There were many things Haven had anticipated when she finally tracked down her daughters. What was happening right now was not one of those things.
The earth pony, Sunny, sat there, pitifully jamming the unicorn and pegasus crystals together over and over again. Why was she doing this? She had nothing to gain by giving pegasi and unicorns their magic back. Every advantage that the other pony types convinced the earth ponies they had over them had been revealed as lies. The earth ponies should feel happy.
Why was an earth pony crying over this?
Why were none of the unicorns mocking her?
Why was Haven ready to cry as well?
Haven knew this had been a hopeless endeavor when she agreed to let the earth pony try, but her daughters had both pleaded with her. If it had been just Zipp, she would have dismissed it as non-sense and said as much, but Pipp had also voiced her support. Pipp might be little more than a filly, still showing foalfat despite being much taller and physically mature than ponies her age, but Pipp was also mentally mature for her age and the pragmatic one of her daughters. If Pipp went along with this, there had to be something to it.
Now her daughters looked just as crushed as their earth pony friend. They were not alone; every pony present looked like their hearts were ready to break. There were no jeers at the stupid earth pony. There were no more angry accusations. Regardless of pony type, everypony was mournfully silent. For the first time in who knew how many ages, pony type didn't matter. They shared the same heartbreak and felt the same loss.
The earth pony walked over to her and the tall unicorn stallion, still looking downtrodden, and returned the crystals, mumbling an apology that Haven could barely hear. She wanted to say something to the young mare, a thank you for trying, perhaps saying she wished it had turned out differently, even a comforting word. Nothing came out. There was nothing she could say to make this better. At that moment, it was Haven who felt like she had failed. Like she owed this mare, and there was nothing she could do to fulfill her debt, despite the fact the mare in front of her was the one who had failed.
She watched Sunny depart, with the earth pony sheriff following. The question remained, what did this earth pony have to gain or lose? Why did she seem like she had lost the most?
"Um…your criminal highness. We still need to arrest you and your daughters."
She broke out of her trance and turned to face the captain, already readying her verbal defense. However, the grey unicorn stallion stepped in first.
"You don't have jurisdiction here," he said grimly.
The guards were all taken aback, as was everypony else present. What in the world…was he defending her?
The captain recovered and put on their most businesslike face. "We don't want to fight. I-I don't think anypony does, not now, but we have orders. Surely you don't want her to stay here?"
The unicorn looked back at her briefly and grimaced before looking back at the captain. "Personally, I don't care about your queen, but her daughters do, and I'm not letting you take them away to be arrested when they put their tails on the line for us. They put their tails on the line for you too. How can you even think of trying to arrest them? Those fillies have earned their welcome here, those two earth ponies too. I think they'd be upset if you arrested their mother, and I'm willing to defend her for their sake."
It was time to start spinning things. She stepped forward, wings down, head bowed. This was for her daughters. "Captain, I'm sorry for having lied to you and all the ponies of Zephyr Heights. I was trying to give you hope and make you feel safe. I was wrong, but Zipp always disagreed, and Pipp only went along with what I told her because I told her that it made ponies happy. Pipp always wanted to make everypony happy. If somepony must be punished, I accept that, but spare my daughters. Look at what they tried to do for us! They weren't interested in maintaining the lie; they wanted to give you back the birthright unicorns and pegasi should have always had. They aren't criminals; they're heroes!"
"Please don't take them away, guard ponies!"
They all turned to see a little unicorn filly staring at the captain with big eyes.
"They care about us! They care about you!" the filly continued to plead. A few other unicorns returned and stood defensively between the guard ponies and her daughters.
The guards looked around, seeing themselves outnumbered. The captain looked at the filly and sighed before looking back at Haven.
"Can we at least count on you to stay here while we bring this matter back to the ponies at home?" the captain asked. "We need further orders and a chance to report on what we've seen. Uh…I hate to ask this, but can we spend the night? It's going to be dark soon."
The grey unicorn rolled his eyes and turned away. "Whatever, sure, just don't cause any trouble."
Haven blinked. Was this how peace was achieved? Not through negotiation, but with ponies sharing in the same sorrow? Maybe that earth pony had accomplished more than she could have imagined.
She turned and went to her daughters, who were sitting with that unicorn, all three looking heartbroken.
"Well, Izzy, it looks like you'll be able to have some friends over for tea parties," Zipp said with false bravado. Her posture betrayed her actual mood.
"Not all our friends," Pipp said mournfully.
The unicorn, Izzy, pursed her lips and looked at the path the two earth ponies had departed down. She then stood up, shaking her head. "No! We need to find Sunny and Hitch! Friends don't leave friends feeling bad! So we failed! So what! My life was miserable before you ponies came into it, and I'm not giving up on my friends!"
Pipp and Zipp looked at one another before Zipp stood up and flared her wings. "Yeah, they're our friends. Sunny needs us more than ever! We need to be brave and stand beside her!"
Pipp jumped to her hooves. "I'm coming too! Sunny needs another confidence boost! Hitch too! He likes my music, and I could never disappoint a fan!"
Haven's eyes went wide. "Girls! My fillies, my darlings, I understand your enthusiasm, but maybe now is not the best-"
Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy were already on the move. She tried calling out but to no avail. They were going to get themselves captured or killed, or maybe worse!
She turned towards the unicorns and the pegasus guards. "We have to stop them! Help me!"
The grey unicorn gave her a dirty look. "They aren't prisoners, they can go where they want, and we don't take orders from you. Don't make me regret letting you stay."
She got in his face and stared him down. "You fool! They're going to Maretime Bay! Sunny and Hitch might be on our side, but those other earth ponies are going to raise a ruckus when they see two pegasi and a unicorn walk into their town. They weren't here. They didn't see. They're going to think they're under attack again. What do you think they're going to do? Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy are in mortal danger! They aren't thinking clearly, and they're going to bring the wrath of the earth ponies down on themselves and us! And guess what? We don't have any powers, and the lies are out in the open! They'll destroy us! Protect my daughters and Izzy and protect Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights in the process. Don't let their earlier efforts go to waste! We owe them, and we owe it to ourselves!"
The captain stepped forward. "We're with you, your maybe criminal highness! It will be an honor to serve!"
The other unicorns all looked at the big grey one. He looked around at them in dismay.
"Why are you looking at me? Nopony appointed me leader!" he shouted.
"You've been acting like one," one of the unicorn stallions pointed out. "So what now?"
The big stallion bit his lip and turned towards the path. "Follow me! I'm not going to let Izzy get herself or us jinxed! Not Zipp or Pipp either! And I'm not going to let the pegasi go off to save the day on their own while we sit here with our tails between our legs."
The unicorns took off, and she and the pegasi guards followed after, quickly making up ground.
It was strange, running alongside unicorns to save her daughters. Something bigger than the lies had started today, something she had abandoned in her youth in favor of the pragmatic falsehoods of her mother. She had forgotten herself for so long to become her mother's clone, but right here, right now, hope bloomed again.
As long as she could save her daughters.