Sweetflank and Harps

by Blueshift

Whatever Happened To The Mares Of Tomorrow?

“At first, we thought it was crystal.”

Lyra shivered as she listened to Derpy, looking up at what remained of the M.A.R.E observatory. The entire building, from the foundations to the top of the telescope was encased in a strange orange transparent substance. Around them, various M.A.R.E. technicians were drilling into it. The substance came away easily in crumbling shards, but that was no condolence to the bodies of Starry Night and Comet, which lay on the ground covered in black bags.

“But it’s not, is it?” Lyra queried. She knew the answer.

“No.” Derpy wrinkled her nose. “It’s some sort of sugar-based substance. I thought maybe now you have a, uh, confectionary cutie mark, Har- uh, Sweetflanks, you could…”

Lyra sighed. “It doesn’t work that way.” She trotted up to the glass-like structure anyway, and gave it an experimental lick. It was sweet. Obviously. She turned back to Derpy. “So we’ve got a new super villain in town? Do we know who they are yet?”

Derpy shook her head grimly. “No. And…” She drew closer. “And I don’t think it’s a new super villain. We found this inside.” She produced a crumpled, torn packet. “It was detonated from here. This is internal M.A.R.E mail. No-one in the public knows this is a M.A.R.E base. And we lost some agents last night, Lyra. Some haven’t reported back, some… we found. It’s an inside job.”

“An…” Lyra furrowed her brow. “An inside job? I can’t believe that for a moment.” She licked her lips again. No, there was something. Something familiar. “Irn Bru!” she yelped out. “It tastes of Irn Bru, Derpy! That’s a Scottish sweet! It’s made in Scotland! From girders!” She grabbed Derpy by the hooves, shaking her violently. “It’s just like I said, it’s the Scottish, they’re behind it all! We’ve got to check everyone who works at M.A.R.E! Search the lockers for bagpipes! Look for deep-fat fryers! Check to see if any dresses aren’t secretly kilts! We’ve gotta-”

Derpy slapped her across the face. Lyra stopped, her face a mask of surprise before toppling backwards to land in a heap on the floor.

“I uh, got a bit carried away, yeah.” Lyra slowly rose, rubbing her chin.

“You’ve been under a lot of stress lately,” Derpy replied, but she didn’t smile. “Go home. Have a rest. I’m recalling all agents to M.A.R.E headquarters, we’ll get this sorted out, they won’t get away with it. Hopefully Bon-Bon will have got H.A.A.R.P working by now.” Derpy walked off to talk to some of the technicians, leaving Lyra alone.

To Lyra, it seemed that whoever it was had already gotten away with it. She looked at the shards of candied building that loomed above her. Who could possibly create such confectionary carnage like that if not a demented Scotspony? And how was Bon-Bon getting on?

An unwanted thought crept into Lyra’s head. She pushed it away. She was tired, she hadn’t slept all night. A quick rest would make everything better.

***

“If I cannot triumph, then you shall all die; this I command!” The rich, booming voice of King Sombra echoed from within the Crystal Emperor as the mighty mech hovered above Metropony City, its horn glowing with a strange black light.

It was the last stand of S.O.M.B.R.A, exactly as Lyra remembered from all those months ago. The city below lay in chaos, the scattered remnants of Crystal Pony mechs covering the streets. They had taken one last desperate gamble after their sun sphere had failed, and the dice had come up snake eyes. M.A.R.E had won. They had fought back and beaten the enemy on equal terms, which is why what was happening felt to Lyra so unfair.

“He’s going to do it!” she urgently screeched into the communication system of her mech. Only her and Bon-Bon were still standing, their mighty pony-shaped pastel war machines perched broken, battered, but triumphant amongst the debris. “He’s going to use his black hole power unit to blow the whole of Metropony City to kingdom come, out of sheer spite!

“Not if I can help it!” Bon-Bon’s mech started to speed up, bounding over buildings, not caring if a chunk of rubble smashed off from the impact of one of her mighty hooves.

“I don’t – oh!” Lyra suddenly understood, tugging at her control harness to force her mech to follow Bon-Bon. It unsteadily moved, gears grinding away in agony as she ran. Above her, the Crystal Emperor hovered like a vast, predatory bird, summoning up all its dark energy for one final, desperate bid.

“Are you sure about this, I mean, oooh!” Lyra winced as Bon-Bon didn’t stop, swerving her mech-suit to the side as fifty feet of robot pony collided with the wall of the paint factory, spraying rubble and glass everywhere. That was nothing compared to the effect a black hole would have on the city though. She wasn’t sure exactly what that would be, but it couldn’t be anything nice.

Lyra followed through the hole Bon-Bon had made, diving after her friend into the huge vat of mirrorlon paint that had been destined to supply the world’s supply of funfair mirrors. “You sure about this?” She radioed to Bon-Bon as she clambered out. “I mean uh, I’m not sure that’s how science works?”

“A black hole sucks in light, so it’s gotta be full of light,” came the frankly unconvincing reply. “I can’t see why it couldn’t work. At the very least, there’s nothing to lose.”

Lyra paused at her controls for a moment. Leaping both their shiny mechs into the path of the black hole ray would at least make any ending less painful. “Fine then. Together.” She smiled.

“Together.”

She remembered King Sombra’s cry of triumph as his deadly beam descended onto the city, remembered the blind, sprawling fear she felt as she leapt her mech into the path of the beam, bolstered only by the sheer confidence of Bon-Bon. She remembered Sombra’s victory turn into a yell of sheer terror as the beam reflected back onto his own mech. She remembered his last words, a vow of revenge from beyond the grave.

She remembered sitting atop the head of her battered mech with Bon-Bon, leaning against her friend as she drank the last of a very nice vintage that she had saved for a special occasion. She remembered looking out across the remains of the smoking city, and cracking a wry joke.

What she did not remember was how Bon-Bon had hugged her, stood up, smiled, and said, “Thanks Lyra. I’m just popping off now to betray your trust and murder all your friends!”

Lyra awoke in a sweat, bed sheets wrapped around her. Somehow she had fallen out of bed and onto the floor. She raced to the sink to gulp down mouthful after mouthful of water. No, that wasn’t how it happened, of course not. Just a bad dream.

Of course it wasn’t Bon-Bon. Not clever, smart, brave, wonderful Bon-Bon. Someone else was behind this. Someone else equally clever and smart and resourceful. Outside, the sun was going down. She had slept all afternoon. Perhaps back at base Derpy had managed to uncover who the traitor really was.

She glanced at the newspaper. The headline was some terrible story about how Pobama was trying to take all the guns away. Her eyes were caught by a smaller advert, tucked in the bottom corner. Yes, that was where she needed to go. This was fate.

Without another look back at the mess that was her room, Lyra flung on a coat at random to protect against the evening chill, and headed out.

She had to go to the theatre.

***

The door to the cell slid open. Rook looked up.

She was there. His queen. Behind her, he could see the guards. They looked like they were asleep. He knew better. “Is it time?” he asked, a slight quaver in his voice. “Is it finally time?”

“It is the time of the twilight," his mistress murmured. "When the great battles were over and the great miracles long since performed. The tale of how their enemies conspired against them, and of that final war."

"My queen?" Rook tilted his head to the side in puzzlement.

"Oh, nothing." Queen Sombra gave a strangely sad smile. "You should read more. You have your orders." She turned and swept out of the empty cell without another word.

Rook nodded to himself. This was going to be a good night.

***

The moon rose gracefully above Metropony City, its soft light rippling over the quiet streets and houses. The dusty surface of the moon glowed with cold life. Calm, still, unmoving.

Somewhere from down below, a signal was sent.

The dusty skin of the moon exploded in a flurry of rubble as something rose from beneath the surface. A pair of eyes, each three feet across blazed into life. A large crystalline hoof pulled itself up. Then another. And another.

All around, from crater to crevasse, the army of the Crystal Ponies awoke from their long slumber. The S.O.M.B.R.A pilots inside had no need to make any last minute adjustments, they had been watching and waiting and preparing for this moment for so very long. A dozen silently reared from the dusty surface. Then two dozen. Then more.

M.A.R.E had been right. There were no Crystal Ponies left in Equestria.

They wouldn’t be right for much longer.

***

If there was one thing Dewdrop Dazzle liked most about acting in the theatre, it was the moment she got to get off stage, pick up her cheque and go home. Sure, there was the regular hassle of the stage door, where actors were expected to sign a few autographs for the fillies and pretend to be interested by some pseudo-intellectual discussion from self-appointed critics, but she was used to that.

What she wasn’t used to was being accosted the moment she opened the door by a maniacal-looking green pony in a strange jacket, who grabbed and half-wrestled her to the ground.

“GAUDA PRIME!” Lyra screamed into Dewdrop’s face, eyes staring wildly. “HOW DID YOU ESCAPE GAUDA PRIME?” She started to shake Dewdrop hard. “I’VE GOT TO KNOW!”

“What?” Dewdrop struggled under her attacker momentarily, but she was pinned down hard. “What in Celestia’s name is a Gauda Prime?”

Lyra gave a hurt twitch. “Wha – you know! Gauda Prime!” She let go of Dewdrop and backed away slightly, a small amount of embarrassed self-awareness returning to her. “Y-you killed Blake and everyone else died and you were surrounded by guards and they were about to shoot and then you smiled and then it just faded to black and it was the end of the episode and they never made any more, and you just can’t end a television show like that, and… and…” Her bottom lip started to wobble. She was six years old all over again.

“Oh. What?” Dewdrop frowned. “You’re talking about Blake’s 7? That was years ago, and uh, it’s just a television show, you know? No need to get all worked up, it’s not real!”

“I know that!” Lyra snapped back, a bit too quickly. She rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. “It’s just… it’s important, you know? Stuff like that’s important, and I’ve been through quite a bit lately and I’ve been thinking about it more and more, and I just needed to know…” She trailed off. “It’s dumb. Sorry. You probably get asked that a lot.”

“Oh yeah, constantly.” The real answer was ‘never’, but this slightly crazed pony didn’t need to hear that right now. Dewdrop sat down on the theatre step, patting on the stone beside her for Lyra to sit down. “I mean, they never made another series, so I dunno.” She shrugged. “I always thought Hayvon would have karate-chopped her way out of it. That’s why I did that smile at the end, I was thinking of how I was about to chop them all.” She made a few chopping motions with her hoof to demonstrate.

Lyra sat down heavily, and stared up at the night sky for a few moments. Then she frowned. “But there were loads of guards, you couldn’t have karate chopped them all!”

“Well, maybe I’d have done some judo kicks too.” Dewdrop rolled her eyes. “I’m not a writer, I just did what the script said. I mean, Blake was definitely dead, because of all the blood. She put that in her contract, Autumn Mist did. She said she’d only appear again if she was definitely killed off forever, so she could go and follow her dreams to become a real, classical actor. You never saw blood on anyone else, so they could have said they were just stunned.” She tapped her nose. “That’s how television works, you see. Actor availability.”

“Oh. I always thought there was some sort of plan.” Lyra grimaced, looking at Dewdrop and then away, into the dark streets with their flickering neon signs. “And did she become a real, classical actor?”

Dewdrop shrugged. “I dunno. I did see a video starring her in the bargain bin called ‘Attack of the Unconvincing Rubber Space-Turnip, so yeah, I guess if they had made another series and thrown money at her, she’d have come crawling back.”

“But Blake was dead!” Lyra screeched, scandalised. “There was blood and everything!”

Dewdrop sighed. “It’s television, dear. The rules of reality shelve themselves when there’s thirteen fifty-minute episodes to make a year and money involved. Maybe it was fake blood and all a trick. Maybe she just got better. Maybe it was a clone. M-“

“Blake was cloned in season 2 episode 3!” Lyra gasped in wonder, her eyes shining. “S-so there was a plan all along!”

“Yeah, no. Uh…” Dewdrop shook her head. “Okay, see, as of the end of the show, they’re all dead apart from Hayvon, right? And Hayvon’s probably about to die. That’s how it ends. But if they wanted to make another series, then suddenly that’s not how it happens at all. It’s just… television. You see?”

Lyra nodded, trying to process this inrush of information. “So… could Travis still be aliv-“

“Whoa!” Dewdrop held up a hoof. “Gotta stop you there. Nope. Just gotta stop you.” She trailed off as a glint from above caught her eye. “Huh. Moon’s bright tonight.”

Lyra followed her gaze upwards. The moon was very bright. Too bright. And there were small specks breaking away from it, dancing in the night sky like fireflies. Getting bigger and closer. “Oh no,” she breathed. “Oh no.”

Lyra ran.

***

“THERE’S DOZENS OF THEM, COMING FROM THE MOON!” Octavia swung around in her chair, wild-eyed at Derpy. The M.A.R.E command centre almost froze at that point, all eyes on the blips that seemed to multiply faster and faster on the vidscreens.

“Show me satellite coverage.” Derpy carefully put down the muffin she had been saving all day and watched. The screen fizzed into life to show the inky blackness of space. Then a flare of rocket exhausts and the form of a huge crystalline mecha descending towards it. Then the screen went dead.

“Everyone to action stations. Full alert!” Derpy smacked a button, and immediately the base was deafened by the sound of a thousand klaxons blaring at once. “Those aren’t Pobama or the Scottish. They’re S.O.M.B.R.A Crystal Ponies! They’ve been hiding there all the time. But why?!” She thumped the desk. The muffin flew off into Carrot Top’s waiting mouth. “Show me the prisoner!”

The screens flickered onto the view of the prison cell where once Rook had sat. It was empty, the door hanging open.

“Maximum security!” Derpy started to march around the command room. “Seal all bulkheads; we’ve got to buy ourselves some time! Octavia, if Bon-Bon hasn’t got H.A.A.R.P running, I want you to do what you can with the defence systems. We’re low on agents, high on technical staff. I want everyone with a gun. Carrot Top, do whatever it is that you do. Vinyl, I want those Lunatron robots in the basement up and running and working for us as soon as possible. We need the edge.”

Derpy sighed as she watched the blips on the radar multiply and descend. What they really needed was Harpflank and Sweets.

***

“Come on, come on!” Lyra half-screamed at the lift as it slowly rumbled down into the underbelly of M.A.R.E headquarters. She was late, she should be there already preparing to defend Metropony City, she should be at Bon-Bon’s side.

Another grim thought snatched at her. If she had been at Bon-Bon’s side, maybe this would never have happened.

She took a minute to compose herself in the mirror that lined the lift’s walls, doing her best to slick her mane back into some sort of presentable fashion. She winced at the rather tasteless coat she had pulled from the floor before leaving for the night. It was black faux-pvc with metal studs, and had probably been fashionable when roller-disco was cool. “How long have I been walking about in this?” she groaned inwardly. Still though, if there was a fight about to happen, it was better protection than nothing.

Suddenly the lights in the lift dimmed a low, pulsing red and the emergency signal began to blare out. “It’s started!” she squeaked to herself, smacking the wall in frustration. “C’mon you pile of junk!”

There was a thump above her. And then another thump. And the groaning of metal on metal. Lyra’s face paled. Someone had ordered the emergency shutters closed to entirely seal the base off from the surface. This was all well and good, only the lift was descending from the surface.

Descending on a very thin metal wire.

With a sharp ‘sproing’ the first shutter fully closed, severing the wire that held the lift up. Lyra was immediately flung into the air as it lurched violently, hurtling downwards at terminal velocity. “Oh come on!” Lyra screamed to the heavens, peeling herself from the ceiling and battering at the sealed doors.

The wind was whistling all around her ears. With a pre-emptive wince, Lyra jammed her horn into the crack of the door, pushing with all her might until it juddered open. With a final gulp at the rapidly approaching ground, Lyra leapt out of the doors, rolling away from the lift as it smashed into the floor in a mighty explosion.

She clutched her aching head, laying sprawled in the pot plant that had broken her fall. “Ugh. That shouldn’t have worked,” she groaned, unsteadily getting to her hooves and starting to run again. There wasn’t much time.

***

The mammoth forms of the Crystal Ponies flocked around Metropony City like shining locusts. Buildings exploded in showers of rubble as their mighty hooves slammed into the ground, scattering screaming, fleeing ponies everywhere.

All around the city, civilians hid in their houses, waiting for Harpflank and Sweets to come and save them. But this time, there was no sign of M.A.R.E.

The S.O.M.B.R.A pilots inside the Crystal Ponies ignored Metropony City, for the most part. Wanton destruction and robbery could come later. First, there was a job to do. The unicorn models hit the ground first, their vast crystal tails swinging back and forth, demolishing anything in their way until all that was left was rubble. Then the heads locked down, and their mighty horns began to spin, spearing the ground and drilling deep. If M.A.R.E thought it was safe in its underground base, it was wrong.

***

Rook marched with purpose through the under-basement of M.A.R.E headquarters, his heart swelling with pride as he heard the sirens wail urgently. Every so often he would stop at a terminal and activate a specific failsafe. The Lunatron robots stood deactivated in neat rows in the basement, like a crude high-tech parody of a clay army.

“Stop right there!”

Rook paused momentarily as two M.A.R.E guards stepped out of the shadows, weapons raised. In the red flashing half-light, they looked more afraid than menacing. Sometimes, Rook mused, you just knew when your number was up.

“O-okay, just stand there and we’ll have no trouble!” the first guard stuttered, moving forwards, her blaster wavering slightly. “I don’t know what you were trying to do here, but it’s too late.”

“Yes, yes it is,” Rook smiled, tilting his head to the legion of Lunatrons that stood silently in their storage bay. “Kill them all.”

As one, the lights on the Lunatrons blazed into life, stiff metal limbs bringing weapons to bear on the hapless guards.

Rook walked away without a second glance as the dum-dum of ballistic weaponry filled the air behind him. Then the Lunatrons began to move through the M.A.R.E complex, slowly making their way upwards.

***

“The Crystal Ponies have penetrated armoured shutter eighteen!” Octavia gazed wide-eyed at the display, which showed a flashing representation of the base defences, layer upon layer of brightly coloured lights that signified the barriers that protected them from the world above. One by one they were going dim. “Seventeen!”

Derpy swallowed hard. The incessant noise of the klaxons and the strobing red emergency lights was starting to drive her nuts. Everyone who could carry a gun was armed, even the humble cleaners. There was nothing they could do though. Nothing but wait.

“Lunatrons activated!” Vinyl swung around in her chair in panic. “They’re active ma’am!”

Derpy wiped her brow. “Well, that’ll give us some additional fi-“

“No, no, you don’t understand!” Vinyl leapt to her hooves, clutching her rifle to her chest. “I-I didn’t activate them! Someone else did! They’re uh, making their way up from the basement!”

Derpy breathed hard. In the distance, she could hear the dull thudding of gunfire. It seemed to be getting closer. “Everyone, cover all exits!” she snapped, before leaning over Octavia’s shoulder. “Octavia, if there’s anything you can do, do it now. H.A.A.R.P. can control them, right? That’s one of the things it’s for!”

Octavia typed wildly into her console, flooding the screen with line upon line of incomprehensible text. “Yeah, but it’s still not active! Without Bon-Bon to play the release frequencies, we can’t control it, I….” She yelped and started typing even more furiously. “I-it’s being hacked, ma’am. Someone’s hacking H.A.A.R.P, from inside the base!”

Derpy stared in dumb bemusement at the screen. There were all sorts of things scrolling down it. She didn’t understand even one of them. “Can’t you do an uh… thing? You know. A computer thing?”

“I’m trying, I… oh!” Octavia tapped another few keys and threw her hooves up in frustration. At once, all of the screens gave a final ‘bloop’ and went dead. “That’s it,” she whispered, voice shaking as she started to hyperventilate. “The whole defence grid’s offline. And if Bon-Bon can’t work out how to play the musical lock, then we can’t get it back!”

Above them came the sounds of rending metal as the Crystal Ponies began to tear through the now powerless bulkheads at speed. Below them came the unstoppable marching noise of the Lunatrons and the screaming of the unfortunate M.A.R.E personnel who got in their way.

With an almighty crash, the ceiling exploded, the tip of a whirring crystal horn stabbing through and sending jagged chunks of metal everywhere. “Run!” Derpy screamed over the cacophony. “We’ll regroup on level 5!”

***

Lyra slumped through the corridors, stopping every so often to clutch at her head. The fall had obviously done more damage than she had thought. Everything was spinning, not helped by the constant whining of the alarms and the strobing lights that filled the base. She wanted to lie down, to sleep, but knew that any such rest would be fatal.

Every so often, the sound of running firefights filled her ears, but she was in no position to help anyone. She clutched the shotgun she had taken from a fallen guard, quickly ducking into an alcove to avoid being spotted by a Lunatron that rumbled past, its twin Gatling guns firing away at anyone unlucky enough to be present.

“Celestia’s beard,” she muttered to herself, slapping a hoof across her cheeks to keep herself alert. When the coast was clear she started down the corridor again, sweat dripping down her forehead as she steeled herself. Finally, with a gulp, she reached the H.A.A.R.P chamber and threw open the door.

“Bon-Bon?”

With a terrible sinking feeling, she realised it was empty.

“No no no!” Lyra started to thump her head into the wall in frustration, her hooves shaking heavily. It wasn’t fair, not like this. She stopped, panting again. There had to be another explanation. Bon-Bon wouldn’t abandon her duty. Someone else must have overridden the H.A.A.R.P protocols. Someone else must have been in such a position of trust to know exactly the right moment to bring M.A.R.E to its knees. Not Bon-Bon. Anyone but Bon-Bon.

“Level 5! Level 5! We make our stand on level 5!”

Derpy’s voice crackled urgently over the loudspeakers, before being cut off with a hiss. Lyra gripped her weapon tighter, and ran out of the door. One way or another, she would see this through.

***

Carrot Top scampered through the base like a rabbit in hunting season, darting over ruined sparking equipment and the fallen bodies of her comrades. She was sure she should be helping somehow, but all her body wanted to do was run and cry and run some more.

It was because of this that she nearly ran slap-bang into Bon-Bon.

And the two armed Lunatrons that flanked her.

“Oh, Carrot Top!” Bon-Bon smiled a wide smile at her. “Don’t worry; these two are under my control.”

“I uh…” Carrot Top stared between Bon-Bon and the Lunatrons, eyes quivering with fear. She skidded backwards on her hindquarters, turned, and ran back the way she came.

“What, no!” Bon-Bon yelled back at the fleeing Carrot Top. “I finally got the right frequencies, but it only works on a localised level! We can do this, honest, but we’ve got to get to the- ”. It was too late. Carrot Top had rounded a corner and scampered off. She looked up at the two Lunatrons. “What are you waiting for? Get after her!”

***

Derpy stood on level 5 in the middle of a worryingly small group of M.A.R.E personnel. Less and less were filtering in, and she could hear the crackle of Lunatron gunfire getting ever closer.

“Don’t be scared,” she announced over the droning sirens. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. It’s –“

“They’re here!” A side-door burst open and Vinyl Scratch half-flew down the stairwell. Her glasses were broken and her right forehoof badly scorched. “S.O.M.B.R.A has broken through above; they’re starting to pour down! It’s a real mess up there, Tavi and I got split up, but she’s gonna try and make it down the air ducts!”

“Right. Right. Well.. barricade the door.” Derpy pointed towards the open door. “If anyone has a bright idea, now would be the time to speak up.”

“We find the traitor,” a voice mumbled from behind.

Derpy spun round to be greeted by the sight of a bedraggled Lyra, clutching a shotgun to her chest as if her life depended on it. “What the – what are you wearing?” she frowned.

Lyra looked down woozily at her studded jacket. “Oh. Yeah. Well, roller disco is coming back in a big way, and I’m just getting a head start, you know?” She hefted her gun, looking around the room in concern. “Is… is this really everyone?”

“Not yet,” Vinyl shook her head. “There’s still more of us out there, I hope!” she finished hefting a large cabinet across the entrance to the stairwell. It wouldn’t hold a determined assault force for long, and there were so many more ways in.

“Lyra! Lyra!” Carrot Top screamed at the top of her lungs as she hurtled down a nearby corridor, almost barrelling into the green pony. “I mean, Harpflank! I mean uh, Harps! I mean Lyra!” She shrunk meekly back, twitching from side to side in a fluster. “It’s her! She’s the traitor, Lyra!”

“What? What are you talking about?” That same sinking feeling started in Lyra’s stomach again. She did her best to ignore it. “Spit it out, Carrot Top!”

Carrot Top gulped hard. “It's Bon-Bon!” She whimpered. “She sold us out, Lyra! All of us! Even you!” Her eyes widened and she let out a moan, skittering behind Derpy for protection.

Silence hit the room as all eyes turned to follow Carrot Top’s terrified gaze. Bon-Bon stood in one of the doorways, flanked by two large, imposing Lunatrons.

Lyra’s mouth dropped open. Her stomach finally fell into one yawning pit. “Is it true?” she whispered hoarsely.

“Lyra, it’s me, Bon-Bon!” Bon-Bon waved a hoof up in a calming gesture as she stepped forwards, but Lyra lifted her gun in one panicked motion.

“Stand still!” Lyra wiped the sweat that was pouring down her brow. The thrumming of the alarms was too much for her. She could feel her heart pounding way too fast in her chest, her legs were about to give way at any moment. “Have… have you betrayed us?” Her voice quavered, breaking into a whisper. “Have you betrayed me?”

“Carrot doesn’t understand!” Bon-Bon snapped back. She took another step forwards.

Lyra’s gun wavered uncertainly. “Neither do I!” She felt six years old again, frightened and defenceless, the world dropping out from beneath her hooves.

Bon-Bon shook her head quickly. “No! I’ve got control of H.A.A.R.P!” She pointed back towards the two Lunatrons. “They obey me! I set all this up!”

“Yes! Yes you did!” As Bon-Bon stepped forwards again, Lyra brought her gun up and with the barest flicker of magic from her horn, pulled the trigger. The shot cracked like a whip across the stunned room, and Bon-Bon gasped in shock at the bloody stain that spread across her chest.

“Lyra…” She took another step forwards.

Lyra pulled the trigger again, almost as in a dream. The shot echoed in her head, mixing with the klaxons into an almost strange silence. There was blood. A lot of blood. “I…”

Bon-Bon pulled herself forwards and then slumped into Lyra’s outstretched hooves, looking up at her friend in a mixture of disbelief, shock and pity. “Lyra…” she hissed through clenched teeth. There was just a hint of annoyance.

And then she was gone.

Everyone was silent. No-one could speak or even move as the scene played out in front of them. That couldn’t have just happened. Bon-Bon’s Lunatrons stood uselessly, waiting for orders they would never receive.

Lyra held the heavy form of Bon-Bon, sudden realisation flooding over her. She was so limp in her hooves. There was blood staining her coat. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She didn’t care as she heard the gunfire intensify. She didn’t move as the marching of boots on steel got closer. She took no notice of the commotion as wave after wave of the enemy poured into the room. Because Bon-Bon was dead.

“Drop your weapons.” The order was barked out sharply at the remaining M.A.R.E agents. From below, the Lunatrons rumbled up the stairs and into the room, weapons swinging to bear. From above, black-suited S.O.M.B.R.A agents marched down to surround the survivors, guns ready for action.

Rook was there, standing at the forefront, smiling at Derpy with that terrible metal smile of his. And besides him, a familiar looking fully armoured figure.

“King Sombra!” Derpy gasped, the grip on her own weapon loosening, as around her M.A.R.E surrendered to the enemy. “ But… but you died! We all saw you!”

“Oh yes, he died. You saw to that, didn’t you?” The figure lifted off its battle helmet, to reveal a shock of fiery-orange mane.

“But…” Vinyl blinked, rubbing her eyes in bewilderment. “You! Why?”

“Because,” Octavia sneered as she held her battle helmet in her hooves, surveying the trembling remains of M.A.R.E, and the grief-stricken form of Lyra. “My name isn’t Octavia. It’s McTavia. Of the clan Sombra. King Sombra was my father, and you killed him!” Her eyes narrowed in hatred. “It was hell hiding amongst you, having to dye my magnificent ginger mane to remain undetected, unable to deep-fry any food for fear of discovery. But thank you, M.A.R.E. Thank you for defeating Luna and Discord, giving S.O.M.B.R.A free reign. Thank you for kindly entrusting me with all your secrets and handing over your base to me.”

Lyra could hear Octavia talking. She could see it was almost over. The alarms carried on sounding, piercing through her mind. She didn’t care. She held onto her friend for as long as she could, until her weakened hooves let Bon-Bon drop onto the floor. That was all that mattered now. Because Bon-Bon was dead.

“But why!” Derpy cried. “What can possibly be worth all this?”

A feverish fire glowed in Octavia’s eyes. “Scottish independence!” she hissed. “And keeping the Bit as currency! With M.A.R.E destroyed and S.O.M.B.R.A in control, Pobama and his socialist lapdogs will have no option but to grant our every wish!”

“You’re mad, babe!” Vinyl stepped forwards. “This is crazy talk, they’re not gonna let you keep the Bit in a currency union if you go independent; you’ve gotta devolve that to-“

She was cut off as Octavia fired, collapsing in a heap like a puppet with the strings cut. “Don’t call me babe,” Octavia muttered, turning in one swift motion and walking away. “Dispose of them,” she called back dismissively. “I’ve got work to do.”

Lyra continued to stare at Bon-Bon’s face. She looked so peaceful and serene. Lyra just stood there, the thumping of her heart filling her ears until it was all she could hear. Out of the corner of her eye she was dimly aware of Derpy reaching for her gun and receiving a laser blast for her trouble. Of Carrot Top screaming her lungs out before she was shot in the back. Of the last stand of M.A.R.E as they went down one by one to SO.M.B.R.A.

Then, there was only one left.

She looked at Bon-Bon one last time, lifting her head to see the S.O.M.B.R.A agents and Lunatron robots that surrounded her, their guns at the ready. She slowly turned around in a full circle, the flickering red alarm lights still flashing their eerie shadows across the room, noting that she was completely surrounded.

Suddenly, everything seemed so peaceful.

She stood with care over the body of her friend in one final stance of defiance. She lifted her weapon. The enemy lifted theirs.

Lyra smiled.

Fade to black.

Comments

[Midnightshadow]

This is the best episode of Benji I ever saw!

[Blueshift]

Transcendant

[RTStephens]

Well. The tone of this changed quickly.

And everypony in the city only had two days left before retirement.

So many twists I got whiplash. So many turns that I'm lost in a maze of muffins surrounded by giant robots.

Will be interesting if you decide to continue. Lots of stuff here to play off of.

Till next time!

[RTStephens]

4164123
She was the city's chief of police and an old friend of Derpy's. How she got here, well... tune in next time!

[Aariadon]

I KNEW IT. I KNEW the ending was going to be something like this.

April Fools to you too.

[djthomp]

I suppose that with the way this story opened, there was really no other way it could have ended.

[Supersheep64]

I guess I was right all along. Season 3 was a marked improvement over it's predecessors.

[the other sans]

“thanks Lyra

1. Forgot to capitalise.

Holy crap those twists... I swear some of the stories come from acid trips... In a, well... Can they even be described in a good way?

[Pega-ace]

Came here expecting comedy... Came out with so much more...

Good job Arcainum.

[Arcainum]

4166189

I ran to my dictionary and I am right, 'practise' is the verb, 'practice' is the noun. Unless you are American, where 'practice' is acceptable for both

'Gone to ground' is one of those metaphor word things for hiding, it's definitely a real thing. Thanks for the comments though!

[Shilic]

Okay. Now, can you get back to the canon story?

[Tankenstein_PhD]

Wait, did I seriously just get tricked into reading an extended Blake's 7 reference? Well played, Arcainum. Well played...

[CrowMagnon]

The deleted ending had Pobama swoop in and save Lyra by swiping everyone's guns, then resurrecting the rest of the fallen mares through the power of Pobamacare. The next season is about the cast trying to survive through the hellish dystopia that results from this.

[WorldWalker128]

Okay, I'm seeing a metric crapton of this in the 'also liked' list with several being written by different people. Which of these is the original so that I can start from the beginning?

[redmar]

I didn't like this nearly as much as the original or the others that were made.

[RushyFiction]

That feel when someone on Fimfiction knows what Blake's 7 is
66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6npykhvqy1qli661o7_250.gif

[Hannah Nelson]

Gosh darn it, you got me!