//------------------------------//
// Honesty and Friendship 
// Story: Zero-Sun Game 
// by Undome Tinwe 
//------------------------------//

The Black Trough was the seediest bar you could find in Everfree City. Admittedly, it didn't hold a candle to some of the dives in Trottingham or Baltimare, but it still had that everything-has-been-broken-before look that told you a bar fight happened at least once every other night in here.

Dash really hoped that today wouldn't be a bar fight night. She had stuff to do.

"The stars will aid in her escape."

Dash almost couldn't hear the code phrase over the sound of laughing and drinking and general carousing. Which was kinda the point, she guessed.

"And she will bring about a new dawn." Dash turned to face the mare who had spoken the first line, and saw a familiar Stetson hat with a familiar mare attached to it. "What's up, AJ? Haven't seen you since, well, before."

"I've been better," the farmer replied, taking a swig of something that was technically moonshine and also technically paint remover. "But I'm hoping I'll be better again soon. So, Fluttershy dropped you the code phrase?"

"Yeah, she told me about all the bad stuff that Nightmare Moon was doing — like I didn't know already, and then she told me that there was some resistance going on to beat her."

"I knew you didn't go over to the dark side like Rarity did." Applejack smiled. "You ain't the type to sit by while others suffer."

Dash shrugged and pretended to take another sip from her mug. "So, what are you gonna do about the Queen?"

Next to Applejack, a unicorn mare approached Dash. "We believe we can rally the ponies to rise up against her tyranny."

"This is Twilight," Applejack explained. "She's been a huge help to the resistance ever since we found her hiding out in what's left of Canterlot."

"I was the personal student of Princess Celestia. I've studied everything there is to study on sociology and mob psychology, in addition to reading every book on political science that exists." Twilight's eyes burned with the type of determination of someone who had just gone all in on a hand of poker with only a pair of twos. "The situation across Equestria is quickly becoming untenable, and the economic turmoil is beginning to affect the capital.

"There's enough unrest that we could begin raising a militia and turning some of the soldiers. We just need someone on the inside who can cover up any odd activities that might result from our preparations. If you come with us back to our base, we can explain the situation in more detail."

"Actually, I've got somewhere I've gotta be." Dash flipped over a couple bits to the bartender and stood up. "But good luck with your resistance thing."

"But Dash, we need you!" Applejack reached out to grab Dash's foreleg. "This resistance won't work unless we have someone high up on the inside."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You've always been a good problem solver." Dash gently pried herself from the other mare's grip. "And your friend Twilight looks like a real leader. Somepony who can bring ponies together and make them wanted to work towards something. Between that and your honesty, I'm sure you won't need me." With a final encouraging smile, Dash trotted off into the smokey haze of the bar, making a beeline for the exit.

"Besides, I've got important business to attend to."





"In the five dozen trials we've run so far, two-thirds of the applicants passed the first trial and agreed to spy for the resistance. Of the remaining candidates, some were too loyal to Nightmare Moon to defect, and others were too scared of being found out to agree to turn coat. Given your unique history, we weren't expecting this trial to be an issue for you. And we certainly didn't expect you to walk out on the first meeting with the resistance leaders with such a blasé attitude. Care to explain why the Element of Loyalty abandoned her old friend?"

"Twi's plan wasn't ever gonna work. Nightmare Moon defeated Celestia. It didn't matter how much of an army she had — all that was going to happen was that more of them would have gotten killed trying to beat her. I wasn't gonna send more ponies to die. And like I said, I had more important things to do..."





Ever since the whole "Eternal Night" thing had happened, candelabra design had really taken off as an industry and an art form. Not that Dash paid much attention to those things, but she could still appreciate the beautifully engraved crescent moon-shaped dish that held the candles Rarity was using to illuminate her writing desk.

"Do you ever actually sleep?" Dash asked as she stood at the door leading into Rarity's office.

"Lieutenant Dash," Rarity replied coolly, ignoring her question. "What brings you here at this hour? Was there a problem with the prisoner transfer?"

"Nope. Fluttershy and the others are all locked up and won't be getting out until the Queen figures out what to do with them." With one hoof, she reached inside for the small bag she had tucked under her wing and pulled out a couple bottles of cider. "I managed to snag some of Sweet Apple Acres' best, from the before times, and I figured you might be thirsty."

"Drinking outside of the designated areas of the castle is a serious offence," Rarity said, but made no move to shoo her away.

"Eh, I'm sure the High Lady won't mind." Dash walked in and set down the bottles on the table.

Rarity stared suspiciously at the golden liquid inside them. "And is this another poor attempt to seduce me?"

Dash shrugged as she grabbed one of the bottles and settled down on a chaise lounge in the room. "I was gonna say no and do that whole song-and-dance thing about just wanting to talk, but I ran into somepony today who reminded me how important honesty was.

"So yeah, I totally wanna see if Miss Prim-and-Proper is a total freak in the sheets." Dash popped open the bottle with her wings in a manoeuvre Gilda had taught her back in flight school. Simpler times. "But I also just wanna chat, get to know you a bit. I'm not the kind of girl to go after a mare just because she's got a nice flank, even if it's your flank."

"Not that I'm eager to get anywhere near your brutish physique, but I was under the impression that we were already acquainted." Rarity hadn't stood up from her writing desk yet, but Dash could see her eyeing the bottle.

"Nah, I knew the old Rarity. The one who ran a dress shop in a town full of ponies that didn't wear clothes, and carried a fainting couch with her everywhere she went just in case she found out the spa was closed for the day." Oof, the cider had a bit of a punch this time — Dash grimaced as she took her first sip. "Now I wanna learn more about High Lady Rarity. Like, do you send people to the dungeons for fun now? Is that a thing you do?"

"I am not having this conversation sober," Rarity muttered as she finally picked up her own bottle and floated it over to herself. She popped the top off with her magic and immediately chugged down half of it with an expertise that was usually only found in sororities.

"I'm just saying, you've changed a bit since the Queen took over." Another sip. This time, it burned a little less. "What're you working on, anyways?"

"A reporter in Trottingham is publishing some problematic articles on the Griffon-only schools the Queen has set up in the north. We can't have him sowing such discord against our hardworking pony teachers, so I'm arranging for him to... disappear." Another gulp of the cider. "Are you going to tell me that what I'm doing is wrong? Because I would remind you that, as a Shadowbolt, your hooves are hardly clean." Rarity shot Dash a glare that dared her to speak.

"Nah." Man, this chair was really soft. Dash let herself sink into the cushion as she admired the view she had of Rarity's backside. "Like I said, you've only changed a bit since before the whole 'High Lady' thing. Planning a kidnapping is, like, the kind of thing I know you'd be great at. It's a lot like making a dress, with all the little details you have to make sure to get perfect and stuff."

Rarity's lips quirked upwards. "Well, you've certainly changed. I don't recall you being so... insightful or worldly."

Dash shrugged. "Joining the Bolts taught me a bunch of stuff about how stuff works, y'know? Things aren't always that simple. I don't like some of the stuff I have to do, but sometimes a mare's gotta do what a mare's gotta do."

"How unusually introspective of you." Finally, Rarity trotted over to Dash with the bottle floating next to her. With the grace of the lady she always strived to be, she daintily sat herself down next to Dash, barely disturbing the fabric of the chair. "And you're wrong, by the way. I've changed a lot since the time of the Sun. I finally have all I ever wanted and more."

"Oh?" Dash cocked her head towards Rarity. "Really?"

Rarity emptied the bottle in another huge gulp before replying. "Not only am I a lady as I deserve, but I have also been elevated above all the other petty nobleponies to stand as the right-hoof mare of the ruler of our glorious nation. My dresses, when I have the time to make them, are worn around the world by the crème de la crème of high society. Each word I speak holds more power than I could ever have imagined. Before, I thought I was powerful when I could bend the will of a single stallion for an hour with my wit."

A smile formed on her lips, cunning and smug and uniquely Rarity. "Now, the whole world bends to my command, and those who do not bend are broken."

The warmth spreading through Dash's body was more than just from the alcohol. "Dang," she whispered. "I should have hit on you way before yesterday."

Rarity snorted. "I'll forgive you that comment if you have another bottle of that wonderful cider on hoof."

"Well, tonight's your lucky night." From her saddlebag, Dash pulled out one of the many spare bottles she'd brought along. She'd planned for a long night, after all, and she wasn't gonna do this sober. "Here."

Rarity grabbed the bottle with a hoof, and Dash enjoyed the brief physical contact between them way too much. "Thank you, darling." A pause as she downed a significant amount of the cider. "I'll admit, I haven't had a chance to relax like this in far too long. Always so much to do."

"I hear ya." Not to be outdone, Dash quickly finished off her own bottle before reaching for her second. "But it's important to take some time for yourself. Don't wanna burn out like I did in Flight School."

"Quite." The next pause between them was... comfy. Rarity was really nice to be around when she wasn't trying to act like she was better than everypony else. "Do you want to know something?"

"Hmm?" It would be so easy to learn over and rest her head on Rarity's soft coat. But that wasn't what she was here for. Not tonight.

"All the games I had to play to get to where I am. All the lives ruined and ponies I've crossed to advance. All the plans I have to make and dissent I have to suppress in order to stay at the top of this dog-eat-dog world." Rarity leaned over towards Dash, her hot breath tingling across Dash's face as she whispered her next words. "I don't regret any of it."

"Cool." Dash took another swig from her bottle. "This is great stuff. I should ask AJ what her secret is."

Rarity's brows furrowed. "Really, that's your response? You don't think I'm some reprehensible monster?"

"Eh." Dash shrugged. "You gave that farmer the wheat in the end. And you probably don't charge as much for those dresses of yours as you should, considering you don't seem to be swimming in bits. You've still got that generous heart of yours that you've always had. So no, I don't think you're a monster. I think you're ambitious, and I get it."

"You do, don't you?" The look Rarity was giving her reminded Dash of all the times right before she'd bugged her about getting a makeover. But this time, it didn't look like the fashionista was looking at what Dash was like on the outside. "Sometimes I felt like nopony in Ponyville could. They were all so content with their dull, base lives in a town nopony had ever heard of. No one looked up at the stars and thought 'one day, I'll dance among them.' Except me. And you."

"Yeah, but everyone else always seemed a lot happier about it." The cider was starting to kick in now. Dash could feel a slight buzz in her head. "I used to wonder if maybe I was the dumb one for wanting more."

"And now you command a small army." Rarity's smile got a bit dopey, and Dash could tell the cider was hitting her too. She let out a soft chuckle. "Look who's laughing now."

"Heh." Dash's smile never left her face, even when her voice suddenly got serious. "Just remember, you're a good pony. Don't ever lose that generous part of you because you need to get ahead."

"I appreciate the concern, and I'll take your advice under advisement." Another chuckle. "I must say, this has been an incredibly liberating experience. I haven't felt so free to speak my mind in ages. I suppose it's true what they say. In Vino Veritas." As Dash's blank look, she quickly added, "in wine, there is truth."

"Ah. I know that," Dash lied. They both chuckled at that before she continued. "But I don't think it's just the cider. I ran into Applejack earlier today, and she reminded me that I hadn't really had a friend to talk to in a while."

"Applejack, you say?" Rarity suddenly perked up.

"Yeah, she brought her friend Twilight with her, and we were talking about making friends and honesty and stuff, and it made me think about how you don't really have anyone to be honest with."

"Twilight... Sparkle?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Looked like a total egghead, but maybe that's AJ's type these days. I dunno."

"Interesting." There was a fire in Rarity's eyes again, and the way they sparkled nearly made Dash lean in for a kiss. "I think I need to send a report to some relevant parties."

Dash put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder as the other mare tried to stand up. "You can do that later. Right now, I just wanna have a drink with a friend."

"Is that what we are? Friends?" Dash could see the gears grinding in Rarity's brain as she studied the mare sitting in front of her.

"I mean, if you want to be." Dash tried to play it cool, but she could hear the longing in her own voice. "It'd be cool to hang out with you more."

"I think— I think I'd like that." This time, Rarity's lips curled up into a cute little smirk. "As long as you stop trying to seduce me into a roll in the hay."

"Nah, I wouldn't do that." And that was the second bottle done. Time for the third. "I told you, bags of grain are a lot more comfy than hay."

Rarity flung one of the empty bottles at Dash, and missed by a mile. "You're incorrigible!"

"And you love it," Dash shot back. "Or do you really want me to stop telling you how beautiful you are?"

Rarity's pretended to think about it for a moment. "Hmm, I suppose you make a compelling argument. Very well, tell me more about my dazzling pulchritude."

That probably meant that Dash was supposed to be complimenting her more. "Just let me open this up real quick, and I'll talk for days about those sweet flanks of yours."

As the moon continued its circular path around the sky, the Shadowbolt and the High Lady laughed and drank and talked as Rainbow Dash and Rarity recounted stories from the times before and after the world had been shrouded in an eternal lullaby.

The glistening moonlight filtered into the office, and as it glinted off the crescent-shaped candelabra, a multitude of colors shone back. It almost looked like a rainbow.





"So instead of helping the resistance to fight Nightmare Moon, you chose to get drunk with her second-in-command? And you never once tried to subvert or subdue her?"

"She needed a friend, and she needed someone she could be honest with. And I wanted to see her eyes light up when she laughed. She doesn't do it that often, but it's like, you know how beautiful she is normally? That times a million."

"You are displaying a worrying sense of priorities."

"I mean, no harm done, right? Everything worked out in the end."

"You do realize that you gave Rarity the intel she needed to determine that Applejack was working with the rebels. From our analysis, the Somniorum spell had to rapidly adjust itself to ensure that everypony cleared out from the headquarters before the surprise raid on Sweet Apple Acres."

"Oh, umm... whoops? But like, Rarity and I had a really good heart-to-heart. Which was pretty important. You'll see."

"You know, for a pony who's best friends with Princess Twilight, one would think you would understand that information is power, and that you shouldn't be handing out power to tyrannical despots and their most loyal servants."

"Have you met Starlight Glimmer? I'm pretty sure she's accidentally taken over Equestria at least once with her mind control shenanigans, but Twilight still teaches her spells from books that have all sorts of warnings about souls and why you shouldn't trade them away."

"Please don't remind me that one of the greatest threats to national security is under the protection of our primary source of national security. Anyways, after your unique failure of the first trial, the dream continued onto the next day and kindly gave you a day to recover from a well-deserved hangover to ensure that you would be able to face the next trial."

"Yeah, by the way, what's up with that? The dream was like, a week long, but I was only sleeping for a night."

"Time compression. Time can flow faster or slower in a dream if Princess Luna wills it."

"Huh, that sounds like the kind of thing you use to do all sorts of cool egghead stuff."

"Princess Twilight is already researching ways to use it as a study aid. I believe she wants to test out the idea of handing out extra homework to her students to complete in their dreams."

"...That's gonna haunt my nightmares for a while. So, I'm guessing the second trial was the thing with Fluttershy?"

"Yes, and we are particularly interested in your justification for this one..."