Under normal circumstances, Rarity would have gone out of her way to make sure rain, or for that matter water in any form, stayed out of her mane. However, the feeling of loss was still all too fresh, and for once her looks were far from her mind. Applejack had been assumed dead, but Cheerilee was different. Rarity knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her best friend was now a victim of Chrysalis’s war. Her tears mingled with the rain that flowed in rivers down her face and through her now-ruined mane as she lay there on the cemetery lawn a mere two weeks after stumbling upon Cheerilee’s fallen form in the castle. She repeatedly tried to speak the words that weighed so heavily on her heart, but her voice fell silent each time. She sighed and stared off into the middle distance, letting her gaze fall on the carriages in the street, the ponies pulling them, and the rain pouring incessantly from above, all without really noticing any of them.
At length, the rain stopped. No, it hadn’t stopped; she could still see and hear it all around her, yet the raindrops were no longer hitting her head and back. She glanced up to see a transparent yellow dome above her which was shielding her from the rain. It was a rather large dome, perhaps big enough for two ponies to comfortably stand side-by-side under. She turned her head to the other side and looked up to see Sunburst standing beside her. He offered her a sincere, understanding smile full of warmth the shivering mare so desperately needed.
“What are you doing out here all alone?” he gently asked.
“I—Cheerilee—she—” Rarity fumbled for more words that never came.
“You just needed some time alone with her?” Sunburst asked. Rarity gave her reply in the form of a nod. “I didn’t know her nearly as long as you did, Rarity. But I do know she was always so… so understanding, and so caring. She was a teacher both in and out of the classroom, and she dedicated her life to her students. And you know as well as I do there wasn’t a pony she met that she didn’t consider one of her students.” Rarity nodded in agreement, and began crying anew as a fresh wave of emotion swept over her.
Sunburst lay down next to Rarity and held her hoof. Finally, with a hoarse and cracking voice, Rarity choked out a meager few phrases. “Why, Sunburst? Why does this keep happening? First Applejack, now—now Cheerilee—How many more? Who’s next? I’m so afraid! Hold me.”
Sunburst put a foreleg on Rarity's withers. “I don’t know, Rarity. But I fear this war is going to get worse before it gets any better.” Sunburst looked up just in time to see an orange leaf fall onto the yellow hemisphere above them. “On the bright side, we’re going to officially select the new bearers of Kindness and Honesty tomorrow. I know all too well they will never fully replace Cheerilee and Applejack, but at least we’ll be able to use the Elements again. That alone could change the course of this awful war.”
A rustling of wet leaves caught their attention, and they turned to see Big Macintosh trudging through the rain towards them with his head hung so that he couldn’t see them. Rarity wiped away her tears and tried her best to compose herself. “Hello, Big Macintosh. Are you here for Cheerilee?” The stallion raised his head with a start, apparently surprised at the presence of the two unicorns in front of him. He nodded shyly and raised a hoof off the ground. “I know how you must feel. You kind of had a… thing for her even after the love potion incident, didn’t you?”
Big Mac sighed and turned his head to one side before replying. “Eeyup.”
Upon seeing his reaction, Rarity immediately regretted her question. “I—I’m sorry if I brought up emotions that are still heavy on your heart. Really, if you want some time alone, we can leave.”
“That’s ok,” Big Mac replied.
“Are you sure?” asked Sunburst. Big Mac nodded again before approaching the headstone which bore the name of his love. He reached into his saddlebag and produced a bouquet of red roses and slightly smaller blue flowers, which he placed just in front of Cheerilee’s headstone.
“Pardon my curiosity, but—aren’t those hydrangeas?” asked Rarity.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac half said, half sighed.
“Oh, Big Macintosh, that’s so very thoughtful of you. The red roses symbolize love and passion, while the blue hydrangeas symbolize bliss and serenity. She is, after all, at peace now, isn’t she?” Despite the fact that she had been under Sunburst’s magic umbrella for some time now, Rarity found her cheeks freshly wet as more tears rolled down her face. Big Macintosh turned his head towards her, revealing his equally teary eyes. Rarity rose to her hooves and extended a foreleg, indicating a hug. “I know, Big Mac. She was my friend, too.” Rarity was unprepared, however for the bear hug Big Mac gave her as he began weeping on her shoulder. Sunburst stood up as well and increased the size of his magic dome before joining the other two to form a group hug.
At length, Big Macintosh drew out of the hug and began to apologize. Rarity interjected, “No, no, that’s quite alright, dear. That was an expression of true love. You need not apologize for that.”
“We've all three lost someone in this war,” added Sunburst. “In fact, we've each lost more than one. Now, I guess it's up to us to make sure their memory lives on.”
Starlight eyed Twilight suspiciously. “It’s been a little while since you tried to convince me that I shouldn’t sabotage the Rainboom. What are you up to, Twilight?”
“Huh? Oh. It’s just—my friends are turning into ponies I hardly even recognize anymore. Applejack’s battling the mind of a malicious changeling, Rainbow Dash has been forced into a leadership role that’s burdened her with undue amounts of guilt, and Pinkie Pie’s lost a bit of her cheerfulness. Rarity hasn’t changed too much, I guess.”
“Except the parts where she’s in love with Sunburst,” the disgruntled dragon replied.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about what you said, Twilight.”
“And?”
“And now you’re ready to go back in time and not sabotage the Rainboom because it’s the right thing to do?”
“Spike!”
“What? I was only—”
“I know, but you’re not—you’re making things—” Twilight looked up at Starlight. “Could you give us a moment?” Starlight nodded, so Twilight used her wing to shield her conversation with Spike. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Aw, c’mon, Twilight. You know the fate of Equestria and the fates of our friends are hanging in the balance!”
“Yes, but this is a choice Starlight has to make for herself!”
“So when she makes the wrong decision, it’ll be your fault for not making her fix everything!”
“I can’t make her choose; it wouldn't be a choice at all then! Everything I stand for as the Princess of Friendship depends on her coming to see the error of her ways. She won’t learn from her mistakes otherwise; she’ll just run away again and try something else! We’ve already stopped her once, yet here we are again! Do you really want to do this a third time?”
“I guess not,” Spike reluctantly agreed. Twilight smiled at him and folded her wing against her side.
“Now, you were saying, Starlight?”
“So, your friends got their cutie mark connection, and everything turned out fine for you six in the world we came from, but what about Sunburst and me? When we were watching your friends as fillies, you mentioned that I wasn’t trying to stop Sunburst from getting his cutie mark. Do you think maybe—just maybe—we could try that instead?”
“Well, first of all, that's not at all what I meant by that. Second, I’m really not sure that’s a good idea." Twilight raised a hoof to her chin. "In fact, I’m not even sure that’s possible. If you make it so that Sunburst never leaves, then you never get to this point where you are now. That means you wouldn’t need to go back to make sure Sunburst never leaves. Sunburst then leaves, and you end up right back here. Depending on how you look at it, it’s either a paradox or a loop. Either way, you don’t get any closer to your goal.” Twilight watched Starlight’s countenance fall.
“Why did this happen to me?” she lamented. “Why are you privileged enough to have a special cutie mark connection with your best friends, while I had to watch my best friend taken from me!?”
Twilight walked over and hugged Starlight. It took a moment, but Starlight returned the hug as she began sobbing on Twilight’s shoulder. “I don’t know Starlight. Just like I didn’t know until a few hours ago why Fluttershy was bullied as a filly. Bad things happen to all of us, and we can’t always fix them. But we can make the most of what we have.”
“What do I have left, Twilight? Who do I have left?”
Twilight smiled. “I know a whole town of ponies who would love to be your friends.”
“But how do I know that they won’t be Sunbursts too?”
“You’re grown up now, Starlight. That’s an advantage you didn’t have with Sunburst. You can make sure now that you don’t fall out of touch with another friend again. I mean, did you ever write to Sunburst?”
“It wasn’t the same, Twilight! Every note he sent me just reminded me of how far away he was! Eventually, we fell out of contact and that was the end of it.”
“I know you’re more reasonable than to think that all friendships end up like you and Sunburst. I mean, I’ve been reaching out to you for the past several hours, despite the fact that you want to ruin my life.” Starlight was taken aback at Twilight’s last remark. “Oh my gosh, Starlight I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded!”
“No, you’re right. I wouldn’t know true friendship if it stared me in the face.” Twilight bit her lip in an effort to not make the situation any worse.
“Just imagine the look on his face!” a blue-coated unicorn said to herself as she ascended a hill. “He thought he got rid of Trixie! Well, guess what? Trixie’s back! And she’s back with a vengance!” she said as she glanced down to the alicorn amulet. “Once the Great and Powerful Trixie defeats Sunburst in a magic duel, she will show Sunburst what it is like to be exiled! And then, all the ponies who laughed at Trixie will become her servants! The Great and Powerful Trixie will rule all of—”
Trixie’s monologue was abruptly cut off when she came up over the hill and laid eyes on the town. “Ponyville... What happened?” Burned-out houses and heaps of rubble lined the streets of what used to be Ponyville. There was hardly a building left untouched. The roads were dotted with pony-sized craters which one could stand knee-deep in. There wasn’t a pony to be seen in the once-thriving town. Trixie cautiously, curiously made her way into town. She walked through the empty streets, among the ruined houses, past the burnt shops, until at last she arrived at a lonely stump which used to serve as the library for the town and home for her archrival. “But—but that means that Sunburst is—dead?”
For a moment, she almost felt sorry for the unicorn who had shown her up and humiliated her. Almost. “Well, Trixie would have prefered to have exiled him personally, but she supposes this will do. It doesn’t look like this will be necessary,” she said as she unclasped the alicorn amulet and tossed it into the river. “With no townsfolk to make her servants, and without Sunburst to interfere in her affairs, Trixie shall resume her travelling magic show at once! Next stop, Fillydelphia!”
Sunburst paced back and forth in a backstage room, glancing at the mirror on the wall each time he passed by it. “Oh, Sunburst, do stop pacing,” Rarity politely ordered. “You're starting to make me nervous.”
“Sorry,” he stated, a sense of uneasiness still about him. “I just can't stop thinking about what would happen if we've chosen the wrong bearers. It would be like when Discord turned each of us against our Element all over again.”
“No it won't!” replied Pinkie Pie as she bounced around the room. “It'll be way worse! If we try to use the Elements against Chrysalis or Sombra and the Elements don't work, then we'll be deep in enemy territory surrounded by changelings or crystal ponies! And since we won't have the Elements to get us out—” Pinkie froze in midair as her brain caught up to her mouth. “—then, I guess it would all be over, wouldn't it?” she somberly said as she stepped off her invisible platform.
Having been reminded of the situation’s severity, Sunburst subconsciously resumed pacing. He didn't pace for very long, however, before Rainbow Dash stormed into the room. “I can't believe it!” she shouted. “Look at who's on the front page of today's newspaper!” she said as she threw the paper onto the single table in the room.
“Dashie, that's us!” cried Pinkie Pie. “We're famous! Again!”
“Oh, I can completely understand why you’re so upset, Rainbow.” Rarity said. “They didn't even get my good side,” she lamented as she struck a pose and pushed her cured mane up.
“Wow. ‘Heroes of the Canterlot Night Raid to Announce New Bearers for Honesty and Kindness.’ That's great, Rainbow!” Sunburst declared.
“Is it?” snapped Rainbow. “Is it ‘great’ that any Green Changeling or crystal pony in Manehattan who picks up a newspaper has access to our names, faces, and cutie marks? In case you hadn't noticed, we're high-priority targets now!”
“But this also means that we’re already rallying support. I suspect Mayor Big Apple had a hoof in getting this article to the front page of his city’s newspaper.”
Rainbow’s frustration evaporated as her lips formed a genuine smile. “I think you’re right. Thanks, Sunburst. Thanks a lot. I really mean that.”
“No problem, Rainbow.”
“Now I know exactly who to talk to once the ceremony is over!” Sunburst rolled his eyes.
Mayor Big Apple poked his head into the room. “We’re about to get started. Places, everypony!” He drew his head back and walked over to the microphone in the center of the stage. The house lights dimmed and the noise of the crowd tapered off. “Ladies and gentlecolts, I’d like to welcome you all to tonight’s ceremony. It is unfortunate that this ceremony is necessary, but we are of course relieved that all six Elements are once again in our possession. Without further ado, allow me to present to you the Elements Kindness and Honesty.” Big Apple gestured towards left stage, drawing attention to Shard and Obsidian. The crowd erupted with cheers and applause as the dragons carried in two plush pillows each with an Element atop them. Shard brought Kindness onstage, and Sidi carried Honesty. Big Apple waited for the pair to get into place before continuing. “Presenting the Elements to their new bearers tonight will be the Spirit of the Element of Magic, Sunburst.” The crowd cheered once again as Sunburst made his way to the microphone.
“Thank you, Mayor Big Apple. Today, we have gathered together to select the kindest and the most honest two ponies we know. First, we will begin with Kindness. The pony who is most deserving of this Element truly has a heart of gold. Though softspoken, this pony always makes sure that their close friends, both living and deceased, are cared for. It is for these reasons that I pronounce Big Macintosh the Bearer of the Element of Kindness.” The timid stallion made his way towards center stage, his hoofsteps muted by the roar of the audience. Shard joined the stallions on center stage, and Sunburst levitated Kindness off its pillow. As if in agreement with Sunburst’s selection, the necklace began to glow and transform into a collar embroidered with gold, eliciting ooo’s and ah’s from the crowd. Big Macintosh bowed his head, and Sunburst replaced the old collar with the new. When he gestured toward the mic, Big Mac stepped backwards and shook his head. Sunburst shrugged and gestured for Big Mac to take his spot on left stage.
“There was one candidate for Honesty who almost immediately rose to the top of the list. This candidate risked everything to tell us the truth a month and a half ago, and tonight, she will do the same for you. Because of her integrity, we have gained a powerful ally. I don’t want to steal any more of her thunder though, so without further delay, I give you Bon Bon, Spirit of the Element of Honesty!”
Sunburst looked over just in time to see Bon Bon take a quick breath, compose herself, and begin the journey towards center stage. She gave Sunburst a nervous smile when she arrived at the podium. Sunburst then unclasped Honesty and re-clasped it around her neck. The Element began to glow as he finished clasping the necklace. Unlike Big Macintosh, Bon Bon approached the microphone to give a speech.
“Ok, please bear with me everypony; I’m just a bit nervous up here,” she said with a timid laugh. An equally anxious murmur of laughter spread through the crowd. Bon Bon cleared her throat and began. “As Sunburst said, I put my reputation on the line when I came clean first to Zecora, and later to the remaining original Bearers. Yesterday, I told my best friend. It looks like I’ll be telling my story again tonight.” As she looked out over the crowd, she became painfully aware of the drops of sweat forming at the top and sides of her head. She glanced sideways at Sunburst, who was smiling at her. A little farther to the right, she saw Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow standing in the doorway she had walked out of. Rainbow mouthed, “You can do it,” Rarity traced her smile with a hoof, and Pinkie stuck her hoof in her mouth and blew, causing five digits to appear. She pointed the opposable digit upward and gave Bon Bon her biggest smile.
Bon Bon turned her attention back to the audience. “The changelings have a saying that goes, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ I say we use this phrase against Chrysalis. No, I’m not talking about the Crystal Empire; their time will come soon enough. I’m talking about a rogue group of changelings, The Order of the Blue Changelings. See, Chrysalis’ father was King Chitin, a changeling of the monarch caste who had moderate blue wings, blue back and girdle chitin, royal blue hair, and azure eyes. Hence, they called themselves 'Blue Changelings.' In the days of the King, all the changelings of the drone and warrior castes were Blue Changelings complete with blue wings and royal blue eyes. Princess Chrysalis hatched out of her... well... chrysalis, as a smaller version of her current self, complete with her green hair, green eyes, green back and girdle chitin, and pale blue wings. In time, she gained enough of a following to challenge her father’s claim to the throne. A number of changelings followed her, and to distinguish themselves, became Green Changelings. After a bloody civil war culminating in a decisive battle, Chrysalis captured her father and killed him. Many of the Blue Changelings surrendered right there and became Green Changelings, but some formed an underground resistance movement.” Here, Bon Bon sighed. “My name—my name is not Bon Bon, at least not exactly. King Chitin gave me a second name: Sweetie Drops… and I am the leader of the Order of the Blue Changelings.” The crowd gasped, causing Sweetie to recoil. Sunburst scrambled to join her at the mic.
“B—but that’s ok! She’s on our side! Really! Why, she wouldn’t hurt a foal!”
“But how do we know we can trust her?” shouted a mare on the front row.
“Yeah! This could all be an elaborate scheme!” added the stallion next to her.
“I wouldn’t put it past Queen Chrysalis to try it!”
“We don’t trust her!”
“We don’t want her!”
The crowd rapidly took on the appearance of a mob, the sight of which made Bon Bon step behind Sunburst as her eyes darted among the members of the audience. The remaining four bearers galloped over and stood with Bon Bon, shouting this and that, though the mic had been shut off by the sound crew in the back. The two dragon sisters joined the six ponies not long after.
A tall, bulky figure darkened the door which led onstage. The silhouetted unicorn snorted and began walking into the light. Though he had been mentioned in the castle raid, for the first time, Twilight was now face-to-face with her alternate brother. And what an unsightly face he had! Twilight gasped at the sight of it.
“Oh my gosh! That's my brother!” A dark blue patch of skin devoid of its characteristic white fur scarred the right half of the Captain’s face. The darkest shades of the blue gradient were farthest from the edges of the scar. The shape of the scar resembled a sideways teardrop that tapered off towards the back of the head, and rounded off between his eyes. His right eye was not flesh and blood, but glass. “What did Chrysalis do to him?”
Shining Armor calmly levitated the mic to his hoof and tried to speak into it, but found that it was still turned off. He looked towards the back of the room and pointed to the mic, then tried speaking again. “May I have your attention please.” The crowd was not so far gone that they were beyond the influence of their almost-Prince. The roar died down and the ponies gradually returned to their seats. “Thank you. I know this may be hard for many of you to take, but believe me, Sweetie Drops is no threat. She has already provided tactical intel that is vital to our cause. How vital? Well, I would still be back in a dungeon cell in Canterlot if it weren’t for her. And for that matter, so would all the rest of the guards. We wouldn’t have Honesty, either, and as you’ve all read in the paper, there would be no heroes of the Canterlot raid. You may not trust her, and I somewhat understand that; but you all trust me, the Captain of the Guard who almost became a Prince, and I trust Bon Bon.” He turned sideways and gestured to the six ponies beside him. “So let’s hear it for the six Bearers of the Elements of harmony!”
The audience applauded, though there was still a hint of tension in the air. As the Bearers arranged themselves into a line, Bon Bon made sure to secure the spot closest to Shining Armor. “Thanks,” she whispered. “I owe you one.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. You saved my life. It’s the least I can do.”
Chrysalis hummed to herself as she hung a mobile above a crib. She trotted across the room and inspected the painting of Canterlot on the wall. The replica was nearly perfectly accurate to the original, the singular notable difference being that the painting protrayed a crumbling purple shield encapsulating the lower half of the city. She shifted her gaze along the wall, letting her eyes pass over hearts colored the same sickly green as her mane and tail. The nursery, complete with both functional and decorative items, was coming together quite nicely.
On her next pass by the crib, Chrysalis glanced down at the single egg it contained. Unlike the others, this particular egg exhibited blue and white swirls and stripes. The Queen smiled and levitated it towards her. The egg fit completely within her hoof as she nuzzled it. “Soon, my little one, soon. We can’t wait to meet you, Prince or Princess.” She cradled it in both hooves and rocked it back and forth as she began hovering in place.
“Hmmm. White and blue,” Starlight commented. “Those don't strike me as changeling colors.”
“No. They don't,” seconded Twilight. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
The door behind her opened, but Chrysalis paid the visitor no attention. “Your Highness,” Dragonbane drawled, “I came to tell you that—Uh, with all due respect, ma’am, what’re you doin’?”
“Look at it, Dragonbane.” Dragonbane lifted a hoof, subconsciously stating her aversion. Chrysalis turned around, a genuine, motherly smile on her face. “Come, come! See my future son or daughter!” Dragonbane cautiously approached the Queen and her unhatched heir.
“Listen, I mean no disrespect, but there’s hundreds of eggs down there. Why the big fuss about this one? Besides the fact that it’s colored different.”
“Well, that’s just it, Dragonbane. The coloration indicates what caste the changeling will hatch into. Most are workers, drones if you will. A proportionately smaller number are soldiers. But this—this one egg—will be the future King or Queen of the hive!”
“I see.” A moment passed before Dragonbane began again. “Your Highness, I regret to inform you that another one of our Manehattan agents’ cover has been blown. The agent posing under the name Maud Pie, to be precise.”
“That’s fine,” the Queen replied nonchalantly without taking her eyes off her precious egg.
“‘That’s fine’? Respectfully, Your Highness, that was one of our best agents! Pinkie Pie’s loose lips were a gold mine that ‘Maud’ could tap into any time she pleased!”
“We won’t need Pinkie Pie or ‘Maud’ now that we have this!”
Dragonbane cocked her head to one side. “How’s that?”
The Queen chuckled as she returned her special egg to the crib and picked up a stencil of a six-point star. “You still have a lot to learn about your own race, Dragonbane.”
“Well, I trust you, but a little bit of insight might be helpful. I mean, that thing ain’t even hatched yet.”
“That ‘thing’ isn’t just my heir; it’s a superweapon,” she explained as she placed the stencil onto a blue shield painted on the wall, previously unseen by Twilight, who gasped when she saw it. However, the stencil obscured most of the image before she truly got a good look at it. “See, infant changelings, especially of the monarch caste, have an extremely high affinity for consuming love. It’s an innate defense and survival mechanism.”
“I’ve got a pretty good feelin’ that little guy or gal’s gonna get plenty of love from you, Queen,” she said as Chrysalis dipped a paintbrush into a can of hot pink paint.
“Of course my little larva will be loved, but not just by me.” She dragged the paintbrush across the stencil several times, covering the empty space completely. “And when all of Equestria loves her, she and I will be unstoppable!” She removed the stencil to reveal the blue shield with the pink star, but this time, Twilight noticed large changeling wings on each side, and a gnarled black horn on top. To the right of the horn was a green star, and to the left was a purple star.
“But—That cutie mark—Shining Armor and Chrysalis—the egg! Ew, that’s so disgusting! I’m gonna get sick!” She covered her mouth and rushed toward the window, nearly trampling Spike and Starlight along the way. She had barely leaned over the windowsill before she lost it. Of all the scenes she had watched play out, this was probably the one she was happiest to be leaving behind.
This time, it was Starlight who comforted Twilight. “Well, at least it could have been worse, Twilight. The potion could have actually shown us—”
“Stop! Don’t make me sick again!”
After the ceremony, the six Bearers and Shining Armor gathered in the lobby and shook hooves with the audience. It didn’t take long for Rarity to notice that for every ten hooves she shook, Sweetie Drops, who was now undisguised, shook only one. However, it wasn’t from lack of effort on Bon Bon’s part; nearly everypony she attempted to engage in conversation went out of their way to avoid her. The few who didn’t were those who felt obligated to shake her hoof. Small talk was hard to come by, and anything more than, “Congratulations,” was nearly unheard. Finally, Rarity had seen enough. She excused herself from her current conversation and stood next to Bon Bon. Anypony who wanted to talk to her would have to talk to Bon Bon, too. However, she only found that the number of ponies who wanted to shake her hoof dropped off sharply as well.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Bon Bon said. “They clearly like you and they’re clearly afraid, or at least not very understanding, of me.”
“Oh, but I do. I wouldn’t want you to be left alone on your special night.”
“Special. Right.” The changeling hung her head.
“Chin up, Bon Bon. It can't be that bad. What about the friends you knew before you announced you were a changeling?”
“Apparently, all I’ve got left is you six.”
“Really? I thought you were really good friends with—”
“BON BON! I need to talk with you!” The room fell silent and the crowd parted, giving Lyra enough line-of-sight to set her death glare on Bon Bon.
“Well, so much for that idea,” Rarity said.
“Lyra, listen, please. I said I was sorry. I know should have told you sooner, but—”
“Then why didn’t you? You led me on for years! I’ve known you since kindergarten!”
“And I’ve been your friend since kindergarten. Nothing changed when King Chitin bit my neck when I was a teenager. Nothing changed when, a year later, Chrysalis usurped the King. Nothing except my line of work changed when Princess Celestia signed me on as a special agent.”
“Oh, you changed, alright! Your work took up all your time! We stopped hanging out as often, you started turning me down, and even before you told me all this, I had this feeling that you were hiding something big from me!
“You know why I had to. I told you yesterday, and I just told you again today. It was my line of work; I had to maintain secrecy.”
Lyra scoffed as she glanced down at Honesty, then back at Bon Bon’s face. “You’ve got some nerve wearing the Element of Honesty after you lied to me for all these years.”
Whispers and murmurs spread through the crowd, adding to Bon Bon’s uneasiness. “I was a special agent working for Princess Celestia, keeping tabs on Queen Chrysalis for her. You were a civilian. It just wasn’t necessary to tell you.”
“I don’t care about where your loyalties lie! You’ve broken my trust, Bon Bon!”
“In defense of my friend,” Rarity interjected as she physically stepped between the two, “the things that ponies tell you have a… a nasty habit of spreading like wildfire through town. I thought it would be better that you hear that bit of information from my mouth than hers.”
“And who made you the Element of Putting-Her-Muzzle-Where-It-Doesn’t-Belong? This is between Bon Bon and me, so butt out!”
“Lyra!” Bon Bon shouted. She sighed before addressing Rarity. “I know you mean well, but she’s right. We have to sort things out ourselves. Lyra, I’ve been operating behind the scenes working long days and longer nights so you and everypony else can sleep knowing that you’re safe.”
“And a great job you did! You were supposed to stop Queen Chrysalis! You betrayed my trust for nothing!”
“We were expecting an assassin! We didn’t think she’d take the form of Princess Cadance herself!”
“You know, I thought I knew who you were! I thought we were closer than that! I thought you trusted me!”
For the first time in as long as she could remember, Bon Bon felt no love emanating from Lyra. This wasn’t an elaborate ruse to get the others to like or pity her; this was her lifelong friend on the verge of throwing their relationship away. If she said the wrong thing now, she would lose her friend. “You—You’re right, Lyra. You’re so right.” Sweetie's vision blurred as tears came into her eyes. “I’ve been a horrible friend to you. I haven’t trusted you, I’ve betrayed you, I’ve excluded you, and I just want to say I’m so sorry for it all. Would you please accept my apology?”
Lyra had tears in her eyes, too, but they were tears of pain and of betrayal. The anger written on her face made this fact all too clear. “Never!” She began backing out of the room. “I could never forgive you for all the things you did to me! For all the pain and hurt you caused me! I couldn’t care if I never saw you again! I HATE YOU!!”
Through her tears, Bon Bon watched the mint-green blur open the door and gallop out into the street. She collapsed and put her black hooves in front of her face and sobbed aloud. “Everypony go home,” Rainbow Dash called out. "Show's over." The crowd gradually dispersed, each to their own house in town or cabin in the refugee sector. "We're here for you, Bon Bon."
“I can’t imagine losing a childhood friend like that,” said Spike.
“I can,” Starlight replied. “But Sunburst was a victim of circumstance. Lyra chose to break up with Bon Bon.”
“Well, I know an easy way to fix this breakup,” Spike declared.
“Spike,” the sickly Princess called out.
Armored crystal ponies darted to and fro in the city center. The fighting had passed through the heart of the town an hour ago, and only pockets of resistance remained. Sombra had already set up his HQ in the Fillydelphia town hall. In the small jail next door, Mayor Liberty Belle lay in a cell, a meager set of iron bars keeping her in, or rather, King Sombra out.
“You think you’ve won?”
“Actually, yes. Your resistance was pathetically weak. I’ll have the entire city under my control before nightfall.”
“You’ve underestimated the patriotism of this town, Sombra. These ponies will never submit to you!”
“I will break them, and once I do, they will serve me, willingly or not.”
A pair of crystal ponies entered the jail, carrying Trixie between them. “Your Highness, this particular unicorn was giving us a hard time. She tried to use magic fireworks against us as weapons. She holed herself up and resisted our siege for half an hour before we broke her outer defenses. What should we do with her?”
“Weaponized fireworks? What’s wrong with her horn?”
Trixie began to bluff, but lost her confidence when Sombra approached her. “How dare you insult the Great and P-Powerful Tr-Trixie!”
“You cower from me like a scared little filly hiding behind her mother’s legs! What right do you have to call yourself ‘Great and Powerful’?”
“I-I’m not s-scared of you!”
“Oh, but you are! I can sense your fear!”
“News from Manehattan, my King!” a third crystal pony interrupted. “I was told to give you this.” He passed a newspaper to the King. Sombra looked at the front page, skimmed the first few lines of the story, and levitated it back.
“So? A few brave ponies raided Canterlot. What of it?”
“Perhaps Queen Chrysalis does not have as much control over Equestria as we thought. If she has to fight enemies on two fronts—”
“Who is that on the front page?!” blurted Trixie.
The stallion read the caption for the photo aloud. “It says here, ‘ The Heroes of the Canterlot raid (Left to right: Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Sunburst, and Pink—”
“Sunburst,” Trixie growled. “So I guess now it’s not enough for him to just upstage me! Now he has to go and get on the front page of the Manehattan Times!”
The sudden shift in Trixie's emotion surprised Sombra and piqued his curiosity. “Though I sensed much fear in you, I now sense much more hate,” Sombra stated. “It appears there is more to you than meets the eye. You want revenge; I can give it to you.”
“You’d do that? You’d help me get even with Sunburst?”
“You’re not exactly the Great and Powerful that you claim to be, at least not yet; but you’re resourceful and tenacious, and I can respect that. You could prove a powerful ally, given the proper training.” Sombra finished with a chuckle, which Trixie returned. Their dual laughter escalated, culminating in a fit of wicked cackles.