Sweetie Belle looked out over the shining city below her. Manehatten was a jewel in the Equestrian crown, a shimmering, gleaming city of glass and steel that seemed to claw at the sky even as it hummed with activity below. Trolleys ran the streets, and an underground railroad was being installed in order to cut down on traffic. The city sprawled out in all directions, and every square inch of ground that it claimed was filled to the tip top with life, not just on the ground but above it as well. As she watched, a Pegasus swooped by her balcony, waving cheerfully as he went about his business. She returned the gesture, watching as he folded his wings and dove towards the street below. It had been a long time since she had been able to just watch ponies like this, having spent the past month and a half either on the run or in hiding. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, even as the chilly December wind tugged at her mane.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Night Light said from the door behind her. She turned her head, startled at his quiet approach. He chuckled, calmly walking to stand beside her. “Apologies. That’s a habit of mine, I’m afraid. After you spend enough time in this business, your work life and personal life tend to blur.”
“I’ve noticed.” Sweetie Belle said, taking in the view again. They had been told that they were staying in a safehouse. What they had not been told was that the safehouse was located in the city’s theater district, in a hotel that catered to such an exclusive clientele that it didn’t even bother to advertise itself as a hotel, relying on word of mouth alone.
“Really? Already? You’ve hardly been with the Ever Free for any length of time at all!” he said, as they both watched the fading light leave the city, which was even now lighting up in response.
“Well, I was training with Chrysalis for that entire month. Her lessons have a way of…sinking in.” Sweetie Belle replied. “And it really is more a matter of her training amplifying things I’m already good at.”
Night Light rested his chin on one hoof. His eyes found hers. “And what are you good at?”
That question meant a lot more to the two of them than it would to other ponies. Sweetie Belle was an unknown quantity. They had hardly spent any time together since she had joined, and during the operation they would both be expected to rely on each other without doubt or hesitation. Night Light needed more than the assurance of his peers to trust her like that. They were spies, after all. Trust was a valuable commodity. So, it was after thinking it over carefully that Sweetie Belle replied.
“Well, I think you know my skillset already. I’m competent in a fight, and at the risk of bragging, I think that you’d be hard pressed to find a pony who can imitate others as well as I can. And of course, there are the skills Chrysalis had me learn. How to extract secrets from others, how to earn trust, that sort of thing.”
Night Light was unimpressed. “That’s all well and good, but I’m asking you to prove what you know.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“There’s a ballroom inside. What say you give me a demonstration?”
Sweetie Belle looked at Night Light incredulously. “You want to fight me? Now?”
He shrugged. “We never did get to finish our practice match at the Regia. I’m sure the others would be willing to watch.”
Sweetie Belle turned, ready to begin. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind the prospect of a friendly contest with him now. In fact, the idea was exciting to her. Her hooves picked up as she led the way back indoors. “Well?” she called over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
Night Light was right behind her as they re-entered the parlor they had just left. Mahtaram watched with detached interest as they strode through the wide open space, glancing up from her book. Scootaloo and Birchwood were engaged in a game of cards as Glimmer observed them from a nearby couch.
“Night Light and I are going to have our fight, if you care to watch.” Sweetie Belle said, as they turned down the hall towards the ballroom. There was a flurry of motion as the bored group of friends put down what they were doing immediately, following them through the door into the ballroom.
It wasn’t a very big one, but it certainly spoke to its own strengths. The floors were beautiful old pine, the chandelier exquisite crystal, the walls a rich red spaced with wide windows that took in the entire city at a glance. It was to the middle of the old dance floor that the pair proceeded, while their teammates stood by the doorway, watching to ensure that neither of them was hurt.
They faced each other across the wooden floor. Night Light, making light of the situation, bowed low to his partner. Sweetie Belle curtsied likewise, and without further preamble, the two began to circle, waiting for their openings.
The weaknesses they had noticed before had hardly changed. Night Light still favored one side and was slightly overconfident in his ability to handle her, and so there was no need to adjust her strategy accordingly. She took the lead, throwing out one hoof in a jab to test his defenses. Her blow was easily avoided, and he followed suit with a simple cross towards her jaw. She leaned back slightly, stumbling as she did so. He closed the distance with remarkable speed, seeking to press his advantage, but Sweetie Belle was ready for him. His real attack, a wicked hook, was easily caught, and she slammed her forehead into his, causing him to stagger back. She followed up with two quick jabs to the left side of his face, and culminated with a kick to Night Light’s foreleg, forcing it to buckle under the pressure.
Night Light made a grab for her, hooves twining around her chest with surprising dexterity as he lifted her off of her own hooves, rolling her to one side and coming down on top of her. Here he was able to use his greater weight to his advantage, as she curled up into a defensive ball, warding off his attacks. She was fading fast, and she knew it. A thought came unbidden to her mind, one of Chrysalis’s lessons. She decided that here, it just might work.
Lowering her hooves, she avoided one strike, and then another. Quicker than blinking, she closed the distance between her head and his, and before Night Light could react, her lips met his in a kiss. She felt him stiffen in shock, and suddenly he had lost control of the situation. Seizing her advantage, she twisted, burying one of her back hooves in his belly before managing to establish herself on top of him, trapping both of his hooves behind his back. She leaned into his wings, pinning the sensitive appendages behind his back as she waited for him to tap out. After a brief struggle, he went limp, and one of his hooves tapped twice. Letting him up and offering a hoof, she was keenly aware of the awestruck looks of her friends. She dreaded meeting Night Light’s gaze, fearing that she had crossed some sort of line. Nervously, she looked up, meeting his blue eyes with her own green.
He offered a hoof, his expression full of good cheer. “Well done, Sweetie Belle. A bit…unorthodox…but there’s nothing wrong with thinking outside the box. You deserved that victory.”
Sweetie Belle mumbled her thanks, blushing slightly as she did so. It was at that point that the bell rang, saving her from a situation that was rapidly devolving into something that she would rather not think about.
The bell had been ringing because of a courier, arrived from a design shop nearby. He had deposited a number of garment boxes at the doorstep, and as soon as they were signed for he was gone once more, the very model of discreet and professional service. As they closed the door, Sweetie Belle noticed that each box had a tag attached, with a name neatly written along its length. Four boxes in total were handed out, one for each pony attending.
Sweetie Belle gently removed the ribbon from her box, lifting the lid and setting it to one side as she took in the sight of her Gala outfit. While it wasn’t much to go by, she had to admit that what was available was excellent in quality and design. A lifetime of practically living with her sister had instilled an eye for design and aesthetics in her, and Sweetie Belle had to concede that she would look rather…striking in this.
The gear was largely in red, elegant ropes and drapes of crimson fabric that fell in perfect symmetry to one another. The fastenings were in rich gold, and Sweetie Belle saw that the designer had opted to use uncolored leather straps to bind the garment to her body, giving it an organic, natural feel. Three plates of metal were lying in the bottom of the box. She knew from experience that this particular design of bridle and tack was meant to “preserve modesty” by using intricately decorated plates to conceal the chest and flanks of the pony in question, while also ensuring that nothing was too chaste. True to the theme of the Gala, they had been etched with chess pieces. In this case, a pawn. She noticed that her teammates had each received a different piece. Night Light was currently attaching his knight piece to the front of his tack, and Scootaloo was copying him, affixing a rook to hers. Glimmer was examining the ropes on her own, but Sweetie Belle caught a glimpse of the bishop glinting on her silver plates.
As she watched, the snow white “Pegasus” furrowed her brow, concentrating. Slowly, her mane gained color, becoming a striking black. She bulked up considerably, as her shoulders broadened and her wings lost their delicate edge, becoming powerful and majestic. When she was finished, Glimmer’s teammates took in Scootaloo’s date to the Gala, an oddly attractive stallion.
Both Glimmer and Scootaloo flushed, Glimmer from the way everypony was staring at her, and Scootaloo because she realized that Glimmer could portray a rather handsome stallion, who would be escorting her to a high society function. Glimmer turned one hoof over in wonder.
“I’d forgotten what it was like to change into something that wasn’t me. This is definitely a new experience. How does it look?” she asked, her voice changed from its normal high tones into a smooth and low sound.
With nopony willing to answer the question, Mahtaram stepped in. “Well, I believe that you are rather attractive, by pony standards. And the reactions from our female teammates would appear to support my statement.”
Glimmer’s face lit up. “Really? So it looks good?”
“Good?” Birchwood said, a grin spreading across her face. “Scootaloo is a lucky mare, taking you to the Gala! I’m half tempted to see if she’d trade me places and watch the airship!”
Snapping out of her daze, Scootaloo laughed. “As if! Glimmer, I think I’d be the luckiest one at the Gala, with you at my side! It looks fantastic!”
The group of friends spent the rest of the night talking and laughing, discussing the Gala and almost forgetting that they were likely on a suicide mission. The issue of Sweetie Belle’s kiss was put aside as well, if only for a while. For one brief night, everything was right.
Almost.
Twilight Sparkle looked at the board in front of her. She had never forgotten the chess game Luna had laid out for her, in the landscape of her mind four years ago. She had played and replayed the same setup, a hundred times over. She had lost the queen every time. She had sacrificed pawns, rooks, knights, and bishops. She had decimated both armies, locked both sides into a stalemate, and lost and won in equal measures.
But this game was different. Each game piece was important, each had a cost far beyond what it was worth on the battlefield. She was playing chess with the lives of others. And each loss, on both sides, contributed to the loss of more than armies, or agents. It hurt the board they played on, as well. Already, projected casualties from the battle were expected to claim sixty percent of all committed ponies. The land would be scarred, and the ambient magic would likely affect weather patterns around whichever site was playing host to the conflict. She could ill-afford to lose, but she would not consider any victory that destroyed what she had built as a victory.
Her hoof nudged a bishop, which took a white pawn dutifully. A runner had been dispatched to inform her agent in Ponyville to proceed with the kidnapping of Honey Crisp, to be brought to an outpost deep in the Everfree for safekeeping. The filly wouldn’t remember a thing, thanks to the tranquilizer spell that would be used. And of course, her agent would be immediately discovered thanks to her actions. She would be recalled to the Regia, to be removed from play.
The black bishop was taken by a white knight. Applejack would be furious, of that there was no doubt. But Twilight was banking on her being willing to work with her, when she discovered exactly what was being done to her sister in Canterlot. With her support, Pinkie and Fluttershy would likely join her cause as well.
She contemplated a white rook and bishop threatening a group of pawns, nearing white’s edge of the board. She could see no way through without losing at least one pawn, besides the one that would be sacrificed to give her back the Black Queen. Rainbow and Rarity were still unknown quantities. Rarity might be flipped with some effort, and Twilight had the inklings of a plan forming in the back of her mind, a way Rainbow Dash might be convinced to at least become a neutral party.
And of course, there stood the White King. Celestia herself guarded the edge of the board, and indeed the white pieces were arrayed around her. She still had her queen, and Twilight knew that the first thing that would have to be done once Luna was rescued would be to neutralize Cadance. There was a plan for that, as well as one for her brother. Without his leadership, the Guard would not be able to fight as effectively.
Twilight picked up the Black King, twirling it in her hooves as she studied the board. Yes, sacrifices would have to be made, but she could come out victorious, if all went according to plan. But sacrifices would have to be made.
Face contorted in rage, Twilight swept the pieces from her board, hurling the Black King at a nearby wall. It hit a mirror, shattering the glass as she attempted to find her emotional center. She had never wanted this, never wanted a war, or to have run and hid like this. She hadn’t wanted ponies to fight and die for her. That wasn’t who she was. But what troubled her most was the fact that she was sitting here, calmly planning the death and distress of ponies that she knew and loved, or had loved once. Between her friends and her allies, she should have counted herself blessed. She should know what was right, and what was wrong. But she didn’t. Twilight Sparkle had never wanted to be a killer. But she had killed, and now a lot of killing needed done. For the good of her followers. For the good of Equestria. She caught sight of herself in one of the shards of glass. She hardly recognized herself. Was it for the good of Equestria, really? Or was it for her own good? What was she fighting for?
Rarity fought back a yawn as she made her daily reports to the Princess, who waited patiently on her throne. The search for her sister was in full swing still, and between her and Rainbow Dash, they’d find out where Sweetie Belle had gone.
“…and that’s all we’ve gotten from Trottingham. I’ve spoken with Moon Division and Dawn Division, and they believe that she may have been spotted in Red Rock a few days ago, but they weren’t sure. She was traveling in the company of several other ponies.”
Celestia nodded, taking in the mare in front of her. Rarity had hardly slept or eaten since her sister had disappeared into the Everfree. It was a credit to her that it hardly showed, and the telltale signs of exhaustion actually looked rather fetching on her. Her eyes were lined with the faintest of dark circles, her hair was ever so slightly out of place, and her voice was laden with a sleepy tone that was actually more appealing than anything else. But it showed in her actions how frantic and stressed she truly was. Her husband and adopted foal worried for her, and she had not even seen them in a week, though the family had temporarily taken up lodging in the castle to stay together. There was a breaking point for everypony, and Celestia realized that Rarity might just have reached her own.
“I’ll ask for that report to be forwarded to me. If my suspicions are correct, then Sweetie Belle is being used as part of some greater plan. She could be traveling with known agents, and if that’s the case, I can put out the word to look for them as well.”
Rarity nodded thoughtfully. “What would you like me to do?”
Celestia beamed at her. “Rarity, you are doing yourself no favors by pushing yourself as you have. You’ve eaten little and slept less. And you have a Gala to attend at my official request in one week. To be quite frank, you are not looking your best, which speaks to your state of worry. I am commanding you, as a Princess, to leave this quest until a new day dawns tomorrow.”
Rarity opened her mouth to protest, but Celestia cut her off. “I won’t have one of my Elements falling asleep on her hooves. Take time off, by my command. Who knows, perhaps giving yourself a rest will help you see the problem in a new light, or shed some new revelation on the whereabouts of your sister.”
So commanded, the Element of Generosity gave a shaky bow, and strode from the throne room. Her journey was not a long one, as she was staying in a nearby tower. Each servant was greeted warmly, and she even stopped to help one young filly balance a precarious stack of towels, watching fondly as she staggered away. Ascending the stairs to her small apartment, she noticed that her mail had been forwarded. Noting that her husband and colt were both out, she flicked through the small stack of envelopes idly. Among her usual correspondence was a letter from an old friend, an Earth pony who owned a boutique that made specialty clothing in the city of Manehatten.
“Dearest Rarity, I’m trembling as I write this. Of course we here at the boutique know of the awful struggle you are currently going through, and Velvet and I want you to know that we support you every step of the way. It is to this event that I write this letter. I sent it by express mail, quite simply because the news I have is extremely urgent. In fact, I have also sent one copy to our friends who work at Sun Division near the theater district.
As you know, we make some rather unusual clothing in my shop, among them bridle and tack. So we were pleasantly surprised when the theme for this year’s Gala turned out to be just that. We’ve gotten a lot of business as a result, and many ponies seem very interested in my designs. But I’m rambling. We received an order for four sets of bridle and tack to be delivered to a rather exclusive hotel in the theater district.
Velvet ran the order out there yesterday, and he dropped them off last evening. Now, he says he can’t be sure, but he thinks he saw a mare in the apartment that looks an awful lot like Sweetie Belle! I wasn’t going to bother you, but then I went back over the measurements given to us by the courier who arrived last week. I know you remember that ensemble I made for her last year, the one she wore to that high society fling with you. And wouldn’t you believe that they fit her almost exactly!
My dear, I can say with some surety that Sweetie Belle was in Manehatten this week. Unfortunately, when we went back to the hotel, we were informed that the party had checked out that morning. She may not even be in Manehatten, and if she is, I’m afraid Velvet and I won’t be able to find her.
But she’s going to be in Canterlot! For what, I don’t know, but she is going to be attending the Winter Gala! Perhaps you can use this to help bring her back to you?
You have my love, darling, and I wish you the very best of luck.
Quick Stitch.”
Rarity put down the letter. A new hope had kindled in her chest. Sweetie Belle was going to the Gala? Then for one night, one glorious night, Rarity might be reunited with her sister once more. She had to bring this to Celestia. She would get her sister back. She was sure of it.