“YOU’RE NOT MY FRIEND!!!”
Sonata’s furious scream drowned out even the roar of Starlight’s energy beam, instantly capturing the attention of everyone present.
She and the other ponies that Starlight had brought with her had been knocked almost directly backward when the crazy unicorn had unleashed her final, massive attack. The result was that when Sonata broke into a gallop now, before the echoes of her angry cry had even begun to fade, she had a clear path toward Starlight’s unprotected back. There was nothing to stop her as she charged across the broken terrain, closing the distance between herself and Starlight Glimmer until they were close enough to touch…
And then Sonata ran right past her without slowing down.
The myriad cries of confusion and disappointment that erupted from everypony watching didn’t reach Sonata’s ears, too close to Starlight’s sustained magical blast to hear anything else. But even if she’d heard, she wouldn’t have cared. Right now, there was something more important than being adored by everyone.
Although Sonata was now certain that Starlight had only been pretending to be her friend, the anger that came with that realization was nothing compared to the guilt she felt. The fact that she’d stood by and done nothing while Starlight had done all those horrible things was tearing her up inside, horrible and unrelenting. I just stood there! she wailed internally, legs pumping as fast as she could. I just stood there and didn’t do anything!
Fruit Crunch and his friends had saved her and the ponies she cared about more than once, and she’d repaid them by sitting back and watching while Starlight had walloped them. She’d barely uttered a word when Aria had lost her cutie mark, and with it her singing voice, despite the two of them finally, finally starting to get along. And Lex…
What if he thinks I don’t love him anymore?!
They’d never really made up after that last fight, when Lex had lashed out at her right before Nosey had left. He’d tried to talk to her later that evening, and again the next morning, before she’d set out to deliver rainclouds to the northern villages. But she hadn’t wanted to hear it, brushing him off and setting out as quickly as she could. With how hurt she’d felt, some time apart had seemed like a good idea.
She regretted that intensely now. For all that he acted like a tough guy, Sonata knew that Lex was really very sensitive. His gruff exterior was just his way of trying to protect himself, not wanting to feel even more hurt and lonely than he already did. He’d reacted so badly to her trying to get him to say goodbye to Nosey, not because he’d wanted to be cruel, but because he hadn’t been able to help himself. It had been just like when she’d tried to get back together with him after they’d broken up; he’d lost control because he’d already been in a world of pain, and so the threat of even a tiny bit more had caused him to snap.
But instead of recognizing that and trying to soothe him, bringing Lex back to his better self the way she had before, Sonata had made the same mistake as him and let her hurt feelings take her over.
It had been the worst thing she possibly could have done, short of breaking up with him again. But for all she knew, Lex thought she had broken up with him again! What else was he supposed to think when she left in a huff, then brought back some crazy lady who attacked him and everyone he cared about while she stood by and didn’t raise a hoof to help? How did that not look like she’d betrayed him?
That was why Sonata ran right past Starlight without so much as glancing at her.
Helping Lex win the fight was important, but making sure he knew that she still loved him with all of her heart and soul was more important.
“Lex!” she yelled as she rounded what was left of the black wall he’d raised. “Lex! I’m sorry!”
“Sonata?!” Behind his barrier, Lex had been the only one who hadn’t seen Sonata’s approach. “What are you doing?! Get out of here!”
“No!” Shaking her head, she stepped forward until she was practically nose-to-nose with him. “I’m not leaving you! Not again!”
Pieces of black crystal were beginning to break off from the edges of the wall, flying past the two of them as Lex bared his teeth at her, his eyes and horn flaring brighter. “You idiot!” he roared. “Listen to me! You-”
“I am an idiot!” Sonata couldn’t stop herself from interrupting, the words inside of her flowing out of their own accord. “Lex, I didn’t hear what you were trying to tell me before, but I totes do now! I know you were hurting, about Nosey, and I wasn’t there for you! But I swear, I never stopped loving you! Not even a little! And I didn’t bring Starlight here because I wanted her to fight you! I should have-”
Then Lex kissed her.
There was no hesitation in it. No sense of grudging restraint. No lingering anger or resentment. Just love, wholehearted and unreserved, his feelings reaching her with more clarity than anything he could have said out loud.
Just like that, all was right with the world again.
When his lips left hers a moment later, Sonata’s eyes were shimmering, unable to help but smile. “Lex, I-”
“Sonata, you have to get out of here.” Lex’s voice was softer now, but no less intense for it, canting his head toward the two ponies lying unconscious a short distance behind him even as more of his wall began to break apart. “Grab Aria and Garden Gate and drag them out of the line of fire. I should be able to keep this barrier up long enough for you to get them clear.”
“Yeah, no,” replied Sonata with a dreamy grin. “I’m not doing that.”
“Sonata! This barrier won’t last another ten seconds!”
“Well then you better come up with some super-genius plan, because I said I’m not leaving you again and I meant it.”
“YOU IMBECILE!” screamed Lex, suddenly incensed. “You’ll die! Your sister and Garden Gate will die! Are you completely insane?!”
“Well, yeah,” answered Sonata with a smirk. “I told you I’d rather die if I couldn’t be with you. Isn’t that why you made me a ward of the state or whatever it was?”
“…”
Seeing that he had no answer for that, Sonata leaned forward, touching her forehead to his even as cracks spread through what was left of the barrier, light shining through the fissures. “You’ve done the whole ‘big heroic sacrifice’ thing a whole bunch of times already, starting with when you first fought that dragon. This time, I wanna help you do some of the heavy lifting, okay?”
“…that’s it!”
Not sure what he meant, Sonata tilted her head. “Lex?”
“I have a plan! Sonata, listen very carefully and do exactly as I say!”
Everyone always betrays me!
The sight of Sonata – who had broken free of the enchantment she’d laid on her somehow – rushing behind Lex’s rapidly-crumbling barricade sent a new wave of rage through Starlight, driving her to pour more power into her attack. She knew she didn’t have much left in her, that this was the magical equivalent of a runner pouring the last of their reserves into the final sprint of a marathon before collapsing, but she didn’t care. Sonata’s demonstration that she’d rather die alongside Lex than live in harmony as everyone’s equal was a savage rebuke, one that made Starlight grit her teeth.
Sonata’s defection – after all Starlight had done to try and show her a better way to live – was just the latest in a lifelong string of betrayals. Sunburst had gotten his cutie mark and immediately left her behind. Her father and Stellar Flare had both ignored how much pain losing her best friend had caused her. Those ingrates from her village had turned on her because of one little white lie that had been a necessary evil. And now Sonata’s last, defiant gesture.
But that was fine, because in just a moment, she and Lex both would become nothing more than a bad memory. By her count, she’d be through in another five seconds.
Four.
Three.
Tw-
Suddenly, something changed.
“Your Highness, I think maybe we should postpone your grand entrance.”
“My dear River, a prince’s grand entrance isn’t something you postpone,” mused Blueblood, his voice indulgent, as though lecturing a child. “It’s not a theater production or some dreary charity event. It’s a display of national pride which other ponies are grateful to suspend their mundane activities for so that they may bask in its brilliance. Teeth?”
That last question had been directed as his valet, pulling his lips back as the reedy stallion inspected them with a careful eye before nodding. “Perfect as always, Your Highness.”
By now the prince’s displays of narcissism had become so routine that River didn’t bat an eye. Of course, she was a bit distracted by the massive beam of light that was visible beyond the crowd, thrumming with so much power that she could practically feel her teeth vibrating. “I don’t really think you can call this mundane.”
Pixie, by contrast, was much more plainspoken. “Whatever that is, it looks really dangerous! Don’t you all think so?!”
It was clear from the looks on the faces of Penny, Razzle, Gladmane, and the others that they did, but that they were extremely reluctant to openly contradict a prince. “Maybe it’ll stop by the time we get there,” ventured Penny, earning a muttering of agreement from her companions.
“Of course it will,” announced Blueblood, not bothering to look at the others as he breathed into his hoof and then sniffed. “That silly little lightshow is simply Lex Legis’s way of trying to frighten me off. I’m sure that by now the varlet has realized that the pony he so brazenly passed before was none other than a prince, here to chastise him. Now, like an alley cat fluffing its tail to try and appear more fearsome, he’s putting on this ostentatious display to try and ward me off.”
Apparently satisfied with his breath, Blueblood put his hoof down, striking a pose as he did so. “Little does he realize, Equestrian royalty is made of sterner stuff! I shall-, ack! Wind! Too much wind!” he suddenly snapped at the pegasus members of his royal entourage, who had been flapping their wings in the background to generate an air current. “This pose requires that my mane and tail be flowing in a gentle breeze, not a howling gale! Now hurry and fix my coiffure you cretins!”
Wincing and murmuring apologies, his staff quickly took action, bringing out silver brushes and golden combs as they worked to make sure that every hair in the prince’s mane and tail was perfectly placed. “Honestly,” moaned Blueblood, his expression woebegone, “how is it that I have the most incompetent staff of any royal in this fair land?”
Once the quick grooming session was finished, the prince finally deigned to look at everypony else. “Now then, you all have the honor of forming part of my royal entourage as I present my noble self to the villain, cowing him with my magnificence! For most of you, this will be the greatest honor of your lives, so do try to act accordingly! That means no idle chitchat, make sure to march in lockstep, and cheer when my staff does! But no whistling or yelping or any of those crass displays of enthusiasm that I’m sure you’re all used to! Remember, the soul of royalty is refinement! Now, fall in!”
“If you don’t mind, Your Highness, I’ll recuse myself,” announced River. “I’m simply not confident that I could live up to your expectations, and I’d hate to embarrass you during your moment of glory.”
“You know what? Me too,” added Pixie. “I’m, um, too used to stage performances to pull off something so…fancy.”
Giving the two a condescending look, Blueblood raised a brow. “Hm, I suppose if you can’t bring yourselves to follow even those simple instructions, you’re better off not assisting with my triumph. That’s to be expected of a common performer,” he noted, glancing at Pixie before turning to River, “but I have to say, I’m very disappointed in you, River Bank. Ever since we arrived in this dingy little hamlet, the modicum of culture that you displayed back in Las Pegasus has shriveled up. I suppose it’s true what they say: you can take a girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl. Or beldame, in your case.” He burst into laughter then, clearly thinking himself quite amusing, and after a moment everypony else except – except Pixie, looking shocked at both the open rudeness and River’s stoic acceptance of it – joined in.
“But enough of my sterling wit,” Blueblood announced after a moment. “Let us be off to discipline that blackguard!” With that, he began to head toward the crowd, moving at a sedate pace as everypony rushed to fall in behind him.
“Have fun watching from the sidelines, River dear,” smirked Gladmane.
“Looks like Vanhoover’s rustic reputation is secured, just like its hostess,” snickered Penny. “I doubt there’ll be a need for new hotels here now, since nopony’s going to want to come here after this.”
“Pity I couldn’t see those Sirens of yours,” cackled Razzle. “But a show with royalty is a much greater spectacle!”
River made no reply, watching them line up and march behind the prince in silence. It was only after they were gone that Pixie spoke up. “River…are you okay? You’re acting so…so…”
“Calm?” supplied River.
“Passive!” yelled Pixie, throwing her forelegs into the air. “Your city is a disaster zone, it’s ruled by a monster who’s doing…something awful even as we speak, and everypony you brought here hates you now, including a prince, and you’re acting like it’s all no big deal!”
“That’s because it’s not.”
“Why?! Is…is this because Mounte didn’t make it?”
The question made River snort in amusement. “Hardly.”
“Then what?”
For a moment River hesitated, glancing back at the not-so-distant energy beam. “It’s easier if you see it for yourself. C’mon, let’s go watch His Highness find out what he’s really up against.”