//------------------------------// // Ch. 5: Broken Bonds // Story: History Reimagined // by Pun System //------------------------------//     Starlight stood next to Rainbow Dash in the conference room. Down one side of the table sat Bon Bon, Zecora, Limestone, and Pinkie. Down the other sat Spitfire, Big Mac, Applejack, and Twilight. There was an empty place at the end of each row. Shining Armor sat at the other end across from Rainbow Dash.     “So, you all ready to hear what happened at Mareathon?” Spitfire asked     “Let's hear it,” Limestone said, a grin spreading across her face. “What was the body count?”     Spitfire stood, stomping both front hooves on the table. “How about every citizen of Mareathon? We failed!” she said with another stomp. Limestone’s smile disappeared.     “I’m really sorry we didn’t get there in time,” Starlight apologized.     “It wasn’t your fault,” Bon Bon reassured.     “What happened?” asked Applejack.     Rainbow spoke up as Spitfire returned to her seat. “Queen Chrysalis has a new weapon. I felt what happened at Mareathon. It was a massive outburst of love magic.”     This revelation piqued Bon Bon’s interests. “Love magic? Are you sure?”     “Absolutely.”     The Blue Changeling raised a hoof to her chin. “That's impossible. Unless… Chrysalis’s heir might have hatched. Oh, this is bad.”     Applejack gasped. Starlight involuntarily raised a hoof and leaned backwards. The rest gave Bon Bon looks of confusion or boredom.     “I don’t understand,” Twilight said without the slightest hint of emotion in her voice. “What does that have to do with anything?”     “Changeling larvae of the monarch caste are extremely sensitive to love magic.”     “I do remember the Queen tellin’ me that thing would be mighty powerful, even as a little fella.”     “The Queen told you about her heir?” asked Shining Armor.     “Yes, sirree. She even showed me the egg! She was real proud of the thing—didn't seem one bit her normal self. Guess all parents get sappy like that, huh?” she said with a chuckle and a smile that quickly faded.     Shining Armor shook his head. “You mean you were close enough to that monster to destroy it and you didn’t?”     “Well, no, I—It wasn’t like I had a choice in the matter!”     “It didn’t even cross your mind?”     Applejack raised a hoof to her chin. “Come to think of it, no, actually.” She lowered both her head and her tone of voice. “I wasn’t then who I am now.”     “I actually have a few more questions to ask about Chrysalis’s foal,” Starlight ventured. She scanned the room to gauge their approval, but paused a moment when her eyes met Shining’s. “If that’s ok with everypony.”     Shining hesitated before opening his mouth to speak, but Bon Bon answered before he could. “What would you like to know?”     “So that’s how it’s going to be?” asked Shining Armor. “Why don’t we give her all of our information?”     “We’ve been over this before,” Bon Bon said. “Our resolution we made clear: Starlight Glimmer may stay here.”     “She blamed me for something I didn’t even do,” Twilight said, “and then got me locked in prison and house arrest.”     “If you’re going to accuse somepony for locking you up,” Spitfire interjected, “it’d be Rainbow Dash.”     Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I knew this meeting was going to be a disaster the moment I saw your feathered flank walk through that door!”     “Likewise when I saw yours sitting in that chair.”     “Is it your personal goal to be the most obnoxious pony here, Rainbow Dash?” asked Shining Armor. “Because it seems to be working.”     “You don’t win wars by being likable. You win them by—well, by winning!”     Bon Bon rose from her chair. “Then maybe we should focus on fighting the enemy instead of each other.”     As soon as a moment of silence opened up, Starlight spoke up. “Listen, I’m really sorry I asked about the foal. Just—forget it. What’s the next order of business? We were talking about Mareathon a moment ago.”     “St—Starlight Glimmer!?” called a male voice from across the room.     Starlight gasped as her ears pricked. She turned her head towards the voice’s owner and saw Sunburst holding the door with his magic as he stood over the threshold. He had apparently entered sometime during the shouting match.     “Starlight! It really is you!” Sunburst galloped towards her, and she reciprocated. The pair embraced deeply, Starlight with both front legs and Sunburst with just his right.     “Oh Sunburst, I thought you were dead!”     “We haven’t been out of touch for that long, have we?” he asked. The nervous laughter that followed clued Starlight in to the joke.     Starlight’s gaze drifted onto Sunburst’s lower back where she noticed a harness. She looked farther down and gasped. She jerked backwards out of the embrace, taking a step to the side as she did. Sunburst grimaced and crossed one foreleg high over the other.     Attached to his harness were two metal rods. These rods ran parallel to his barrel until they reached his hind legs, where they turned downward ninety degrees. They then attached to a wooden platform that rested under his hooves. On either side of the platform was a wheel.     “Sunburst, you—you can’t walk?”     “Not since the battle of Fillydelphia, no. There was—a unicorn named Trixie. She—”     “I know,” Starlight said. “I saw it through the use of a potion.” Having been reminded of the fight in Fillydelphia, her eyes darted up towards his horn. It didn’t seem to be damaged. Or, was it? Wasn’t it tilted a few degrees to the right? If there was any damage, it was below the coat that grew around the horn’s base.     “S—Starlight, your cutie mark!” Sunburst said. “What is it? A spark of magic? Mint toothpaste? An upside-down kite?”     “It represents fusion magic,” Starlight stated.     Sunburst’s eyes lit up. “You mean like when you take one spell and splice it into another?”     “Yeah. Exactly.”     “That's amazing! I'm sure you've been busy doing all sorts of amazing things.”     “Y—Yeah.” Starlight's mind took her to places she'd rather not revisit. It reminded her of the time she'd spliced a spell of removal into a spell for 24-hour cutie mark swapping. Or the time she’d hardwired herself into Star Swirl’s time travel spell.     “Oh, Starlight, I can't wait to catch up with you! All these years apart—” Sunburst gasped. “I've been a terrible friend! I’ve been studying friendship in Ponyville for so long, yet here I went and forgot all about reconnecting with you! Starlight, I'm so sorry! We just sort of fell out of contact and then—Oh my gosh, what would Princess Celestia think of me?”    “Sunburst, I'm not the same pony you left behind all those years ago.”     Sunburst traced a circle on the floor with a hoof. “I know. Neither of us are. We've both missed out on so much.”     “No,” Starlight began, “I mean I'm literally not her.” Sunburst tilted his head. “I'm from another world.”     Sunburst’s countenance fell. “Oh,” he said. “I guess that makes sense.” He paused for a sigh. “I guess I was still hoping against what Zecora said about the changeling salve.”     “I understand if you two need some time to catch up,” Shining Armor said.     “Yeah. All we’re doing is reviewing what happened at Mareathon,” Rainbow seconded. “So in other words, not much.”     “Come on, I’ll show you my workshop!” said Sunburst.     Sunburst magically held the door for Starlight as they left the room. “So where is it?”     “It’s on the other side of the base. I’ve got a few friends from Ponyville working with me. I think you’ll be excited to see what we’re working on.”     “Lead the way!” The pair walked down a hall and out of the command post.     Starlight thought to herself as she walked. How is he not dead? I watched Trixie kill him. She continued in silence until she could no longer resist asking.     “The last I saw of you in this timeline was during the battle of Fillydelphia,” Starlight said. “What happened after that?”     “Well, I guess that depends on the last thing you saw.”     “Your fight with Trixie.”     “So you didn't see Spitfire’s forces come and rescue us? Or retrieve the Elements from where we hid them?”     Starlight shook her head. “No. I saw your duel, Applejack’s horn, Rainbow’s leg, and Bon Bon getting trapped in a dead end with Sombra’s forces pinning her in.”     Sunburst frowned. “Sombra's forces?”     “Yeah. They weren't wearing his armor, but they had weapons.”     “You must have seen the Minutemares, a local resistance group. They showed up with Bon Bon to help out the rest of Rainbow's group after she left to airlift Applejack out. After the battle, they merged with the Equestrian Armed Forces.”     “So did we win?”     Sunburst hung his head. “Only on a technicality. I've been off the front lines for a while now. Between all the doctor's visits, physical therapy sessions, and time spent in the workshop, I’m hardly ever present for council meetings anymore. Rainbow, Applejack, her family, and Rarity's family all took it pretty hard, too. There were so many injured, and so many dead.”     Starlight bit her lip. Should I tell him that Rarity is alive? Would that make it better or worse? Before she could decide, she and Sunburst turned the corner and a number of large buildings came into view.     “Well, here's the hangers. Those two are the Wonderbolt hangers,” Sunburst explained, pointing to the two hangers at the end of the road. “That far one’s for the Soarin, and Spitfire is in the next one.”     “What about these two?” Starlight asked.     “This one here on the corner is empty. The one that’s just off the road and beside it,” he paused and lowered his voice for effect, “that’s the experimental hanger.”     Starlight nodded approvingly as they turned off the road and walked in the direction of the experimental hanger. “This one’s a different size than the rest,” she said, gesturing to the building beyond the experimental hanger.     “There’s a whole nother row of hangers for the support craft. Balloons and smaller escort blimps, mostly. All donated by civilians for the war effort.”      Beyond the first small craft hanger stood a two-story building not quite half the size of a hanger. “And this is our workshop.”   “So, what is it you’re working on?” Starlight asked as Sunburst opened the door.   “Well, lately we’ve been working on a new device we could outfit the pegasi and earth ponies with.” Starlight entered and saw three figures, two stallions and a mare. “These are my colleagues, Doctor Whooves and Flam, and one of our lab assistants, Derpy Hooves.” Flam removed his hat and bowed theatrically, the Doctor smiled and nodded, and Derpy waved.    The lab assistant was modelling the stallions’ work—a piece of metal which covered everything from her forehead to the back of her head. A metallic horn sat on the metal right where a unicorn’s horn would, and black fabric covered the mare’s ears. A piece of fabric covered either side of the mare’s face, and a chin strap secured the helmet to her head.   “What is it?” Starlight asked.   “Why, you're looking at the finest invention ever to come out of this workshop!” said Flam. His tone left Starlight wondering if he was describing the item or trying to sell it.   “I must say,” Doctor Whooves began, “it's certainly some of our finest work. By combining science—”   “—And magic!—” Flam interrupted.   “—we have created—”   “The Alchemic Horn, mark oh-five hundred” the pair said in unison.   Starlight stared blankly at the stallions as Flam made a sweeping gesture towards the object Derpy was wearing. “An alchemic horn?”    “Anything a unicorn soldier can do with magic, a non-unicorn can do with an alchemic horn,” the Doctor explained.    “It’s true,” seconded Flam. “Shield spells, blasts of energy, teleportation! You name it, the horn can do it!”    “How does it work?”    “Well,” Sunburst began, “Flam has previous experience in using magic to power machinery. That’s similar to what the alchemic horn does. Doctor Whooves helped with the build and the materials, and I helped with the magic. Mostly just theory, though.    “The helmet is lined with lead, so it draws in the pony’s passive aura through the head. With a concentrated effort, and with the help of some coils and some more lead inside the horn, it allows the transfer between passive and active magic.”    Starlight stepped towards the pegasus modeling the device. “Could you demonstrate?”    “I don’t think so.”    “Why not?”    “I’m not allowed to use it indoors anymore,” Derpy said, dropping her head.    Starlight gave Sunburst a confused look. “There was—an accident,” he explained.    “Is it that complicated to use?”    “No,” Flam said. “It’s just that some of us have no business being in a workshop! Nothing but an unbroken string of accidents, that one.”    Doctor Whooves stepped between Derpy and Flam. “Better a clutz than a former con-pony! You and your brother have caused far more harm deliberately than she ever has by accident!”    Starlight gasped as she came to a sudden realization. “You!” she said, glaring at Flam. “I thought I recognized you. In my timeline, you and your brother came to my village trying to sell your hideous inventions! My villagers and I chased you out of town!”    “Your—villagers?” Sunburst asked.    Starlight felt her ears flatten and her gut wrench. Flam smiled. “Yes, go on and tell your old friend all about your village! My brother and I have seen what your village is like!”    Starlight glanced at Sunburst, then back at Flam.    “What’s he talking about? Does this mean you know where the other Starlight is?” Sunburst asked.    “I—I think so." Starlight thought fast, and spoke faster. "But I can’t take you there!” she blurted.    Sunburst frowned. “Why not? I’d love to go see her again. Make up for lost time.”    “Because—I’m—” Starlight sighed. “Because of what I’ve done!”    Sunburst stepped closer. “Starlight,” he said soothingly. He raised a foreleg and drew her into a hug. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. Just like we’ve forgiven Princess Luna, we’ve forgiven you. I want to meet up with the other Starlight again.”    Starlight and Sunburst locked eyes. After a brief pause, Starlight returned Sunburst’s hug. “I don't think you understand. But... if that’s really what you want, we can try. I’ll explain along the way. When we get there, let me do the talking.”     The first thing Trixie saw when she opened the doors to Sombra’s throne room was the king himself. He lay on his side and wore a frown which spoke of concern and distress. When he saw her enter, he raised his head from his hoof and tried to remove all traces of worry from his face.     Trixie approached the foot of his throne and stopped to bow. “What is thy bidding, my King?”     “Chrysalis has just shown us a display of power. I require you to find an artifact that would grant me equal power.”     “Name your artifact, and I will retrieve it.”     “I require the Alicorn Amulet.”     Trixie raised her head slowly. “The Alicorn Amulet?”     “Yes,” came the reply. “Do you know of it?”     “I sought it out as part of my attempt to get even with Sunburst. I know exactly where it is.”     Sombra’s countenance lifted as he shifted to an sitting position on his throne. “That comes as a tremendous relief, Acolyte. You’ve reduced the amount of time required from several months to just a few days.”     Now it was Trixie’s turn to smile.     “Very well. You may begin immediately.”     Trixie bowed her head nearly to the ground. “Yes, your Highness. Long live the King.”     Trixie rose to her hooves and turned to leave.     “So unless anypony else has anything to add, that just about wraps things up,” Spitfire said. “We’ll just have to do better next time.” Rainbow wanted to agree, but Spitfire seemed equally dismissive about losing an entire town as she might have about losing a buckball match.     Regardless of her attitude towards the subject, she was right. “I’ll have the date of the next meeting posted on the corkboard by tomorrow. Dismissed.”     Some of the council members, like Spitfire, rose immediately and made their way for the door. Others, like Pinkamena, remained somber-faced at the table. Rainbow wasn’t in any particular hurry, but she didn’t have plans to stick around too long either.     “Hey, Rainbow,” Bon Bon called. “What are you doing after this?”     “I was headed for the mess hall. Why?”     “Mind if I come with you?”     “Sure.”     On their way out the door, Bon Bon was approached by an undisguised Blue Changeling. He chittered his teeth and buzzed his wings excitedly, intermittently making noises with his voice.     Bon Bon gasped and began producing similar noises before rising into the air and clapping her front hooves together. There was a scent, too. Pheromones, maybe?     Rainbow scowled as the second changeling began again. “What are you two saying?”     The changelings looked at Rainbow Dash, then at each other. “It’s Blue Changeling business; I’ll only be a moment,” Bon Bon said.     Rainbow flipped her tail and concentrated on the changelings as they each spoke in turn, as if by willpower alone she might deduce what they were saying. She couldn’t, of course, and was no more enlightened by the end of the conversation than she was at the beginning.     Bon Bon’s attention returned to Rainbow Dash as the other changeling trotted away. “What was that all about?” Rainbow asked.     “One of my agents delivered a report. Nothing more.”     “A report about what?”     Bon Bon sighed. “Rainbow, I can’t tell you.”     Rainbow snorted. “That’s horse feathers. Yes you can.”     “That information is top secret,” she snapped back. “It’s on a need-to-know basis.”     “I order you to tell me what that was about!”     Bon Bon froze in her tracks, and Rainbow turned to face her. She stood there a moment glowering back at Rainbow’s scowling face. “Fine. Even though you hold no rank among the Blue Changelings, I’ll humor you,” she said as she began walking again. “We’ve made contact with a potential ally, a changeling.”     “That’s what you were so excited about?” Rainbow asked as she trotted to catch up.     “Yes,” she said flatly.     “Must have been some ally if you got that excited about it.”     Bon Bon’s ears flattened. “Rainbow, do not make further inquiries into this matter.”     “If you're withholding information that the rest of us can use, then—”     “Rainbow Dash!” she snapped. “Look. I really don't want to believe what Spitfire and Shining Armor have said about you.” She paused for a sigh. “Please don't give me reason to.”     “Spitfire?" Rainbow snorted. "She can go suck a horn. But what's up with Shining Armor?”     “They say you're controlling, demanding, and arrogant. They say they can't stand being around you. They say every mission with you involved is Tartarus.”     “It can’t be that bad.”     “You have a habit of overreaching. The others don’t appreciate it.”     “I just want what’s best for what’s left of Equestria. We need to pool our resources, standardize our procedures—”     Bon Bon remained stern, but softened her tone. “Do things the way you want them done, for no other reason than because it’s your way.”     Rainbow’s head dropped. She stopped walking. It wasn't long before Bon Bon stopped as well. After a brief silence, Bon Bon put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. “The Giver,” Bon Bon said. “That was his name. Well, his code name, at least. He’s an old friend.”     “Sounds familiar; you may have mentioned him before.” Rainbow sighed. “I’m—sorry you all think I’m overreaching.”     “Hey, it’s because you care. Because you’re passionate. I can feel it. Just, you know, be careful not to overdo it,” she said with a smile. “Now, are we going to eat or what?”     Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You don’t eat pony food.”     “I know.” Bon Bon lit her horn and morphed into her standard disguise as she opened the door to the command post.     Rainbow’s heart fluttered, and she could feel her heartbeat in her throat. “I’m coming,” she called back.     Starlight approached two rows of houses. At the far end of the tiny town’s single road—if it could even be called a road—stood a single cottage set apart from the rest. Starlight had not yet been spotted, and she had no idea how the villagers would react when they saw her.     As she drew near, the familiarity of the scene made her realize just how little time had passed since her reformation. Less than a year ago, she was in control of this very village. Well, at least the version in her world.     Still, she found it odd that virtually nothing had changed. The entire nation was at war, yet her little village stood untouched by it all. Though, on second thought, she realized that she would have found herself here regardless of how the Rainboom unfolded. After all, her sabotage was an act of revenge, not an actual attempt at making her own life better. The war was in full swing, but her village was hardly worth anything. Thirty unimpressive individuals wouldn’t put up much of a fight, but also wouldn’t be worth much in the grand scheme of things.     There’s Night Glider Starlight thought to herself. And there’s Party Favor. Where’s Double Diamond? He was my most dedicated follower. If I find him, I’ll probably find the other Starlight.     About twenty meters from the village, Party Favor noticed her. “Good morning, Starlight!” he said as he trotted towards her with a wide grin. “I trust you’re having a wonderful day today!”    Starlight fought against the grimace that was trying to take root on her face. Had she really told her friends to act so hollow?     “I’m—fine. Look, Party Favor...”     A few strides from Starlight, Party stopped and squinted. “You look… different.”     Starlight was extra careful not to angle herself even the slightest to either side. Just a single step in either direction and her cutie mark would be visible.     “That’s because I am different,” she said as she offered a genuine smile. “I’m not the pony I used to be.”     “What do you mean, Starlight?” Party asked as his smile disappeared. He leaned forward and raised a front hoof off the ground.     Starlight drew in a deep breath. “I’m not who you think I am!” she blurted. Several others were already on their way over.     “I don’t understand. You’re Starlight Glimmer, right?”     “Yes… and no.” Starlight turned to the side, mentally bracing herself for the worst.     The villagers gasped. “She’s got her cutie mark!” shouted a voice in the back, Double Diamond from the sound of it.     Cries of “Changeling!” erupted from the mob. Some ponies ran towards her. Some ran away from her.     Starlight shielded herself and lay down on the ground. Party Favor threw a punch, landing on the shield without effect. “If I were a changeling,” she calmly began, “why would I deliberately show you something that sets me apart from the Starlight you know?” Several other ponies crowded around the shield.    “You’re not the real Starlight!” shouted a mare on her right. Starlight knew her; she knew her likes and dislikes, her habits, her passions, the dreams she herself had crushed when she stole the mare’s cutie mark. This mare often tried to wear her hair differently from all the other mares as a subtle act of rebellion.     Starlight’s cyan aura enveloped the mare’s braids. She unbraided the hair and restyled it the way she knew the mare always tried to get away with wearing it. “You don’t have to live this way anymore.”     Party Favor began beating on the shield again. “The Starlight I know would never say that!”     “That’s because the Starlight you know is wrong. She’s acting out of pain, and she’s only trying to protect you.”     “Is that so?” somepony else called in Starlight’s voice.     The crowd parted and Starlight laid eyes on her doppelganger.     “Not only have I protected these ponies, but I have created a society in which they are all perfectly content and equal,” she continued in a voice that was best described as “speechy.”     “We both know that what I said is true,” Starlight replied as she rose to her hooves within her shield. “You’re hurting. You founded this village because you wanted friends. Friends who could never be taken away by a cutie mark.”     The markless Starlight blinked rapidly a few times before attempting to recover. “What makes you say that? And even if it is true, we’re all still friends here. I created and actively maintain each and every one of these friendships.”     Starlight raised her tone of voice. “You claim to do this in the name of equality. Yet one of you is ‘more equal’ than everypony else, isn't she? 'Equality' is just a word that's easy for others to rally behind.”     Her alternate self took a step backwards as the villagers turned to look at her. “B—but that's different. I—”     “Your hair is different from the other mares. Your cottage is set apart. You have access to the staff and the vault! Equality was never your motive.”     “Enough!” The second Starlight fired a beam of magic at Starlight's shield. The shield held, for the moment at least. Starlight made an educated guess that her twin was going to try to remove her cutie mark.     There's no counter-spell for my mark removing spell! Starlight thought. But of course, that works both ways...     With her shield still raised, Starlight began to levitate alternate Starlight. She then cast her spell, causing her target's extremities to stiffen. She increased the spell’s power, and watched as a look of horror spread across alternate Starlight’s face. Her twin’s eyes darted among her villagers as she quickly realized she was about to be not only stripped of her magic, but exposed as a fraud before her villagers.     “Stop! No more! You've made your point! Put me down!” Starlight relented and alternate Starlight floated to the ground. She turned her head backwards, inspecting her disguised cutie mark. Starlight had never intended to remove it, only to make alternate Starlight think that she would. The disguise was uncompromised.     Starlight watched as the mare in front of her turned her head and eyed her warily. “No changeling could possibly know that much about me.”     Starlight knew that lowering her shield was a calculated risk, but lowering her defenses would also break down the final barrier between them. With the slightest hint of trepidation, the shield went down. “I'm from an alternate dimension. One where a pony named Twilight Sparkle came in and exposed you. You—or, actually I—went back to the point in time where she and her friends simultaneously got their cutie marks and stopped them from getting them. The only problem with that plan was that apparently Twilight had saved the world a few times.” Here, Starlight lowered her head. “This timeline with all its war and hardship isn't supposed to exist.”     Alternate Starlight stepped forward. She was close enough now that the two Starlights could have shaken hooves if they wanted. “So you're… me?” she asked.     “I am. Take it from me; what you’re doing here isn’t right,” she said as graciously as she could.     “Let me guess. You’re here to stop me?” she asked, growing defensive.     “I’ve seen firsthoof where that leads. I lived that outcome for several months. I would never put you through that. When I was overthrown, I was even more hurt than I had been before. I’m not here to cast you out; I’m here to help you heal. And I’ve got a very special friend here to help me.”     Starlight looked to her right and lit her horn. A moment later, she uncast her invisibility spell, revealing Sunburst.     The crowd began to murmur as Starlight watched her namesake turn to face her friend. “It—it’s Sunburst,” she stated in wonder. “But—but why did you bring him here?” she blurted at Starlight. “Why did you let him see what I’ve become!” she shouted, angry tears forming in her eyes.     Starlight backed away. “I didn’t mean it like that! He’s still your friend, isn’t he?”     “Well, some friend he was! Do you know what he did to his so-called friend? Of course you know! You’re me! He—he could never be my friend now! I’m so different from the pony he left crying on the porch when he left for Celestia’s school!”     “But in my world—”     “Oh, here we go! ‘In my world, we’re the best of friends!’” she mocked. “‘In my world Sunburst and I play board games together every weekend! In my world, everything is perfect!’”     Starlight straightened her posture and stood her ground. “No, we’re not perfect. But we are friends. And it’s because we both made the effort to reconnect. It wasn’t always easy, but it was definitely worth the effort. He explicitly requested that I bring him here to restore his friendship with you. He's here because he wants to be your friend! And me? I don’t want to see you—me miserable!”     Starlight watched her twin’s face for any signs that her message was getting through. It looked like she was finally beginning to break. She turned towards Sunburst again, this time with tears in her eyes. “Y—You really want to be my friend again?”     “Starlight… I’m sorry,” he began. “I don’t know what more I can say besides, I’m sorry. I want to make it up to you. I won’t leave you again.”     Alternate Starlight’s lower lip trembled briefly before she galloped over to Sunburst and threw her forelegs around his neck. Sunburst smiled. “I’ll take that for a yes.”     Starlight turned to Double Diamond. “Take everypony else to the cutie mark vault. You’re all free now.”     “Free?” he asked, his eyes growing wide. “Woah. What happens now? These ponies are still my friends. We can’t all just leave, can we?”     “Well, you could stay right here, I suppose. Or if you’d like, you can come back with me and Sunburst to Manehattan.”     “Wh—what?” blurted the other Starlight as she backed out of Sunburst’s embrace. “But Sunburst, you only just got here! You said you were going to stay with me!”     Sunburst hesitated a moment before offering her his hoof. “Come with me, Starlight. Come with me back to Manehattan. We can offer you protection from the war and friendship for even longer than that. Your village lies in the no-mare’s land between our territory and King Sombra’s.”     “I—I can't decide!” she blurted as she blinked away her tears. “When I woke up this morning, it was just another ordinary day. Now, you’re here, and there’s another Starlight, and my past is all coming back, and… I don’t know what I should do!”     Starlight approached the pair. “I know this is a lot to take in all at once. Just… go with your gut.”     “But my gut was what ended me up in this situation in the first place! What with finding the vault and taking cutie marks and building a village in the middle of nowhere…”     Starlight put a hoof around her other self’s neck. “But you did it all because you lost Sunburst. Sunburst’s back now so… problem solved, right?”     Starlight staggered backwards as alternate Starlight hugged her with both front legs, nestling her neck against Starlight’s. After a moment’s hesitation, Starlight closed her eyes and hugged her back with her neck and front leg. “It’s ok. Sunburst and I are here now. You don’t have to live this way anymore.” She opened her eyes and watched Sunburst as he joined in, hugging alternate Starlight with one leg while he balanced on one leg and his wheels.     As alternate Starlight removed one foreleg to draw Sunburst into her embrace, she began sobbing again. “It’s ok, Starlight,” she told her other self. “It's going to be ok now.”     In the darkness, Rainbow heard movement. She leapt around the corner of the building and shouted “Who’s there?”     “Shining Armor,” came the reply.     As Rainbow approached him, she curled her feathers around the hilt of her sword. “You got paint?”     “Yeah. You?”     “Yeah.”     Both parties produced a jar of paint and dipped a hoof into the other’s jar. They then painted the other’s left cheek and their own right. The process went smoothly, as of two individuals who had practiced many times. When the paint didn’t morph either into a changeling, Rainbow relaxed her grip on her sword.     “You heard the news?” Rainbow asked.     “Yeah. Break-in at the command post,” he said as he knocked on the door. It creaked a little, and they both looked at it.     “It’s still unlocked,” Rainbow stated.     Shining Armor magically drew his sword and pushed the door open. He entered, Rainbow right behind him.     The pair searched room-by-room, but by the time they reached the last room—the council chamber—they had found nothing.     “Process of elimination. Be ready,” Shining advised.     Shining threw the doors open, and the pair rushed in. They found no intruder.     “What? Did they just open the front door and then leave?” asked Rainbow.     “Maybe they just worked quickly.”     Then, Rainbow noticed it—an open window. “They’re already gone,” she said, pointing with a hoof.     “They were in this room… then they left,” Shining said, approaching Rainbow’s chair. “Generosity is still here.”     Rainbow looked in Shining’s direction and gasped. “Spitfire’s chair!”    Shining turned the chair around to inspect it. “Looks like somepony cut the Wonderbolt insignia off of it.”     “They broke into the command post, entered the council chamber, vandalized a chair… and left?”     A shadow fell on the room, prompting Rainbow to look outside at the now-eclipsed moon. She gasped when she saw a pair of blue-and-yellow airships above the base.     Shining Armor saw it, too. “Why are the Wonderbolts leaving?”     Rainbow rushed to the window and stared in disbelief. With a snort and a scowl, she pounded the windowsill. “Spitfire.”     The pair watched as the blimps floated away.