//------------------------------// // Ch. 6: Divide and Conquer // Story: History Reimagined // by Pun System //------------------------------//     Spitfire scanned the horizon as she stood on a raised platform in the airship’s command deck. The dim sunlight was visible only in the patches of sky which weren’t obscured by dark and unlit clouds. At an altitude below those clouds and much nearer their vessel lay the aerial city of Cloudsdale. In the wee hours before the city awoke, the Wonderbolts were returning to base.     The Soarin was just ahead of Spitfire’s namesake blimp, slightly higher, and off to one side—between ten and eleven o’clock. Far, far behind them lay Manehattan. Below them lay the Wonderbolt Academy.     “Ready to descend,” called out a pilot.     Spitfire reached up and grabbed the mic for the intercom. “Captain Spitfire speaking. All hooves strap yourselves in and prepare for final approach.”     The pilot moved a hoof towards an array of switches arranged in a rectangular pattern two across by four down. While the copilot held the blimp steady, the pilot pressed the top two switches forward. Spitfire looked over his shoulder at the eight gauges for the lifting gas, and watched the two that aligned with the flipped switches start to drop. She then looked at the altitude indicator, and watched the horizontal yellow lines dip towards the brown “ground.”     The nose of the craft pitched downward as the Spitfire began to drop in altitude. A pegasus galloped out onto the tarmac below before turning on a pair of orange batons and affixing one to each wing.     Spitfire’s gaze drifted to the three flags over the hangers—one for Equestria, one for Cloudsdale, and one for the Wonderbolts. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the Academy. “Wonderbolts,” she announced, “we’re home.”     As Sunburst and both Starlights walked down the road, Sunburst pointed towards the two-story building behind the airship hangers. “It may not be much,” he said, “but it's home.”     “I know you showed me the workshop yesterday,” said Starlight, “but you didn't tell me you lived here.”     “How come you're living on the base?” asked Starlight.     “I'm the bearer of the Element of Magic.”     “What's that?” asked Starlight.     “You know,” said Starlight. “The Elements of Harmony.”     Starlight started at her blankly.     “Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic,” Starlight said.     Starlight cocked her head.     A look of mild annoyance crossed Starlight's face. “The magical super gemstones that banished Nightmare Moon.”     Starlight's face lit up. “Oh those!” She gasped. “Sunburst, you found one!”     “My friends and I found all six. But I can only wield Magic.”     “You mean you used them, too?”     “Against Nightmare Moon and against Discord,” Sunburst said. “We tried to use them against Chrysalis, but…” he trailed off.     Starlight picked up. “But a pony named Twilight Sparkle was supposed to be the Element of Magic instead of Sunburst. See, the wedding was between Twilight's brother and her old foal-sitter. If things had happened the way they were supposed to, she would have rescued Princess Cadance and stopped Chrysalis. Then Spike would have stopped Sombra by recov—”     “Spike?” asked Sunburst.     “Spike,” said Starlight.     “Spike?” asked Starlight.     “Twilight's dragon friend. Sunburst’s in this world.” Starlight sighed. “Sorry. I'm really trying to give you the short version, but there's just so much that's different.”     “It’s ok,” Sunburst said as he stopped just before the door to the workshop. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time to catch up later. In the meantime, I can introduce you to my friends,” he said to Starlight. He opened the door and ushered the Starlights in.     All three ponies in the room turned their heads towards the door. “Hello again, Starlight!” said the Doctor. “And—Starlight.”     “The resemblance is uncanny!” exclaimed Flam.     “Am I seeing double?” asked Derpy as she covered first one eye, then the other.     “You're back!” exclaimed Spike as he ran down the stairs and into the room. He hugged one of Sunburst’s legs, and received a hug in return. “So is this Starlight? Or, wait—Are there two of you?”     Sunburst chuckled. “This is Starlight Glimmer, and this is—also Starlight Glimmer.” He frowned and raised a hoof to his chin.     “Which one of you is the real Starlight?” asked Spike.     “I am,” both Starlights said.     “Oh,” Sunburst clarified, “what he means is, which one of you is alternate Starlight?”     “She is,” they both said as they pointed a hoof at each other. Both Starlights bit their lip and drew back their hoof while exchanging glances.     “You're not from my world,” said Starlight. “That means you're alternate Starlight.”     “You're right; I'm not from your world,” said Starlight. “You’re alternate Starlight just like he’s alternate Sunburst,” she said, gesturing towards Sunburst. Both Starlights started at one another. “This isn't going to work.”     “Yeah, you're right.”     “Which one of you is native to this timeline?” asked the Doctor.     One Starlight said, “I am,” and the other one said, “She is.”     “Finally,” said Spike.     “We've got to figure out some way to tell you two apart,” said Sunburst.     “The hair! The hair is different!” exclaimed Flam.     “Yeah, I changed my mane a little bit after I left my village. My bangs looked too much like a certain—mathematical symbol.”     The other Starlight lowered her head, ushering in a brief moment of silence.    “Well, I guess I could introduce you to my friends,” Sunburst offered. “Starlight, meet Flam, Doctor Whooves, Derpy Hooves, and Spike.” Sunburst frowned. “Has anypony seen Twilight?”     “Twilight?” asked Starlight. “In the workshop?”     “Yeah. You remember Twilight from the Council meeting, right? She helps us in the workshop. She's practically a walking encyclopedia!”     “Yup. Sounds like Twilight.”     “Oh! Speaking of the Council, that reminds me,” said Spike, “Rainbow called an emergency meeting this afternoon. She sent somepony to tell you two this morning.”    Sunburst and Starlight exchanged worried glances. “I hope it's not bad,” said Sunburst.     “We'd better hurry,” said Starlight.     “Where are we going?” asked Starlight.     “I—don't think it's a good idea for you to come along,” said Starlight.     “Don't worry,” Sunburst added. “We won't be long.”     Sunburst and Starlight galloped out of the room and headed for the command post.     “Has anypony seen Sunburst?” Rainbow asked from the head of the council table.     “Not since yesterday,” said Twilight.     “Same here,” said Bon Bon.     “Probably another doctor’s visit. We’ll have to start without him. So last night, the ponies on guard duty at the command post were ordered off their post by a pair of Wonderbolts. The two ‘Bolts entered the building, removed the Wonderbolts insignia from Spitfire’s chair, flew out the window, and reported to me and Shining Armor that there was a break-in at the command post. After that, they presumably went and told Spitfire and Soarin, who took off in their airships and left the base.”     “So, they’re just gone?” asked Pinkamena.     “I’m afraid so,” said Shining Armor.     “Why’d they leave?” asked Bon Bon.     “Beats me,” said Rainbow.     Applejack narrowed her eyes. “You sure her motives weren’t personal, Rainbow?”     “I—I mean, they could have been. I don’t know.” “Without those airships in the sky, A lot more troops are sure to die.”     “Zecora is right,” said Limestone. “If we don’t have air support, we won’t be able to conduct recon as well, and we won’t have as much air support for our troops.”     “Now, hold on,” Rainbow said. “We’ve still got all of our small support craft. The smaller blimps and the balloons can still be used for recon, and we can still use them to engage targets on the ground or in the air.”     “The largest crew in any one of our airships consists of about a dozen ponies,” said Shining Armor, “and we have no craft large enough to act as carriers like the Wonderbolts’ blimps. All we’ve got now are balloons and corvette-class blimps. Our entire airship doctrine centered around protecting the Wonderbolt airships. They provided the capital airships; we provided smaller vessels to screen against aerial threats.”     “Ok, maybe we’re at a bit of a loss. But we’re still capable of win—”     The door opened, and Sunburst and Starlight entered. “Sorry I’m late,” Sunburst apologized.     Rainbow raised a hoof. “I understand. Uh, was Starlight with you?”     “I went to go find the other Starlight.”     “The other Starlight?”     “Yeah, the one who lives in this timeline.”     “And you needed Sunburst with you?”     “Yes, actually. It's—a long story.”     “So, what’s going on here?” asked Sunburst.     “The Wonderbolts are gone,” said Twilight.     “Gone?” asked Starlight.     “They left last night with their airships,” added Rainbow.     “That’s not good,” said Sunburst.     “Has anypony heard anything from Spitfire?” asked Starlight.     “Nothing,” said Rainbow. “She just—left.”     “Maybe we should try and talk it out,” she suggested.     “You could, but you’d be wasting your time,” Rainbow said.     “It’s a good thought, but I have to agree with Rainbow Dash,” Shining said. “Spitfire doesn’t usually go back on something she’s already said or done.”     “Well, maybe she’ll change.”     “That’s not how this works,” Rainbow said. “She’s not going to come back unless something drastic changes.”     “I know ponies can change because of how much I’ve changed. We don’t know how much we’ll accomplish if we don’t try to mend the relationship. I know that now.”     “If you want to try reasoning with her, go for it,” said Shining Armor. “But don't get your hopes up.”     “Where did they go?”     “Probably Cloudsdale,” said Rainbow Dash.     “Yes, Cloudsdale,” said Bon Bon. “My counter-espionage agents working to protect the city said they saw the blimps this morning.”     “Rainbow, why don’t you just go talk to her?" asked Starlight. "At least give it a try.”     Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that would go over well? You heard the two of us aboard the Spitfire on our trip to Mareathon.”     “Fair point. What about Shining Armor?”     “Can’t. I get airsick,” he replied. “And I can’t walk on clouds.”     “Bon Bon?”     “I guess I could. I’m not sure she would listen to me because I’m so close to Rainbow Dash.”     “Uh, politically, she means,” Rainbow clarified.     Bon Bon and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances, but said nothing more.     Starlight began again. “We need somepony who’s not close to Rainbow Dash, who’s good at negotiation.” Starlight looked over the others. There were Sunburst, Twilight, Big Mac, Applejack, Zecora, Limestone Pie, and Pinkie Pie.     While she was contemplating, Sunburst spoke up. “What about you, Starlight? That was pretty clever what you did out at your village.”     “What? Me?”     “Think about it; Big Macintosh isn’t a public speaker, and Twilight, Limestone, and Applejack lack, mmmm, ‘diplomatic finesse’.”     “And I have to organize drills for Ursa Company with my sister,” Pinkamena said. “Demand for changeling salve is high— Always greater than supply.”     “What about you?” asked Starlight.     “I wish I could, but we’re really close to a breakthrough on the Mark Oh-Six-Hundred of the alchemic horn. If it passes its trials, we’ll re-brand it the Mark One Thousand and put it into production.” Starlight dropped her gaze. “Are you worried about the clouds? I have a cloudwalking spell.”     “And you won’t even need your self-levitation to get there,” Rainbow added. “There’s an air carriage service that started up when Cloudsdale moved closer to Manehattan.”     “I saw what you did in your village,” Sunburst said. “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.”     “But that was different. I had knowledge of what happened in a different timeline. I won’t have that advantage—Wait a minute.” Starlight’s face lit up. “I think I have an idea.”     Chrysalis lay on the ground, smiling at her little grub as she crawled along the floor. Pupa’s turquoise magic enveloped a brightly colored wooden block, and it floated towards another block. She continued watching as Pupa stacked the first block on top of the second. She looked up at her mother and squealed with delight, her big blue eyes full of life and energy. “You have your father’s eyes,” Chrysalis remarked with a smile. “One day you will rule over ponies and changelings. Just like your mother.”     There was a knock at the door. “Enter,” she called as she rose to her hooves. A changeling drone opened the door. “Your Highness, we’ve just received word that the Wonderbolts have broken ties with the Manehattan rebels. They’ve taken the air fleet and moved to Cloudsdale.”     “Discord among our enemies? That is wonderful news! We should capitalize on this as soon as possible. What are our options?”     “We could either infiltrate the Wonderbolts or the Manehattanites. The Wonderbolts would be easier, but the Manehattanites would be more rewarding. We have a few changelings in Cloudsdale, but not enough to replace all of the Wonderbolts at once.”     Chrysalis thought a moment. “There’s no sense in rushing things if they don’t know when we’ll strike. We need to be certain of success. Those upstart rebels in Manehattan can still be dealt with relatively easily once the time is right. Find a small airship we can use and go covertly to Cloudsdale. We’ll pick off their allies one by one.”     “Yes, my Queen.” The changeling departed, shutting the door on his way out.     Spitfire was sitting behind her desk when somepony knocked on the door. “Come in,” she said. The door swung open and Starlight Glimmer walked in. “Starlight? I wasn't expecting you to come all the way up here.” Her brow furrowed. “Rainbow Dash sent you, didn't she?”     “No, ma'am. I came here to ask you why you left.”     Spitfire snorted. “You haven't figured it out yet?”     Starlight lifted a hoof. “Was it—Rainbow Dash?”     “Guess I was wrong. You have figured it out.”     “I don't understand. Back home, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire are friends, and Rainbow is a Wonderbolt. Even in this world, I remember seeing you flying into Manehattan and pledging your troops to her and Shining Armor. What happened?”     “I've come to the conclusion that Rainbow and I are too different to work together. Too many of our philosophies are incompatible.”     “But I know that's not true,” Starlight began. “I've seen how excited Rainbow Dash is to be a Wonderbolt. I haven't met Spitfire, but I'd imagine she's—”     “That's your world, kid. This is mine.”     Starlight hung her head. “How did it get to be do different?”     “Our relationship has been slowly deteriorating for a few months now. It started a few weeks after Fillydelphia….”     “What!?” Rainbow shouted as she stomped both front hooves Spitfire's desk. “I mean, I could understand a dishonorable discharge, but a firing squad!?”     Spitfire sighed. “It definitely wasn’t an easy choice, but...”     “But what?”     “Lightning Dust’s reckless actions put her fellow soldiers in harm’s way. On top of that, the tornado she created killed Mayor Liberty Belle of Fillydelphia. She must be punished, or else others will assume recklessness and disregard for orders and squad tactics are appropriate behavior for a Wonderbolt.”     “That’s not the part I’m contesting,” Rainbow replied as she began pacing in front of the desk. “I’m saying that what you’re doing isn’t replacing one casualty with another. It’s adding one casualty to another.”     With slow, deliberate motions, Spitfire removed her tinted glasses, folded them, set them aside, and put her hooves together. “Listen, Rainbow Dash. I’m the Captain of the Wonderbolts. These ponies are my responsibility.”     Rainbow stopped pacing and flared her wings out. “I’m a General. That means I outrank you, Captain.”     “Not within this office you don’t.”     “Release her!” Rainbow said, returning her front hooves to the desk.     “You can’t give me orders!” Spitfire fired back, rising out of her chair.     “I can too!”     “You’re not even a real general! You were just a civilian a year ago!”     Rainbow snorted as she returned her front hooves to the floor. “You’re right. I was a civilian. A civilian who grew up in Cloudsdale watching Wonderbolt airshows. A civilian who at one point in her life wanted more than anything to join the Wonderbolts when she grew up. It looks like I was wrong for ever wanting that. I will not associate with a group of mother-preening backstabbers!”     Spitfire’s eyes widened in surprise. She shook her head and set her jaw. “Then you should approve of my treatment of Lightning Dust. Her half-flanked actions endangered and even killed friendly—”     “Absolutely not! I do not have to approve of your horse-feathered orders! One more death won’t undo the first! What are you trying to prove by killing Lightning Dust?”     “Soldiers should follow orders explicitly. Soldiers who do not follow orders explicitly end up like Lightning Dust,” she said as she approached an open window and looked down on the Military Academy’s courtyard.The executioners had lined up and Lightning Dust was being moved into position. Rainbow came to join her a moment later, her jaw dropping when she reached the window. “She isn't far from the command post. She's even within line of sight. Anypony who wants to see her can see her.”     “Wha—Spitfire, you're just going to watch her? How? She—she’s not just a soldier, she’s not just a Wonderbolt, she’s your responsibility! You said it yourself! She looked up to you, trusted you, idolized you! You’re going to make her own heroes kill her!”     “Execution by firing squad is deliberately hard for all the ponies involved.” she said as she returned to her chair. “Makes you not want to face it, or put your squad up to it.”     Rainbow looked back down at the soldiers below, then at the floor, as if in contemplation. Finally, she raised her head and looked at Spitfire. “This isn’t right, and we both know it.” Before Spitfire could reply, Rainbow flew out the window. Spitfire raced back to the window and stuck her head out, but drew her head back in a moment later before angrily shutting the window and lowering the blinds.     Starlight bit her lip and nodded slowly.     “That was where it started.”     “Why didn't you give her a second chance? I know firsthoof ponies can change.”     Spitfire sighed. “I don't expect you to accept what I've done, or to understand.”     “You sentenced her to execution for an accident.”     “No, you weren't listening. I sentenced her to execution for disobeying orders. She sat through the same briefing as everypony else. Only one soldier on the entire bucking battlefield created a feathered tornado.”     Starlight lowered her tone and stepped forward. “Putting Lightning Dust before a firing squad meant your alliance with Rainbow Dash fell apart. Manehattan and Cloudsdale will both suffer if you two don’t work together. Knowing now what it cost you, if you had a second chance, would you change anything?”     Spitfire sat up a little in her chair, apparently taken aback at the question. Her face was devoid of emotion; no doubt, she was an expert at hiding it. Finally, after a long pause, she gave her answer. “No,” she said softly, “I wouldn't.” Starlight’s countenance fell, and Spitfire reacted accordingly. “I know it sounds harsh, but it's harsh for a reason. Your enemies are still our enemies; your allies our allies.”     “Except Rainbow Dash,” Starlight said defeatedly.     Spitfire made no further argument as Starlight turned and left.     Spitfire placed her tray on the table in the Wonderbolts mess hall and waited for her cousin Blaze to arrive at the table. She looked over her shoulder and saw the other yellow-coated mare coming towards her.     Suddenly, she felt something cold and wet on her back. Without even thinking, she rose from her chair and spun around to see Fleetfoot with her tray in her mouth and an empty water glass laying on its side at the edge of her tray.     Fleetfoot looked horrified. She put the tray on the table and began apologizing. “M—Ma’am, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t looking where I was going. I—I must have accidentally tilted my head.”     Spitfire snorted. “Yeah. Must have. It’s just about the only way an upright glass of water can possibly spill! Next time, keep your eyes forward while you’re walking!”     “Yes, ma’am!”     Blaze placed her tray opposite Spitfire’s as she turned to leave. “Where are you going?”     “To change,” she replied angrily.     Spitfire stormed out of the mess hall and down the corridor towards her quarters. She opened the door and began to undress, angrily throwing her uniform in the general direction of the laundry hamper. She opened her locker and—     Wham! The locker door smacked her in the face. She shut her left eye as she reeled backwards. Before she could recover, she felt herself struck again—kicked in the gut. She spread her wings, but during her downstroke, her left wing was struck as well, magically this time. With help from her wings, she jumped backwards, growing aware of a heat and pain on her left wing. A glance at her wing revealed green flames consuming her feathers. She flapped vigorously as she glanced forwards again.     Another blow, this one on her mouth. It wasn't a hoof or a weapon, but rather a sticky, terrible-tasting substance which nearly made her vomit. But at least she finally got a good look at her attacker—it was a changeling.     The changeling charged its horn and fired again, landing a blow on Spitfire’s front right hoof, sticking it to the floor. Spitfire raised her left hoof in time to avoid a similar fate, but with the changeling standing at a distance, it was only a matter of time before all four of her hooves were stuck to the floor.     With all four hooves trapped and only one good wing, Spitfire feigned defeat, hoping for the changeling to close the distance. No such luck; the changeling levitated her into the locker and fired again, pinning her in. With a hiss, the changeling took on Spitfire’s form just before slamming the locker door. Spitfire squirmed around inside the locker as she heard her room door open and the changeling depart.     Trixie floated gently down the river, her eyes trained on the riverbed. Her scuba mask helped her see and breathe as she looked for the Alicorn Amulet. She saw a glint in the sediment, and dove to inspect it. She dug it out, only to discover a gold coin. Equestrian currency was useless in the Crystal Empire, but she retrieved it anyways and returned to the surface.     I could have sworn, I was just past that bridge when I threw the amulet into the river, she thought as she swam for the shore. She waded ashore and trotted upstream past the bridge. She passed a small pile of reflective and semi-reflective objects—a broken heart-shaped hoof mirror, half of a broken tin can, a small gemstone, and about a dozen gold coins.     Once she was well on the other side of the bridge, she waded into the water again and started another pass. As she drifted, so too did her thoughts.     I wonder what he’ll think of me when I bring it back. He seemed pretty happy when I told him I knew where it was.     Trixie watched the riverbed as her shadow approached the shadow of the bridge. What if he never finds out how much I admire him? What if—What if he doesn't like me back? What if—     There. A glint at the edge of the bridge’s shadow. Trixie dove to retrieve it. She dug the object out of the sediment and returned to the surface even before the dirt could clear from the water. She brought her head above the waterline and levitated the object up a moment later. It was dripping, it was covered in sediment, but it was the Alicorn Amulet.     “Yes! And thus the Dark and Malevolent Trixie completes another mission!” She waded ashore and placed the artifact in her saddlebags, then put the saddlebags on her back.     Vapor Trail galloped down a hallway in the Wonderbolt Academy, Sky Stinger right beside her. “Come on,” she said, “The next door is Spitfire’s office!”     The pair rounded a corner and came to a guarded door. “Who goes there?” asked one of the guards. Since it was wartime rather than peacetime, the two guards wore their Wonderbolt combat gear instead of their dress uniforms.     “It’s us. We need to talk with Spitfire.”     “We’re being infiltrated by changelings!” Sky Stinger added.     “Hmm,” said the second guard. “That sounds like something a changeling would say. You got any of that paint?”     “Right here,” said Vapor Trail, drawing a jar of it out of her saddlebags. The guard stepped forward and extended a hoof, but then swatted the paint aside and lunged forward. The second guard hissed and lunged for Sky Stinger.     “Changelings!” Sky shouted.     Vapor Trail contacted the guard’s chest with her already-outstretched hoof, effectively holding him back. Sky Stinger took to the air as the second “pegasus” made his tackle, grabbing him by his barrel. Sky threw his hind legs around the changeling and performed a backflip, sending the changeling into the floor flank first.     The other changeling grabbed Vapor Trail’s front leg with both of his own. He twisted it around, and she elicited a sharp cry as she tried to pull away from her attacker. The changeling pulled her forward with one hoof and applied pressure to her shoulder with the other, causing her to turn her shoulder towards him. Before he could put Vapor’s leg in a lock, Sky delivered a punch to his face, causing him to release Vapor.     Sky’s changeling recovered, and Vapor’s squared up with Sky Stinger while hovering. “Go!” said Sky. “Get a message out!”     Vapor flew towards the door, and the changeling tried to close the distance, but Sky grabbed him and pulled him back. Vapor entered the room and slammed the door behind her, then locked it. Inside the room were no changelings, but also no Spitfire. Vapor flew to the far side of the desk and pushed it in front of the door. She grabbed a piece of paper and reached for the quill. She spilled the inkwell in her haste, but she only stopped for a second. She wrote one, single, very large word on the paper before folding it and grabbing the first envelope she could find. All the while, she heard Sky Stinger fighting outside. She grimaced with each cry he made, but she tried to block it out. She licked the envelope, sealed it with the Wonderbolts insignia seal on the desk, and flew to the window.     “Hey, you!” she shouted to a passing pony wearing a mailbag. “Over here!”     The mailpony closed the distance. There was a thump at the door. Vapor gasped and turned her head. Another thump. She turned around again. The mailpony was close now. “Take this,” she said. “Get to the post office as fast as you can! This must get to Rainbow Dash or Shining Armor! Hurry!”     The mare accepted the letter before flying off. There was another thump on the door. This time, it bulged inward just a bit. Vapor Trail glanced across the office for something to use as a weapon.     An out-of-breath pegasus mare carrying a mailbag burst into the back room of the Cloudsdale post office just as Thunder Star was finishing her shift. “I need help!—We—we have—I need—”     “Woah, woah, woah, slow down there,” said a stallion as he stepped out of the rotating drum that powered the conveyor belt. “What’s going on?”     “The Wonderbolts—they told me—to deliver—this letter!—It’s urgent!”     Several other ponies were now paying attention, whether that meant raising their heads above their workspace dividers, or physically approaching the mare. Thunder Star ignored the commotion and hung her mailbag on a hook with the others.     “I was told—to get this to Rainbow Dash—or Shining Armor.” Thunder Star’s ear swiveled.     “Well, I’m sure we can send it out with the rest of the mail tomorrow,” the stallion said.     “Let me take it,” said Thunder Star, suddenly interested in the letter.     “Are you sure?” asked the stallion. “Your shift is already over.”     “I’m sure,” she said as she took her bag back off the hook where she had just hung it. “Rainbow Dash and I go way back.”     The stallion eyed her warily. “Really?”     “Yes,” she answered, “we do. The Wonderbolts need her help. Besides, we all owe it to Rainbow Dash. She’s done so much for Equestria—for all of us.” Thunder bowed her head as she said it.     “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” said the stallion. “If it’s as important as you say,” he said to the mare, “an extra day might not be a bad thing.”     The mare produced an envelope from her bag and hoofed it over to Thunder Star.     “Then again,” the stallion said, “why aren’t the Wonderbolts sending their own messages?”     “You don’t think something happened to them, do you?” asked the mail mare.     “I’ll leave immediately.” And she did. She began heading for the door.     “Are you sure?” asked the stallion.     “I’ll be back before you know it.” With that, Thunder left the post office.     Once she was outside, she smiled to herself. “That was too easy.” She reached a wing into her bag, pulled the letter back out, and held it up to the sun. “Ha! It’s not even a security envelope! What’s it say? Is it—just one big word?” Thunder squinted at it. “C-h—at least, I think that’s supposed to be an h—C-h—a-n—g-e-l—Oh.” Thunder’s smile disappeared. “Oh, Celestia. This is bad.”     Starlight reached the air carriage station just as a carriage was landing. Its occupants disembarked and Starlight entered. A second mare, a teal pegasus with a mail bag, entered behind her and sat across from her. After a minute of waiting, no more passengers arrived.     A whistle on the platform sounded, and they were off. Starlight was still settling in for the ride when the mare across from her spoke up. “We don't get too many unicorns up in Cloudsdale. You on business?”     “Yes, actually,” she replied. She cocked her head to one side. “What’s a pegasus doing on the air carriage? You can fly, right?”     “I’ve been flying my mail route all day—I’m tired. Can’t unicorns just teleport up and down?”     “Ok, fair point. I didn’t mean anything,” Starlight said. “I was just delivering a message for a friend.”     “Oh, I understand that,” she said, patting her mail bag. “Got a special delivery for Manehattan. Still, why didn’t your friend just send a pegasus up?”     “It was—a delicate matter. I was chosen as the best one to deliver it. I'm not sure how much more I’m allowed to say than that.”     The mare chucked. “It's just you and me. I won't tell anypony.”     “It's not that, it's—it’s because somepony important said not to say anything.”     A look of realization crossed the mare’s face. “Oh. That kind of message.”     “Yeah…” Starlight trailed off. She sounds like she’s trying to pick up information, she thought to herself. Changeling or not, I shouldn’t say too much more.     Maybe I could convince her I'm a tourist. She tapped her chin with a hoof. “At least I was able to see the Wonderbolts while I was there!”     The mare raised one eyebrow. “The Wonderbolts don’t do airshows anymore. They haven’t since the war broke out.”     Well that backfired.     The other mare reached into her bag and shifted in her seat. “And how did you know the Wonderbolts were back in Cloudsdale anyways?”     Starlight also put a hoof into her bag and began feeling around for her paint. “I might ask you the same thing.”     The mare’s gaze dropped, but only for a second. “Fine. It looks like neither of us is getting what she wants until we paint each other,” she said as she drew out a clear jar of thick, forest green liquid.     “Wait,” Starlight protested. “I—I can’t.”     “Because you’re a changeling.” The mare rose out of her seat.     Starlight rolled her eyes. “You sound like Rainbow Dash the first day I met her.”     The mare froze, eyes wide. “You know Rainbow Dash?”     I've said too much. Starlight lit her horn. “I knew you were trying to coax information out of me.”     “No! No, it’s just—Rainbow Dash saved my life.”     Starlight eyed the mare warily. “Who are you?”     The mare gulped and looked away. “Well, they call me Thunder Star, but that’s not my real name. I’m—I’m Lightning Dust.”     Starlight’s jaw hit the floor.