It was already past midnight when the party began.
When the final Griffonian nations had sent their diplomats to ask for unconditional surrender, Sour Sweet had immediately called for an official celebration within the Shadowbolt Society for the occasion. Officially, it would be designated as a national holiday, a time for all the ponies to remember their great triumph over the enemies of the Nightmare while also mourning those who had bravely given their lives in service of the nation.
In private, however, the day would be used for much more than just parties and drinks. Though that would be included as well, of course.
As Sour entered the ballroom that they had chosen to use tonight within the grand capital city of Midnight, she saw the countless ponies wandering throughout the chamber, all making idle small talk or drinking from their champagne glasses. A majority of them had their official uniforms on, though there was still a sizable amount who had opted for simple suits with the Shadowbolt pin on their collars. Those who had seen her enter gave a respectful nod, bow, or curtsy, as they usually did in the presence of their Chairmare.
There was one exception to that trend.
Suri Polomare made her way through the crowd over to Sour, her signature scarf and headband still on over her uniform. "Chairpony, I'm so glad you made it!" she said in her usual soft Manehattan accent. "Though I knew that you would show up fashionably late too." She laughed a bit to herself.
"Well, it isn't exactly easy being Chairmare, especially with everything going on-"
"Oh, tell me about it," Suri interrupted, grabbing Sour with a hoof and pulling her closer. "I saw the plans you have for how we're taking over all those nations, and let me say, these whole 'United Territories' thing is just the greatest idea! Picking me to supervise the new Cyanolisia branch of the Society was just perfect, and I'll definitely be able to manage things great, m'kay?"
Sour raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you have trouble managing just one assistant in Manehattan?"
Suri's face immediately took on a dour tone. "Well, it isn't my fault that Coco decided to work with Rarity Belle and give up my mentorship. Honestly, I have no idea why Nightmare Moon chose her to manage the Crystal Empire. Especially with all her sympathies with Celestia, I mean she pardoned a lot of ponies that I never would have, m'kay?"
"You do realize that the Nightmare might not be pleased if she learned you were talking about her closest ally this way?" Sour took just the slightest bit of satisfaction over seeing Suri Polomare's face visibly pale. She was talented, yes, but that didn't mean that Sour had to play nice all the time. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me... just make sure I don't hear about any problems, 'mkay'? Now if you excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
She brushed by Suri who was still in a half-frozen state and continued her walk across the ballroom. Due to their great victory that they were celebrating over, the Nightmare had seen fit to personally allow the known cellist Octavia Melody to travel to New Mareland and play at the celebration, at Sour Sweet's request. Lemon Zest had been a bit disappointed at the more classical choice, but much of the older generation of Shadowbolts had praised Sour for having such a refined musician play.
Speaking of Lemon Zest, Sour spotted her old friend standing by the fruit punch table, looking like her normal happy self. Lemon waved her over, and she obliged, taking a spot right next to the pale rose pegasi. "No, Lemon, you can not start playing your music for the party," she said preemptively.
"Aww..." she responded, looking disappointed. "By the way, the others are already in the room waiting for you. If you want, we can head over there. Sugarcoat actually told me to wait out here and come get you when you arrived."
"Did you lose a bet?"
Lemon immediately became flustered. "No, of course not! I just, uh... fine, I did lose, yeah. How was I supposed to know that Sugarcoat is insane at downing shots?"
Sour Sweet narrowed her eyes at her friend. "You aren't drunk, are you?"
"Nah, it was just who could down five shots faster. Indigo ended up paying Sunny ten bits with their own bet too. After that I've just been having punch." She downed the rest of her cup before coughing. "Blegh, somepony used too much grape juice. Now come on, let's not keep everypony waiting! I don't want to have Indigo yell at me twice in one night."
After giving a nod in response, Lemon flew upwards over the crowd to make her way to a nondescript side door out of the ballroom. Sour, on the other hoof, being an Earth Pony, had to make her way through the crowd, though the majority of ponies gave her a wide berth from her status as Chairmare. Being the leader had its perks, after all.
After finally making it to the door and closing it behind her, Sour breathed a sigh of relief before turning to the group of familiar ponies she called her friends. Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare were discussing something, each with a champagne glass held in their magic, Lemon Zest was just landing back on the floor to take a seat on one of the chairs in the room, and Indigo Zap was at a table next to an empty glass and a half-full bottle of whiskey.
Sugarcoat was the one to notice Sour first, giving her a neutral stare. "Hello, Sour. Can we get the meeting started now?"
Everypony present nodded in agreement, including Indigo who slowly got up to take a different seat at the small circle of chairs they had set up. Lemon Zest groaned, even though she was already sitting where she need to be. "Do we have to get all serious already? I was hoping we could party before getting to the boring stuff."
"We'll get the boring stuff done, then we can have fun," Sour answered, taking her seat at the head of the circle. "So, can I assume you all know why we're here?"
Indigo nodded, taking off her aviation goggles for one and hanging them on her chair. "Because we won, duh! So now we get to decide what we do with the losers!"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Indigo," Sunny Flare responded, taking a sip from her champagne. "You aren't wrong, though."
Sour Sweet motioned to Sugarcoat, who wordlessly levitated 5 identical manila folders from a table over to pass around to each Shadowbolt, keeping one for herself. Each one had the title "United Lunar Territories of Griffonia Plan" in bold letters, with the official Lunar seal reserved for classified documents and missives signed by Her Imperial Majesty, Nightmare Moon.
"Wingbardy," Sour started, reading off from the first page in the file. "The city of Wrobert and its surrounding countryside will be ceded to New Mareland for full integration as the 13th region, while the remainder of the country will be run by the Society led by sub-Chairpony Jet Set."
"What?!" Sunny, Lemon, and Indigo all asked simultaneously, getting up from their chairs. The trio looked at each other before choosing the first of the three to continue. "Sour, you can't be serious! You're giving the Jewel of the South to Jet Set of all ponies?! He's not even an old member like we are!"
"He's also the only pony with any experience in leading a nation," Sugarcoat said flatly, being the only pony other than Sour herself to remain seated. "Wingbardy was our primary enemy in the war, and we have to make sure it remains a loyal territory for Her Imperial Majesty. It's fairly obvious that he's the best candidate to do so."
There was a large amount of grumbling but eventually, the three conceded and sat back down. Sour gave a huff and a glare at Sunny in particular before continuing to the next page. "Talouse. Reorganized under the Society led by sub-Chairmare Indigo Zap."
"Come on, really-"
"-A new air base and national air force will be built and provided by the colony of New Mareland within the capital for the defense of the territory."
"Yes!" Indigo's face rapidly turned from one of outrage to that of jubilation as she did a hoof-pump, her wings giving a little flutter. Sour, Sugarcoat and Sunny all rolled their eyes at the same time.
"Ahem. Francistria. Under the new name of the Territory of Piumont, it will be lead by the Society under sub-Chairmare Sunny Flare."
This time, there were absolutely no objections. Sunny herself was looking rather pleased with her promotion until she noticed Sour staring at her. "Yes, Sour, I won't spend my time drinking their wine, alright?!" she said, irritated. The small smirks that Indigo and Lemon were wearing didn't help that expression either.
Next page. "Arantiga. Reorganized under Wallflower Blush."
"Who?" everypony else in the room asked at once.
Sour Sweet shrugged. "I had never heard of her until I went looking for trustworthy ponies to lead the territories. Apparently, she joined when we took over and flew under the radar. I added a picture to the file just to make sure I wouldn't forget what she looks like."
The remaining four took a closer look at their open folders. "I've never seen or heard of this pony before, and I know like, everypony!" Lemon said. "How has she been working in New Mareland for this long without us knowing?"
"I guess she's just really good at being hidden," Sugarcoat remarked.
As they all turned to the next page, Lemon immediately started flying out of her chair, excited. "Look, it's me! I get Falcor as a sub-Chairmare! Do you think they'll like me like ponies in New Mareland do?" She put a hoof to her chin. "Wait, what even is a sub-Chairmare anyway?"
Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet both facehoofed. "It just means you lead your own branch of the Shadowbolts," the latter explained. "Basically what I do, but on a smaller scale. I'm still in charge as the actual Chairmare, of course."
"Oh." As she settled back down into her seat, Sour took a deep breath before continuing. "Sugarcoat, you get Sicameon."
Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare both groaned at the same time. Back during the war, Sicameon was notorious for being an absolute nightmare, pun intended, for the Lunar forces. Even after the government had signed an official capitulation, the Sicameonese did not surrender, instead choosing to go into the harsh jungles to perform a campaign of guerilla warfare. They continued to be a thorn in the side of the occupying forces even now, and even Indigo had a look of sympathy for Sugarcoat.
"Are...you sure you want to send Sugarcoat there, Sour?" Sunny asked tentatively. "I mean, with how everything is with the jungles..."
"Sour asked me personally, and I agreed. She needs me to keep it under control and keep an eye on the other two territories." Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses with magic, clearly uninterested in the whole endeavor.
"Other two?"
Both Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet nodded. "Cyanolisia is going to Suri Polomare, and Asterion is going to that new pony, Juniper Montage. Given that Asterion is a hotbed of resistance too, and Suri is... Suri, I want Sugarcoat nearby to keep an eye on things."
All of them grimaced. Suri, despite her talents, was notorious for being... a bit of a showboat, to put it mildly. And while Juniper was talented, her lack of experience being sent into a practical war zone didn't exactly inspire confidence. Still, nopony could think of a better option. so they remained silent.
"So..." Lemon trailed off, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Are we finished yet? No offense, Sour, but this stuff is boring again."
"Fine, we're done." Sour got up from her seat, the others following suit. "So, anything else we want to talk about before we head back out to the celebrations?"
Sunny Flare raised a hoof. "Yeah. What now, Sour?"
"What?"
The mare shrugged. "What do we do now? And I don't mean the future like that plan you made. What do we do now? We wanted to become rich, so we joined the Society and now we are. You wanted to be Chairmare, and you are. The Nightmare put us in charge because she saw we were loyal, and now we've won the war. So, what now?"
Sour opened her mouth to speak but found no words. She didn't know. What was she doing this for now? She had no real loyalty or love to the Empress; it was just a mutually beneficial agreement at this point. And while some official title was certainly nice, that was never why she had joined the Shadowbolts. Why was she here at this point?
"Who cares what we're gonna do?" They all looked at Indigo Zap, who was looking rather casual with her aviation glasses back on her head. "We've kept winning, so let's just keep going and do what we want! We don't always have to do everything just for some big goal."
"Indigo's right," Lemon agreed. "We're all friends, and just because we got what we wanted doesn't mean we can't keep being friends. No matter what we choose to do, we can do it together!"
Sugarcoat took off her glasses, a rare sight that would have shocked Sour in almost any other situation. "If we work better as one, there's no reason not to keep doing it," she said in her straight, logical tone.
"And we would never have done anything without you, Sour," Sunny finished. "Whatever you want to do, we'll follow you all the way."
Normally, all this sentimentality would have done nothing but annoy Sour Sweet. In this particular case, though... she could make an exception. These ponies had been with her in the thick and thin, working with her no matter what situation they were in. They were more than her partners, they were practically family at this point.
Sour Sweet smiled, another rare sight for tonight. "You're right. I may not know what the future holds for me, or for us, but I don't think that matters. Whatever comes our way, we'll take it on as friends." She grabbed a champagne glass and filled it before turning back to face the other mares. "To the Society?"
The others looked at each other before holding their own glasses up, either with magic or wing. "To the Society!" Sunny Flare started.
"To our continued success," Sugarcoat continued.
"To the future!" Indigo Zap added.
"And to Sour Sweet, our chairpony!" Lemon Zest finished. And with that, they all toasted before downing their glasses, setting them back down on the table. Sugarcoat put her glasses back on as the five ponies walked back towards the door, where the crowd of other Shadowbolts could be heard from the other room.
"Are we ready?"
Lemon looked incredulously at Sour. "Are you serious? I'm ready to party like never before! Let's do this!"
The smallest grin tugged at her face before Sour Sweet opened the door once more, leading her group of friends back out into the ballroom.
The future looked bright, even in the darkness of the shadowed sky.