concentrated harder, focusing on the rapidly approaching blue streaks. Fluttershy appeared beside her, panting heavily after having forced her way through the seething crowd around them. Bon-Bon patted her shoulder absentmindedly as she followed the racers' final sprint. The two pegasi flew past at blistering speed, the force of their passing throwing the crowd's manes into disarray. Shielding her eyes from the cloud of dust roiling in their wake, Bon-Bon's eyes narrowed as the announced cried out triumphantly.

"Rainbow Dash wins by a nose! The newcomer opens her career with a stunning last-minute victory, and I'm sure you're all as eager as I am to see where she goes from here! Give it up for Rainbow Dash!"

The crowd exploded with cheers and whoops. Rainbow Dash herself, her multi-coloured mane clearly visible against the white cloud she hovered above, punched the air and zoomed centre-stage, grabbing a mic from a nearby news crew as she went. Her voice boomed over the noise of the crowd and she theatrically threw up a hoof in frustration.

"Ugh, you're going to cheer for me like that? Louder!"

The crowd became, if possible, even louder. Fluttershy shrank into herself as the noise buffeted them.

"Louder!"

The sound of the crowd sent ripples through even the reinforced cloudcrete of the stadium.

"Louder!"

The hovering pegasus was actually buffeted by the force of the crowd's response, and she flapped her wings hurriedly to regain her balance before grinning, her gleaming teeth beaming down at them from the giant screens above them.

"Eh, maybe too loud."

Bon-Bon let out a low whistle as the crowd laughed in unison. She glanced at Fluttershy, who was staring up at Rainbow Dash with an indecipherable expression.

"Your friend really knows how to work a crowd."

Fluttershy nodded absentmindedly as she watched Rainbow Dash bowing theatrically to the crowd's delight.

"Um, yes. She's something, alright."

"I'm thinking we meet her in her dressing room and make our offer in clear and certain terms. Once she hears about what she is and what she can do for the city, I'm sure she'll be happy to join."

Fluttershy turned to face her and Bon-Bon was surprised to see a wry smile cross her face, an expression far more cynical than she had considered Fluttershy capable of.

"I... wouldn't be so sure."

Scene 4

Bon-Bon pushed open the changing room door briskly and summoned her most welcoming smile. Something about Rainbow Dash's demeanour on the track gave her the distinct impression that the racer was not one to look kindly on smooth-talking, and she had decided to go for the direct approach. Introduction, invitation, mission accomplished. She could foresee no real difficul-

"Sorry, not interested."

Bon-Bon blinked. Rainbow Dash was looking up at her from the floor, effortlessly performing push-ups with her wings at a speed that made Bon-Bon's inner trainer wince. She floundered in the wake of Rainbow's pre-emptive refusal.

"B-But, I haven't asked you anything yet."

"No, but you're going to, right?"

Before Bon-Bon could gather her thoughts, the door behind her opened slowly and a pink mane poked into view. Bon-Bon rallied, her trump card having arrived, as Rainbow Dash flipped herself upright and hovered irritably, hooves on hips.

"What now?"

Fluttershy entered, smiling as she caught sight of Rainbow Dash. "Um, hey, Rainbow Dash. How are you doing? It's been a whi-"

Her greeting was cut short by Rainbow Dash rocketing across the room and clasping her in a tight hug with sufficient force to send them rolling back into the door, slamming it shut. Fluttershy squeaked in a combination of surprise and oxygen deprivation before Rainbow Dash let go, holding her at foreleg's length and beaming with joy.

"Fluttershy! Oh man, how've you been?! Where've you been?! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Uh, you know, around..."

"Were you watching the race? Did you see me totally kick the Wonderbolt's butts? Oh, I probably shouldn't say that if I'm gonna be one. Oh! Fluttershy! I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt! Aaah, there's so much we've got to catch up on! Just let me get rid of this lady over here." Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof in Bon-Bon's direction, and Fluttershy's expression turned sheepish.

"Um…Actually..."

There was a pause. Slowly, Rainbow let go of her friend's shoulders.

"What's…what's going on, Fluttershy?"

Bon-Bon stepped forward. "Rainbow Dash, my name is Bon-Bon, though you may already know me by my, ah, professional moniker of Sweets." Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she realised she was talking to one half of the city's mightiest heroes. "Fluttershy is here with me as a member of M.A.R.E. We're here to extend an offer. We want you to join us in protecting the city as the Element of Loyalty."

Rainbow ran a hoof through her mane and let out a low whistle. "Whoa. Uh, okay. That is…not what I was expecting." She glanced at Fluttershy, as though seeking some kind of confirmation. Her friend nodded.

"I don't really understand it yet, but M.A.R.E. really needs our help. And they do good work! Um, they're sort of mis-represented."

Rainbow Dash looked uncertain, her eyes flicking from Fluttershy to the row of uniforms hanging on the wall and back. "I... I don't... I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt, Fluttershy! You know what that means, right? Like, all my life, all I've ever wanted is this."

Bon-Bon's gut squirmed as she remembered the look on Twilight Sparkle's face when they had told her she couldn't work in the library anymore. She silently cursed Discord. Why couldn't there be a choice for these ponies? "Look, Rainbow Dash. I know this is a hard decision to make, and I'll be happy to give you any details you need to decide, but you should know…we need you, Rainbow Dash. There are things threatening us that you can't even imagine, and you're one of the few ponies that can help."

"Please, Rainbow. We need you."

Her face a mask of agonised decision, Rainbow Dash stared into space, mind visibly racing. Bon-Bon thanked the earth she'd brought Fluttershy along. Her friend's presence seemed to be the only thing keeping Rainbow Dash even contemplating the idea. But as Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, the door opened and a pony that Bon-Bon had seen a thousand times onscreen and in magazines, but never in person, stepped into the room.

"Hey, Rainbow! Great work on the track out there today. Putting on a show and putting us in our place, huh? Not a bad way to start your…career..."

The newcomer trailed off as she took in the scene. Rainbow Dash's head had snapped up at her voice.

"Spitfire! What are you doing here? I thought you guys were doing team stuff?"

Spitfire nodded slowly, still eyeing Bon-Bon and Fluttershy cautiously, and Bon-Bon was struck by the grace of even that simple motion. The Wonderbolts' leader exuded speed. Even standing almost completely still as she did now, there was a tremendous sensation of power, of untapped energy seething just below the surface. Bon-Bon found herself wondering if she could beat her in a race.

"What's going on, Rainbow?"

Bon-Bon stepped forward. "My name is Bon-Bon, this is Fluttershy, and we're here on behalf of M.A.R.E. We want Rainbow with us."

Spitfire's eyebrow raised and her expression hardened. "M.A.R.E, huh? Not everyday you see ponies like you just waltzing around."

"This is important."

Silence reigned. Rainbow still seemed stunned by Bon-Bon's offer, and Fluttershy's gaze bounced worriedly from Bon-Bon to Spitfire as they locked eyes. What Spitfire's problem with M.A.R.E. was, Bon-Bon couldn't guess, but it was going to cause trouble. She just knew it.

Spitfire stepped down. "It's Rainbow's decision. But I'd like to talk to her first, if you don't mind." She turned toward the door, looking back over her shoulder. "Coming, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, looking more than a little lost. She trotted to her teammate's side, smiling at Fluttershy as she passed. "It's awesome to see you, Fluttershy. We'll catch up after all this whatever is over, yeah?"

Fluttershy smiled warmly in return. "Sure."

The two racers left the room, and Fluttershy let out a deep breath as soon as they were gone. Bon-Bon, however, was not so relieved. As she had turned to leave, Spitfire's expression had changed for an instant, almost too fleeting to notice. But Bon-Bon was certain she had seen the hint of triumph in Spitfire's eyes, and her own eyes narrowed as the door swung closed.

Scene 5

"Um, why are we doing this again?"

Fluttershy's nervous question echoed in the confinement of the ventilation shaft, and Bon-Bon's mind boggled at the physics of it. Why did a building made of clouds even have ventilation shafts?

As for Fluttershy's question, she found herself struggling for an answer. Why were they doing this? What had possessed her to follow Spitfire and Rainbow Dash through the stadium's winding innards surreptitiously, dragging Fluttershy behind her? And why was she crawling through a tunnel to make absolutely sure she wasn't seen by a racing pegasus?

"I…Just a hunch. There's something…off about Spitfire."

"Off? She seemed okay..."

Bon-Bon didn't reply, and the two crawled on in silence, the only sounds the echo of their hooves, the muffled voices of Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, and the occasional squeak from Fluttershy as her wings struggled in the confined space. They were heading deeper into the cloud structure's interior, and the sounds of the sky and the city were non-existent. A pulsing hum had replaced them, less a sound and more a feeling the walls. The air itself seemed to vibrate, and her fur began to stand on end.

"Hold up."

Bon-Bon stopped, barely staggering as Fluttershy collided with her rear.

"Why are we stopping?" said Fluttershy, her voice muffled by the hoof rubbing her snout in pain. They had reached the end of the shaft, and the hum was almost a physical presence. Bon-Bon shook her head as she stared, eyes wide, through the thin cloud that formed the vent's 'grating.'

"I'm going to need some pegasus know-how here."

Fluttershy crawled forward, poked her head through the layer of clouds, and gasped in surprise. "Wow..."

The vent opened into a cavernous room, a sphere almost half the stadium's length hidden within the great structure. A single stretch of fluffy white bridge led from the only entrance to the centre of the cloud cave, where a disc of floating floor held a vast apparatus, the source of the ever-present noise that even now set Bon-Bon's teeth on edge.

"What is that?"

Fluttershy's eyes darted across the machine. Constructed from roiling stormclouds rather than the lighter, whiter cloudcrete that formed the rest of the building, the machine was amorphous and dangerous-looking, a deep blue light throbbing from the centre of the swirling mass. "I think... it's what's keeping the building up."

"I, uh... I wasn't aware clouds needed help floating."

A smile flicked across crept onto Flutterhy's face before she turned thoughtful again. "Um, cloudcrete is denser than regular clouds, so if you get a lot of it in one place, you need, um, magic to help. I think the stadium just needs a lot of magic."

Bon-Bon brought a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "And this is providing that magic. How come we don't know the city is doing this sort of thing? This seems like the kind of architectural innovation we should know about."

"Um, I think it's because M.A.R.E. blows up more than it builds..."

There was a moment's silence.

"The important question is, why was Spitfire bringing Rainbow Dash- Head down!"

The two ponies ducked back into the shaft, leaving as little of themselves exposed as possible as the two racers entered the core room, stepping through the wall as if it were nothing. As Bon-Bon wished she understood even the beginnings of how pegasi interacted with clouds, Spitfire led Rainbow Dash purposefully to the machine dominating the room. Bon-Bon strained to hear over the ever-present sound of the core.

"Rainbow, how long have you been with us now?"

Rainbow's response was immediate and eager. "Three months and two days, boss."

"Right, right. You know, it feels like longer? You may not be an official member yet, but you might as well be." She smiled as Rainbow Dash almost visibly radiated pride. "You're a great racer, Rainbow, and I fear the day you get started on the aerobatics routines."

Spitfire paused, mouth half-open as a number of emotions flickered across her face. Pride, anxiety, determination… Bon-Bon leant even further out of the tunnel , her desire to vindicate her decision to tail them outweighing her fear of getting caught.

"But I think you can be something more. I think you can be one of us."

"One of…But I'm already on the team, aren't I?"

Spitfire laughed. "You're on a team, Rainbow. We wanted to ease you in slowly, but now that M.A.R.E's snooping around..."

"I knew it!" Bon-Bon's triumphant hiss brought Fluttershy into the open, her nervous expression peeking through the cloud beside her.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was frowning. "Boss, you're acting pretty weird. What are you talking about, 'easing me in?'"

Spitfire simply sighed and made a strange gesture with her hoof. Without warning, three ponies stepped out of the core, emerging from the crackling ball of storms as if the room didn't thrum with enough magical power to give a Princess a headache. Rainbow's eyes flicked from pony to pony worriedly, taking in their tinted goggles and dark, unfamiliar uniforms. Fluttershy whispered in Bon-Bon's ear pointing to each figure as she named them.

"That's Soarin', Fleetfoot, and Rapidfire! They're the Wonderbolts', um, top ponies."

Rainbow, meanwhile, was stepping back in surprise. "What are you guys doing here? What's going on?!"

Spitfire's raised a placating hoof. "Rainbow, please. We just want to tell you the truth. To show you the real us. And for you to join us."

Rainbow shook her head. "I don't get it, Spitfire. This is looking crazy fishy to me. How did you guys go inside the core?"

Spitfire's shrug was noncommittal. "In the end, it's just a cloud. And we're…special. A fact that the city will understand all too well soon enough. But we want you with us when it does, because you're better than us. And you're better than them."

"What do you mean, 'better?!' Seriously, Spitfire, I'm outta here if you don't start making some sense!"

Spitfire glanced at her teammates, who nodded almost imperceptibly. She let out a deep breath before turning back to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, this city is... corrupt. Wrong. Don't you feel it?"

"I…what?"

Spitfire grew more animated as she spoke, her teammates forming a rough, not-quite-threatening semi-circle before Rainbow Dash. "Look at the crowds, Rainbow. They don't care. Not really."

"What are you talking about? They love us!"

"They love you And before you, they loved me. They don't care about us, about what we do. It's all just noise to them, something to keep them occupied before they go back to wasting their lives on their jobs and their TV and their petty dramas." She paused as if unsure whether to say more, as if Rainbow's desperate confusion was compelling her to stop. But she recovered, and said, "So we're going to make some real noise."

Above them, Bon-Bon swallowed. Her hunch, it seemed, had been spot on the money.

Rainbow Dash stepped back unconsciously, Spitfire's hungry gaze feeding her unease. "Listen, guys, this is getting a little weird, okay? I don't know if this is-"

Spitfire spread her wings in frustration, baring her teeth as she pleaded with Rainbow Dash. "Don't you see, Rainbow?! We have to do something to wake these ponies up! This, this... everything, it isn't right! Skyscrapers and guns and robot invasions…that's not for ponies. It's not for anyone. We have to make things right, and to do that we have to show everypony that they're wrong." She nodded to Soarin', who turned to the core and waved a hoof across the crackling surface. A control panel coalesced and he began to work, tapping at buttons with mysterious purpose.

Bon-Bon tensed, and Fluttershy whispered in her ear, "What do we do?"

"…We move."

Before Fluttershy could protest, Bon-Bon leaped through the faint wall of cloud, the Wonderbolts' heads snapping around to face her. She sailed through the air gracefully, halfway to the floor before she realised that she had no idea whether it was cloudcrete or not. Her hooves touched down lightly between Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts, and she breathed a sigh of relief inwardly even as she turned to face the racers. Their surprised expressions hardened as she swept her gaze across them warily. Fluttershy fluttered down behind her, and Rainbow Dash exclaimed in further surprise.

"Fluttershy?! Just what the hay is going on?!"

Fluttershy's winced apologetically. "It's, um, our job."

Spitfire, meanwhile, was looking down her nose at Bon-Bon. "Oh look, it's the mares from M.A.R.E. Come to protect the status quo, have we?"

"Whatever it is your doing, I'm putting a stop to it. Step away from the console."

Spitfire scoffed, and shook her head. Soarin' continued tapping away, faster now. The core thrummed louder than ever before. Bon-Bon stepped forward, and the Wonderbolts tensed even further than they already had. "I'm warning you, Spitfire. All of you."

"All done, boss." Soarin' called over his shoulder as he tapped one final key, and a piercing klaxon wail started pulsing through the core room. Bon-Bon took a step forward, drawing herself up to her full height, though she doubted it would do achieve anything. The Wonderbolts were practically sneering, their confidence absolute. For an instant, her confidence wavered.

"What have you done, Wonderbolts?"

Spitfire looked past her, meeting Rainbow Dash's eyes almost impassively. Her voice was flat and cold. "We've sent the message. Now we wait for the city to receive it."

And then everything happened at once. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in realisation. She cried out in surprise and, gritting her teeth, leaped at Spitfire, wings beating furiously. Bon-Bon started in shock even as Spitfire flapped her own wings once, lifting off, pulling something small and black from her uniform as she did so. Fleetfoot and Rapidfire darted around her, moving to block Rainbow's charge. Bon-Bon blinked as the two ponies caught Rainbow between them and used her momentum to hurl her across the room, where she slammed into the wall and slid to the floor in a groaning heap.

Spitfire lifted the object she held between her hooves to her mouth and pulled the pin. Bon-Bon stared for an instant before turning and throwing herself at Fluttershy. Pegasus and earth pony hit the floor just as the bomb went off, and as the deep rumble died away, Bon-Bon pulled herself quickly to her feet, a quick glance confirming Fluttershy's safety, and spun to face the Wonderbolts.

A large hole, two ponies across, now graced the floor. The entire room must be cloudcrete, she thought quickly, or they'd have just flown out. Spitfire gave an ironic salute, then looped-the-loop and dove out of sight, her fellow Wonderbolts following her at speed. Bon-Bon raced to the edge and peered out, but they were already almost out of sight. Biting back a curse, she turned back to find Rainbow Dash standing right in her face.

"Where did they go?!"

Bon-Bon shook her head. "They headed west, but there's no way you'll-" She was cut off by a boom of splitting air as Rainbow Dash disappeared, the rainbow blur left by her exit catapulting Bon-Bon so high she almost touched the roof of the chamber. She span through the air in a most ungainly fashion, and she marvelled at Rainbow's speed. She would be a great addition to the team, if they could just sort out her…attitude…problem...

Her mind finally finished plotting her trajectory. She was heading straight. Toward. The hole.

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaFluttershyhelpmepleaseohnoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Oh my!" Fluttershy galloped toward her, wings flapping wildly to push her forward, faster than Bon-Bon had ever seen her move. But she was still too slow. Bon-Bon had already reached the lip of the hole; she reached out a hoof, every hoof, but she was just an inch too far, and she fell, fell, fell, into infinite vista of the sky, with nothing between her and the city below but thousands of feet of empty air. She screamed. A skyscraper was one thing, she could survive a fall from a few hundred feet with no problem. Space meant nothing, the distances were so huge as to be meaningless. But to be so impossibly high above the ground, higher than any earth pony was ever born to be, with nothing to stop her and no way to stop herself…She screamed again, shutting her eyes and curling into a ball of terror, when suddenly...

Whoomp. A dull roar edged with a mechanical whine reached her ears over the rush of falling. She hit something, hard, and the roar sputtered slightly before returning in full force. Gasping for breath, Bon-Bon realised she wasn't falling any more. Something was cradling her like a baby, two strong limbs under her back. Slowly, ever so slowly, she pushed her eyes open, almost afraid to see the vast expanse of blue again. What she saw made her eyes snap open in surprise, and she only narrowly avoided dropping her jaw.

Lyra grinned at her through the jetpack's control bit.

"Hey."

Scene 6

The wind tore at Rainbow Dash as she rocketed through the sky after the Wonderbolts. Her ears were ringing and specks of colour flashed across her vision, but still she pushed herself harder, faster. What had been faint specks had already resolved themselves into her former teammates, and with a final burst of speed that send lances of pain through her wings, she closed the distance.

"Spitfire!"

Her voice was hoarse with effort, but she saw Spitefire gesture and the Wonderbolts come to a dead halt, snapping to attention behind their leader. They hovered warily as Rainbow caught up, and Spitfire's greeting was curt.

"What do you want, Rainbow? To attack your teammates again? I thought you'd thrown your lot in with M.A.R.E?"

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, trying to find the words. "I just... I don't get it! I grew up thinking hte Wonderbolts were the most awesome thing, and when I got in..." The Wonderbolts' eyes were impassive, and Rainbow threw her hooves up in frustration. "So what the hay are you doing?! Ponies are fickle, so you run off? Where's your guts? You're the Wonderbolts!"

Spitfire shook her head, a frown creasing her brow. "It's not that, Rainbow. It's something deeper. You could never understand." Her face hardened. "And we're not running off. We're waking Metropony up."

Something in her expression, a flick of the eyes, sent chills down Rainbow's spine, and she found herself turning to face the stadium, so far behind her now. She gasped in horror. "You gotta be kidding me."

The stadium was falling.

Scene 7

"Lyra?!"

The control bit retracted, leaving Lyra free to talk. "Oh yeah. Sweet save, right?"

"What are you doing here?! I thought-" Bon-Bon caught herself, but Lyra's grin only widened.

"You thought that just 'cause we had a fight we weren't friends anymore? Come on, BB." Her face lost some of its humour, but none of its warmth. "We were both right. I just needed a little time to think some things through. Sorry for making you go at this alone."

Bon-Bon's eyes narrowed. "You're being reasonable. It frightens and confuses me."

"I could always just drop you." Bon-Bon's answering glare set Lyra laughing as she fired the jetpack, rocketing the two of them back to the hole from which Bon-Bon had so unceremoniously exited. Fluttershy leaped back in surprise as they shot in the core room. Bon-Bon brushed herself down off self-consciously as Lyra deposited her by core control panel, waving Fluttershy over.

"Oh! Lyra! Um, hello."

"Hey, Fluttershy. Quick, help us out with this console!"

Fluttershy hurried over and began tapping at the wispy screen seemingly at random. "Um, I'm not sure I really..."

"Just try to find out what the Wonderbolts did, and how to stop it." The room lurched and, to Bon-Bon's horror, tilted, until the three were struggling to keep their balance. "Fluttershy, have you found anything?!"

Fluttershy, wings beating heard to stay upright, scanned the screen desperately, a streak of fear crossing her face. "Um, I think we're…maybe…falling!"

"Falling?!" Bon-Bon shrieked. "Can you stop it?!"

"I don't know how! I just look after animals!"

"Don't they teach you anything at, at, at Pegasus school?!"

"Whoa, everypony calm down!" Bon-Bon took several deep, soothing breaths as Lyra stepped in. "Listen, I have an idea. But you're not going to like it." She nodded to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, go find Rainbow Dash, and then evacuate the stadium. We haven't got time to wait for backup, and there shouldn't be that many-"

"Um, there's nopony around."

"-around and you should be…wait, what?"

Fluttershy looked away as if in shame, mumbling through her mane. "I asked Commander Hooves to send an evacuation order when we started following the Wonderbolts."

Bon-Bon blinked. "I...why?"

Fluttershy looked up, looking pointedly at Lyra and Bon-Bon, and hey winced as one. Lyra recovered first. "Okay, point taken. Anyway, go find Rainbow Dash and take her back to M.A.R.E. Me and BB, we got stuff to do." Fluttershy nodded nervously and disappeared through the hole at a speed Bon-Bon was surprised she could achieve.

"Okay, Lyra, what's the plan?"

"I-" They were interrupted by the stadium lurching again, throwing them to the floor and sending them sliding toward the wall. Bon-Bon screamed and grasped for Lyra's hoof, hooking her partner's leg desperately as they skittered down the floor that was suddenly a wall.

"BB, calm down! I have a plan!"

"Well I hope it involves actually doing something!"

"No need to get snippy!"

"This is exactly the time to get snippy!" They hit what had been a wall and passed straight through, falling through some kind of storage room with crates of equipment tumbling all about them..

"Listen, I've got it under control!" Lyra pulled, hoisting Bon-Bon closer to her. The core groaned , a deep rumble straining with the crackle of harnessed magic going out of control. Bon-Bon saw Lyra stick her tongue out in disgust, a sure sign of wild magic in the air.

"This is exactly what I was talking about! You just come up with this stuff in your head and nopony knows what you're going to do until you-" A tennis racket hit her in the face, and she shook her head furiously. "-until you do it!"

Lyea pulled her closer and grabbed Bon-Bon's head in both hooves, locking her gaze to hers as they poofed through another wall into a cavernous swimming pool, the water pooled at the 'bottom' of the room. The collapse magical field holding the cloudcrete together hadn't reached this far yet.

"You gotta trust me, BB. This is totally going to work."

"What is going to work?!"

They hit the water, pain shooting through Bon-Bon's body as they slammed into the depths. She felt Lyra's hooves leave her face, and she looked desperately around for her partner. Within moments she spotted her, and kicked through the water. The impact had only separated them by meters but Lyra was facing away from her, head snapping from side to side in a panicked search for Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon tapped her on the shoulder, and Lyra whirled in a flurry of bubbles, visibly relieved. Bon-Bon motioned upwards, but Lyra shook her head and grabbed Bon-Bon's face again. Waving her hooves furiously, Bon-Bon communicated precisely the measure of her confusion at Lyra's behaviour. Lyra winced, before mouthing for Bon-Bon to trust her. Bon-Bon threw her hooves up in disgust and-

Lyra grinned and pulled Bon-Bon's lips to hers.

With gusto.

Scene 8

"You're doing what?!" The wind and her own anguish left Rainbow's voice little more than a croak.

"We're sending a message. We're letting ponies of this city know that their carefree days can never last. We-"

"I don't care!"

Spitfire started, blinking uncertainly. "I... what?"

"I don't care about your stupid plan or the city or, or, corruption, or whatever you think your problem is! I care about you! How you're hurting ponies for no reason! Who cares what ponies do with their time and money?! I thought it wasn't about that!" Spitfire felt something moist hit her cheek and she realised Rainbow Dash was crying, her sorrow catching in the wind. "Remember what you told me when you offered me the position? You said you picked me because I didn't want to be famous. You said you saw that I wanted to be a Wonderbolt because being a Wonderbolt meant being the best. I thought... I thought it was about being the best." Rainbow's shoulders sagged as her outburst died away. "Not about who knows it."

The Wonderbolts hovered hesitantly behind Spitfire as her eyes flicked from Rainbow Dash to the city and back, over and over. At last, her gaze settled on her protégé, uncertainty replaced with sad determination. "I thought you were loyal."

Rainbow Dash shook her head, the brightness of her mane sharp against the roiling mass of grey behind. "Not to this."

For the longest minute of Rainbow's life, Spitfire was silent. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out something tiny and glinting. She tossed it lightly, uncaringly, to Rainbow. "Congratulations. Be worthy of the name." As Rainbow scrambled to catch the object between her hooves, Spitfire turned her back, and her team turned with her. Rainbow barely heard her speak over the rumbling of the disaster in the distance. "I guess we weren't."

In a flurry of wings, they were gone, and Rainbow was alone, staring down at the badge she had dreamed of for so long.

Scene 9

Bon-Bon flailed wildly as Lyra's lips met hers.

"Mrbmbmrblmrblbl?!"

Lyra's forelegs wrapped around her, pulling Bon-Bon close as gently as her kiss was fierce.

"Mblrmblrmbrlmbrlbmrbl!"

Even as Bon-Bon's rational mind shorted out under the dual pressures of her fear of falling and the hitherto entirely unprecedented physical situation, her subconscious kicked into overdrive and began examining the circumstances.

1. I am underwater.
2. I am underwater in the sky.
3. Lyra is kissing me.
4. Lyra is kissing me in the sky.
5. I am in the sky.
6. I am underwater in the sky and Lyra is kissing me and I'm pretty sure I don't want her to stop.

Having suitably catalogued the pertinent facts, Bon-Bon's subconscious concluded that, frankly, it had no idea, and that she should probably just go with it because, let's be honest, she and Lyra had always been close and she'd always sort of wondered and they had been through a lot recently and maybe it was time to admit that maybe the reason their friendship had been so strained lately was partly because of the stress of the job and everything that had happened and partly because although she tried not to think about it and to stay sort of well okay aloof maybe possibly perhaps she might maybe sort of kind of possibly definitely perhaps entirely maybe actually maybe be in some kind of l-

Bon-Bon's soul exploded. She gasped and broke away from Lyra, clutching at her chest as the familiar warmth of the Element of Loyalty's power became an inferno. Lyra, too, was doubled over, pulsing with the green light they knew so well, and Bon-Bon could feel her own innate energies rippling through her. Cream and green suffused the water around them, and Bon-Bon instinctively reached out for Lyra. Lyra smiled and, ever so slowly, reached back. The two pools of light came together and shone ever brighter...

Their hooves touched.

Scene 10

Rainbow Dash felt the pulse of magic before she saw it, a strangely familiar warmth that thrilled every inch of her even as it terrified her. She spun to face the stadium just in time to catch the great sphere of light spreading across the city, with the seething storm at its center.

“What the hay is going o-”

The light hit her and her breath caught in her throat as magic filled her. In the distance, the stadium began to collapse inward, crumpling into itself like the world’s largest wad of paper, and the pulsing green light suffusing it throbbed brighter and brighter. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings desperately as she was buffeted by the magical and physical forces whirling about her. Glancing down at the city, she could make out the tiny forms of ponies scattering the area below and around the stadium, directed by what could only be M.A.R.E. forces.

The noise stopped. Rainbow Dash gasped for breath and righted herself, scanning the stadium for any sign of movement. The tangled remains hung motionless in the sky, the faint green glow the only sign of, well, anything.

Then it exploded.

A vast column of green light, tinged with cream, erupted from the epicenter, piercing the clouds above and the ground below. The stadium vanished instantly, seemingly vaporised by the incandescent pillar, chunks of cloudcrete flying across the city before being zapped from existence by crackling tendrils of lightning bursting from the light. Rainbow Dash stared, uncaring of its brightness, the impossible brilliance seeming to reach inside and touch something that had always been there, but never known how be there.

The light slowly faded, uncountable shining motes drifting over the city and into nothing. In its place, an empty sky and a crater below, carved from the city’s mercifully-evacuated streets by the storm of magic. Rainbow Dash clutched her chest and looked down breathing deeply.

“I think…” She whispered to herself, her gaze fixed on the rubble that filled the gaping bowl of earth, and the two figures within it. “I think I get it now.”

“I think I get what I’m supposed to do.”

Scene 11

A plume of dust and pebbles flew up as Bon-Bon kicked. The rubble moved and, at last, fell aside, and with one final effort she pulled herself free before collapsing and rolling onto her back, gasping for breath and revelling in the solid ground.

“We… made it… again!” She laughed with desperate relief as the dust settled. She’d fought robots the size of buildings, battled Trixie at the bottom of the sea, and hit someone in the face with the moon, but never had she felt so good as to not be in the sky anymore. She turned to Lyra, and…

“Lyra!” Bon-Bon leapt to her hooves and began scrabbling at the rubble, throwing aside boulders, cars, and anything else that got in her way. “Lyra, where are you?!” She grasped within herself for that connection they had shared since their Elements had awakened, that link that had bound them deeper than either of them would ever admit, and tried to sense her partner’s presence. “Lyra, I swear, if you don’t appear and say something stupid this instant, I’ll-”

“Hooooooooo, man!

Bon-Bon’s head snapped around as a green hoof popped out of the debris, followed swiftly by the rest of her struggling partner. She galloped over and pulled Lyra to her hooves before clutching her tightly to her embrace. “Lyra, you’re alive! We’re alive!”

Lyra patted her shoulder awkwardly, laughing that carefree laugh. “Of course we’re alive! My rockin’ plan was totally on the money!”

Bon-Bon stepped back, self-consciously swiping her mane back into some sort of order. “I… plan?”

Lyra grinned. “Yeah, my totally sweet plan to trick the Element of Loyalty into saving us!”

A moment’s dreadful silence.

“To trick… What?”

“You know… We share the Element of Loyalty, right? So, I figured, we’re Loyalty because we’re friends, but we needed more pow, so, like, what’s the ultimate loyalty?” Lyra grinned again and made a kissing motion with her lips. “Love, right?”

“We needed more… pow.”

“Yeah! I mean, the Elements have always done crazy explody stuff when we’ve needed them to before, but we’ve never known how to draw it out! And this whole thing looked like we needed a big one, so, I, uh... took a guess.”

“Took… a guess.”

“Good plan, right?”

The wind howled through the dust and rubble of the crater.

“I...”

As the silence dragged on, and Bon-Bon's mouth worked, Lyra glanced away, nervously. Her smile faded, and she began to speak, haltingly.

“Look, I… I know you’re angry because I never tell you stuff and I’m always just making stuff up as I go along.”

“You...”

“But that’s who I am, BB. It’s how I work. And I want… I need you to be okay with that.”

“The...”

“I need you to fix me when I’m broken because… because I can’t do it by myself. I just can’t. That’s why I love you, Bon-Bon. Because you can.”

“It...”

“You fix me, every time.”

Bon-Bon stared at her. The silence dragged on for what felt like minutes. Then, she laughed, a light, true laugh welling up from her heart and pealing into the aftermath of their latest adventure. Lyra blinked.

“What? What’s so funny?”

Bon-Bon just laughed harder, tears streaming from her eyes as she fell to her haunches and clutched her sides.

“Come on, what’s the joke? I’m baring my soul here, BB!”

Bon-Bon struggled to get herself under control, wiping her eyes and taking great hiccuping breaths as Lyra pouted. “I’m… I’m sorry, I just… I just can’t…” She took one last gasping breath, letting it out slowly and getting to her hooves. As she wiped a final tear of laughter away, she smiled her kindest smile. “Let’s go home.”

Lyra trotted over, eyes narrowed. “Okay... whatever. Don’t think I haven’t finished with my big emotional thingy though, you’re not getting out of it that easily.”

“Oh, really? Because I sure can talk sometimes.”

“Hey, come on!”

“Seriously though, can you even imagine us as a couple?”

Lyra shrugged. “Why do you think I run away sometimes?”

Bon-Bon punched Lyra’s shoulder gently as she had so many times before, leaving her hoof resting there for just a moment longer. “Thanks, Lyra. It was a good trick.”

Lyra glanced at her friend, and opened her mouth to speak.

“You know, BB, I-”

Hey!

The two heroes looked up as Rainbow Dash rocketed into view, landing deftly before them and panting heavily. “There… you… are.”

Lyra stepped forward. “Oh my...Are you Rainbow Dash?! BB, it’s Rainbow Dash!”

“Uh… yeah. It is?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?! She’s the next Element?!”

“Well, yes, but, we were-”

“BB. BB. If you had just punched me in the butt and told me we could never be friends again, I would still have gone on a mission with you to recruit Rainbow frickin’ Dash.

“Listen, about that…” Lyra and Bon-Bon’s chatter cut out as Rainbow Dash quietly interrupted, struggling to find words. “I know I said I wasn’t interested, but… I was wrong. I made a mistake. I thought I was being loyal to my team but… I just wanted to succeed. I just wanted to be the best. But that light…” She looked up at them, and they both felt the warmth of something they knew all too well. “That light made me understand… something. I’m with you guys. Whatever you need me for.”

Lyra grinned and gave an exaggerated shrug. “Weeell, if you think it’s for the best. I mean, you’ll never the be the best, not while I’m around, but I’m sure we can find a place for you at M.A.R.E. somewhere.

Rainbow Dash bristled despite herself. “Excuse me? I’m the fastest pegasus there ever was! I bet I can fight robomonsters or whatever better than anyone!”

“Oh really?”

Yeah really.

“Well maybe you should come back to headquarters with us!”

“Maybe I will!”

“Good!”

“Good!”

“Then follow us!”

“I will!”

As Lyra and Rainbow’s voices bounced increasingly loud across the crater, and the sound of sirens called in the distance as the M.A.R.E. crews moved in, Bon-Bon sighed happily. Another day, another crisis, another friend. She watched Lyra’s friendly prodding descend into bickering, and smiled at Rainbow Dash being sucked into the vortex of good-natured irritability that her friend projected at all times. She pondered what the future held for them.

She decided that, just for now, it didn’t really matter.

Epilogue

RAINBOW RACEWAY WRECKED - MANGLED BY M.A.R.E.’S MUNICIPAL MONOLOPY?

Derpy Hooves looked at the newspaper, then at the invoice she had just received from the government. Then back to the newspaper, then back to the invoice. Newspaper, invoice.

Very, very, very slowly, she lowered her head to the pillow she had laid on her desk, buried her face in it, and groaned.

Author's Note:

I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE COMMENTS, BUT YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN!

THEY'RE GONE NOW! GONE FOREVER!

AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT!

extra-long ridiculously wordy blog post here

Comments ( 16 )

Phew! This part if finally done!

Great job as always. The antagonists were a bit of a surprise this time, and their motives were a little unclear, but still a nice change from the usual suspects.

And here you didn't let me make that joke so long ago, but pulled it off here. Tsk. Tsk.

Another element, another argument, another friend, another great adventure. I had fun! Till next time!

You know, one of the great things about this story is that you don't get confused about what was going on last time.

5242001 Glad you're enjoying it! From the very first story it's been largely written on a whim and about whims, so I'm always glad to hear someone's having as much fun with it as I am.

Didn't you post this chapter already? Because it seems very familiar.

5242901 Oh my goooooooooooooooood okay, okay, okay, right.

This chapter and last chapter, because I am super duper duper slow but am also neurotic about chapters, I posted each update separately but then deleted them and posted the whole chapter as one when the last part was done. I ALSO LEFT AN AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH UPDATE SPECIFICALLY EXPLAINING THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

FOUR TIMES.

I'm sorry, I've just... I've seen too many good comments die at the hands of people who didn't read the author's note. I killed them. Me. They maybe had tiny comment families waiting for them at home. And those families will never see them again.

Because people didn't read the author's note.

5243145

... So should I read the author's note from the latest chapter then?

5243561 No, because it got deleted when I merged the updates into the one chapter =p

i'm going to stop doing that now, hopefully, it was mainly a response to my desire to update but utter inability to do so consistently (the last two Harpflank and Sweets chapters have both taken a year OR MORE to release fully)

I especially loved Lyra and Dash this chapter. Lyra for being Lyra, and Dash for being Dash

Bon Bon was pretty good too.

I grew up thinking hte Wonderbolts
The core groaned ,

1. The.
2. Just an extra spacing. After groaned. Before the comma. This kind of stuff. Meh.

Welp, the merge happened. And I still love it. Love conquers all. Now ship Redheart with our beloved Commander. Because they are the only ones not shipped.

5294857 WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT VINYL AND OCTAVIA ARE ENTIRELY UNSHIPPED

<_<

>_>

Also, just checking, did you read the attendant blog post? I linked the word "LyraBon" to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. MAKE OF THAT WHAT YOU WILL.

5295500 I missed the link. How can anyone not love that song? It fits goddamn well. Mainly cause of... just the scene shown.

I cry at that song with manly tears each time. Ahh... my childhood...

5295859 It's a nice song, yeah. But the important thing is that the ship sinks.

As always, MARE's heroics come at a premium! An insurance premium.
The whole 'stepping out of a whirling energy vortex' could use some more coverage, as the issue is kinda dropped without resolution. (That's not the only thing that dropped, ohoho :trollestia: ) As for the Wonderbolts, there's definitely some kind of mind warp going on there. I hope. I bet that jerk Fleetfoot had something to do with it, again. She's a terrible influence on Spitfire!
Can't wait for the series to continue! Guess I'll catch up on some of the side stories in the meantime.

"Whatever it is your doing, I'm putting a stop to it.

you're

I grew up thinking hte Wonderbolts were the most awesome thing,

the

The collapse magical field

collapse of the?

MANGLED BY M.A.R.E.’S MUNICIPAL MONOLOPY?

I like this word, but I think MONOPOLY is what you meant.

9168106
lunatrons are just robots/mecha of varying sizes, some piloted and some just doombots

and basically the whole thing started as a 'mid-series' one-off as part of the saturday morning cartoon/anime theme that I was uploading exclusively on eqd so when I transferred it over here I just made it into chapters - they're short stories not in chronological order but part of a concrete timeline which was eventually gonna come to a conclusion but I never got around to it maybe I will one day

anything not written by me is like star wars eu stuff - technically canon-ish but if it contradicts something main story takes precedence SLASH it doesn't really matter

also oh my god people still read this

5241219
I love this picture. Shampoo is awesome:raritystarry:

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

And now I understand why they're out of order. :D Bravo!

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