Misty was amazed at how unphased the night guard was at their entrance. They barely even looked at their group of three as they walked into the throne room. The thestrals of the night were much more at attention than their day counterparts, but she supposed that made sense. She had heard a mix of things about their Princess of the Night but had never met her face-to-face.
“Princess Luna is a mare of faces.” Her father had told her once, “How you approach her is how she’ll react, no different from any other pony you meet. Unlike Celestia, though, she’s still the most open.”
Considering Misty had made Celestia cry once, she doubted that somehow.
On the other hoof, Spitfire had said that Luna was staunch and more uniform than her sister when it came to Equestria’s… forces. Especially with the Night Guard. Misty wondered if that was lingering old-fashioned beliefs or something to be said about the Night Princess herself. Either way, it definitely showed through her guards.
They approached the Night Throne together, which was really just Luna sitting on Celestia’s throne. The bright yellow sun on the back of it was a bit hard to ignore, and it made the Princess’s darker colors look out of place.
“Polaris.” Luna smiled at the unicorn as he approached, “I see you’ve brought guests to join us tonight.”
“Not exactly, your highness,” Misty spoke, bowing respectfully to cover her sudden speech. “I’m-”
“Misty Fly. Of Wonderbolts fame and youngest of the Northstar lineage.” Luna finished for her, “I know who you are. Your father speaks glowingly of you.”
Misty’s face lit rapidly, “Y-Yes.”
“And your teammate, Surprise Pie.”
“That’s me!” Surprise, meanwhile, sprung up at the recognition.
Luna smiled, “You do remind me of your cousin.”
“That’s Pies for ya!” Surprise grinned back.
Luna chuckled in response, getting up from her sister’s throne and approaching them, “Well, Miss Fly, if you are not here for a social occasion, what may I do for you?”
Misty straightened up, “I want to know why you pulled the post-Wonderbolt information of one of the fliers, Nightshade.”
Luna’s smile slowly faded from her face as the question took recognition, “We know nothing of that.”
Misty pressed nonetheless, “The file said that you, specifically, pulled the information.”
“As I said, Miss Fly, I know nothing of this.” Luna frowned.
“It undoubtedly has your seal,” Misty argued.
“Yes, but I have plenty of my highest night guard captains who also use my seal.” Luna frowned, “Truly if that’s all you came to speak about, I’m afraid that I cannot help you.”
“Then let’s talk to the Captain who authorized this,” Misty replied simply, not backing down, “I’m sure you can figure out who it was.”
“I will not let you do such a thing.” Luna shook her head in finality, “Even if one of my captains did authorize that, I cannot allow you to simply ask them for obviously classified information.”
Misty went to push further, but Surprise butt in, “Ohhh please, Princess! We don’t wanna intrude, but our friend and teammate went missing and we think he went off with her.”
Luna paused, “You speak of the Co-Captain of the Wonderbolts, Soarin?”
“Yes!” Surprise nodded enthusiastically, “We think she’s his sister, and that he’s gone off with her. We need to find her to find him!”
“...One of the Wonderbolts?” Luna cracked a wry smile, “The most popular one, gone? Off to find one of my Shadowbolts?”
Misty and Surprise looked at each other, echoing the same thought, “Shadowbolts?”
Luna smirked, “I have had a change of heart. But I must warn you, if you ask me about this at any moment beyond this night, I will deny it all. I will tell you, at the least, of the night I met this ‘Nightshade’.”
Luna began her story:
“I was still at the point of obtaining my strength after my banishment when I found her dreams. Normally, my focus is on the nightmares of the young foals in Equestria. But something about hers stood out to me.
I arrived in her dreams to see a mare that was bloodied and broken, with two other pegasi standing tall and triumphant over her. For her sake, I’ll leave out the… more personal details, but she was on the ground telling herself repeatedly that she was worthless and a mistake.”
Luna grimaced, but the other two mares in the room looked utterly horrified.
Her birth name meant poison, and now this.
“Only naturally, I dispelled the shadows looming over her and ended her nightmare. However, that’s when I realized why I recognized the mare. In my time as Nightmare Moon, I had seen her brother’s likeness on one of your team’s Wonderbolts poster and used it to try and tempt Rainbow Dash away from her friends.
As I tried to apologize for accidentally using her for my own devices, she broke down. She let everything spill about her past, about how desperately she needed to prove herself, how jealous she was of her brother’s attention, how much she loved him despite that, how she had backstabbed her best friend, and how she’d sealed her own fate in a desperate attempt to gain the title of Captain.”
This fit with some of the things Misty had seen in Nightshade’s file about her crash and discharge. She imagined that this ‘best friend’ was probably Spitfire.
Luna paused, sighing, “I saw a lot of myself in her, to be honest. She’d been through some of what I faced, only on a smaller scale. Thus, I left her dream that night with a proposal: Join me that night at Canterlot Castle, and I’d give her the chance to prove herself worthy of a new team: the Shadowbolts.”
“...The Shadowbolts.” Misty repeated again. “What do they do, exactly? Are they another flight team?”
“I haven’t seen them at the world championships.” Surprise piped up.
“I cannot confirm or deny what it is that they do.” Luna shook her head, “I can only tell you a general location of where they might be.
“So I take it that she got in?” Misty asked, “Nightshade, I mean.”
“She surpassed everything I threw at her.” Luna nodded, “And outperformed. I’d imagine her brother would do the same. And that’s what I’ll leave you both with tonight. If you both go seeking out the Shadowbolts, you already might be too late.”
“They’re gonna kill Soarin?!” Surprise yelped.
Luna rolled her eyes with an amused smile, “No. They might have jumped on the chance to recruit him.”
“Oh.”
Misty shook her head, “With all respect, your highness, I don’t think so. Soarin is a lot of things, but above all, he’s loyal. Loyal to us, and to the Bolts. But thank you for telling us what you could. We’ll be sure to not tell anyone about what we were told tonight.” She began to walk out.
“But, um, could you give us a clue to where we might find them?” Surprise asked Luna.
“Hollow Shades.” Luna chuckled as Misty paused mid-trot, realizing that she was about to walk out with nowhere to go.
“Thanks, Princess!” Surprise burst out of the throne room, knocking over Misty in her haste.
Luna stared after them as they both managed to finally leave, shaking her head, “Your daughter truly is something, Polaris.”
“Yes, she is.” He agreed with a chuckle, “Now, shall we get on with tonight’s duties, your highness?”
---
Stormy Flare’s cafe was nestled into a quiet corner of Manehattan, the streets lit by only a single lamp across the street from the front. It didn’t need to be illuminated, though. Inside, the light reflected off of the white faux-granite counters with enough intensity to mock a small star. It definitely put the one lamp to shame. Blitz had never been inside of the place, but she had heard her BFF talk about it enough to know that the place was always warmer than it needed to be, but still cozy. Considering the golden glow of the lights, it was no wonder the warmth radiated.
The bells chimed as the two mares made their way into the place. Spitfire let the door slam shut behind them. Sitting at the L-shaped counters were three lonely occupants. A stallion, dressed in a buisness suit, barely noticed them come in from his coffee and newspaper. The two other occupants, a mare and a stallion, sat adjacent to each other and stared evenly as the two walked in. Only when they saw Spitfire looking back at them did they avert their eyes.
The elderly mare behind the counter was immediately identifiable as Spitfire’s mother, seeing as the two nearly looked identical.
“Sweetheart, welcome home.” Her smile was radiant. “I see you’ve brought Blitz by for a visit.”
“HiyamissSpitfire’smom!” Blitz responded faster than anyone could blink.
“Well, yeah.” Spitfire trotted over and took a seat on one of the red barstools. Blitz hopped onto the adjacent one, immediately spinning around just to test it. Spitfire was so busy looking at her mother, that she didn’t notice Blitz’s antics. “Hear the news?”
“Of course.” Stormy dried the plastic cup in her hooves with a rag, “I always see the news about you.”
“Mind if I bunk here for a bit? ...Guess I miss my waitressing days.” Spitfire scratched the back of her head with her wing. Blitz stopped spinning to raise an eyebrow and pout her lips at her friend.
“Everyone knows that’s a lie, firefly.” Stormy didn’t look up from the glass, “But I’d be happy to welcome you back. ...Doesn’t that mean that you’re running from things, then?”
Spitfire curled her lips into a scowl, “I’m taking responsibility, Mom. Stepping down from the team is the best way to admit that I was wrong, and that my judgement call wasn’t the way the Wonderbolts truly act toward each other. Isn’t that what a leader does?”
Stormy put her glass down, shaking her head as she looked to Spits, “It’s not about what a leader does. It’s about what you think is best for yourself, and your concience. Is stepping down from your position really your only choice?”
Spitfire said nothing for a moment.
So, Stormy continued, “I’ll say this: I’m not the one to choose what you do. I will love you and shelter you no matter what you decide. But I know you, Firefly. This will eat you alive if you don’t make the correct decision. All I ask is that you think it through more.” With a finality to her words, she looked at Spitfire and Blitz, “So, are you both hungry? I just pulled this excellent double chocolate swirl pie out of the oven.” Blitz nodded rapidly, and Spitfire gave a small smile.
“Pie would help me think.” Spitfire said, though even she knew that the words dripped with irony. It didn’t help that the couple in the back of the room had made themselves a little too comfortable on top of each other. Spitfire put a hoof in just the right position to block them both out of her sight.
It didn’t take long for her mother to drop a plate of pie right in front of the two, and Blitz dug into it ravenously. Spitfire poked at it, eating small bites to help her understand how best to peice everything together.
“It would help if I could start by apologizing to Soarin. No idea where he’s off to, though. His bunk’s completely empty save for a few photos.” Spitfire said to no one in particular, but Blitz responded nevertheless.
“Oh! I know where he is. He’s with-”
“-Nightshade,” Spitfire finished with her, nodding slightly, “Yeah, yeah, I figured.” She hung her head slightly, “Which leads to my second problem: Nightshade wouldn’t let me around him now no matter how badly I wanted to apologise.”
“...You sure about that one?”
Spitfire stuck another cutting of the pie into her mouth, “Well, not really. It’s more of an educated guess than actual fact. Then, there’s the fact that I wouldn’t blame her in the slightest for it. If I had a brother, and his fiance nearly got him killed, I’d be pissed beyond logic too. That’s why I can’t just show up wherever you’d want to take me.”
Blitz sighed, “I don’t have clearance to take you there anyways, so that’s out.”
“Guess what I can do is start working on my retirement speech, and choose who’s going to succeed Soarin and I’s positions.” Spitfire said, bringing a napkin over to her and snagging a pen from her flight jacket, “Hopefully it won’t be so corny that everyone thinks I’m just doing it to weasel out of my predicament.”
“Would you feel like it would be?” Stormy Flare asked.
Spitfire mused before shaking her head, “No. If I do this right, no matter what other ponies think, I won’t feel like I’ve just gotten by on this.”
“And Soarin?” Blitz asked.
Spitfire hung her head, “I have no idea. I’ll apologize, eventually. I don’t think it’ll be that easy, though. So… our engagement is off. I’ll just have to come to terms with it.”
“Well… I can help, if you really want to make up for what you’ve done.” Blitz said, “Because that incident didn’t sound like the BFF I know. I think even Soarin and Nightshade know that.” She spun around on the stool again for good measure, “I think I can talk to them. Warm them up to the idea of the apology. Let them hear about your retirement as Captain. Then, maaaybe, we can rebuild some bridges with time.” She hopped off of her stool, her wings already spread and buzzing like a hummingbird’s, “Infaaact~ Icango! Rightnow! Andletyougetworking! Andreport!”
Spitfire chuckled, “Hey, if you want to, go on ahead. You know where to find me.”
Blitz’s grin widened, and the cafe began to fill with the smell of ozone as the mare’s mane began to buzz violently with electricity before bursting out of the door with the crash of thunder.
“ANDTHANKSFORTHEPIE!” Echoed behind Blitz as she rocketed towards the horizon at ridiculous speeds.
“Hmm.” Stormy Flare looked at the black scorch marks on her white tile floor with concern, “Must’ve given her too much sugar.”
Spitfire smiled at her mother, shaking her head. "It's good to be home."