Broken Mirror

by GMBlackjack

XIV - Neighagra Falls

>> Mistakes were made.

You can see it can't you?

You feel how these mistakes will tear everything apart, don't you?

You hope it isn't true - that there's some way to fix this. That the good guys won't be punished. That showing kindness, forgiveness, and a willingness to help won't destroy them.

But it already has.

There must be some win condition, you scream. There must be a way out of this. After all, this isn't the last chapter! They still have so much to do!

No, it's not the last chapter. But it will not go the way you want.

You still think this can be salvaged?

That the heroes can save their carefully constructed web of lies?

Go ahead, believe that. Read on.

I pity you. <<

~~~

"What are we going to do!?" Rarity wailed.

Amethyst frowned. "I'm going to have to go out there and address the crowd - and Quota. It's not going to go well, but hopefully, we can at least resolve this peacefully." She looked out at the amassing angry crowd, grimacing. "I have Inspectors interspersed throughout the populace. Monocle-less, of course, since Farundael could have told him about us...I can't believe we were so assinine!" She stamped the ground. "We knew she wasn't trustworthy! Why didn't we lock her up better!?"

"Quota probably had her released on his order last night," the Inspector said, frown deepening.

"Or any number of other things could have happened," Applejack said, "we weren't watching her all that closely. Nor were we watching Quota - he could have suspected her to be useful from the moment he saw her and just not said anything. Or Amplify could have told him for all we know."

"What the buck did he tell them?" Rainbow Dash said, nervously glancing out the window. "They're really mad."

Pinkie shivered. "It... Could have been anything."

"Or everything," Amethyst shook her head, turning to a nearby Commander. "Is the castle defensible?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I hope to Celestia we won't need to fight..." She trotted towards the window, taking in a deep breath. "...They're getting impatient. I don't think we can meet them with silence any longer. Rarity - Inspector Rarity - with me. Rest of you, out of sight. This will get ugly."

Everypony nodded. The Inspector followed Amethyst to the windowed doors. The General leveled her breathing, set her jaw, and threw the windows open. The two of them stepped out onto the balcony.

The noise - the unending jeering, yelling, screaming rage - was powerful enough to drown out the noise of the Falls themselves. What was happening down there defied explanation. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns all acting as one - soldiers, elders, youth, civilians, rich, poor - all part of the mob. Finding unity in hatred.

Brutal irony indeed, that the only thing they could agree on was that they hated what they had heard.

Amethyst supposed a hundred or so ponies down there were probably angry at 'conspiracy' and 'corruption' - but she was certain most of them were mad at one thing, and one thing only. Mingling. Earths with other races, pegasi treated equal as unicorns, a princess even considering the earths or pegasi as friends. The great princess was supposed to be so far above that, above them - above even the unicorns.

So here they were as one, enraged, led by a twisted General and a pony who knew too much.

United.

Brutal, pathetic, irony.

Amethyst lit her horn, amplifying her voice to auditorium levels. "General Quota, explain yourself!"

"I know what you've done!" He yelled, amplifying his voice in return.

"And what would that be?"

"Don't play dumb with me Amethyst Star!"

"I have done many things Quota. I have ordered much. I wish to know specifically what could be horrible enough to gather this large of a treasonous act?!"

"You're a conspirator with a mingler! Specifically, Fluttershy, a founder of that Mingler Society!"

"Are you suggesting that Fluttershy, trusted advisor of our princess and ambassador for Equestria, is a high mingler?"

"You are not pulling the blind over my eyes with that language again, Amethyst! I had thought you maybe have been true to our nation - patriotic even! I had thought you weren't part of the conspiracy! But no, you're in deep. I don't know how I didn't see it before, but you are part of a plot against the people of Neighagra Falls!"

"Quata, please outline this conspiracy so I may address it."

Quota smirked. "Gladly. Farundael?"

Farundael took a breath, letting Quota's magic fill her vocal cords. "You spread lies! You ordered a false Inquisition! You ordered the army on high alert just to breed fear! You conversed with Applejack, a high profile mingler! You disguised an earth as a unicorn and gave her a job! And you just bend the minds of every pony so you can get away with it! How can anypony stop you when nopony can remember anything!?"

Amethyst narrowed her eyes. "And how, pray tell, do we alter your minds?"

"You've brainwashed our fair princess!" Quota shouted. Amethyst cursed inwardly - that was clever. Making Twilight the victim... "She's a puppet that does what your group desires! When was the last time she gave a speech without Fluttershy present? When was the last time she openly affirmed the correct positions of the races? Never! Instead, look at what she's been saying! She never comes out directly, but this entire city has been guided towards a goal for minglers! When was the last time we busted one of their cells? When was the last time any serious legal action was taken against them? You've taken our princess from us and replaced her with some hollow husk that is warping out society to damnation! We want her back!"

"Sacrilege!" Amethyst shouted. "Treason! The princess is our holy leader - infallible!"

"You and I both know she was once a lowly Inspector. A normal unicorn, with faults, problems, issues. Without power. You manipulated her and her magic for your own vile purposes!"

"Quite the accusation, Quota. Is there any evidence of this?"

A new voice entered the fray - calm, collected, and yet somehow heard by everpony around. "Oh, he has a few bits of evidence. A couple captured minglers who were surprisingly easy to crack; soldiers inside the castle who've seen things..." Amplify strode to the front of the crowd. "I myself testify that at the last mingler meeting, Fluttershy spoke."

Amethyst glared. "Your word means nothing, zebra."

Quota happened to agree. "Leave, terrorist, this doesn't concern you!"

"Oh, it doesn't, does it? But I have an important source for you!" He waved his hooves towards the crowd, signaling several of his earth pony followers. They carried into the front two ponies - one was a large red stallion and the other a tiny yellow filly. "May I present Applebloom and Big Macintosh."

Applejack gasped. "Oh no... you-"

"Stay back!" Rarity blurted, pulling Applejack away from the window. "They'll see you!"

Applejack bucked Rarity in the face. "Those are my family! Ah'm going out-"

Pinkie pulled out a net and grabbed Applejack, yelling in pain as her body was taxed by the use of her power.

"Let... Me... Go..."

The Inspector turned back to Applejack from the balcony, lowering her voice. "No. Don't," she said, tears in her eyes. She quickly turned back to the crowd.

Amplify grinned up at the Inspector. "Applejack's up there, isn't she? Oh, how wonderful, you must be having quite the time keeping her from busting out and giving me a mouthful!"

"Ah'm going to kill him..." Applejack said in a state of tranquil fury, still stuck in Pinkie's net, though no longer struggling.

Amethyst narrowed her eyes. "Amplify, what is the point of these two?"

"Oh, I think you know, you've been doing nothing but play dumb this entire conversation. But for those of you who don't know, this is all that remains of Applejack's family, the rest killed long ago for what they did. They know the deep inside of the Mingler's Society," he chuckled. "They trusted their fellow members not to reveal their hiding spot. How wrong they were." He nudged Applebloom. "Let's all hear, little filly, who spoke at the last meeting? Your sister, I know, an admirable performance. Who was the pegasus up with her?"

Applebloom said nothing.

"Just give me a name, little one. Who was it? Who spoke? Oh come now, little Applebloom... just remember their names... NAMES!"

Applebloom paled. "...Applebloom..."

"NAMES FILLY!" Amplify shouted, his voice no longer resembling that of a pony or any living creature.

"Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy!" Applebloom screamed, the ululations coming from her mouth unnatural.

"Rarity?" Amplify raised an eyebrow. "Well, well, how damning. An Inspector among them! The very one standing beside our General up there! Oh, how... How... Perfect." He grinned. "And many of you may think 'oh, she just admitted that out of fear.' Which is where Big Mac comes in..."

Amplify strode over to the red stallion, his smirk growing as he did so. "All you need to do is tell me the names of some or your leaders, those that would have spoken at last night's meeting. Different ones than the poor, little Applebloom said - that is, assuming Inspector Rarity wasn't one of them..."

"...Firefly. Moondancer."

"Huh. Clever, clever response Big Mac. Almost as if it was practiced, planned. But, you see, we have Firefly here with us." A pink pegasus was tossed before Amplify. "If you're really a leader, you will be able to describe certain things to us. It won't even require a betrayal!" He laughed. "How many official members do you have?"

"11,721, worldwide." the Inspector whispered under her breath.

Firefly said nothing, not knowing the answer, or even an estimate.

"And furthermore..." Amplify took a white butterfly hairclip out of his pocket. "Why would you model your symbol of mingling, this artifact here, after Fluttershy's cutie mark if she weren't involved?"

Quota grinned - he evidentially liked where Amplify was going with this. "Indeed! Why would it!? There's no hiding anymore, Amethyst! You're out in the open! Your Inspector has been called out, Fluttershy has been damned, and you are standing by them! What do you say? Or... Perhaps we should be asking Rarity?"

The crowd roared, ready to burst, ready to storm the castle - overthrow the corruption.

The Inspector took a breath - they'd been made out. "I'm going to try it," she told Amethyst.

Amethyst slowly nodded - and took a few steps back.

The Inspector walked to the very edge of the balcony, removing her monocle. She stood up on her hind hooves, placing her front on the railing for support. "Do you have any idea what we've done for you!? Do you!?"

"Does it matter?" Quota retorted.

"This town would have been purged long ago if it wasn't for us!" The Inspector slammed a hoof down. "I almost ordered it myself, just before Twilight's coronation! You would all be dead if we hadn't defied the rules! This place was too important! And we've done more than simply let you enjoy your lives - ever since Twilight has been a princess, all your lives have improved! The Death rate is at an all time low! We have the largest mixed population in the country! Our economy is booming! Ponies are safe! And here's a little secret - Princess Twilight Sparkle has been a member of our Society since she was a unicorn. She was one before I was! We haven't brainwashed her - she agreed with us and offered her magic! You can't deny that your lives are all better because of her and what she's done! She's the one who convinced me not to order the purge all those years ago!" The Inspector huffed. "Look what we've done for you! Look at it! This town wouldn't exist without us!"

Quota let out a soft chuckle. "You know what, you're right. Perhaps we are better off because of what she's done. But you try to take it too far. Unity? Don't make me laugh! That isn't the way things are supposed to be! There is a fundamental physical inequality. To change that is to upset nature itself!"

The Inspector growled. "Fine. If that's what you think. It's wrong, it's so wrong. Ponies die because of it. You cull earths, and they kill unicorns in retaliation. And then you fight back, and the system allows it."

Quota laughed. "Not here! Not in this town! We have a natural separation here, and as you said, death rates are down! Our town is exactly where it needs to be!"

"The only reason that happens is because all the Inspectors are with us! All of them!"

"That's impossible! They're all appointed by the Sisters themselves! They'd have to specifically be chosen for..." A look of horror crossed Quota's face.

A slow smirk crept up the Inspector's. She said nothing.

"...I think we need to discuss this..." Quota said, suddenly very nervous. "Honestly. And... carefully."

"Of course," the Inspector said. "Soon as we think it's safe to open the doors."

"Yes... Yes... Everypony, disband, go home! We'll sort this out, for all you ponies. We'll... Figure out how deep this goes."

Farundael looked at Quota. "But..."

"Farundael, just do it, we're on extremely dangerous ground..."

Pinkie and Rarity exchanged glances - Quota was backing down. Without him, an official authority figure, the mob would lose its spearhead... This could be salvaged.

"Cowards!" Amplify yelled. "Cowards, all of you! Sine when has peace accomplished anything? Since when has letting them talk it out ever helped you? SINCE WHEN!? It let a conspiracy form around you! We cannot let this stand! We will take them down and charge this castle!"

Nopony moved. Amplify grit his teeth - so close. So... Close... But he was still a zebra. They wouldn't listen to him.

The Inspector saw something flash out of the corner of her eye - something pink had leaped overtop of the crowd, too fast for most to notice or care about, landing somewhere out of the Inspector's line of sight. She narrowed her eyes - something was up.

And then there was an explosion. The explosion engulfed much of the gathered crowd, vaporizing ponies with little effort. Amplify used his shadows to protect himself, while Quota used magic for himself and Farundael. Applebloom and Big Mac received no such protection. They didn't even have time to scream. The energy cleared, leaving a circular imprint of charcoal. Dozens of ponies burnt to piles of ash in a single, uncaring instant.

Amplify was dumbfounded, Quota as well. Applejack screamed, her yells heard easily over the shocked silence of the crowd, the sound of somepony who was suddenly alone. Torn from the last connections of family she had protected dutifully over the years. Forced to remember the other losses all in one moment. Time stopped for everypony in that moment. It had all seemed to happen without warning, without reason, without direction...

Rarity and Pinkie couldn't believe what they'd just seen. Someone had just blown up several dozen ponies... Who? Why? What was the point?

Amethyst broke the spell with a single word. She recognized the type of explosion. "Concretes..."

Somepony in the crowd launched a magic bolt. Then somepony else fired back without thinking. More bolts shot out in retaliation. Hooves went flying, wings flapped madly, and soldiers raised their weapons. All hell broke loose - the mob moved forward, rushing the gates in a mad, scared fury. They had no organization - they simply moved, fighting amongst themselves in panic, following the path they were set on. The soldiers guarding the castle blasted whoever they could with their magic lasers, trying to subdue, but often killing. The soldiers and Inspectors within the mob only served to aggravate it more with their pointless attempts to subdue the madness.

Civil War had broken out because of a lone Concrete bomb.

Amplify laughed. "YES!!!!"

Quota stared at him in disbelief. "Are you mad?!"

"YES!"

Rarity and Amethyst leaped back into the meeting room. "Okay! We failed!" Amethyst yelled. "Retreat!"

"Where!?" Rainbow Dash blurted. "We're surrounded!"

"We've got an underground passage to a secret safe house," Amethyst said. "From there we'll head to Nova. Sunset will protect us."

"Applebloom..." Applejack muttered. "Big Mac..."

Rainbow Dash wheeled up to Applejack and dragged the earth pony onto her lap. The Inspector rushed to steady Applejack as well. "Let's move!" she called, reaffixing her monocle with a graceful swipe of her hoof.

Amethyst turned to the Commanders and Inspectors in the room. "Save as many as you can!"

"Yes sir!"

Amethyst saluted to her loyal ponies. "Time to move! Basement!" She galloped off. The Inspector rushed Rainbow and Applejack down the hallway after her. Pinkie and Rarity ran close behind - Pinkie still forcing herself through her pain. Tears started to drop from her face, the pain was so much. She needed to heal...

Rarity couldn't believe what was happening. Just a few days ago she was working in a shop, making hats and dresses. And now here she was, in a castle that was being attacked by what were essentially her neighbors. To Pinkie, it was just a larger version of the mob at Cartwheel, except now every time she moved she felt the need to scream.

She was running.

She was constantly wincing to herself, letting out pained cries every few moments.

They heard tremendous explosions around them - presumably from stronger unicorns unleashing explosive spells. Ceilings started to cave in and the floor cracked beneath their hooves. The entire castle shook with an even larger explosion a few seconds later, destroying the floor beneath them and depositing them on the floor below.

"Shit!" Amethyst yelled. "They're gatesmashing!"

"What!?" Rarity yelled.

"Some soldiers have some... Architecturally devastating spells. Quota must have had a few in his mob... We have to move faster." She picked up Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash in her powerful telekinesis. "It has to be this way you three."

"Not complaining!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, sweet embrace of stillness..." Pinkie moaned.

Amethyst took off again, the Inspector and Rarity flanking her on either side. They ran through the halls, windows exploding around them in showers of magic, revealing the intense chaos outside. The mob had lost much of its force, large portions fighting each other instead of focusing on the castle, though there were still enough focused on their spells that the walls were crumbling down around them.

They could hear Amplify laughing, even after they took the stairs to the basement. His dark, unnatural voice disturbed them all.

"Up ahead!" Amethyst yelled. "That door!"

"Right!" Rarity said, charging towards the unassuming wooden door at the end of the hallway. "Almost-"

Something exploded behind them. They were tossed towards the door as the ceiling behind them collapsed, depositing a single form into the basement. It was pink and shaped like a pony, but it was much larger. The four legs were covered in bright metal, the body lined with lights, lasers, guns, and a large assortment of other weapons and devices. The tail was encased in a pristine accordion casing, and the helmet had a blue visor alongside numerous antennae coming out the back. Currently, the helmet was off - held in the mechanical front hoof, revealing a flesh-and-blood pony inside. It was a mare with a pink coat and a straight mane of a darker shade. Her eyes were piercing blue and she looked mad. "Tôbrôwaxan yectol êew dictlyhte."

"Concrete!" Amethyst screamed, dropping everyone she was carrying in an instant.

"Diane..." the Inspector said, aghast, unable to move as the Concrete put her helmet back on.

"Diane saxagu. Asoctaxan duguð burtum, vaxan flêvaxan hêl."

Amethyst wasted no further time, surrounding Diane in dozens of magical sawblade constructs, ordering them to mince the Concrete into dozens of pieces. Diane pulled a metallic pair of swords from her back and cut through each construct with ease.

The Inspector acted next, attempting a simple laser spell - which was reflected right back at her by the swords. She barely dodged her own attack.

"Go!" Amethyst yelled. "There's nothing you can do against her!"

"Maybe not them! But I can!" Pinkie yelled, pulling a giant squeaky hammer out of her mane and slapping Diane as if she were a golf ball. The armor was unable to absorb the blow, flying into a nearby wall.

Pinkie roared in equal amounts triumph and pain. Diane simply stood up from the nearby wall's wreckage. "You," she said, pointing at Pinkie and speaking with a dry accent. "You are fascinating."

"And you're me," Pinkie said.

"In a way," Diane paused for a moment. "Come with me and I let them go. Even the Raritys."

"What!?" Amethyst blurted. The Inspector looked just as surprised.

Pinkie lowered her hammer. "...Would you take me back to the Concretion?"

"That would remove your powers," Diane said. "So, no. You'll be kept at an external site. You will be well cared for, by the standards of Equestria anyway. I don't know about your home's standards. You will be kept as a rare specimen. Anything your powers couldn't provide, we could give you."

"Don't trust her!" the Inspector yelled. "She's lying!"

"Don't go, Pinkie," Rarity said.

Pinkie nodded. "Whatever you say, Rarity."

Realizing further negotiation was pointless, Diane tossed a bomb out of her side hatch, Amethyst barely managing to deflect the sphere before it exploded. Pinkie produced a giant saw and charged Diane with it, stumbling as she did so. She could only ignore so much pain, even in a situation like this...

"Eewol elðaxanc cynick hûsc n¯ævaxan êewol hîwr¯æcaxan," Diane said, shooting the saw out of Pinkie's hooves with a side-mounted gun. She attempted to riddle Pinkie with bullets, but Pinkie dodged each and every one, arriving at Diane and giving her a sock across the face, cracking the shining blue visor. Pinkie pulled out an anvil and tossed it, smashing Diane into a wall.

"Amazing job Pinkie!" Amethyst yelled, encasing Diane and the anvil in crystal.

Pinkie winced. "Not... Really..." Blood began to drip from a reopened wound in her back. "Gah... This was a bad idea..."

The crystal Diane was encased in shattered into dozens of pieces. The Concrete stepped out of the shards, retracting the mechanical poles that had forced the crystal apart.

"Run!" Amethyst shouted. "For real this time!"

Pinkie didn't argue again, leaping through the door, the other ponies surging in behind her.

The Inspector gave one last salute to Amethyst before leaving as well.

Diane tried to jump over Amethyst only to have a magical hand grab her and throw her into the rubble again. "No. You. Don't." Amethyst spat.

"I am more advanced than you."

"And I've trained my entire life specifically to fight you cheating Concretes. And I don't have to win, either. I just have to keep you busy."

"Fucking accas!" Diane yelled, arming her missile launchers, only to have the rockets explode in her face. Unfazed, she fired dozens of intense pink lasers at Amethyst, who bent their paths into the ceiling above them, loosening more stone. She lit her horn, her eyes replaced with powerful orbs of light. Seventeen pillars of magic filled the area. "Deal with this, you slab."

Explosions shook the tunnel Rarity and the others were traveling through, knocking dirt into all their faces. Rarity gulped. "She's... She's not going to make it is she?"

"I don't know," the Inspector said. "The strength of an advanced Concrete in full armor is not exactly something we've ever tested fighting... I know the General is exceptionally skilled in magic, but I don't know the capabilities of Diane..."

Applejack started screaming suddenly. "She did it! The bucking Concrete! She did it! She killed them! LET ME AT HER YOU BASTARDS!"

"Applejack! Stop it!" the Inspector shouted. "We need you here! We need to get out! Okay? Okay!?"

"They were all I had left Rarity! Ah think Ah've had enough of letting those who kill mah family off the hook!"

The Inspector dropped Applejack, aghast.

Applejack slapped her hoof to her mouth. "Ah... Uh... Ah didn't..."

The inspector gagged, struggling to keep herself composed. "I-I... T-thought..."

"Stop it!" Rarity yelled. "We need to move! Now! Usually, I'm all for resolving deep personal conflicts but we are out of time!" She ran down the tunnel. "Come on!"

"You heard her!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Run down the damn tunnel, runting rooters! Your life literally depends on it!"

The Inspector nodded. "Yes! Right! Flee!" She grabbed Pinkie with her telekinesis. "How are you doing?"

"Pain... I'll live..."

"Good," she set Pinkie on Applejack's back. Applejack nodded slowly, taking off after Rarity shortly thereafter. The tunnel was long and dark, lit only by the horns of the white unicorns. They heard explosions every few seconds from behind them - but they sounded further and further away with every second, until they were drowned out by the thundering of the Falls. Eventually, the long dusty tunnel began to slope upwards, ending at a trap door. Rarity flung it open, coughing from the upturned dust. She helped Rainbow Dash up. The other three arrived shortly thereafter, pulling themselves up.

Rarity looked outside the safe house through a window slit. "Street seems abandoned."

The Inspector looked through her monocle. "There are some ponies out there, but very few. They're hiding in their homes."

"Okay. Good." Rarity bit her lip. "Where to now?"

"We get out of town," Applejack said, shaking, but holding herself together. "With all this chaos, we should be able to sneak out easily. Just need to check in with a sect and we're free..." She trailed off, looking at the ground, vacant.

The Inspector put a hoof on her, saying nothing.

"Well, hop to it then!" Pinkie yelled. "Somepony's bound to find us eventually if we don't move!"

"How right you are..." In a burst of shadowy energy, Amplify appeared between them all. He trapped all five of them in a shadowy grip. "Really clever, the lot of you almost made it out."

"How did you-" the Inspector began, but was cut off when the shadows around her tightened.

"-know where this was?" Amplify chuckled. "Simple. General Lemon can be surprisingly forthcoming with information when riled up. Now... How about I set an example with you?"

He completely encased the five of them in shadowy cocoons made of ever-decaying and rebirthing vines. He dragged them, blind, through Neighagra Falls, squeezing them just because he could. "Make way! Make way! Look what I haaaaave!"

He stood once again in front of the castle - this time at the back of the mob. Quota and Farundael were still there, staring at the still-collapsing castle. Amplify dumped the ponies out on the ground, Rainbow Dash's wheelchair snapping in two in the fall. "Oh, look, An Inspector, a disabled preener, Applejack, a lying unicorn, and a bucker disguised as a unicorn." He snarled. "HAVE AT THEM, PONIES OF NEIGHAGRA FALLS!"

Enough of the mob took notice of Amplify's distinctive voice - and charged at the ponies, ready for blood. The mares entered a five-way group hug.

"It was nice knowin' y'all!" Applejack said.

"I'm so glad I got to see some goodness in this world!" Rarity blurted.

Pinkie just cried. Rainbow Dash said nothing.

The Inspector looked right at Amplify, her monocle shining in the sunlight. "You. You are going to regret this."

"This is what I wanted the whole time," Amplify smirked, taking a few steps back so the incoming mob would have room to do their dirty work. "I have no regrets now."

A pegasus was in the front of the mob, mere inches away from impact...

...When everything went purple.

"Somepony better have a really good explanation as to what the heck is going on here!" Twilight Sparkle boomed. Her magic was on full display, body glowing, mane sparkling, eyes intense.

The mob stopped moving in a single instant, the sight of their princess shocking them out of it.

"Oh thank Celestia's Fire..." Rainbow Dash said in relief.

Fluttershy descended from the sky, landing next to Twilight while Minuette simply teleported down. Rarity noticed that they both looked... different. Fluttershy's breathing was slightly nervous, her ear twitching involuntarily. Minuette looked baffled by what she was seeing and was openly terrified.

Amplify stamped a hoof. "The ponies know what you've done. Your conditioning. Your conspiracies. Your mingling. How you're in the pocket of the Mingler's society. How they control you."

"Not... anymore," Twilight said, nervously. "I... I saw some things in the Crystal Empire. Terrible, horrid, and uh... pretty bad messed up things. Yeah." She smiled awkwardly, returning to her default alicorn form. "I... I decided I was done."

Amplify blinked. "...What?"

"I'm done. Done with the mind... stuff. Done with the... lies. Cheating. Yeah. Right. It was corrupting the very thing I wanted. Harmony."

The crowd was obviously confused.

Fluttershy sighed. "It's a complex situation, she-"

"No, Fluttershy, I need to say this. Not you, me." Twilight nervously glanced around. "I... admittedly haven't really done this before. I always relied on my magic to know what to say. Fluttershy had such a way with words, Rarity too. Not so much Rainbow Dash..."

"Gee, thanks," Rainbow Dash muttered.

"You're welcome," Twilight said. "I... I've been living a lie. It's time for that to end. I... Er... Well, I was going to come back, tell everypony I had brokered an alliance with the Crystal Empire, and then just simply stop with all the mind magic. That was the plaaaaaaan... But since it appears everything has gone to the dogs while I was gone, I suppose I might as well come clean. I have done wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong things. I've changed the memories of all who stood in the way of my friends and I. Quota over there was the one I had to change the most times. You were such a problem. I mean really, you figured it out sixteen times Quota. Who does that?"

Quota was understandably speechless about this revelation.

"I did a lot of other things. I walked around reading the minds of every pony I saw. It told me what they thought, felt, and uh... thought. Yeah. I based almost everything I ever said off of that. My friends learned not to mind, eventually. But I could justify it by working for Harmony... The phrase is, I think, the 'ends justify the means.' They don't. They really don't. For then we become no better than Sombra..."

"Twilight..." Fluttershy called.

"I'm not done, Flutters. Basically, what I'm saying is I've been doing this wrong. I'm not really cut out for leadership. Even before I was coronated, I was following Fluttershy, and even Applejack. I did what I could, and believed in a better future. I don't deserve to be your princess. Maybe they do, but not me. That said... Look at this place." She gestures wide with her hoof and spread her wings. "These buildings are nice! Those falls are cool! We don't kill each other here! The purge is a distant memory! We are safe! And the food's better even! Where else has two Hayburgers? Nowhere! Canterlot's just too stuck up for that kind of thing! You can't deny - we've done better. A lot better, since, you know, I started 'ruling.' It wasn't really me though."

She smiled. "Basically, what I'm trying to say is... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lied to all of you. I'm sorry I did these bad things. I was trying to protect you. To achieve the harmony we had in our ancient past, where we were free... That's... That's all I want. I see beauty in day to day life. I don't care if it isn't me who does it, or if I have to be shot out of the sky to do it. I just want it to happen. I guess... I'm not sure what else to say. Sorry again? Look around, look at yourselves - acting as one? Let's talk about..." She turned around to her friends. "...You know what? I know. These ponies, all of them, are my closest friends. They are the kindest, most loyal, most generous, most honest, funniest, and most determined ponies you will ever see. Some have seen a world of harmony firsthoof. Others just... Just spend their entire lives fighting for it." Twilight beamed at her friends. "Come on girls. Say something."

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said, removing her horn somehow. "I can throw a party for all of you!"

"I am Rainbow Buckin' Dash! I lost a fight with a zebra. I suck."

"Ah'm Applejack, and Ah uh... well you probably know me."

The Inspector hugged her. "They don't know you, Applejack. They see a revolutionary. They don't see a great mare who would do anything for her friends... and... family..." The Inspector broke into tears. Applejack just hugged her back..

"I'm Rarity Belle," Rarity said. "A... Different mare from a different place. I owned a fashion store downtown, under the name Iris Shard. As... Odd as this place is, it was amazing to work here."

"I'm Minuette. A week ago I thought I knew everything. now I don't know anything at all! These mares know what's up folks!"

"And I am Fluttershy," Fluttershy stepped forward, spreading her wings. "I... You know what, screw the speech." She laughed, loosening her posture and stretching out her wings. "Hi. I like animals, vanilla pudding, acrobatic flying, and peace. I have issues just accepting things the way they are. I'm a huge idealist, like, really huge. I have a dream. I have a silly, stupid, unrealistic dream. A dream that children won't be killed for who they play with. A dream that we won't eat ourselves from the inside out. I... Have a dream. That maybe... Maybe it's time for a turning point."

Twilight smiled. "Master of words, right there." She clapped her hooves. "So, everypony, you're mad. You should be. But let's talk this out. There doesn't have to be more death and lies. The game is up." She extended her hoof. "Let's... see where we go from here...?" She smiled awkwardly.

Quota walked up to her and nodded. "That... Would be best, Princess." He extended his own hoof.

...But it never touched hers.

"Are you bucking serious!?" Farundael screeched. "No! Screw this, no!" She grabbed a loose blade off the ground. "I didn't go through all this shit just for things to change again! DIE!"

The mob reacted to this action - where before they had looked confused, sad, conflicted - now they were just angry again. They charged.

Twilight became crestfallen. Tears in her eyes, she lit her horn. "So be it."

In a flash of purple energy, she and her seven friends were gone. Quota stood there, frozen, as the mob charged around him. They didn't care that their target was gone. They didn't care that the castle was in ruins. Not anymore.

Amplify laughed. "I was worried there for a second!"

"You... What do you want? Really?" Quota asked.

As the ponies surged around the two of them, Amplify grinned. "I want you to destroy yourselves. To get the fate your stupid society deserves."

Quota yelled. "You'll doom us! The Concretes are going to win!"

"Shoulda thought of that before you organized a mob, General."

"I never intended violence! I just wanted leverage!"

Amplify laughed. "Mistake on your part!"

"The Concretes will come for you zebras eventually!" He yelled. "You're dooming yourself."

"Oh, they'll get what's coming to them eventually," Amplify said. "We're on it, trust me."

"I'd love to see you try to pull that off, striper." Diane fell from the sky, turning the mob from enraged to terrified in an instant. Her armor was damaged, battered, and smoking in a few places, but still fully operational.

Amplify paled. "...What!?" He took several steps back, raising some defensive dark vines. He knew exactly who stood before him, and he knew her power.

A shadow fell over them. Amplify and Quota looked up to see a giant ship composed of roughly fifty combat drones above them, ready to lay waste to Neighagra Falls. Amplify gulped. "No... This is supposed to spread! The mob can't end here! It must..." He saw Diane twitch.

He tried to react, but in one swift motion Diane lobbed off the zebra's head, his blood flying in a graceful arc over her mechanical suit. The zebra's unnatural voice could be heard, screaming in rage, slowly dissipating into nothing. He knew he was dead, but he screamed anyway.

"Whichelicaxar axaelich eb zo socect n¯ænig ple bôn êewol wherc n whercaxa elgirdo êewol wiðolbritaxa." Diane said, turning to Quota. "It means 'don't take your eyes off your opponent'."

Quota looked at the castle. Ruined. Quota looked at the city walls. Mostly unmanned. Quota looked at the hundreds of ponies around him, many of them soldiers that should have been protecting the city.

He generated a missile spell and aimed it at himself. Diane slapped him across the head, interrupting his spell. "I'm your execution." She drove her sword into his side, severing his spine while arcing the second sword to crack his horn. He screamed for a second, then fell motionless. She turned back to her radio. "Wiðolwinnaxa n¯ænig ple waxaporiaxan. Spirraxan ðeno axas fulhscîl."

Diane and the body of quota were scooped up into the ship. then bombs were dropped, bowing what was left of the castle into nothing, decimating dozens of nearby buildings in the process. The Falls themselves crumbled, the rainbows dissipating, the water diverting from its single course. The caverns collapsed and the walls fell to dust, the magic defenses torn to shreds before enough soldiers could fire them off.

Normally it would have taken weeks, even months to take down the stronghold that was Neighagra Falls.

It would only take a couple hours to completely subjugate it. The Concretes's timing had been perfect.

Far away, on a hill covered in trees, Twilight Sparkle watched her city burn. Tears flooded down her slack-jawed face. "I... I could have fixed that... I just... Needed to order them... I... I..."

Fluttershy put a hoof on her. "Twilight..."

"I should have listened to you."

Fluttershy nodded slowly, tears on her own face. "Yes... Yes, you should have." She hugged Twilight tight. "Oh, you really should have..."

The eight mares watched their city burn...

Comments

[Keywii_Cookies55]

Whelp.

[Crimson Dawn]

Both Pinkie's are a bad ass though I cannot wait to learn more of the mirror Pinkie.

Since Dash's chair is broken Pinkie should help her out. I could see her doing that.

I wonder what that language is and why mirror Pinkie is saying it.

We need more info on this new faction (or did I just miss it earlier?).

I was surprised that Amplify was eliminated so early and by not one of the heroes. I thought Amplify was going to stalk the heroes longer. This goes to show just how brutal mirror Pinkie is.

[GMBlackjack]

8294340

Which faction? The Zebras or the Concretes?

The Concretes have been an ever-present force for quite sometime.

The Zebras are just barely being hinted at, though Amplify's bene a presence for several chapters,

-GM, master of commentus.

[BleedingRaindrops]

Really can't wait to see what Diane actually wants. I feel like Twilight should just talk to her.

Fluttershy, you're too cold. As a battle commander, you're useful, but you're the sort of politician who can only breed corruption. Twilight was right, but Freedom isn't ever free.

As to proofreading:

I tee beauty in day to day life.

see*?

"I never intedned violence! I just wanted leverage!"

intended*

[BleedingRaindrops]

8294340
I felt that Amplify's execution was a prudent ending to Act 1. He was the foreshadowing the zebras needed, with just the right blend of mystery and persistence. I imagine they will become a less distant presence in Act 2, before emerging as a genuine problem for Twilight and Diane alike during Act 3. Furthermore, with how invincible and all powerful he's seemed, Amplify makes excellent perspective for just how cold, calculating, and powerful Diane is. We still know very little about her, but there are clear hints that she wants something, perhaps something that no one can see but her, or perhaps something so obvious it's been staring us in the face this whole time. Either way, she is a stalwart and unyielding adversary, fully aligned with her beliefs and her actions, whatever they may be.

If Amplify was the season 1 boss, Diane will be the final battle, and I look forward to the journey there.

[GMBlackjack]

8295123
Fun Fact: this was actually the end of ACT 2. ACT 1 ended when the group arrived in Neighagra Falls.

There will be 4 ACTs.

-GM, master of donuts.

[BleedingRaindrops]

8295206
Bah! Mid season arrival. This is most definitely the end of Act 1, at least that's how I'd have written it (and the pacing is certainly right for it). Regardless, I look forward to seeing how much of my prediction comes true.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

8295215

Blackjack does 'acts' differently than the rest of us, XD

[ferret]

Go ahead, believe that. Read on.

Huh. I never had an author actually convince me to stop reading their story before. Usually when they try, they're just underestimating their ability to tell a good story, but in this case... thanks for the warning, I guess? You might want to talk to a professional about some of your... issues.

[Silent_Knight]

You still think this can be salvaged?

That the heroes can save their carefully constructed web of lies?

Go ahead, believe that. Read on.

I pity you. <<

Nope the situation is well and royaly bucked.

Cant w8 to see how it goes tho

[DivinePanzer]

I wanna see Luna and Celestia die.

I don't care about this world.

About the only thing left I even somewhat want to know is...when did Wendigos learn subtly?