A Kingdom Divided

by Samey90

15. Firefly

Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don't let them take you ALIVE.
Sid Vicious

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With every day, the crowd grew bigger. At first it was consisting of only a few ponies, mostly the pegasi who managed to get out of Cloudsdale. Now it was the majority of the Ponyville dwellers, exiled from their houses by the incoming Moon Army. There was almost nopony who wouldn’t lose a relative when the bombs fell on the schoolchildren – The Foals of Ponyville, as they were now called.

Firefly climbed on an empty crate and looked around. There weren’t any guards in sight. She smiled faintly; as long as she didn’t say anything showing support towards Princess Luna, she was safe, but she just didn’t like the guards wandering around the refugee camp, a small town of tents that grew recently under the mountain of Canterlot. They reminded her of Cloudsdale – how they’d just ignored the fact that her companions were attacked by an angry mob and how they later started to shoot at the fighting crowd.

She doubted that she’d be arrested, even if she suddenly proposed to Princess Luna. The guards, seeing her white cloak and dishevelled mane, were automatically considering her a harmless madpony who, taking advantage of the war, ran away from the nut house. She almost chuckled: few years ago they wouldn’t be far from truth.

She looked at the crowd one more time, locking her gaze on the newcomers: two earth pony fillies, one of them with her foreleg covered in a bloodied bandage, were supporting the third one, an orange pegasus who looked like she had a short quarrel with a freight train; she was covered in bruises and scratches, but despite that, her eyes were burning with some sort of an inner force.

Firefly cleared her throat. The crowd immediately silenced.

“Dire times are upon us, brothers and sisters,” she finally spoke. “But fear not, as even after the longest night...” She threw her head back, looking at the orange sky accusingly. “There will be the day. There will be the day! The day, when the immortal sisters will disappear. The day, when the war will end and the ponykind will be free! The ponies will finally live at peace, no matter if you have wings or horn! There will be the day, when we’ll all rule by ourselves! No nobles! No princesses! No guards! No bat ponies, earth ponies, unicorns, alicorns and pegasi; just ponies! That day is close. This war will bring an end to all the wars, but only when we stop and realise what we have done! When we’ll just come to the other pony and say that we forgive them!”

“I’ll forgive them,” the yellow mare in the crowd shouted. “After I get this motherfucker who killed those kids and piss on his dead body!”

Firefly opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly noticed that one of the fillies whom she saw earlier parted from her friends and walked through the crowd to the mare.

“Bon Bon!” she shouted. They knew each other well – Bon Bon and Shimmy Shake, Twist’s mother were friends, and she was a frequent guest in her house. She was the pony who taught Twist how to make candies.

“Twist? You’re alive!” Bon Bon ran to her and hugged her. “What happened to you?”

Firefly smiled. She didn’t have to talk anymore. Seeing the ponies around her being happy was more than anything she could tell. She looked through the crowd and for a moment her gaze locked with the pegasus filly’s. A jolt of pain ran through her body. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. When she opened her eyes again, the fillies were gone.

***

Scootaloo hissed when Bon Bon disinfected her wounds. She gritted her teeth. After all she was through, these few cuts couldn’t stop her in getting to Canterlot to meet Rainbow Dash.

“You should have that checked, sweetheart,” said Bon Bon, pointing at her teeth. Scootaloo put her tongue in the empty place where two of them used to be. Some other molars around it were moving. “Minuette is also here, you know.”

They were sitting in a large tent, provided by the army after Ponyville had been evacuated. There was almost no furniture, except of a detachable table, bunk beds, and a few chairs. Scootaloo noticed the lyre lying on an empty crate, but Lyra was nowhere to be found. Her absence was almost palpable – there was something about Bon Bon; how she avoided looking at the instrument. None of the fillies dared to ask her about her marefriend.

“Maybe later,” Scootaloo replied. “I have to get to Canterlot.”

“Well, definitely you’re not going there today.” Bon Bon sighed. “Have you seen yourself in the mirror? What happened to you?”

“I fell off the cliff…”

Bon Bon looked at her. For a moment, Scootaloo froze, but then the mare’s gaze drifted to Twist.

“Now, let’s see your leg, Twisty… Shimmy will get crazy when she hears that you’re alive…”

“My parents are in Prance, right?” Twist asked glumly.

“Yeah. They just couldn’t stay here after… you know. I can write to them soon, but I don’t know when they’ll get the letter. Oh Celestia…”

She unwrapped Twist’s bandages to see a badly swollen cut. She put her hoof on Twist’s forehead.

“How did you look after her?” Bon Bon scolded. “She has a fever, her wound is infected…”

“We had more important things to do,” said Silver Spoon in a droning voice. “Cliffs and shit…”

Bon Bon winced upon hearing that and pierced her with her gaze.

“Silver Spoon, right?” she asked. “Where’s that friend of yours, whatshername…”

Scootaloo froze.

“Dead,” Silver Spoon said blankly.

“Oh…” Bon Bon went to her and hugged her. “I’m sorry…”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and pushed her gently away. “It’s okay,” she muttered. “You’d better take care of Twist.”

“Well, I can’t do much without some antibiotics. We’ll need to go to the field hospital and ask Atom Heart for them...”

She looked at Scootaloo once again. The filly noticed bags under her eyes. Her mane was slightly dishevelled, there were also some dirty spots on her fur.

“You’ll go with us, somepony should take a look at you…” Bon Bon said.

“Hey, I’m okay!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Bon Bon looked at her from underneath her eyebrows – a look usually reserved for dealing with Lyra’s antics. Nopony could resist it for long. With the help of Silver Spoon, Twist was placed on Bon Bon’s back and they left the tent.

Scootaloo looked around the camp. She knew most of the ponies from Ponyville, but the atmosphere was completely different. None of them was laughing and every conversation seemed unnatural and was quickly dying down.

“What’s going on here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ponyville was captured,” Bon Bon explained. “Shining Armor sent his soldiers to get it back, but we still have no news, only rumours. Some ponies say that we won, but the town is ruined. I’m still waiting for Lyra to come back, but I’m afraid that something could happen to her…”

“What? Lyra’s in army?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah… Stupid of her, if you ask me… She’s in the communication. Last time I got any message from her, she was sent with her detachment to Ponyville.”

Scootaloo froze. She was sure that she heard the Lyra’s name quite recently, in rather grim circumstances. Now she staggered, as the memory resurfaced.

“Are you okay, Scootaloo?”

“Yes, I just… You know, I realised that I have no idea what’s happening around here. Do you have any news about Rainbow Dash?”

“We don’t know, since most of the information about army is classified. She’s in Canterlot, with her squadron–“ Bon Bon paused when she noticed ponies around them, pointing at the sky. A dozen of pegasi was flying somewhere in formation, clad in the black armours and armed to the teeth.

“It’s Rainbow Dash’s squadron,” Bon Bon said. “Or, as they sometimes call themselves, The Black Widows.”

Scootaloo watched the pegasi till they disappeared somewhere above Ponyville. She then turned to Bon Bon.

“So, what else happened?”

Bon Bon’s expression faded. She raised her hoof and wiped her eyes. Scootaloo’s eyes widened – she’d always considered her a tough pony, but now, without Lyra at her side, she seemed helpless.

“Fluttershy was killed. On the same day when you were bombed. They actually wrote about that in the paper, she got shot by the bat ponies who attacked the field hospital.”

Scootaloo cursed loudly. Several ponies stared at her.

“I cried for the whole night when I’ve read about it. And that’s not everything.” Bon Bon shuddered. “Firefly says that Applejack is also missing, but no one confirmed this.”

“Who is Firefly?” Scootaloo asked.

“We’ve met during her speech.”

“Aha,” Scootaloo muttered. “That crazy pegasus wearing a bed sheet? How does she know that?”

“She lives in Canterlot and helps ponies in need. It’s said that she gets news from somepony on Princess Celestia’s court. She was the first to tell us that Ponyville was attacked, before Twilight Sparkle confirmed that.”

They trotted down the city of tents, when suddenly Scootaloo heard somepony calling her name. She turned to see Snips, standing in front of a dark green tent, next to a board with scissors drawn crudely on it.

“Friend of yours?” Bon Bon asked.

“Kinda,” Scootaloo replied. She went to Snips, who attempted to hug her, but she dodged him quickly.

“I thought you were dead!” he exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Yeah, ponies tell me that all the time. Silver Spoon and Twist are also with me,” Scootaloo muttered.

“Great! You know, just yesterday I’ve seen Apple Bloom. I thought she died too, after those bat ponies attacked the hospital and–“

“Wait a minute,” she interrupted him. “Apple Bloom is somewhere here?”

So, Luna told me the truth, she thought.

“No, she went to Canterlot with Firefly,” Snips replied.

“And how about Sweetie Belle? Was she there too?”

“No. And Apple Bloom didn’t tell me anything about her. Sweetie… she was wounded when they brought her to the hospital. I’m afraid that she…”

Scootaloo’s head drooped, but soon she looked back at him. “You said that Apple Bloom was with Firefly. Where can I find her?”

“I don’t know,” Snips replied. “She sometimes eats in the canteen. It’s in the centre.”

“Thanks. I have to go now,” said Scootaloo, looking at Bon Bon who was observing them impatiently.

“See you. If you’d like a haircut, come to me,” Snips replied, pointing at the board.

Scootaloo immediately felt that her mane is a bit longer than she was used to. It was already too long when she’d left Ponyville, but she had no time to fix that. “Maybe later,” she said and trotted back to Bon Bon. Then they walked to the field hospital.

It was similar to the one Fluttershy had been working in: a large tent with beds next to the few smaller ones, housing the doctors’ offices and an operating theatre. Bon Bon asked for the nurse Atom Heart, but she was told that she was now performing some examinations, so they decided to visit the dentist first. Minuette – or Colgate, as foals in Ponyville used to call her – frowned upon seeing Scootaloo’s broken teeth and immediately put the temporary crowns on them, telling the filly to come later to have the permanent crowns fitted.

When Scootaloo left the dentist’s office, Bon Bon told her that Doctor Ventricle was ready to see her. Twist got off her back and was now sitting on the ground, sweating and shivering slightly.

Doctor Ventricle was a young, blue unicorn with chestnut-coloured mane, wearing thick-rimmed glasses. His cutie mark was an anatomically proper heart. He looked into Scootaloo’s eyes and muttered something that sounded like “four points”.

“What’s your name?” he asked. When Scootaloo introduced herself, he asked her more questions: how old she was, what was the date, did she know where she was and so on.

“I’m fifteen. Today is 13th November, 1005 years after Discord was defeated. I’m in the hospital, at the refugee camp near Canterlot. I’m here because I fell off the cliff on my way from Ponyville.” She answered to every of his question in the same, mechanical tone.

“Do you remember everything what happened? Did you pass out?”

“No, I remember everything,” Scootaloo said. “I– I only threw up after I fell, and my head hurts.”

“Are you sure? You know, for me it doesn’t look like you fell off the cliff…”

“I really did. There were stones on the bottom–”

He shook his head. “–which looked exactly like somepony’s hooves. Someone attacked you?”

Scootaloo’s head drooped. For a moment she was just sitting there, silent.

“Yes,” she finally spoke. “It was a soldier.”

Dr. Ventricle sat next to her, speaking as softly and carefully as possible. “Did he… hurt you?”

“No,” she replied. “Listen, I don’t want my friend to be in trouble because of me…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony,” Dr. Ventricle said.

“She killed him.”

Now it was time for Dr. Ventricle to sit in silence. “Hmm…” he muttered, looking at her carefully. “It doesn’t seem like a concussion, but you should lie in bed for a couple of days, in case you had hematoma… You know, bleeding in the brain,” he explained, seeing that she didn’t understand the term. “Unfortunately, we don’t have much place here. About the other thing… She did that to save you, I think. It’s not your fault.”

“Okay,” she said. “Bon Bon will take care of me. Thank you, Doctor.”

She left his tent and went to Bon Bon, who was talking to Atom Heart – a yellow earth mare with a short, blue mane, whose cutie mark was a radioactivity symbol and a stethoscope. Twist looked a bit better with a fresh bandages on her hoof.

“How’s Lyra?” Atom Heart asked. She was packing some pills in Bon Bon’s saddlebags.

“I don’t have any news from her,” Bon Bon said with a sigh.

“Too bad. She’s a good pony…”

Bon Bon noticed Scootaloo standing next to them. She put her saddlebags on and tried to put Twist on her back again, but the filly decided that she’d walk by herself.

“Seems that we have to go,” Bon Bon said. “Thanks for the antibiotics, Atom.”

When they were trotting back to Bon Bon’s tent, Scootaloo stopped by the Snips’ place. When he had brought her attention to her mane, it started to annoy her. She started to wonder how she could bear with the fringe almost covering her eyes.

“I’ll be home later,” she said. “I need to talk to somepony.”

“You were supposed to stay in bed,” Bon Bon replied.

“I made it to the camp; nothing will happen to me if I go to get a haircut.” Scootaloo made the sweetest expression she could muster.

“Okay, but come back quickly,” Bon Bon said and went to her tent with Twist.

Scootaloo nodded and trotted to the Snips’ tent.

Even though she’d always considered her classmate annoying, she had to admit that he was good with scissors. Her manestyle wasn’t too complicated and it only needed to be shortened so he finished quickly.

Their conversation, however, was longer. Snips told her about their classmates who died, and about the burning of the field hospital; he mentioned Dinky Hooves, who, as he heard, was paralysed, and was now living with her mother in Canterlot. He told her about Snails, who was killed, when a piece shrapnel hit him in the neck.

“By the way,” Snips said, when she was about to leave his tent. “Firefly was here.”

“Did she say something about Apple Bloom?”

“No, she only wanted to have her mane shortened. But she said that she was gonna go and eat something.”

“So, she’s in that canteen you told me about?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, there’s a ‘Greasy Spoon’, two tents from here.”

Scootaloo thanked him and left his tent. When she reached the bar he was talking about, she immediately noticed a black and white photo of Silver Spoon standing on the counter. She wasn’t surprised – even though the bar was housed in the battered tent, it belonged to the chain of restaurants Silver’s mother set up after she married her husband. Scootaloo noticed Firefly sitting at one of the tables, or rather old crates used as tables. However, she went to the counter first.

“Good morning,” she said to the young, magenta unicorn mare wearing a characteristic ‘Greasy Spoon’ apron. It wasn’t as new and clean as it should be, but there was a silver badge with the name ‘Sparkler’ attached to it. “Is your boss here?”

“No,” Sparkler said with a bored expression. “She decided to go to Appleloosa after–” she leaned closer to Scootaloo, lowering her voice to a whisper. “–after that little bastard of hers kicked the bucket.”

She looked at the Silver Spoon’s photo, briefly making a solemn expression again. Then she turned back to Scootaloo and asked impatiently, “So, are you gonna order something or what?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll take a hot chocolate.”

“Two bits. Share and enjoy.”

“Thank you,” said Scootaloo and went to Firefly’s table.

“If you plan to stay here for longer, you’d better not piss her off. She has a nasty habit of spitting into the food of ponies she doesn’t like,” the pegasus said. “You wanted to talk about something…” It wasn’t a question, just a simple statement.

“I… umm…”

“There’s plenty of tables here and you went to mine. What bothers you, my little pony?” Firefly asked in a motherly voice.

“I’ve heard that you know about my friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said.

For a moment, Firefly was staring at her in silence. Scootaloo felt uncomfortable under that piercing gaze.

“Friends…” she finally spoke. “War caused many friendships to fall apart. Loyalty isn’t much valued these days, except maybe a blind loyalty to the ruler. But you’re different, squirt. Beaten, battered, tired, but all you care about are your friends. I can assure you that they’re safe. Even though you could be a little surprised upon seeing Sweetie Belle.”

“Wait, how did you call me? And what happened to Sweetie Belle? I heard she died…”

“Well, I think it’ll be better for her to tell you about it herself. And you remind me of one of my friends whom I used to call ‘squirt’. You probably heard about Rainbow Dash…”

“Of course!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “She’s my sister. I mean, we’re not related, but she’s like a sister to me…”

Suddenly, Firefly did something weird. She closed her eyes, and scrunched her face as if she was in a great pain. She rubbed her temples. Scootaloo watched her unsurely, before she finally opened her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “This happens sometimes, since I… Well, I guess you’re not in the mood to listen to the stories from the times before you were born?”

“I need to get home soon, but I can listen…” said Scootaloo, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

“When I was at your age, I was pretty famous,” Firefly said, smiling sheepishly. “The fastest pony in Equestria, that’s how they used to call me. Yes, Rainbow Dash wasn’t the first to be called that,” she added, seeing Scootaloo’s expression. “I thought I had everything: money, fame, friends…”

“And what happened?” Scootaloo asked.

“It was sixteen years ago,” Firefly said. Her voice lost its usual ethereal note and Scootaloo found it surprising that she sounded a bit like Rainbow Dash. “I just won another competition in Las Pegasus and we had a small party. I was fourteen, I drank too much, and there were some stallions there…” she sighed, her ears drooping when she recalled these events. “I don’t know if I should tell you that…”

“Oh, come on,” Scootaloo replied. “I know where foals come from…”

“Yeah, foals…” There was a sour note in Firefly’s voice. “You may guess what happened next. My parents weren’t happy, as you may guess. One day their daughter was a future hope of the Wonderbolts and the next day, a pregnant teenager with suicidal tendencies… I spent the whole pregnancy at home, not leaving even for a single moment.”

“What happened to the foal?” Scootaloo asked.

“I’ve never even seen him… or her. It died just after it was born.” Firefly’s voice was devoid of any trace of emotion, but for a split second one of her facial muscles twitched. Scootaloo focused on a cup of hot chocolate in front of her.

“It… it was the worst four years of my life. Soon after I gave birth, I… I decided that I had enough and overdosed my sleeping pills. I was in a coma for a week. My parents even wanted to pull out the plug when the doctor told them that I’m not gonna fly again… I woke up, but since then I have these headaches.” She rubbed her temples again, before continuing.

“My parents did everything to keep the fact that I was in a hospital in secret. Separated room, a bribed doctor… They were rich enough to afford that. But one day I met an eleven years old filly, who got lost in a hospital and wandered to my room… She recognised me immediately.”

“Who was she?”

“It was Rainbow Dash. Actually, my parents were glad that I made a friend. Maybe they hoped that I’d start to compete with her…” Firefly shook her head. “Well, it took her three years to make me go out of my room…” she wiped a tear from her eyes and smiled faintly. “I was a stubborn little mule… But finally, I made it. I started to talk with other ponies again, I finished school… And then, one day I left Cloudsdale. I flew to Neighpon, then to Trotbet, where I spent ten years in the mountains, in a company of the ponies who live there, trying to learn to control the ancient forms of magic. I only came back two years ago, when I learned that my parents died. Since then I live in Canterlot, using the money I inherited to help other ponies. I hope I didn’t bore you to death, did I?”

“No, of course not,” said Scootaloo quickly. She started to wonder how much time had passed. “I want to go to Canterlot…”

She stood up and immediately rested her foreleg on a table, when dizziness overcame her.

“Take some rest first,” Firefly said. “Your friends are safe with me.”

“Right,” Scootaloo replied. Her bruises started to ache and she briefly thought about Firefly’s headaches. “See you.”

“I’ll be here again in three days,” Firefly said before Scootaloo left the bar.

***

Twist, after being given an antibiotic, fell into a shallow slumber on a bunk bed. Silver Spoon sat by her side, lost in her thoughts. She was yawning from time to time, but she was unable to fall asleep. Bon Bon was sitting outside, waiting for Scootaloo to come back.

Twist’s calm expression was something unthinkable for her. After all they were through, after the adrenaline evaporated from her system, the whole Silver Spoon’s body wanted to scream.

The images from their journey were flashing before her eyes. Two ponies dragging her away from Diamond Tiara’s mutilated body. A long cut on Twist’s foreleg. Snow stained with blood. Spark of determination in Scootaloo’s eyes, when she decided to go back to save Twist. Scootaloo, bruised, limping slowly through the foggy plateau. Each image was like a punch in the gut, or like a stab in the heart.

Silver Spoon sighed, her body shook violently.

“Thilver?”

She rose her head and saw that Twist opened her eyes and was looking at her curiously.

“Thilver, are you okay?”

“Yes,” Silver Spoon replied flatly, turning her face away from Twist.

“I don’t think tho.”

“What do you know about how I feel?” Silver Spoon snapped. “I lost my only friend! And you… you don’t even have friends!”

“I have you and Thcootaloo,” Twist said, unfazed by Silver’s sudden outburst. She sat on her bed, leaning closer to her.

“W-what? You think I am your–”

“You thaved our liveth. If that’th not what friendth do, then I really know nothing about friendship,” Twist interrupted her, pulling her into an awkward hug.

“Oh, come on!” Silver Spoon pushed her away gently. “I did it, because… because…” Now she was hugging Twist, sinking her face in her coat.

“It’th okay…” Twist ran her hoof through Silver Spoon’s mane. Her fur was now soaking with weeping filly’s tears, but she didn’t care about that. Slowly, Silver Spoon rose her head, her face inches from Twist.

“I’m sorry, I just…”

“I know…”

Before Silver Spoon could ask what exactly Twist knew, their lips suddenly met. Her first thought was to jump back in fear and run away, but something was holding her in place. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of the peppermint, soothing her nerves and making the memories of their journey fade. She relaxed, wrapping her hooves around Twist and continuing kissing her, feeling blood rushing to her face, not wanting anything, except of being there with her forever.

“Hi girls, I just met Firefly and in three– Ugh!”

They quickly parted and sat on the opposite sides of the bed, staring at Scootaloo, who stood in the tent entrance, her wings spread, and her face expressing a mix of disgust and confusion.

“Get yourself a room!”

Author's Note:

While writing this chapter and checking dates to make all the arcs go together, I realised that Rainbow Dash died in chapter 13, on 13th November. No wonder she had no chance...