Starlight watched Laud leave Twilight's room, a sour expression on her face, not that he could see it. Magic kept her from view, allowing her to sit still until he had walked past on to whatever other business he had. She released the spell and approached Twilight's room with a sigh. "Twi, you in there?"
The door cracked open and one of Twilight's eyes peeked out. "Starlight? It seems like everypony wants me today."
"You haven't heard the start of it... Tell me straight, if there was another pony that wanted Laud, that'd be good, right? He'd be all married to a pony, and you'd be spared. Ta da!" She threw out a hoof with the exclamation with a brief smile. "Right?"
The door opened a little more. "Celestia asked me to do this. I'm not in the habit of letting her down, especially if it's my choice."
"I was afraid you'd say that." Starlight turned to the side, in the process of turning for the stairs. "I'll have to go to the top then."
"What? Starlight, no! You will not yell at Celestia." With a pop, Twilight ceased to be in her room and appeared in front of Starlight with a flustered expression. "Laud isn't that bad." She smiled a strained little smile. "He wants the best for the people that look up to him, and those above him. It's just like me. We both want the best in the end, and... we'll manage."
Starlight narrowed her eyes at Twilight. "That sounds like someone talking themselves into going along with the best of a bad situation, not someone happy about it. I have to go, ponies to talk to." With a rush of magic, she was gone, just as skilled at teleporting as Twilight was.
Twilight sighed at the space that once held her student. "Let me handle my own problems." She trotted back for her room. There was little she could do to stop Starlight short of causing more issues.
Celestia sat at the table with the human leader across from her. On one side of the table, human guards. On the other, pony guards. One owned a country, the other an incalculably powerful and populated space vessel that could easily be considered a country of its own. It was enough that they could declare war, and countless people would die.
Paul raised his glass. "To new futures, and strengthening bonds."
"To new futures, and different peoples made one," echoed Celestia, lifting her glass in her magic to tap against his. They were not declaring war, thankfully. It was much the opposite. "It will be... awkward at first, but both will acclimate to the unreasonable request we've given... presuming no other answer presents--"
With a pop, Starlight appeared between the two of them, up on the table. Guards of either variety scrambled into action at her unannounced presence.
"--itself," finished Celestia, smiling gently at the angry-looking Starlight. "What can I do for you, Miss Glimmer?"
Her friendly greeting of the intruder had both sides standing down. She was no strange attacker.
Starlight leveled a hoof at Celestia. "Where do you get doing this to Twilight! She trusts you, and you throw her to the wolves like this? She hasn't even had a coltfriend before and you lock her down into an arranged marriage?" Her brows raised as one. "Well we're going to skirt around that, with no help from you. We just need you to stay the hay out of the way."
"Alright."
Starlight blinked with confusion. "Alright?"
Paul looked around Starlight to Celestia. "I haven't learned how to speak pony. What is she saying? She sounds quite upset." His translator faithfully echoed the statement in the horse noises of the native language.
Celestia leaned towards Starlight lightly. "If you can secure another solution, you should proceed."
Paul watched with an intense focus, even if he could only understand the translated statements of one of the two speaking.
Starlight straightened herself out, trying to regain the momentum that had been stolen from her. "I'll do just that! We'll get him a pony wife that actually wants him, and by the books." She hoped that Bon Bon wasn't just making things up about that part. "You promise you won't get in the way?"
Celestia raised a hoof. "Provided it is within the laws of the land and no pony is harmed, why should I object? As you say, I care about Twilight deeply. If you can resolve this in a way that helps her, then I can only thank you, Starlight Glimmer."
Starlight hopped down from the table, shaking a hoof from the mashed potatoes that she had managed to step in. "Well, alright... then... I'd better get on that." She walked away, triumphant, and yet not feeling it.
Paul watched her go a moment before his eyes returned to Celestia. "What is she planning? She is a powerful spellcaster. Is she under your employ?"
"Indirectly." Celestia rolled a hoof. "She is Twilight's student, and Twilight is my student and I am her princess. There is little doubt in my mind that she would act if I asked for it through Twilight."
"And she acts on her own, clearly. What is she planning?" pressed Paul. "Will it interfere with this? We are racing time, among other things."
"It may," admitted Celestia. "But, I feel it will result in a more stable future." She watched his guarded expression. "I have a good feeling about it. If she fails, Twilight and Laud will be more convinced that their union is the proper course, and they will both be made happier for it. If they are seperated, Laud given to another, the marriage will proceed and our people will yet be bonded."
Paul tapped the table with a firm finger. "She is not of noble birth, I presume?"
"She is not," easily admitted Celestia. "I do not think she is the one that will try to take him."
"Then who?" His voice was almost as neutral as the device that spoke in clear monotone for him.
"I could not say with certainty." She smiled gently. "Let us watch and see. My people can be... unconventional, but they, especially those around Twilight, usually come through in the end."
"It is good to have some faith in those beneath you." He took a sip from the sweet drink that had been provided to him. "I trust Laud will do what is right. He is many things, but he is a good Hawkwood, in the end. He will not betray our principles."
Starlight knocked on the door with a firm clopping. "Bon Bon? You home?" The door fell open at her knocking. "Or... that works. Bon Bon? Lyra?" She pressed inside the candy shop. Her ears pricked up at the sounds coming from above. She could hear the sounds of two ponies speaking to one another, both female. She couldn't pick out the words. "Bon?"
She closed the door behind herself and locked it for good measure. No reason to leave a store open when its owner was clearly occupied, or so she decided. With a satisfied nod, she trotted for the stairs. "Lyra?"
"Starlight?" came a voice from the top of the stairs just before Lyra's head popped into view. "Oh, hey! We didn't hear you come in." She looked cheerful, but something was off.
Starlight smiled awkwardly up at the mare. "Hey, I was hoping to talk to Bon Bon, but you're involved too, right?"
Lyra put a hoof behind her head. "Ha... ha... so you know about that? I guess basically everyone does... We haven't even done it yet..."
"Starlight?" Bon Bon circled into view at the top of the stairs. "What did Twilight say?"
"She's as stubborn as a mule, of course." Starlight rolled her eyes. "On the other hoof, Celestia is entirely on board."
Bon Bon descended the stairs with a raised brow. "She is? This was all her idea in the first place. Why is she alright with us interfering with her plans?" Her brows came down in a sudden frown. "She's planning something. Tell me what she said, specifically."
Starlight shook her head. "She seemed sincere. She said... 'if you can resolve this in a way that helps her, I can only thank you.'"
Bon Bon gasped with alarm. "She's being forced!"
Lyra followed after her friend, joining the other two downstairs. "Hey, who locked the door?" With a twist of magic, she had the door ready to receive customers again. "Who's forcing who now? Aren't we going to be forcing things?"
Bon Bon nodded softly. "We are, legally. If she said that, the others, the humans; Paul was his name, wasn't it? Paul Hawkwood, that's right. He must have pressured Celestia, and that's why she's perfectly fine with an out. If that's the case, then we have to proceed." She clopped the floor, hoof striking the wood firmly. "For Equestria, and Twilight."
Lyra put a hoof behind her head, looking increasingly awkward. "I just... thought he was kinda cute... I didn't think we'd be making or breaking the country in this."
Starlight shook her head. "Wait, what? You... like him that way?"
Lyra's face began to heat up rapidly. "The way... He's strong, and smart. He's nice and brave..." She sighed and sagged against a shelf of candy. "Yeah, I kinda like him... but any time I try to say anything, I lock up. He just sees me as a friend, and it's my own fault!"
Starlight wobbled a hoof. "I know this has nothing to do with... anything, but you know what married ponies do... right? Do you plan to do... do that with him?"
Lyra's blush intensified as she sank towards the floor. "Maybe," she squeaked out in a tiny voice.
Bon Bon was suddenly between Starlight and Lyra, her face in Starlight's. "Lyra will do what she wants with her husband, once we finish roping him."
"Hey hey, no offense intended." Starlight lifted her hooves, sinking to her haunches. "Sheesh, I was just asking. I mean... I can't even think about him that way... But, hey, he's a stallion human, so if... you two hit it off, why not?"
Bon Bon waved a hoof over at Lyra. "She could do that even if Laud was a mare human. That's her decision and, as her Best Friend, I will help her do it, because that's what friends do."
Starlight shook her head slowly. "You do realize, if this works, you two won't be 'Best Friends' anymore, right? You'll be wives."
Bon Bon's cheeks began to warm much as her friend's had already done. "S-so be it! That is the price I will pay to protect Equestria, and Twilight."
Starlight's face split in a close-mouthed grin, smugly eyeing the nervous couple. "This isn't about Twilight at all, is it?"
"What?" Bon Bon stood all the taller. "We have to break her betrothal through challenge. How is this not about her?"
Starlight rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, besides that. You don't care about her, not like that. You're doing this for Lyra." Her eyes settled on the flustered green unicorn. "She wants Laud, and you want him, for her. That is... actually really nice of you."
Bon Bon's tense stance broke. "Huh?"
"No, I'm serious." Starlight reached and patted Bon's shoulder gently. "I wish I had a friend that cared about me so deeply they'd go through all this just for the chance for me to be happy."
Lyra was suddenly at Bon Bon's other side, surging from the floor to her hooves back upright in an almost pounce. "She's the best!" she cried in agreement. "I don't know what I'd do without my Bonnie." She threw a leg over the stunned Bon Bon and hugged her close. "Best friends, forever."
Starlight smirked in a way only a former evil genius could. "You two will be even more than that, if this goes well. Do you have your challenge worked out?"
Bon Bon shared her idea, the two of them leaning in to listen.