Hearth's Warming Evil

by Tortfeasor

Soldiers and Plebeians and Nobles

Disclaimer: Insert witty disclaimer saying that I don’t own My Little Pony [here]

“... the presence of earth ponies in Platinum City is carefully regulated for the benefit of the superior pony tribes. The government is aware that there are a great many earth ponies residing in this city who are not in possession of proper residence papers. Each and every one of these ponies is a danger to their betters, and, accordingly, should be considered an enemy of the state. Therefore, in his capacity as Chancellor, and with the concurrence of the royal council, Lord Sombra orders… blah, blah, blah.”

“Well,” Rarity said, “clearly our plans to unseat Sombra haven’t succeeded yet. And Twilight, darling, are you really sure about this plan of yours? You’re going to have a food shop owner and her assistant, who you yourself said was probably insane, brave the most dangerous parts of Dirtville, find these angry, illegal earth ponies, and then somehow get that information to you through a unicorn who has exactly zero experience at subterfuge. Then you’re going to rely on a single pegasus guard who you couldn't hear speak when you met because she was so afraid she was about to bolt under the table. You're going to have this poor pony face down an angry mob and talk them into meekly hiding so Sombra can’t drag them off to those hellholes he calls penal colonies.”

“Well when you put it like that.” Twilight Sparkle grimaced. “Look, I've done more work on this. Earth ponies know that Bon Bon can read and write, that’s a valuable skill in Dirtville, and, as far as I know, the various gangs in Dirtville leave those ponies alone. She can make it into places we couldn't dream of going and make it out. Pinkie Pie is probably crazy, but Lyra says that she’s almost scary good at getting into and out of places while making deliveries, so she shouldn't have any problems either. I am worried about Fluttershy, but none of the pegasus guards at that fort knew I was coming and they all backed Rainbow Dash up. My best guess is that it’s like Sweetie Belle normally versus Sweetie Belle when she knows what her cutie mark is supposed to be.”

“Don’t remind me about that.” Rarity collapsed into her pillows with only the bare minimum of dramatic effect. “Speaking of Sweetie Belle, did you hear about her latest attempt?”

“Yeah, how does a soup ladle, three sacks of goose feathers, and a plunger equal a cutie mark? And what I really want to know is how it ended with Sweetie Belle leaving hoofprints on the ceiling and getting covered in tree sap.”

“I have no idea.” Rarity covered her head with a pillow in exasperation. “Anyways, back to the topic at hoof, you’re absolutely sure this will work?”

“There are no absolutes.” Twilight looked back down at the announcement Sombra’s lackey had delivered to inform them that pegasus guards would be going back into Dirtville to clear out more earth ponies. “But this is as good as we’re going to get with the time and resources we have. If you have any better ideas I’m all ears.”

“I don’t suppose you’d like to be princess instead?” Rarity’s voice was muffled coming through a pillow. “I hear they still have lovely summers down in the zebra lands.”

“I think I’ll pass.” Twilight started walking towards the door. “Should I set everything in motion?”

“Unless you come up with some miracle plan in the next five minutes.” Rarity waved her off from under the pillow.

Twilight stepped out into the hall and started walking back to her room. She hardly noticed as Spitfire silently fell into line slightly behind her. Just one more sign that danger could find her wherever she went.

“I need to slip outside to take care of something.” Twilight spoke quietly enough that anyone trying to eavesdrop would have a difficult time hearing her. “And I’d prefer that fact go unnoticed.”

“I need to have a talk with the guards patrolling the gardens about staying on the stone paths.” Spitfire spoke in a normal, conversational tone. “The head gardener is ready to pull my wings out if they crush any more plants he spent all winter keeping alive. I trust you can make it back to your chambers unescorted Lady Sparkle?”

Twilight didn’t bother correcting Spitfire, she knew a losing battle when she faced one. “I should be safe enough, and I think Rarity would be a little angry with me if I caused you to get your wings pulled out on my behalf.”

Spitfire veered off at the next intersection. Twilight felt the tiniest of smirks take root on her face. It was such a shame that the guards patrolling the gardens would be held up for several minutes on a route that took them beneath her window. What a pity it would be if she snuck out of the castle during those several minutes.

Twilight pulled a length of rope she kept for just such a purpose out from under a pile of paper she had intentionally allowed to build up. It anchored quite well around her heavy desk, made heavier by the stacks of books on top. Then it was a matter of pulling on a cloak to hide her identity, and Twilight was ready to sneak out.

She stuck her head out the window, no guards, that meant Spitfire had found them. Twilight threw the rope, ungracefully shimmied down it, and, once on the ground, used her magic to lift it back into her rooms. Confident that no one had seen her leave the castle, Twilight made her way through the gardens and into Platinum City proper.

Twilight made far better time to Lyra’s shop than she had the first time. Actually knowing the way helped. A bell jangled as she stepped through the door. Lyra's face upon seeing who had entered said, quite clearly, that she remembered Twilight. It would have taken an intellect far less than Twilight's to divine that Lyra did not seem particularly thrilled at her company.

“Something tells me I’m not going to get much more work done today.” No, Lyra hadn't forgotten her one bit.

“Officially you’re being consulted about a concert at the end of summer to mark a successful harvest." Twilight had had to think far, far too hard last night to come up with such a simple explanation. "That way, if you do miss any deadlines you can send the angry nobles my way. Being inconvenienced is beneath them. Being inconvenienced by a higher ranking noble is how their world works.”

Lyra carefully set down a mess of wooden pegs Twilight supposed was some sort of exotic instrument. “And by ‘consulting’ you mean I’m going to be sneaking into Dirtville to ask Bon Bon to risk her life for the highest ranking noble.”

“I know you aren't happy about this. And believe me, if I could, I’d do all this without involving anyone else, but I can’t, and even though Bon Bon has all her papers in perfect order I think she’ll get caught up in this sooner than later.”

“What you do mean?” Lyra asked, concern verging on panic lacing her voice.

“Bon Bon can read and write. That has her well known in Dirtville, and it’s what I’m counting on to keep her safe. Sombra wants to crush the earth ponies into flat out slavery. He knows that if he's ever going to face any real resistance from earth ponies that it will start with earth ponies who can read and write, earth ponies just like Bon Bon Now, if I could find out that Bon Bon can read and write without asking you, what do you want to bet that Sombra could too?”

“Where do I need to ask her to go?” Lyra spat after several long seconds. Twilight reached into her cloak and handed Lyra the notice Sombra’s lackey had given her.

“Burn this when you've shown it to her. If Sombra tracks this back to us we all die.” Twilight disturbed herself with how casually she spoke of her own mortality.

“Twilight, I don’t care if you’re the Court Sorceress and you know all kinds of magic I could only dream of. If Bon Bon gets hurt because of this…”

Twilight flipped up the hood of her cloak and stepped to the door. “If Sombra feels like Bon Bon is his biggest threat you don’t need to worry about me, I'll be long dead when that day arrives.”

Bon Bon waved a polite farewell as Caramel walked out of her shop. The sound of bits clattering into her safebox, the same sound that meant she would have food for herself, was a sound that never failed to please her.

“It’s so nice that he’s sticking around.” Bon Bon had long since become inured to Pinkie Pie sticking her head out of the strangest places. Specifically, her head was protruding from underneath a display of bread. “I always feel so sad when all those ponies leave the city every spring. But then I get to be happy all over again when they come back in the fall!”

Bon Bon made a rather meaningless noise in reply. If everyone was like Pinkie Pie the world would be a much better place. Suddenly, Bon Bon’s thoughts stopped in abject terror as she realized the full implications of what she’d just considered. Lyra and her obsession with humans were sane in comparison to Pinkie Pie. If everyone just wanted others to be happy like Pinkie Pie did the world would be a much better place. That correction brought a satisfactory nod, Bon Bon had restored order to her world.

The rest of the world, however, seemed to be paying no heed to her. Caramel, along with thousands of other earth ponies, should have already left Platinum City to return to the farms around New Unicornia. They were being kept in place by an army of guards at the gates of the city checking that every earth pony leaving Platinum City had their papers to be there in the first place. Those without papers… Lyra, and even Twilight Sparkle, could speak about the Penal Colonies with revulsion and know how wrong they were, but they could never feel the primal fear such places instilled in earth ponies.

“Pinkie Pie,” Bon Bon said, having no doubt that Pinkie Pie would, somehow, hear her. “How are our food stocks? Are we going to make it to the harvest, or do I need to go find some mushroom farmers to top our stocks off?”

Mushrooms illegally grown in the crystal caves beneath Platinum City were the most important reason that earth ponies were able to inhabit the city in significant numbers. Pegasi and unicorns took the vast majority of what came off the farms. The next time they left enough for the earth ponies to survive off of, even without counting the migratory earth ponies, would be the first.

“I think we’ll be okay.” Pinkie Pie’s reply came from the cellar. Bon Bon very carefully didn’t think about how she’d gotten from under the display to the cellar. “Getting that cast off unicorn food from Lyra has really let us stretch things.”

Speaking of Lyra, the door opened at that exact moment without a hoof being laid on it. Bon Bon only knew one pony who would show up at her shop like that. Well, she technically knew two, but she didn’t think the Court Sorceress would be paying her many more visits.

“Pinkie Pie,” Bon Bon considered shouting down to the cellar, but who knew where her assistant had gotten to. “Can you watch the shop for awhile? Lyra’s here.”

Bon Bon had been right that Pinkie Pie wasn't in the cellar. She very, very carefully didn’t think about how Pinkie Pie was coming down from upstairs.

“Hi Pinkie!” Lyra waved from under her cloak, windows offered no protection against passing ponies. “Had any exciting deliveries lately?”

“Yeah! I took a cake to a birthday party yesterday. Can you believe no one there knew how to sing happy birthday? They all had so much fun by the end!”

Bon Bon had clearly asked for Pinkie Pie to allow her and Lyra to go into the back of the shop to speak in private. Neither Pinkie Pie nor Lyra seemed bothered by that as they burned through ten minutes in an increasingly animated conversation that bore increasingly little resemblance to the real world which Bon Bon inhabited.

"Ahem." Bon Bon figured she had to interrupt those two or watch them go round and round all day. Their pitiful looks at being interrupted had long since ceased to have their desired effect.

Lots of ponies thought Bon Bon a grumpy pony. She dared them to spend five minutes in the simultaneous company of Lyra and Pinkie Pie. As far as Bon Bon was concerned, she had the composure and patience of the mountain on which she lived.

At last, Lyra followed Bon Bon back into her office. Really it was more of a glorified closet, a desk, a stool, and boxes of papers were enough to take up almost all the space.

“Something tells me you aren’t here just because you want to talk to me.” Bon Bon took a seat on her stool.

Lyra lifted the hood of her cloak with a sigh. “I had an unwelcome visitor of my own today.”

“Don’t say that.” Bon Bon chided her. “You’re never an ‘unwelcome visitor’ here. I don’t care what brought you here.”

Lyra's laughed a humorless laugh. “Don’t go saying that before I talk. Twilight Sparkle brought me this. She said to show it to you and then burn it. She thinks Sombra is trying to round up a bunch more earth ponies and touch off another riot while he’s doing it.”

Bon Bon took the paper and read through it. Her own schooling had been rather spotty and she made slow going of some of the more heavily legal words, but the point was rather clear. Sombra was not a fan of her kind, and he was doing something about it.

“Bon Bon,” Lyra said softly. “You don’t have to do this. You’ll have to go into the most dangerous parts of Dirtville, and if Sombra or any of the unicorns working for him find out what you’re doing they’ll make you spend a long time dying. I don’t think I could bear the thought of that happening to you.”

“Lyra,” Bon Bon started before stopping to gather herself. “I think you know more about earth ponies than any unicorn in this city. But what you don’t get, what no unicorn can understand about us is what we’we've lived with for countless generations. Unicorns have hated us and been pushing us down since before there was a Platinum City and New Unicornia. Sombra is the worst any of us have ever seen. Princess Platinum at least left us our lives when we fought and lost. If Sombra had been there I don’t think there would be an earth pony alive today. If a unicorn like you or even Twilight Sparkle had been there I think we’d be living in a very different world. And you have her ear. If I don’t screw this up and you can make her see that earth ponies can be far more than unicorns have ever let us be there might be a day where I can come see you in your shop rather than making you come down here all the time.”

“I’d like that.” Lyra smiled as she took back the paper and lit a corner with her magic. “I don’t think you’ve ever heard me play any of the instruments that I repair. And I can only bring a little bit of my research on humans with me at a time.”

“Yeah.” Bon Bon had a sudden, terrifying realization that she needed to leave in the very near future or risk an hours long lecture about humans, and how much Lyra loved her non-existent creatures. “If we’re ever going to see that day I need to get out and do what I need to. You stay here, when I find a big, angry enough concentration of earth ponies I’ll come back and let you know. Then you can go tell it to Twilight Sparkle.”

There was not a lot to do in Dirtville as far as recreation went. That was Twilight’s conclusion after loitering for several hours around the gate into Dirtville where the latest riot had started. Part of that was probably the result of the beefed up security presence around the gate, and the burned out houses nearby didn’t do much for the atmosphere. Most of it, however, was probably the plain fact that earth ponies were too poor to go out for their recreation. When they relaxed it was at home with friends and family.

At long last another cloaked pony approached her. Twilight discretely let the lowest part of a purple leg extend from her cloak. To her great relief, a cyan leg peeked from the other cloak. The exchange was completely silent, no need to draw attention to themselves. Then Lyra went her own way, presumably either back to Bon Bon’s shop or back to her own life.

Twilight set off immediately for the pegasus garrison where she would find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Her only stop was a brief stop in a foul smelling alley to look at the paper Lyra had given her. Bon Bon, she presumed it was Bon Bon who had done the writing, had rather no frills hoofwriting. Twilight supposed that was the result of teaching herself how to write from cheaply printed tracts. However, before she had time to truly ponder that thought she was once again briskly walking towards the pegasus garrison.

Unlike her last time visiting this place Twilight was able to walk much closer to the imposing structure before being stopped. Luckily, she was stopped by one of the pegasi who had been there the night of the riots. A quick glance under her cloak had her inside the garrison with instructions where to find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Twilight could have simply followed the shouting. She came upon a door and silently pushed it open with her magic. There was Rainbow Dash, seething with a sullen anger, and Fluttershy, lips trembling on the verge of tears. Opening the door more showed a turquoise pegasus with a lightning bolt and three stars for a cutie mark doing the shouting.

“Excuse me.” Twilight pushed her hood all the way back and knocked on the open door. “I need to borrow Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy for awhile, do you mind?”

The turquoise pegasus, Twilight had a sneaking suspicion this was the Lightning Dust that Rainbow Dash had griped about during the riot, whirled around in surprise at the intrusion. Her gaze went from anger at being interrupted, to shock as she realized the symbol on the necklace Twilight had let slip out of her cloak, and back to anger.

“You!” Lightning Dust seemed given to shouting. “Thief! You’re the one who stole these two worthless peons in violation of my orders.”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. She’d been called a great deal of unflattering things during her time as Court Sorceress, thief had never been one.

“Stole?” Twilight decided she’d play the innocent pony for as long as she could.

“Yes stole!” Lightning Dust whirled to vent her apparently prodigious anger on Twilight Sparkle. “I gave cadets Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy explicit orders that they were not to leave the garrison while I was gone. Only when I came back after saving the city from earth pony anarchy I found out that these two were off cavorting on some little vacation up to the palace with Rarity’s whore. Since they clearly can’t obey orders I’m sending them back to the academy.”

So much for the innocent pony act. Twilight could see she was going to have to use the proverbial hammer with Lightning Dust. “One, it’s Princess Rarity as far as you’re concerned. And two, you’re not sending Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy anywhere.”

“Oh I think I am.” Lightning Dust’s smile was positively nasty. “See I have friends in the castle, and they tell me about all the time you and Rarity spend ‘closeted’ in her rooms. Why I bet if you were a prissy little stallion instead of a prissy little mare you two would already have a bastard ready to ruin the hard work of countless generations of real unicorns and pegasi. And since you're just the bitch's little whore, you don’t have any power over me. So why don’t you go crying back to your princess and get her to do something about it? Oh, wait, you can’t! Because ponies like Sombra who actually know how to handle earth ponies and run a government are doing just that. Now get out of here before I have you thrown out of here on that worthless cloak you’re wearing.”

“Let me ask you two questions before I go.” Twilight made no attempt to hide her own predatory smile. In fact, she positively reveled in what she was about to spring on Lightning Dust. “You know who I am, right?”

“Didn't you listen to anything I just said?” Lightning Dust somehow missed the pit she was digging deeper and deeper. “You’re the court whore.”

“You’ll address me as Lady Sparkle, or as Your Excellency.” Twilight Sparkle’s glare had made weak the knees of sterner ponies than a Post Commander with a severely inflated ego. “Because here’s question two, do you know what military rank the Court Sorceress holds? Don't say anything, I’ll answer it for you, I command Princess Rarity’s personal guards. I'll put that in context for you and list off the ponies who outrank me in all New Unicornia. There’s Blueblood, when he gets around to commanding anything, Rarity, and the Unicorn King. So, I’m pretty good at lists and I don’t seem to recall a tinpot dictator of a Post Commander being on that list, do you?”

Lightning Dust stared at her in unabashed horror. Twilight Sparkle decided to turn the screws.

“I asked you a question, Ms. Dust.” Twilight had heard Spitfire chewing out her subordinates more than enough times to know how to use the tone to maximum effect.

“N-no.” Lightning Dust squeaked.

“No, what?” Twilight Sparkle would normally be ashamed of treating another pony like she was Lightning Dust. For Lightning Dust, she could have kept it up all day if she didn’t have other places to be.

“N-no, Lady Sparkle.” Lightning Dust brought out through clenched teeth.

“Very good cadet Lightning Dust.” Twilight noticed Rainbow Dash barely hold in a laugh at that. “And you even took the liberty of arranging your own escort to the academy. Keep it up and someday you might have the makings of a decent pegasus guard. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, if you’ll follow me?”

Rainbow Dash lasted about five seconds out in the hall. “Oh. My. Gosh! That was so awesome! You totally put Lightning Dust in her place. Oh I’ve been waiting years for something like that to happen.”

Twilight managed to maintain her composure despite her heart racing about a mile a minute. “Sombra or Blueblood will have her back here in a month or less. I’ll get you two out of here before that. It means talking to Rarity, but I’m pretty sure we can open up two spots in her guards for you two."

Twilight was rather glad Lightning Dust had decided to chew Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy out in the middle of the keep. She would have plenty of time to calm down while walking back out into Dirtville.

"Quite the Post Commander you two have." Twilight said, wondering how long she could string Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy along before her offer set in. "First time I've heard that particular insult . Usually, that kind of remark involves me, Rarity, and as many drunk, disease ridden earth pony stallions as they care to think of. And rope, if there were half as much rope in Platinum City as these ponies talk about every rope maker in the city would need a new job."

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Rainbow Dash hadn't quite processed Twilight’s earlier words. “Ponies talk about you like that and you’re just… whatever about it?”

Twilight walked right past her. “If you can’t take a mean word or five hundred court politics is not the life for you.”

“Wait!” Twilight smiled as Rainbow Dash finally processed what she'd said and skidded to a halt. “Us, Princess Rarity’s guards? You’re serious?”

“Very,” Twilight never broke stride. “Ponies who share views similar to myself and Rarity have been winding up dead over the past few weeks in very suspicious accidents and breaches of security. After today that’s going to include you two. Besides, keeping Rarity safe goes beyond standing around her in an intimidating circle. What you two are going to do here, today is a big part of keeping her safe. If you can pull this off I’ll be more than convinced that you belong on her guard.”

Rainbow Dash nearly hopped down the halls in excitement. Fluttershy, however, appeared ready to dig beneath the stone floor to escape the mere thought of other ponies relying on her.

“Anyways, lucky as it was that I showed up today, that’s not why I’m here.” Twilight floated the piece of paper Lyra had given her over to Rainbow Dash. “Sombra is getting ready to send the guards back in. I’d bet that’s why Lightning Dust wanted you two out of here today. Here's the best guess I have where he’s going to be striking. So, Fluttershy, I’m counting on you to talk the unregistered earth ponies in that part of Dirtville into going somewhere else until tomorrow morning.”

“Me? Oh, I don’t think I can do that. All those ponies looking at me, judging me.” Twilight Sparkle sighed. Fluttershy had put her and Rainbow Dash through this song and dance before.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash used exactly the same words they’d used in front of the castle a little over a week earlier to talk Fluttershy down as they walked out of the pegasus garrison. In no time at all they were merely a cloaked pony being escorted by two nondescript pegasus guards.

Even if Bon Bon hadn't pointed her in the right direction Twilight likely could have found her way by simply following the angry shouting coming from the gathering of earth ponies where Sombra was planning to send in the guards. She wasn't terribly surprised that the earth ponies knew what was coming. She wondered if Sombra had let it leak in the hopes of sparking another riot.

“Alright Fluttershy.” Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash stopped her friend just before they reached the mass of angry earth ponies. “All these ponies are going to get beat to a pulp or sent off to a penal colony if you can’t get them out of here right now. Are you ready for this?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy mumbled.

“I didn’t hear that, are you ready?” In another life, Rainbow Dash had probably been a cheerleader.

“Yes.” Fluttershy was actually audible, barely.

“Those ponies are going to get sent off to the worst possible place this side of Tartarus, are you ready?”

“Yes!” Twilight hadn't actually believed Fluttershy capable of such volume. ‘I can do this! Those ponies are counting on me to save them, and I’m not letting them down.”

Twilight Sparkle watched with no small amount of amazement as a Fluttershy she’d scarcely imagined flew above the mass of earth ponies assembled below her without a bit of hesitation. Her jaw slowly dropped to the ground as Fluttershy let loose an impassioned speech that touched the hearts of all who listened. In barely half an hour she’d reduced a mob verging on riot into a cooperative bunch of ponies who left the square in an orderly fashion to avoid the guards Sombra was preparing to send their way.

“See,” Rainbow Dash said with a smug look on her face, “I told you she was a totally different pony when she needed to be.”

“I’m seeing it and I’m still not sure I believe it.” Twilight Sparkle had never thought she’d see earth ponies so meekly obeying a pegasus. She had to shake her head several times to collect her thoughts. “Right, we need to stick around to watch what happens next. I want to catch the guards Sombra is sending in roughing up or dragging off ponies who have their papers in perfect order. Most of his supporters aren't fans of earth ponies, but if we can catch him being needlessly brutal we can swing several of them.”

Unfortunately, Sombra, or someone who worked for him, had apparently realized that Twilight might have ponies of her own watching what went on. The guards, in the absence of a riot, and likely with specific instructions, were impeccably polite when checking papers, and hauled off exactly zero ponies that evening.

It was with mixed feelings that Twilight sent Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy back to their garrison. On the one hoof, she counted it a victory that no ponies had been killed or sent to a penal colony. On the other, she realized what an opportunity had slipped by.

Not to mention that she still had a million things to do when she finally got back to the palace. This had been a victory, no doubt about that, but Sombra had made it far harder for her to turn her victory into real political movement. Oh well, a win was a win, even if it didn’t bring down Sombra all by itself she’d still stuck a pin in his hoof.

“Honestly, I’m not sure whether or not I should be surprised that you turned up.” Twilight nearly jumped out of her cloak. She hadn't noticed the orange earth pony wearing a beat up old hat leaning against an old warehouse.

“Applejack!” Twilight had to resist the urge to lift a hoof to her heart. “What the hay are you doing here?”

“Just curious. All those fancy words of yours, I wanted to see if you were willing to put your bits where your mouth is. Gotta say, mighty impressive work you did. Gettin that pegasus guard to talk all those angry ponies down was pretty slick. I've heard enough nice words from unicorns end up just smoke and mirrors over the years. Pleasant surprise to see one of y'all do more than flap your lips.”

“I keep saying this,” Twilight sighed, “but don’t thank me yet. I've got an awful lot of very fragile arrangements keeping it all together, and they could fall apart at any moment. Besides, Sombra hasn't made his move yet. Win or lose, lots of ponies are going to wind up dead when that happens. If he wins you should get as far from Platinum City as you can as fast as you can.”

Applejack doffed her hat with a flat look on her face. “Aren't you the cheery one? My house is practically falling down, I barely get enough to eat, every time my little sister steps out the door I worry if she’s going to come back, and somehow you’re depressing me.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said, “look, you should go home and spend some time with your sister. At least one of us should have a good night.”

Applejack started walking off before stopping. “You know, I think I do owe you a thank you. Even if it doesn't work out, and even if it's for your own reasons, a unicorn actually trying to help us is more than we've gotten for a long time.”

Applejack disappeared quickly into the deep shadows of Dirtville. Twilight looked up into the sky, the moon was merely a bright circle through a haze of clouds. Shaking her head to focus once more she started walking back towards the wall. Along the way a thought kept nagging at the back of her mind, she’d gotten all three pony tribes to work together and the results had been more than she’d dared hope. What truly disturbed her, however, was the idea, at the very edge of her thoughts, that New Unicornia might be so much more than it was if they didn’t spend so much energy holding the earth ponies out of society.

“My, Twilight, you do certainly get up to some interesting things when you’re not in the palace.” Twilight almost jumped out of her cloak a second time in a rather distressingly short period of time. She whirled around to see a cloaked pony casually standing just behind her. The disguise was perfect, except for a few, stray purple hairs sticking out the back of the cloak.

“Rarity!” Twilight whispered in hushed tones. “Are you crazy? Do you know what would happen if you were spotted here in Dirtville? And where are your guards?”

“Why Twilight.” Twilight didn’t need to see Rarity’s face to know the mischievous look it wore. “You’re right here, and, as I recall, you’re my head guard as it were. Besides, you’re not the only one who needs to see what’s going on here firsthoof. It worked better than I’d expected it to from what you told me. If we keep this up I think we have a real chance of showing Sombra what it’s like to watch the government go by and not be able to do a thing about it. That is, if we live through his reaction to tonight.”

“Yeah, when I know how we’re gonna do that I’ll let you know.”

“I’m sure we’ll come up with something.” Rarity spoke with the assurance of one who was used to getting their way. “Sombra can only go so far before I can lock him up for rebellion, regent or no. Oh, before I forget, I found something you might be rather interested in. Before I snuck out of the palace to come down here I was working in the library, oh don’t give me that look, and I stumbled across the most incredible find at the bottom of a pile of old census papers. Waiting for us back at the palace are Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever’s personal journals.”