The Elements looked at each other in fright. Each was hoping to see somepony ready to take command of the situation, but only found shock and despair staring back at her.
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and rose above the balcony. Looking down at her friends, she absorbed the scene of the unfolding disaster.
Twilight was sobbing uncontrollably, Applejack trying to get her back on her hooves. Fluttershy was looking around frantically, tears in her eyes. Pinkie stood in the middle, just staring forward. A squeaky toy fell out of her mane, making a miserable noise as one of the guards running in to help Cadence stepped on it.
A flare was fired in the distance, Bling’s green magic. Dash looked in the direction of the battle line: A large storm cloud was now looming over it, flashing with lightning after lightning.
“Obsidian!” shouted Dash, “They’re coming again! We have to do something!”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” mumbled Obsidian. “Why wasn’t I told? You said he delivered letters…” his blank expression shifted into an angry snarl, blue lights flaring in the pupils of his eyes, “WHY WASN’T I TOLD!?”
“We don’t have time for this,” said Aurora over Dash’s shoulder. Flying down, she hovered over Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, calm them all down with your Element.”
Fluttershy looked up, visibly grateful for anything that could give her direction. “I can do that?” she said. Aurora just looked at her sternly.
“Oh, right,” nodded Fluttershy. “I’ve seen your… I mean… I’ll try.” She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Soon a wave of pink light washed over the balcony. Rainbow Dash felt it pass over her too. Her panic subsided, though she could now clearly feel great sadness that had been waiting on the sidelines up to that point. She looked around, and saw similar changes in the others’ faces. Fluttershy’s spell was better than nothing, but far from a perfect solution.
There was an explosion in the distance, then another.
“They’re both fighting now,” said Obsidian, looking towards the storm cloud. “Envy feared the heart before. But the Elements alone she can fight. With the barrier down, this battle may already be lost. Princess, can you re-establish the shield?”
He was met with no response at all. The two guards present had managed to separate Cadence from Shining’s body and get her back on her hooves, but she didn’t respond to her surroundings in any other way, not even to acknowledge Obsidian’s question.
Obsidian looked at Pinkie, who slowly shook her head. He looked back at Cadence, and inhaled, taking in her aura. "Ah. She's the ruler. One with the hearts of her subjects. It's not just her despair, but everypony's." He then gave a deep sigh. “Take her somewhere safe, for whatever it’s worth.”
“We need to go,” said Aurora and Rainbow together.
The others nodded. Twilight swept the balcony with her power, gently picking up the bodies from the floor. She walked back into the throne room, and set Shining, Glitterdust, and Spike along the wall of the chamber. Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she looked from her brother, to her number one assistant. She wiped her eyes with a wisp of magic, and shook her head angrily.
“We will mourn later, girls. The Empire needs us.”
She turned back towards the balcony, and focused her power. As the two guards led Cadence out of the room, the rest of the ponies gathered around Twilight, ready for transport. At the last moment before they disappeared, Rarity took one last glance towards Spike, before turning away with a pained expression.
***
They appeared in the main street leading towards the train station. They didn’t even have the time to look around when a wave of heat washed over them; something had just exploded nearby. There were Imperial soldiers running from that direction.
As Twilight watched, the storm cloud above erupted with light - a bolt of lightning struck the last running soldier so hard his armor lit up like a lamp, then arced from pony to pony, killing all six of them within a second. Looking up, Twilight could see the tiny speck of Luna hovering underneath the cloud, conducting the storm, as well as a group of pegasi herding the thunderclouds forward.
“Get off the street!” shouted Obsidian, causing them all to duck aside, into the cover of the nearest house.
Another bolt of lightning struck, grounding somewhere a block away from them.
“It isn’t even a retreat,” said Obsidian through gritted teeth. “It’s a rout.”
“Well, let’s change that!” shouted Rainbow Dash, pointing upward.
Twilight understood. She positioned herself to have a clear view of Luna, braced herself, and pointed her horn at her. The tiara on her head started gathering power. She didn’t need to tell the others what to do; all fell in line, pooling their magic into the effect.
It was uneven, erratic, not nearly as focused as the one they’d used against the emitter earlier, but the spell started taking shape. Even Pinkie, who could only generate sparks when they’d started, was finally able to contribute.
The beam shot up into the sky, hitting Luna, going through her, and piercing the cloud behind, making the raging storm look like a giant, angry donut. The battle seemed to freeze. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. Twilight kept looking into the sky.
“We missed,” she said suddenly.
Pinkie Pie leapt sideways, comically slowly, flying right in front of Twilight’s face, her warning shout low pitched and distorted. A beam of light struck her in the chest as she did, and she fell aside like a discarded toy.
“No!” shouted Obsidian, throwing his staff in front of the group, a split second before the whole fury of the storm descended upon them. There was blinding light, and deafening noise, the staff blazing white as it sucked in the lightning and channeled it safely away, before Twilight managed to focus enough to project a force bubble.
“Off the street!” shouted Obsidian. His staff struck the ground, a wall of crystal erupting 12 feet up, providing them with cover as they escaped.
“Pinkie!” shouted Twilight, running to her friend’s side.
Pinkie Pie stirred with a painful grunt. Rising up she swept a hoof across her chest, right below the necklace. A small, half-charred mirror fell out of her fur.
Twilight hugged her friend hard, then used telekinesis to put her back on her feet, and started running along with the others, heading towards one of the nearby houses. A bolt of lightning struck the house they had been hiding behind, shattering the crystal roof and pelting them with debris.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again, Pinkie!” shouted Twilight as she ran.
Pinkie bit her lip and looked down at the ground. “It wouldn’t have worked if I didn’t,” she whispered under her breath.
They reached the house at the last moment, Obsidian ramming through the door with his forehead, letting others get in just in time before his improvised barrier was obliterated by a powerful explosion. They picked themselves from the floor, Twilight instinctively picking up the door and setting it awkwardly back in the frame.
“Why did we miss?” she asked nopony in particular. “She was right there.”
“Mirages,” answered Obsidian. “Games of light. She set a trap, and we took the bait like amateurs.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I can pin her down, but we’d need to get closer, and she doesn’t have the same problem.”
“We could use illusions too,” said Aurora. “Pinkie, could you disguise me? I need to look outside.”
“What we need to do is get out of here,” said Obsidian. “They know we’re near, and they could bomb this house any moment.” He set his staff in front of himself and focused.
***
They popped back into existence inside a different house. Aurora flew to the window, and peered outside.
“Soldiers,” she said, “lots of them.”
“Good,” replied Obsidian. “That means Arrogance is unlikely to bomb this street.”
“So, what do we do now?” asked Dash. “We didn’t come here to hide.”
”No,” said Obsidian. “We came here to see if there is something we can do to change the outcome. But this fight looks unwinnable.”
“What!?” shouted Dash and Aurora. Others echoed them, but not so loudly.
Obsidian sighed. “The line was breached before we even got there. The Equestrians far outnumber our forces, and they got a morale boost from breaching the barrier, while ours are panicked, and unless Bling survived the initial push, leaderless. Envy and Arrogance are in the air, spot-bombing any places where organised resistance could still be mounted. They have enough space to use their full power without hitting their soldiers, or leaving themselves exposed. They know how to play this game. You’ve tried to hit them back, you saw how it worked. It would be different if we could get closer - but you’re not good enough with your magic yet to fight them in the air.”
“We’ve fought them today,” said Aurora sternly. “You did.”
“And I managed to stall Envy long enough for Applejack to break a big weapon that couldn’t be moved away. I looked much worse than she did at the end. Do you think you’d do better? How many hits from Envy can you take?”
“But we can’t just keep hiding here!” exclaimed Applejack. Her statement was punctuated by another distant explosion.
“I say we find Bling,” said Aurora. “If he’s still alive, he’s the last one with any control of all this.”
“Pinkie, could you?” asked Rarity.
Pinkie Pie looked at her pensively. “I have no idea where he is,” she said sadly. Then her ears perked up, and turned slowly, like radar dishes. A small smile returned to her lips. “But I can sense somepony we could help right now!”
She sprang to action, ramming through the back door of the house. Rainbow and Aurora dashed after her, with the rest of the group following as they could, Obsidian reluctantly following.
They only needed to run through the yard and jump over one fence to find a trio of crystal pony soldiers backed into a corner by six pegasi.
Dash overtook Pinkie, flying through the group with a flip that made her hind hoof connect with with the nearest pegasus’s side, launching him against the house wall on the other side of the yard. Aurora flew at another one, a mare about to open her mouth in a warning scream, dealing a strike to the wing that tilted the soldier in the air, then throwing a punch to the exposed belly, knocking the wind out of her. Pinkie Pie bounced at her opponent, spreading her limbs to wrap around him, sending them both rolling on the grass.
The other three, suddenly badly outnumbered, took to the air. Applejack fired a bolt of orange after them, but missed. Twilight had more luck, a beam from her horn hitting one of the pegasi and sending her falling back to the ground, encased in a block of crystal. By the time Fluttershy and Rarity caught up with them, the last two soldiers were just shrinking points high in the clouds.
Obsidian skidded to a halt, and looked around. “We only have a moment,” he said, looking at the crystal ponies. “Bling. Where is he?”
His staff fell down on the tangle of pony limbs at his feet, resulting in a crack, and a scream of pain. Pinkie Pie disentangled herself from her downed opponent, and shot Obsidian a dirty look.
The boldest of the crystal ponies stepped forward. “You’re the Elements of Harmony. I’m Ruby Quartz,” she said. She lifted a hoof over the pegasus Aurora had taken down.
Fluttershy stepped forward, pink glow spreading from her chest. “No time for that now,” she said softly, and Rudy Quartz stepped back with a shrug.
“Bling,” repeated Obsidian impatiently.
“Retreating towards the stadium, last we heard,” answered one of the other crystal soldiers. “He’s trying to make it an organized retreat. But we have nowhere to go. The enemy is everywhere!”
“Sir,” said Ruby Quartz, “Is it true what they say? About the princess and the Heart?”
“I don’t know what they’re saying,” said Twilight. “We teleported from the tower, so no news could reach you faster than us. But…” She clenched her jaw, unwilling to continue.
“We’ve been blindsided,” said Obsidian, “but the Heart still endures, and so does the princess. You still have some hope to cling to. Now, let’s get out of here before the Shattered hit us in the open.”
He looked around the yard, at the four pegasi, three sprawled on the ground with various levels of limb injury, and one stuck alive but immobile inside a magical crystal, partially embedded in the ground.
“They’ve heard where we’re going,” he said to the Elements. “What do we do about it?”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack was faster. “They didn’t understand a word we said. Luna proofed them against hearing the truth, remember?”
Obsidian nodded his head. “That’s true.” His staff fell at his side. “Let us hurry then.”
He lead them into the street, and once they had a stretch of smooth crystal to themselves, quickly drew a circle. “Everypony in.”
The whole group barely managed to fit in. Obsidian started focusing energy, the ring beneath his hooves glowing blue.
“You were thinking of putting them to sleep, weren’t you?” he asked Fluttershy over his shoulder.
“I…” started Fluttershy.
“Hold that thought,” said Obsidian. “It will come in useful eventually.”
***
When they arrived at the stadium, there were about thirty ponies there. As the Elements appeared out of thin air, standing on a thin disc of crystal taken off the street, all the eyes turned towards them.
Twilight could see the initial alarm fade to recognition, then a bit of hope. Nopony truly relaxed though.
“Is commander Bling here?” asked Obsidian loudly.
“Here” called somepony from up in the stands.
The Elements rushed up the stairs. Bling was standing at the edge of the stands overlooking the city, surrounded by a bunch of adjutants.
Outside was a landscape out of a nightmare. The vivid pink and blue buildings of the city took darker and more sinister hues in the shade of the approaching storm. Lightning was still striking at regular intervals, and though the crystalline architecture posed no threat of a spreading fire, it seemed to stand ablaze whenever another of Arrogance’s explosions reflected off the rooftops.
“I’m glad you could make it,” said Bling.
“You had a harder way, I’m sure,” said Obsidian.
“I wouldn’t have got here on hoof,” replied Bling. “It pays to plan for contingencies.”
Twilight looked at the city, and then back at him. “Does it mean you have a plan?”
“Yes,” said Bling, “I do, It won’t be enough to defend the city, but I still have some ideas for salvaging this battle from being a total disaster.”
“How is that?” asked Aurora.
Bling turned around. “I’ve chosen this location because of how close it is to the old mines. This stadium actually started as a strip mine. Magical crystals used to be mined here before the influence of the local leyline transformed the citizens into crystal ponies, allowing them to grow them. It still connects to the deeper tunnels that the diamond dogs used to excavate the same deposit from below. What is really important though, is the place of power to be found there.”
He paused, making sure everypony was following his lecture.
“Thousands of years ago, the founder of the city created a portal there, using it to bring her ponies from the south, to escape an ancient war.
“Queen’s Gate,” said Obsidian. “You’re talking about Queen’s Gate.”
“So, you know it?” asked Bling.
Obsidian nodded. “This time an ancient myth turns out to be true. I fought in the war she escaped. In a way, this place is the last remaining city of the ancient Alicorn Empire.”
“So, what’s the plan?” asked Applejack.
“Obviously, there are ponies to be saved,” said Bling. “I want you to descend into the tunnels, and reach the gate. I will stay behind, and try to minimise the losses.”
“Can we find it in time?” asked Twilight Sparkle, looking at the sky with worry.
“The faster you descend the tunnels, the better,” said Bling. “Some of the tunnels are mapped, so I can give you a guide.”
“If that’s so important, why didn’t you find it earlier?” asked Applejack.
“It would’ve been very useful to have it ready,” said Rarity.
“Until this morning, this was the safest place in the world,” replied Bling with a frown. “The city you escaped to, not from. Your families were brought here for safety.”
“Where are they now!?” asked Twilight. Her ears drooped. “Oh… mom and dad will be devastated…” she added much more softly.
“Out of harm’s way, for now at least,” replied Bling. “Evacuated as we speak. It won’t be seen as loyal by the citizens of the Empire, but I have given your friends and loved ones priority. I know how important they are for this war.”
He turned away, back towards the war-torn city. “Now go. The future of Equestria depends on you.”
One of the ponies at his side, a scrawny, lime-green crystal pony, walked past the Elements and down the stairs. “Please, follow me,” he said.
“We should,” said Obsidian, trotting energically down the stairs. “Lead the way.”
***
They descended into the stadium basements, first through underground storage filled with sports equipment, then through lower chambers, and down a stair after stair, the crystal-covered walls giving way to stone ones. One by one the Elements lit up their gems to light the way.
“It’s too narrow,” said Fluttershy softly as they descended. “All the ponies couldn’t get through here in time.”
“Still, you’re here to save as many as you can, aren’t you?” said Obsidian.
Fluttershy folded her wings tightly at her sides. “I am, but…”
“Grow stronger then,” said Obsidian. “When you’re strong, you get to choose. Life is much easier then, though not simpler,” he finished with a smile.
“I will,” replied Fluttershy.
The tunnel had just opened into a natural cave. There were signs of excavation, with the floor smoothened, and holes dug through the walls, but there were still crystals sticking out of the walls here and there; they seemed to react to magic, lighting up with a glow of their own as the Elements’ light passed over them.
“How much further?” asked Aurora the guard. She stood behind him, suddenly watching him with clear suspicion.
“We’re almost at the right depth,” said the guard.
“Wait,” said Twilight. “This path doesn’t seem to need clearing. What exactly do you need us to do down here?”
The soldier missed a step, but then shrugged. “My job is just to get you down here. The rest is between you and the commander.” He took another step forward, and bumped into Pinkie, who had somehow got in front of him.
“Something’s wrong here, mister,” she said with a glare, poking the guard with her hoof.
“I’ve got my orders,” replied the guard, glaring back at her, though he was clearly taken aback by the perspective of facing an angry Element.
“And just what were your orders exactly, mister?” asked Applejack. The cave was illuminated by her orange glow.
Suddenly the guard was surrounded by the Elements and Aurora standing around him.
Obsidian was the only one not to take part. “I’m sure we’ll get an answer soon,” he said. “Right now… we’re not alone in these tunnels.”
Everypony froze, and listened intently. Ears turned slowly, looking for any suspicious noises. Finally they heard it too, in the tunnels behind them, far in the distance, something that sounded like... angry shouting of a filly?
“It’s…” started Rainbow Dash, recognising the voice.
Obsidian put his staff in front of her. “They’re coming this way,” he whispered. “Let’s wait for them here.”
“Let me go!” called the voice in the tunnels, now clearly recognisable as Scootaloo. “You cowards!”
“Stop screaming, you brat!” replied another voice. “We’re saving your life.” What followed was a sound of muffled screams, as if somepony tried to keep shouting through a gag.
Everypony moved to the sides, looking at the entrance, the light of the Elements dimming. Aurora kept their guide against the wall, glaring daggers at him.
And then the sound of another set of hooves echoed in the cave. The Elements turned their heads towards the source - one of the deeper tunnel entrances. There was a lime green light now visible there, a lit tip of the horn illuminating the way. Bling entered the cave.
Surprise flashed across all the girls’ faces, quickly replaced with anger.
“Bling… What are you doing here?” asked Applejack sternly, her Element brightening.
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Obsidian, charging up his staff with a spell. Then he shot Rainbow Dash. The blast threw the pegasus against the wall, washing over her, and leaving her limp on the ground, with a film of blue magic sparkling on her fur.
“Obsidian!?” shouted Twilight, pointing her horn at him.
The Elements ran away from Obsidian, forming a semi-circle facing outwards, towards the other ponies in the cave, with the unconscious Rainbow Dash behind them. The guard used the opportunity to push Aurora away - she flapped away from him and took her place beside her new friends. Five gems lit up, Applejack’s glowing the brightest.
Obsidian looked at Twilight, his staff hovering in front of him, ready to shield him. “I’m saving her life, obviously,” he explained. “She would try to rush back up and got herself killed. Or she’d try to do the smart thing, and stay here, defying Loyalty, which would damage her connection to the Element, her mind, or both. Taking the choice away from her while I still had the element of surprise was the least damaging solution.”
“You…” hissed Twilight.
“I told you, I’d have to make unpopular choices sooner or later,” replied Obsidian. “Truth be told… I’m resigned to losing your friendship at some point. You six don’t even pretend to like me, and it will only get worse. This can’t be helped. But I think I can at least get you to listen to the explanation this time.”
“So, you knew?” asked Bling.
“The moment I heard your plan,” replied Obsidian. “It wasn’t something that would hold water, if they weren’t all distraught. I figured out some details along the way.”
Two unicorns in imperial armor entered the cave through the mine tunnels entrance. Between them, they were levitating a struggling Scootaloo, a wisp of green magic wrapped around her muzzle.
“She was trying to tail us,” said one of the unicorns.
“At least you’ve found her”, replied Bling. “That’s good. The tunnels?”
“We’ve blocked the main one already. The Equestrians won’t follow,” replied the soldier. “The rest is collapsing as we speak.”
Bling nodded. “What about your other objectives?”
The soldiers’ faces grew serious. “The enemy has taken the tower. Team three managed to secure the Heart, but they were forced to retreat before the could evacuate the princess.”
“What?” asked Bling, slowly, malice in his voice, his cold professional facade slipping for a moment. “How could you fail in something so important?”
***
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza looked towards the window.
Outside, the storm had made the day look like night. How appropriate.
She barely registered the running soldiers trying to get her attention. They had spent minutes trying to get her back to her senses. They’d already removed her husband’s body from the floor… Dead, gone. He’s gone. They wanted her to focus on other things… to lead?
They needed their princess. So she returned to the throne room, and sat on her throne, staring forward, looking regal. Somepony told her to evacuate. She shouted at him. Her guards didn’t know what to do. So they did the only thing they knew, protected her.
So she was here still. But the sky was still dark, the storm was still raging, Shining Armor was still dead. She could feel the fear of her subjects, their despair, flowing through the crystal walls around her. They were calling to her… to do what?
Another lightning flashed. In the light, Cadence saw Amethyst, one of her personal guards, pleading to her. Something finally clicked in her mind.
“What?”
“Your Majesty,” repeated the guard, “The palace is about to fall. For the good of the Empire, we need to get you out of here while there is still time!”
Cadence met his gaze. “There’s nowhere to run,” she stated the obvious.
Lightning struck the throne room window, shattering the frame and spraying crystal shards all over the floor. The guard rushed forward, almost face to face with the princess.
“Your Majesty! I beg you!”
She stirred, numbly, leaving the throne, and heading for the exit. She was just through the door, when she heard a commotion behind her; some enemies had flown straight into the throne room, turning it into a battlefield.
There was a corridor, then another, the shouts got more urgent, the sound of battle closer. A part of Cadence’s mind registered the fact that her retinue was shrinking. “We’re cut off!” shouted somepony.
Cadence stopped, staring into the palace wall. There were shapes inside the crystal now, a dark taint moving under the surface. The fear and despair became a cacophony that bypassed her ears, and reached straight to the heart, a pain that matched her own. Somepony ran into the corridor. Bolts of magic were fired. Cadence saw one of her guards fall, then another… Amethyst shielded her from a shot aimed at her head. A small spray of blood marred the wall behind Cadence. She was left alone, facing a trio of enemies.
Dead… They’re all dead… He’s dead… gone… murderers…
The closest of the enemies, a unicorn, stepped forward, bracing herself to deliver another blast. Instead, she swayed, and stumbled back with a yelp, as a bunch of black crystals erupted from the floor, stabbing into the frog of her front hoof. The soldiers looked around in surprise - all around them the walls of the tower were turning black, the smooth surfaces growing spiky and jagged.
Cadence turned to look at them. Three ponies, one mare and two stallions, one earth pony, and two unicorns. All intent on fighting her.
Cadence spread her wings, rising to full height, light shining from her horn as her powers manifested. The earth pony stallion was the closest. He slowed down, his charge losing momentum, before his legs gave way, and he fell to his knees, his face, angry and determined, melting into an expression of awe, then wide-eyed adoration. The other two were about to shoot when the power hit them; their eyes lost focus, and they stumbled forward, smiles of wonder on their faces.
The voices of their hearts were lost in the cacophony of emotions flowing through the tower, but Cadence knew them just from seeing herself reflected in their eyes. They were hers, seeing only her, ready to catch her every whim, every gesture. Devout worshippers of her image. They were hers, and she didn’t want them.
A tear ran down her cheek. It left a dark trail, and finally evaporated in a wisp of smoke. More smoke appeared from under Cadence’s eyelids, her eyes shifting colors towards green, then orange. She returned the looks of adoration with a glare of pure, unadulterated hatred.
“Murderers.”
The three ponies stopped, blinking in surprise as if physically slapped. Though the words couldn't truly reach them, the malice did. Cadence’s face became a mask of fury.
“You… YOU DESTROYED MY HOME! KILLED MY PONIES! MY… LOVE! YOU’RE DISGUSTING! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! GO AWAY AND DIE!”
The shout reverberated across the palace. The soldiers opened their mouths, but no words came out. What was heard instead was inarticulate cries of anguish. The earth pony stumbled back in horror, legs tangling, tears welling in his eyes, a painful whinny coming out of his mouth. The male unicorn kept stepping backwards until he stepped on a sharp piece of crystal, lost his balance, and landed on his rump. He turned away and crawled, the further from the source of his suffering, his voice coming out in a horrible, discordant bawl, the meaning lost somewhere between the head and the tongue.
The mare held her gaze the longest, trying against everything to see something, anything, that could preserve the spark of hope. Cadence spat in her face.
Slowly, stiffly, the mare turned away, lowering her head. She ran, straight at the wall beside the door frame, ramming into the crystal with a force that made her horn crack, sending small pieces of ivory flying.
A lightning flashed, and the three ponies fell unconscious. Princess Luna entered the corridor.
“So, this is how you choose to reveal your true colors?” she asked, “Using your twisted power to strike at the hearts of my subjects? Using love as an instrument of torture?”
She shot a beam of light from her horn, shattering a clump of sharp crystals that were starting to grow towards her. She then looked into Cadence’s eyes, a gaze full of scorn.
“Your reign is at an end. As the ruling princess of Equestria, I will put a stop to your evil.”
***
“The… the secrecy imperative,” replied the soldier. “We did all we could have without revealing ourselves.
Bling took a slow, deliberate breath. “You fulfilled your orders, soldier,” he said. “Now, release the filly.”
The magic around Scootaloo unravelled, setting her gently on the floor. Immediately the filly jumped into the middle of the cave, gesturing angrily, wings shaking.
“They abandoned everypony!” she shouted. “Just after you left, they went underground, and escaped! And he just told everypony that they should give up, and then disappeared!”
“What?” said Rarity in shock, “How could you!?”
Scootaloo meanwhile noticed Rainbow Dash. She ran to her side in panic, pushing her way between the Elements.
“He did say he wanted to minimize the losses, didn’t he?” said Obsidian.
“You got lucky before,” said Bling. “Arrogance let her weakness put her in a trap of her own making. Today they were playing their strengths, planned, coordinated. If the battle couldn’t be won, it was in the Empire’s best interest to end it as quickly as possible.”
“But Luna said, she’d kill everypony!” shouted Applejack.
“All the more reason,” replied Bling. “Equestrians are not murderers. Even after all that’s happened, Envy would have a hard time convincing them to just wipe the Empire out. But every pony that died in the fighting added credibility to her claims, making it easier for her soldiers to believe that their enemies were not victims, but willing servants to darkness. The sooner they stop meeting fierce defenders, and start seeing scared ponies, the fewer will be killed.”
“So, you lied to us,” said Twilight. “There is no Queen’s Gate.”
“Oh, but there is,” said Obsidian. “I told you it exists, didn’t I? That he didn’t lie was exactly what clued me in on his plan.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
Obsidian resisted the urge to roll his eyes, so visibly that he might not have bothered at all.
“Your friend here has the power to prevent all lies, one that can be activated on a whim. How do you bypass a defense like that?”
Understanding flashed in Twilight’s eyes. She turned angrily towards Bling. “You made us fool ourselves! You said you wanted us to get down here, but you never really said why. And… when we were about to ask questions, you brought up our families to distract us. Where are they really?”
“Already ahead of us, judging by the smell,” said Obsidian. “As you had noticed yourself, these tunnels didn’t require clearing. They had been prepared ahead of time, for just such an emergency.”
There were some sighs of relief among the Elements, but nopony said anything aloud.
“So…” resumed Twilight, “the ponies you said you needed to get out of the city…”
“It was us all along,” finished Applejack. “That’s still a lie in my book.”
Bling nodded his head. “If you are lost, the war is over.”
“So you tricked us into retreating,” said Aurora, “And abandoned the Empire. But… I still feel that you’re not telling us the whole story.”
She flapped her wings, and landed beside Twilight at the front of the group.
“Your ponies failed to get princess Cadence out. Because you ordered them to be secretive. What kind of a secret could be more important that your best friend’s wife?”
“Very astute,” said Obsidian. “You got fooled once, but once you had the time to consider things calmly, you asked just the right question. So, what is your answer, ‘Bling’? Or perhaps you could answer a question of mine instead? From the setup, it looks to me like you’ve been planning some dramatic reveal of your own. We might as well get the theatrics out of the way, and focus on important stuff.”
“So, tell me this,” continued Obsidian, a small smile now playing on his face. “When we first met, and you were tested by Honesty, you said Shining and Cadence would’ve been dead without your help. That was true. But you also said another truth.”
Obsidian cleared his throat, and his voice changed, perfectly mimicking Bling’s own.
“My loyalty is to the kin, not to the crown.”
Obsidian paused, then looked Bling in the eyes. “Tell me now… what is the ‘kin’ that you are so loyal to?”
In response, Bling burst into flames. The green fire consumed his armor, which crumbled into nothing, then the coat. The blackened body stretched, limbs extending, the masculine snout shrinking. The mane turned membranous, insectile wings opened with a snap, the horn turned flat and jagged. A bunch of webbed tendrils sprouted at the top of the head, forming a shape of a crown.
“My subjects,” replied queen Chrysalis.