//------------------------------// // The Promise // Story: Shellstrings // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// Downtown Canterlot – Two Hours Later – Sundown Sweetie Drops limped through the streets of Equestria's Capital... in a daze. She wasn't alone. Families huddled on the sidelines—hugging each other tight and sobbing. Stray citizens wandered the wreckage—some still dressed in affluent wedding attire—searching for their loved ones. Voices cried out—some longing, others mournful. The building faces echoed with the galloping hooves and flapping wings of royal guardsponies. The armored soldiers shouted to one another as they moved broken fixtures and collapsed stagecoaches over, scouring every nook and cranny for survivors of the recent attack. A loud sob billowed across the nearby courtyard. Sweetie Drops looked to her left. It was just in time to see a somber-faced doctor drawing a white sheet over a limp mare's body. Two sisters hugged each other close, sharing their shivers and tears. Whump! Sweetie Drops suddenly bumped into a lavender figure. "Whoops!" a feminine voice gasped. Sweetie Drops winced. "I'm s-so sorry! I didn't see..." She blinked. "...Princess Celestia's pupil? Please forgive me. I-I wasn't looking where I was—" "Don't fret, citizen," stammered a frazzled Twilight Sparkle. "It's not like I'm royalty or anything." The unicorn turned and hollered over her shoulder. "Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! Let's check over here!" She galloped straight past Sweetie Drops, shining her light down a dark alley covered in rubble. "Did Rarity and Applejack have any luck on the west side?" "Yes!" A feeble voice came out of a yellow pegasus struggling to keep up. "They discovered an entire group of scared little foals. Looks like their elementary school teacher evacuated them from West Canterlot Academy right before she... b-before she..." The pegasus teared up, squeaking. "Let's just focus on helping all the ponies we can here!" rasped a rainbow-mane'd speedster. "Grnnnngh!" She struggled to move a chunk of rubble with her petite strength. "Twilight! Grnnngh... I thought you said your brother was gonna lend us a hoof with his super zappy horn of his!" "H-he's busy covering the northern bluffs along with Princess Cadance and Pinkie Pie!" Celestia's student replied. "That leaves the Princesses with the eastern slopes while we cover the southern end! Now help me with this debris!" "What... do you think... I'm tr-trying to do! Grnnngh!" A pause for breath. "Nothing here! I'll check the next alleyway!" "Good! Keep combing! I'll see if I can flag down some of the local guard!" By that time, Sweetie Drops had trotted well out of earshot. She stumbled into another courtyard—one that was pockmarked with numerous fissures and steam-venting crevices. She grimaced, gazing at a once-immaculate city district that was now rendered to seismic detritus. Raw emotions throttled through the mare, and she found herself leaning weakly against a crooked granite statue for support. Her eyes clenched tightly shut, and she imagined cavernous fires devouring the threadbare vestiges of her father's wrinkled muzzle. The pony breathed... heaved... and shuddered. Sniffling, she bore an iron frown... looking over to glare at the hollow remnants of a dead changeling's skull. With a grunt, Sweetie Drops stepped over and violently kicked the cranial shell, shattering it to black eggshell bits. And then... mere seconds after letting loose her aggression... "I need some help down here!" a young male voice hollered up through a gaping chasm. Sweetie Drops gasped. She spun about, muzzle agape. "I've found somepony!" the voice hollered again. From deep within a hole, Sweetie Drops heard the unmistakable sound of flapping wings. "It's... it's another one of the bridesmaids! I think she's been down here for a long, long time!" "Brides... maids...?" Sweetie Drops glanced across the sundered courtyard. Underneath a Canterlot overhang, two unicorns sat on a series of benches—one cobalt blue and the other bearing a pale coat. The two clung to each other—teary-eyed and shivering. The tattered remnants of formal gowns and flowery hairpieces clung to their emaciated bodies. "Hello?!" The voice from below grunted once more. "Lieutenant? Captain? Are either of you there?!" "Uhhhh..." Sweetie Drops cleared her throat. She galloped up to the edge of the fissure. "I... I'm here! Let me help!" "Who... who is that?! Sergeant Fleetfoot?" "Please! Just bring her up!" Sweetie Drops squatted low. "I'll lend a hoof!" She caught the barest hint of a bright orange shape, rising up from the shadowed depths below. The walls of the fissure were lined with crystal—much like the ill-fated headquarters to the League. Soon, a sweating, panting young pegasus guard rose to level with the chasm's peak. After much strain, the exhausted stallion hoisted a shivering unicorn in his grasp. "Here! Please... b-be gentle with her. She's been through a lot." "Don't you worry, sir," Sweetie Drops said, leaning back as she took the weight of the young mare. The unicorn's mint-green coat was ice cold to the touch. "I can be very gentle—!" She gasped suddenly, for the unicorn was hugging her in a vice-tight grip. "Mmmmmfff..." The bridesmaid stared past her, her shrunken pupils performing a thousand mile stare. She trembled from head to tail in her tattered gown. "Crickets... somepony please st-stop the crickets..." Her teeth chattered. "They're in my head! Keep... k-keep swirling and swirling around her burning eyes..." "What...?" Sweetie Drops winced. She brushed the mare's silver-streaked bangs back. "Ma'am, what's the matter? What are you—?" "So loud..." Tearing up, the unicorn clenched her eyes shut. "They're so loud! Her burning eyes... like a conductor! Mmmmfff... goddess... please m-make the crickets st-stop...!" Sweetie Drops shook her head in confusion. "Burning eyes, I... I don't—" "It was the Changeling Queen," droned the stallion. Sweetie Drops looked into the hole. "Huh?" The guard had crawled halfway out. Bright blue eyes stared at her from behind a thick curtain of sweat. "Haven't you heard? She took on Princess Cadance's form and bewitched innocent mares to act as her bridesmaids..." He gulped. "Then she sicked the rest of her minions on Canterlot." "Princess Cadance's form..." Sweetie Drops cradled the shivering mare in her forelimbs as she stared off in thought. "...so that's how she made her attack. She ambushed the city from the inside." "Yes... and there are many... many survivors that are needing to be found. But no more down there." The guard pointed a shivering hoof into the chasm. "I've looked all throughout that cavern. Swept it from top to bottom. I promise!" "Yes. Of course." Sweetie Drops nodded. "I believe you." "Look... uhm..." The guard shook in his rattling armor. "...I checked her vitals before bringing her up here. She's in psychological shock, but her body's fine." "You did good..." Sweetie Drops glanced at the emblems on his shoulderplates. "...Sergeant." He blinked at that. "Do... do you work for Canterlot Security?" "You... could say that." Sweetie Drops cleared her throat. "I was... uh... off-duty today." "Right. So was I at first. Look..." He rubbed his hooves together, gazing at her with pleading eyes. "This is going to sound super... super unprofessional. But... c-could you look after these three mares? At l-least until my Lieutenant gets back with a medic?" "Why?" Sweetie Drops cocked her head aside. "What's the problem?" "My parents..." The guard gulped, his eyes moistening. "They rode in all the way from Manehattan to witness the royal wedding. They... they were in the Royal Courtyard when... when..." He grimaced, his orange ears folding back. The guard's voice took on a shaky tone: "Anyways, th-they haven't b-been recovered yet and... and I-I gotta find them." He gulped. "Please... if it's not asking for too much..." Sweetie Drops looked him straight in the eyes. "Go," she said in a deep voice. "Go find your parents." A nod. "You deserve to know that they're safe." He instantly exhaled. "Thank you, ma'am. This... it..." He waved, flapping his wings and ascending immediately. "It means a lot!" "Sergeant!" she called out after him. "Yes?" He froze in mid-air. "What is your name?" "I... uh..." He fidgeted in mid-air. "Sentry. S-sergeant Flash Sentry..." She exhaled slowly. "Well, Flash... I wish you luck." "Thanks..." He sniffled, braving a brief smile, like candlelight. "You too." Then, with a burst of wing-power, he sailed deep into the heart of the broken capital. "Yes. Good. Cool. Go find your Mom and Dad." Sweetie Drops sighed, looking down at the mare in her grasp. "I'll take care of Miss—" She froze suddenly. It was the first time Sweetie Drops had caught a glimpse of the mare's face... and it was strangely tranquil. The bridesmaid's rapid breaths slowly... gradually lessened into a calm pace. She laid in the agent's lap, her forelimbs curled up in an almost foalish fashion as her tears dried one by one. Amber eyes darted about, calming gradually within the warmth of Sweetie Drops' embrace. Sweetie Drops stared... and stared. Before she knew it, the knot in her throat gave way... as if melted by a rising heat from the center of her being. "It's... it's gonna be okay..." She caressed the mare's cheek... and then her mane. She couldn't decide which felt silkier... feathery soft and trusting. "Really. I promise. I'm not going to leave your side. See over there? The other two? I bet they're your friends, huh? See? We're all safe here..." "Mmmmm..." The unicorn sniffled. "The Queen... burning eyes..." "Shhhhhh..." Sweetie Drops stroked the mare's cheek. "She's not here anymore. I promise." "She... she f-filled my head with cricket song," the mare whimpered. "Stole my insides and outsides..." She clenched her teeth, grimacing. "Made me... do th-things...... mean things..." "But she doesn't have control over you anymore," Sweetie Drops said. "You're safe, Miss... Miss..." She blinked, craning her neck to glance at the mare's cutie mark. Beyond the tattered remnants of a skirt, she made out one half of a golden lyre— "Heartstrings," the mare murmured. She gulped. "Lyra Heartstrings..." Sweetie Drops nodded. "Well, I think that's a very pretty name, Miss Heartstrings." She nodded again, smiling this time. "For a very pretty mare." She stroked the unicorn's bangs again. "You're going to be just fine, Lyra." "Mmmmm..." The mare's shivers settled as she curled tighter against her. "...bon bons..." Sweetie Drops blinked. "What?" "Your cutie mark..." Lyra cleared her throat, closing her tired eyes. "...so h-hungry..." A sniffle. "...could really go for some bon bons right about now..." Sweetie Drops stared at her, then at the wreckage surrounding them. Voices and sobs formed a background chorus, and out from the bedlam she pulled a sentence: "Well... what... uhm... what a coincidence! Because that happens to be my name! Bon Bon... yeah... who'd a thunk it?" "Bon Bon..." Lyra sighed... Lyra breathed... Lyra fell blissfully into much-needed unconsciousness. "...such a stupid name..." The hint of a curve to her lips, then... fuzziness. "It's silly... you're silly..." Sweetie Drops stared. Once more, she dragged a soft hoof across Lyra's cheek. This time, the gesture collected some of the unicorn's tears... and when Sweetie Drops brought her fetlock up to the red light of the dying day... she saw that the moisture was starting to rub off the blood that had first stained it so many hours ago. And that was when something inside the mare collapsed. Sweetie Drops exhaled with a sob... and Bon Bon inhaled through a smile. Tears blanketed a tender smile as she leaned her head down, nuzzling this trusting stranger closely. "Don't you worry one bit, Lyra," she whispered, still smiling. "I am going to protect you. I promise..."