Chapter 16 (Original)
The Empty Room
Chapter 16
By Wanderer D
The dungeon under Canterlot Castle was well maintained. For the most part.
It was not damp; it was free of vermin; it had new doors outside of where the prisoners were (which were a bit rusty), dividing it into subsections... oddly enough there were small desks and file cabinets against the walls. And, now that Lyra took a good look at her “interrogators” most of them had the lanky look of office workers.
In fact, other than the guards who had roughed her up when they brought her here the “interrogators” and the one that Nightmare Moon had... dismissed... they were all a bunch of shy, polite, and friendly individuals.
They had given her lyre back to play before the Queen had come to speak to her, and later on had allowed Jade to give her a stack of papers after she left to get them under Nightmare Moon's orders without checking them. Not that any of them seemed eager to question the assassin's motives. When she had practiced they had sat down to listen to her play and even gave her a daisy sandwich just before her parents arrived.
She turned a wary eye to her mother.
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?” Lyra asked her mother. Truth be told she was barely paying attention to the elder mare, now that she had finished practicing, her mind went back to being preoccupied with the fate of Big Mac, Trixie, Spike and Soarin'. Now that she knew that Nightmare Moon was not a bad pony (the thought still baffled the mind) and that Applejack was going with them she felt a bit better about their chances. She had a half hour to think about things before they had been allowed into the dungeon.
“You know full well what I mean, young mare!” her mother snapped.
Lyra sighed. “Look, the reason I joined the rebels is complicated...”
“That's not what I meant!” her mother shrieked. “How could you, a Noble Unicorn that went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and then on to college here in Canterlot be a...” she struggled with saying the word. “... a fillyfooler!”
Lyra stared at her mother, father and brother. “Is that all you can ask right now?” she looked pleadingly at her father. “Is this really what is bothering you?” he looked away, and she felt her heart break. Her brother studiously kept his eyes on the floor.
“I'm about to be executed and you tell me that the thing that bothers you the most is that I like mares instead of colts?!” Lyra's voice was almost hysteric.
“I don't want you to die.” her brother said softly.
“Paper Craft!” their mother hissed.
“It's true!” he said looking up and flinching a bit, but not backing down. “So what if she likes fillies? I like fillies too!” he smiled uncertainly at Lyra, who was beaming at him.
“It's not as simple as that, dear.” her mother said.
“Delivery for the morgue!” a voice shouted, interrupting the conversation.
“It's open.” one of the ponies in the dungeon said. “Do you need help? Do you have an ID?”
“Nope.” a pair of earth ponies walked into their immediate sight, a stretcher held between them by harnesses and covered with a thick, gray cloth that covered most of the body under it. “We only got to her this quickly because somepony saw her jump from the balcony over the waterfalls and called the guard.”
One of the 'interrogators' shook his head. “What would drive somepony to do that?” he walked around the earth ponies and accidentally bumped one, shifting the stretcher and allowing a hoof to slide out.
Lyra's blood ran cold.
“Well, put her in the morgue, we'll find out who she is and...”
“Wait.” Lyra was aware that her mother had been ranting at her, but she hadn't been paying attention. Everypony stopped talking and looked at her.
The interrogator looked at her. “What is it, lady?” he asked. “We're really busy and...”
“Please... let me see her.”
The earth ponies bringing the stretcher and the interrogator exchanged looks. They really didn't know a the first thing about how to treat prisoners. There had been no need of the dungeon for more than five hundred years. It had really been nothing but a morgue up until Nightmare Flare had requisitioned it back into its former use.
“I don't think...” the earth pony began to say.
“Please! Please!” Lyra said, desperately. “Don't take her away, let me make sure...”
Comprehension and pity dawned in the faces of the earth ponies and the few interrogators around.
Without a word, the pony that had been about to take charge of the body nodded to the earth ponies.
They slowly made their way to Lyra. She barely noticed her mother making a face as she and her father stepped back, not wanting to be close to a dead pony.
“Are you sure, miss?” the earth pony at the front asked softly. “It's not a pretty sight.”
“I have to make sure...” Lyra said, looking at the hoof. Her horn started glowing softly as the cloth was lifted carefully. Her breath caught in her throat.
Seeing the look of recognition, the interrogator motioned for the earth ponies to lay the stretcher on the floor in front of the cell.
“Ugh.” her mother muttered. “Please take that away.”
“Get out.” Lyra said in a very calm voice. “Now.”
“Don't you talk to me like-” her mother started to say.
“I believe you have overstayed your welcome.” one of the interrogators said firmly. “The prisoner clearly does not want you here and all you are doing is making things worse for her.”
“How dare you...” Lyra's father growled, but the pair of earth ponies, freed from their harnesses stood in front of him.
“As a parent... I am appalled at what I have seen and heard from you two.” the interrogator continued, his voice cold. “Your daughter has clearly lost somepony important to her, and she faces a horrible fate in an hour and you... you question her love life.”
“You have no right to question us as...”
“Go away now, or I will call the guards and have them escort you out.” the interrogator snapped.
“I will have your job for this!” Lyra's father threatened.
“Bring it up with the Queen then. I'm sure she would love to hear your complaints.” the interrogator growled.
The unicorn huffed, but turned around and walked away, followed by his wife.
“I'm... I'm so sorry Lyra.” her brother said as he slowly turned around and followed them.
Lyra for her part didn't acknowledge any of them, her eyes were set on the pony before her. “Bon-Bon.”
“Come on boys.” the interrogator said after a moment to take note of the name. “Let's give her some time to grieve.”
The ponies slowly left her alone.
She felt... empty. She stared at the body before her, her mind racing but producing nothing in terms of coherent thoughts.
Then she slowly started to feel angry. “Oh, you coward.” she hissed at the tear covered face of her former lover. “You coward!” she shouted. “Why?! Why couldn't you have trusted me?! Why did you have to spill everything just because a stupid conceited unicorn decided to share gossip with us?!”
She paced back and forth inside her room, her eyes never leaving Bon-Bon's body. Her glare seemed to intensify every time a tear threatened to come out. “You stupid earth pony! Senseless!” she choked. “You always believed the most idiotic things!” she sniffed. “And when y-you get me in t-trouble...” she stopped and took a shuddering breath. “Y-you go ahead a-and...” she closed her eyes.
Her body trembled. “You moron! You selfish idiot! The last thing I will remember of you before they kill me is your empty eyes and your crushed body!”
She turned around, facing the wall, but her body kept shuffling nervously, her hoof scratched the floor, her ears twitched until she looked back and turned around again to face the silent body in front of her.
“Damn it, Bon-Bon.” she whispered. “Don't you know I love you?” she approached the bars until she pressed against them. “Don't you know that I would have wanted you to live? That I wanted to tell you that I forgave you, that it's normal to be scared even if you kind of jumped the bridle? Don't you know that I needed you here? I got my mom and dad... at least my brother came or everything would have been awful. But... why?”
She slid down to the floor, looking blankly at the dungeon. “I bought you chocolates.” she confessed. “I hid them in my room, I wanted to get you a flower, you know, since you were so nice to me about not getting the Gala gig.”
She looked down, her eyes slowly drifting to the mare lying cold next to her. Hesitantly, she stretched her arm out until her hoof touched Bon-Bon's cold one.
Lyra bit her lower lip as she closed her eyes and her body shook, tears forcing their way out.
The dungeons were quiet except for sobs and sniffing until a small chuckle emerged.
It was followed by another and another until Lyra laughed hard at the same time tears streamed down her face.
She kept laughing and laughing, unable to tear her gaze from Bon-Bon, until lack of air finally forced her to stop and take a long breath.
Slowly she picked up the lyre from the floor and started playing. The melody Nightmare Moon had given her was simple but powerful. And it had a secret to it, she could feel it from the very beginning, tugging at her magic and at her soul. With little practice she had not been able to do much with it, she didn't know what she was lacking, or what Nightmare Moon had planned by her learning it... but now, looking at the crushed form of her true love, she played sharply, not taking her eyes off of her... each note drawing power from her magic until...
o.0.o
“You called me, my Queen?” Spitfire asked, walking with her head lowered in submission into the private chambers of Queen Nightmare Flare.
“Indeed.” the Nightmare nodded then paced around the pegasus. “As you know already, given your skill and loyalty to me you are being named Captain of the Queen's Air Force... are you ready to accept the responsibilities that come with the rank and position?”
Spitfire blinked, she suddenly felt nervous. Why did she not like Nightmare Flare's tone? “Y-yes your Majesty. I can only hope to serve you with the best of my abilities.”
“That is good to hear.” Nightmare Flare said. “Be aware that there might be traitors amongst those closest to us.” Spitfire cranked an eyebrow at that, but the alicorn did not elaborate. “For now, step into the circle there.”
Spitfire noticed that there was a large magical-looking diagram on the floor of the room. It consisted of a large circle, where she was supposed to stand, and there were four smaller ones each pointing towards a cardinal point. Twilight Spark was finishing up drawing symbols on the outside of the circle while consulting a diagram floating next to her.
“Uh... your majesty?”
“I understand you are nervous, but you do trust me and owe me allegiance, don't you?”
Spitfire forced a smile. “Of... of course.” she nervously moved towards the circle.
“Watch it!” Twilight Spark warned. “If you scratch one of those with your hoofs you could implode! Twice!”
Spitfire gingerly lifted her hoof. “I uh... I...”
“Oh, don't worry your pretty head over it.” Twilight smiled. “Just fly on to the center of the circle.”
Feeling even more nervous, Spitfire did as she was told.
“I have decided that if you are going to be the Captain, you should have Lieutenants to help you.” Nightmare Flare said. “So I will bring back four of my most trusted to serve under you.”
“Y-you honor me, your majesty.”
Nightmare Flare smirked. “I do, indeed. But first...” her horn glowed softly and Spitfire felt something shift in place.
“No!”
She was about to reach up to grab the medallion that Nightmare Flare had levitated away from her, but her body was suddenly encased in energy, preventing her from moving. She turned to look desperately at Twilight Spark, who's horn was also alight. The unicorn smiled sweetly and shook her head slowly.
“This is interesting.” Nightmare Flare said as the medallion rotated in place in front of her. “It is tied to your soul. I can see the silver thread that goes from it to you. It is also ancient... and made with the essence that I need for this spell to work.” she looked at Spitfire with cold eyes. “It also has a compulsion spell in it, making you devoted to its cause... but that will change soon.”
She levitated the medallion and put it down a few feet away from Spitfire, in a smaller circle with lots of runes around it.
Spitfire tried to struggle, but Twilight's magic was too strong.
“Let us begin.” the alicorn declared as her horn flared with energy.
When the first pulse of energy reached the medallion Spitfire began screaming.
“Oh, don't worry!” Twilight Spark shouted over the screams. “It'll take less than an hour!”
Hidden behind a curtain, Spike looked in horror at the writhing former Wonderbolt as bubbles of energy seethed and popped in the smaller circles.
Behind him, the queen's crown jewels seemed to glitter as they reflected the light from the massive energies being released.
o.0.o
Azure eyes slowly filled with horror as the green surface of the gem-made mirror Silent Jade held showed her what was happening in Nightmare Flare's room.
She blinked and dove to the side, barely able to dodge a lightning bolt striking the spot where she had been sitting. She swirled around, facing an elder male unicorn with a cream coat dressed in white and red robes.
“Scrying inside the Castle, dear?” the unicorn asked. “Did you think we would not detect that?”
Jade narrowed her eyes. With swift motions she conveyed her message.
“Oh, I know who you are.” he said. “But I am under the orders of a higher being and I have been told to get rid of the vermin that have endeared themselves to the Queens.”
Jade's horn glowed as she levitated several objects and threw them at the mage, who simply let them bounce on his shield. “Is that and scrying the best magic you can perform?” he chuckled. “This will be easy. For a mage like myself, third in the order of Celestia, you are no challenge!”
Jade lowered herself a little, obviously ready to tackle him.
In a flash she was before him, but just as quickly, the unicorn teleported...
And appeared screaming behind her, through teary wide eyes he stared in horror at his front hoofs, severed by Jade's hidden blade at the elbow.
“It's true you might be better with magic than me, many ponies are. But few are better at fighting.” The assassin turned to face him, her horn glowing. His robes took a life of their own, stitches undoing, cloth rearranging until he was completely mummified in the expensive materials, unable to move or even scream anymore.
With a slight look of disgust, Jade levitated the severed limbs and wrapped them in extra cloth, before making her way to the barely struggling mage.
She concentrated and slowly a Council of Nightmares medallion could be seen between the folds of cloth. Frowning she slid it back under the folds.
“Some might see this as me doing you a favor.” She whispered to the mummified pony's ear, ignoring the muffled screams. “I hope you find freedom.”
Pulling his head back, her knife traced a deadly arc on his neck. The cloth absorbed the blood as she carefully lowered him down to the floor.
Looking around, she quickly dragged the body to a safer location. She had to run. She had to warn Nightmare Moon of what her sister was doing.
o.0.o
“So... you know what that thing is?” Soarin' asked after a few minutes of silence had passed.
They had covered Twilight's body with the cloak again, and the pegasus and the alicorn had stepped away to let the siblings deal with their loss. Applejack had gone to sit next to Big Macintosh and had cuddled up to her brother who provided a shoulder to cry on as he stared dismally at the egg-shaped ĉambro.
Nightmare Moon herself looked slightly down over the whole deal, something that Soarin' had some difficulty understanding. As far as he knew, Princess Luna had not had many friends and had kept mostly to herself and her sister since she had come back a year ago.
It was odd to see her so distraught over the death of a pony she couldn't have known that well. He sighed. Then again, Luna's life was such a mystery that she could have been dating the pony for all he knew.
“I do.” the alicorn said, looking towards Big Mac and the ‘egg’. “The ĉambro is an ancient artifact constructed out of pure magic. It is designed to only allow certain individuals to touch it, or if not completely specific ponies, then it will allow individuals that conform to certain standards.”
“So anypony could touch it?” Soarin’ asked. “Or just ghosts? Or just unicorns?”
Nightmare Moon nodded. “This one might allow only unicorns to touch it, but the standard was not met by Midnight, which resulted in his body being destroyed. Trixie did conform to it, so she was allowed in.” Nightmare Moon glanced at the dormant artifact. “Normally a great sacrifice is needed to create something like this, not necessarily a life, but something extremely important. One or more ponies might be involved in its creation... the more ponies involved, the more powerful it is. I... have never heard of one with this much power. I only got a glimpse of it before it retracted into its form, the rune shields around it would have been able to tell me what it was. But they are gone now.”
“Will Trixie be okay?” Soarin' asked, looking at Big Mac. He had known them for a little while, but he had liked them both, even after Trixie had scared the living daylights out of him with her hoof-through-the-head stunt. They made the cutest unlikely couple in his opinion.
“I don't know.” Nightmare Moon sighed. “Trixie was absorbed by one of the most powerful artifacts in Equestrian history, excluding of course the Elements of Harmony and a couple of other... items. I am not aware of how far her skills in magic went. If they are not strong enough, then she only has her will power to keep herself 'alive' or as alive as a ghost can be.”
“Well, she seemed to be studying the runes around here, that counts for something, right?” Soarin' said. “She had to know pretty decent magic for that right?”
“I'm afraid reading runes doesn't automatically grant you the ability to use them.” Nightmare Moon said. “Magic is complex. As far as I know from reports, Trixie specialized in illusions and magic strictly related to show business. Twilight Sparkle might have been able to do something with it, she was an exceptional mage. She sought to truly understand magic, and not only did she have an amazing amount of power, she had incredible skill with it, so much so that Luna asked her to help Celestia. ”
“You mean you asked her.” the pegasus pointed out.
Nightmare Moon glared at him. “We are different ponies.”
“Right.” the Wonderbolt cringed under the glare. “I um... I saw the egg thingie before it changed...”
“Do you remember anything interesting about it?”
“Well, other than bands of energy with some cutie marks and other symbols on them...”
“... Did you say 'Cutie Marks'?”
o.0.o
Misty and Blast flew freely over Canterlot for the first time since Blizzard had attacked Nightmare Moon. Their new Captain, Rainbow Dash, motioned for them to land in the Shadowbolt Barracks.
“I need to meet somepony.” Rainbow Dash informed them. “There's a pony down there that will tell you more of what's happening.”
The pair shared a look, and then nodded at her, following her instructions and banking down in perfect sync, making the cyan pegasus sigh with wishful thinking.
As she sped away, the pair made it to the barracks where the imposing figure of a fully-suited Shadowbolt looked at them.
“Um... hi.” Misty said.
The Shadowbolt cringed. “Hi... uh, follow me... I mean... if you want... that is...”
Blast resisted the urge to hug the Shadowbolt. “Sure! Come on, Misty. My name is Bolt, by the way.”
“Um... I'm... Fluttershy...” the pegasus leading them said. “Please sit down, I have some tea... If you want? You don't have to.”
“Are you really a Shadow-oof!” Misty glared at Blast, who had elbowed her.
“We'd love some tea.”
“Oh! Good!” the Shadowbolt smiled as she set down a three cups, one in front of the sulking Misty, the other in front of the bemused Blast and the last one for herself.
Fluttershy then proceeded to serve them their tea and offered them a tray with pastries. “Welcome to the Shadowbolts.” she said.
Misty slurped her tea, her eyes opening wide. “Wow. This is good!”
“I'm glad you liked it!” Fluttershy smiled, her voice gaining confidence. “It's my own brew. I grew the spices myself!”
“It is very soothing.” Blast agreed. “May I have a muffin?”
“Oh, please do.” Fluttershy offered the plate to Misty after Blast had taken one chocolate covered muffin for herself. “Would you like one too, Misty?”
The former Wonderbolt glared at the Muffins. The eclipse cast shadows and red light all around Equestria, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had been turned into evil versions of themselves, there was a mysterious cult working behind the scenes, Soarin' had joined the Rebel Alliance, one of their own was dead, everypony was mandated to attend an execution in an hour.
The guards hated the Shadowbolts. Ponies feared anypony related to the army, the Queens or even the climate.
Their lives in show business were probably over and they had been inducted into the Shadowbolts and had sworn allegiance to freaking Nightmare Moon based upon flimsy evidence presented by a former fanfilly, who was their new captain.
And here, in Shadowbolt HQ, they were being offered tea and muffins by a superior officer who had the meekest voice and the most inoffensive attitude from anypony she had ever met.
“Sure. I'll take one.” Misty sighed.
o.0.o
The Mayor looked at the ponies that had gathered for her last-minute town meeting. Most pegasi, including the guards, still looked shaken from their ordeal from several hours earlier after fighting Rainbow Dash. Many of them had admitted that they had severely underestimated the young pegasus. They had seen the Sonic Rainboom as something pretty, but not particularly useful other than to amaze... they had never experienced the extreme speed needed for it, or the effects of the aftershock when Dash pulled it off.
Still, thanks to Nightmare Moon, they had suffered no losses and little worse than headaches. A fact that the Mayor had kept quiet about. The earth ponies that had fought Jade sported bruises, bandages and in the case of the guard, casts. The unicorn had not been kind to them.
Everypony else had ran off in a panic after Dash had knocked out all her attackers and the feeling of shame at their cowardly act made them look guiltily at the ones that had suffered while fighting.
The Mayor herself had been about to bolt, had Nightmare Moon not stopped her forcefully. It brought her shame, but she couldn't bring herself to think she could have done something against those three. She was nothing more than an elder earth pony, after all. But she had felt even worse when she realized that they had almost trampled to death three fillies.
She sighed. It was time to speak. She brought her hoof down on the wooden floor to draw attention to herself.
Conversation slowly died as they all turned to face her.
“Now, I know you are all wondering why I called you here.” the Mayor said. “Needless to say, it has been a very stressful couple of days. But we need to decide what to do about our current situation.”
“We need to fight Nightmare Moon!” a pony shouted from the crowds drawing several mumbles of agreement.
The Mayor bit her lip. Then sighed again, resigned. “I don't think she's the problem.”
This drew gasps from the crowd, including incredulous stares from the guards and pegasi.
Undeterred, the light coated pony looked at them. “The reason all the pegasi are alive right now, is that Nightmare Moon caught you before you hit the ground. At the speed and height you were falling from... it would have been disastrous.”
Ponies started to argue amongst themselves and it took several clops on the floor before the attention went back to her.
“I hate to admit it, but Nightmare Moon behaved better than could be expected. We are the ones that attacked them.” the Mayor said, her eyes meeting with several ponies. “I don't like it. I remember what Nightmare Moon did a year ago, but this time... she, and for that matter Rainbow Dash and Jade, did not do anything other than defend themselves.”
“She's evil!”
“Rainbow Dash is a traitor!”
“The unicorn broke my left arm!”
“The unicorn,” the Mayor interrupted another shout. “actually dove in to save the Cutie Mark Crusaders from being crushed to death when most of the ponies here in this very hall stampeded away from Nightmare Moon.”
A brown female pegasus spoke up. “Is Scootaloo okay?” she asked.
“She was fine. She's probably at the Apple Farm right now.” The Mayor said. “But that's not the point... the point is that Nightmare Moon, as bad as she was before, Rainbow Dash and the unicorn, Jade, did not act like villains. And since she is now apparently the Queen, along with somepony called Nightmare Flare we need to decide now how we are going to deal with Canterlot. Are we going to submit or fight? But whatever we decide, we have to remember that things might not be as black and white as we once thought.”
At that moment the doors to the hall were pushed open, revealing two ponies covered in dark cloaks.
Nervously, the ponies of Ponyville stepped back allowing the pair to walk calmly up to the Mayor.
“I think I can help with that!” the foremost pony said.
Her voice made Mr. and Mrs. Cake jump. “Pinkie Pie?!”
“Surprise!” the hyperactive mare shouted, drawing back her hood and revealing her pink, fluffy hair in all its glory, followed by two balloons and streamers. “So, I think we were all talking about Black Snooty!?”
“Beware, Little Pony, that you do not offend, that who's image you are trying to mend.” the other cloaked pony said, pushing back the hood to reveal the black and white strips of a zebra.
“Oh, don't be silly-willy, Zecora! Black Snooty and I go waaay back, well, a year, but that's longer than most ponies here.”
“B-but, I thought you were in Canterlot?” Mr. Cake asked.
“And now I'm here!” Pinkie Pie shouted with glee, bouncing around Mr. Cake. “Isn't it amazing?! I was sent to the moon! And then I got sent to the Everfree Forest! And then I met Zecora and I explained everything to her and...”
“Perhaps it's time, to explain things further,
as I can see on some ponies here;
they have the eyes for murder.” Zecora said grimly, looking steadily at one of the guards until he looked down, unable to hold her gaze.
“Right!” Pinkie Pie said, jumping up to stand next to the Mayor. “Okay! Listen up everypony, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need us! And to help them we have a plan!”
When some ponies started muttering between themselves, Zecora jumped onto the podium and brought her hoofs down hard, drawing everypony's attention.
“Listen well, ponies! Listen well!
What the Element of Laughter has to say!
We all need to trust and work and anger quell,
Unless we want this eclipse to stay.”
The murmurs died completely as the reluctant ponies relented and listened to the pair.
o.0.o
Rainbow Dash stood at the top of one of the tallest peaks around Canterlot. Down bellow, she could see the castle and the city, in the distance, she could make out Ponyville and further away Manehatan's lights were bright enough to be visible even with the weird lighting from the eclipse.
Down in Canterlot, Fluttershy would be talking to Misty and Blast, Nightmare Moon would be plotting something, Applejack would still be hating her, Twilight would be pulling some sort of crazy stunt to get under the farmer's tail and Lyra would be dealing with her execution...
In Ponyville, Pinkie Pie should be about to carefully contact ponies that would be sympathetic to their cause, and as far as she knew, Rarity would be doing the same with the Diamond Dogs.
She did wonder what was the point. From her exposure to the Council of Nightmares Medallion, she knew that the Guardian would be aware of their actions by now and planning to destroy them. He could manipulate Nightmare Flare and possibly even Nightmare Moon. They were up against ancient beings of unimaginable power. No single pony, or even an army could stand against Celestia if the Princess had decided to use her full powers. Nightmare Flare would most likely be less forgiving, and if Nightmare Moon was not able to stop her.
She sighed.
“What's the problem, Dashie?” a voice asked from behind her. “You seem down. Nice uniform, by the way.”
The pegasus smiled as she turned around to face Gilda. “I thought you wouldn't make it.”
The griffin snorted. “After Kung-Fu Pony gave me the blasted letter I couldn't avoid reading it.” she was silent for a moment. “You really mean what you wrote?” she asked, rubbing her elbow with a claw as she looked down uncertainly.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “I... I've been taking a lot of hits recently, Gilda.” she sighed, sitting down on the mountaintop. “Just about everypony thinks I've gone evil because I'm on Nightmare Moon's side.”
“Yeah.” Gilda looked at Dash with a strained smile. “About that...”
The rainbow-maned pegasus groaned. “Not you too!”
“You have to admit it is weirder than you hanging out with those dorks.”
Rainbow Dash glared at her and the griffin smiled sheepishly. “Okay, sorry.”
The pegasus sighed. “What I wrote is true, Gilda. I do feel that I let you go too easily, I was not a good friend in that sense... you acted like an asshole, there's no denying that, but I just let you go and didn't even try to talk things over until now.”
“Dashie, you know that you are the only pegasus I respect. The only pony I respect.” Gilda said walking up to sit down next to her. “It's very rare for a griffon to befriend a pony of any kind. You remember how the flight camp was set out, it was two camps, one for pegasi, one for griffons. We don't really get along, we wouldn't even tolerate each other if we were not forced to go to those camps.”'
Rainbow Dash nodded, looking at Gilda steadily.
The griffon coughed. “I had a hard time accepting that I was supposed to share my sky with pegasi. When I met you, I thought I understood why it could be so... we were the coolest pair in all of the camp! But... the other pegasi were not like you.”
“The other griffons were not like you either.”
“Of course not,” Gilda smirked. “I'm the best!”
Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“Anyway, when I met your other friends... well, they are simply not cool enough for my Dashie.” Gilda confessed. “I was jealous... I am jealous of them. They have you all the time, and when I was visiting they still wanted you to hang out with them.” she started to scratch the soft ground with a claw. “And when the whole party with the practical jokes happened... I know I had been cruel and petty, I'm too proud to deny the fact that I was doing wrong but... I just felt betrayed when I found out you had planned the jokes.”
“I didn't know you would be the victim of all of them.” Rainbow Dash said softly.
“I brought it upon myself.” the griffon said. “I don't hate your friends... I think the pink one was actually growing on me for a while, but I... it's really hard for me to make pony friends... it's not personal.”
“I'm sorry I let you go just like that, Gilda.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “I knew it wouldn't be easy for you to adapt to them, they all live on the ground, even the other pegasus.” she chuckled. “And I think our friendship is worth more than a single fight. Actually, I know it is, one hundred percent sure of it. I should have sought you out...”
“... I should have come back.”
They stopped and chuckled together.
They remained in comfortable silence, past grievances forgiven, until Gilda looked back to the pegasus. “Dashie... your letter... it felt like you wanted to say goodbye.”
Rainbow Dash looked down towards the castle. “I am.”
Gilda's eyes widened. “What?! Why?”
Dash sighed. “There's too much going on, there's a storm coming... I don't know if my wings will pull me through.” the pegasus shook her head. “Gilda... you have been my friend for a long time, I love you like a sister. I couldn't ask for a more loyal and strong willed friend. I would never consider a wingpony over my one griffon.”
“Dashie...” Gilda whispered, moved to tears.
“This is the side I so wanted my friends to see! The Gilda that was there for me when I thought I couldn't handle the camp, the Gilda that challenged me every day to be a better flier, the Gilda that would be there for her friends, confident smirk, caring eyes.” Rainbow Dash whispered fervently as she hugged her friend. “I couldn't let things end up like that between us!”
Gilda couldn’t understand why her friend felt her world was about to end. “Why is this... do you need help?”
Rainbow Dash looked deep into her friends' eyes. “Don't... please, just say you forgive me for letting you just go and not trying to sort things out between us until now... I know I asked you to come all the way here just to basically send you back home, but I needed to say this. Face to face.”
Gilda smiled. “Only if you forgive me for acting like that around your friends.”
Rainbow Dash's lips quivered as she held her friend close, not noticing as she did that the griffon's smile faded to be replaced by a resolute look.
o.0.o End Chapter 16 o.0.o
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Thank you all for reading! Don’t forget to leave complaints/comments/remarks/praises/notes or theories!
As always, thanks to my dependable editor Stephen Cawking who makes this story better every time he grabs a metaphorical red pen and goes at it. You’re awesome, dude.
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1276 It needed to be done
a headache and some lack of sleep is a small prize when all the good these people are doing is brought to light.
1278 Done!
1279 Thank you, and I am honored and deeply moved that my story had such an impact.
Really good chapter. I can't wait to find out what they all have planned, but I'm sure it will be something good. Also, that cliffhanger was quite nice as well.
Lyra's parents are assholes. Straight up.
when i saw that you updated i literally gasped and smiled like a small child in a candy store. Epic chapter. Loved every scene!
Another great chapter, at the end to the first part of the story where Lyra was playing Nightmare Moon's song, when you cut it off at "until..." all I could think was "son of a bitch, I think I know where this is going" but, I have to wait now =/ good work ^-^
Great, another chapter of my favorite fanfic keeping me awake at 4:30 in the morning. What could be better?
But on topic, I was in tears at the end from everything that was happening. I just can't believe what Bon-Bon did..... I've heard the nice Gilda story before, so that wasn't as much of a shock, but Bon-Bon put me in tears while reading that segment. Keep up the good work!
Great chapter....I especially liked Gilda's off-hand call-back to the mistress of Muffin-Fu.
hmm I wonder how twilight will react when she sees twilight
This chapter seemed a lot shorter than all of the others, even though it's the longest one yet.
Emotional and dark and yet just ridiculous enough to keep it pony.
This is just what I like in a fanfic, and what keeps me coming back.
Good work!
(And could the Doctor be one of the ponies Pinkie is discreetly contacting? That would make my summer.)
All I can say is...
MOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR.
I'm glad you've acknowledged the sheer absurdity of some of this, backs a load off the critic's catapult at the very least. *jk*
Anyways, nice continuation. I'm quite curious as to what the song's role in this is. It seems like an important yet somewhat stealthy addition to the story (unless of course I'm neglecting a prior mention of it). I'm honestly hoping to see double Twilight (what does it mean? *smacks self* sorry, involuntary reflex) sometime...if only for the value of shenanigans. (also, really really hoping for a (probably bizarre) resurrection for Trixie...wondering if she'll get a scene akin to the collective unconscious bit from "Memories of Days Long Past" as well)
Oh dear, you've gone and made me loathe an incidental OC...two of them in fact. Lyra's parents are cut from the cloth of the douche most high, are they not? Good to see her brother has the good sense to have a conscience. Can't say I'm quite as moved by Bon-Bon's corpse as some of the other commenters. It works, but I fear that their scene time may have been all too fleeting in the end. At least too fleeting for me to feel attached.
Scene with Gilda worked, but I'm wondering the purpose (almost feels like an overextension of the story if she doesn't have further purpose, though it seems that she will) of her inclusion.
Overall, this all worked pretty well. Enough threads are created and left incomplete that I shall be eagerly awaiting the next bit, and enough threads are continued that it feels consequential. Nice job at any rate. (I will say that you might want to watch your dialogue a bit more closely, though. Some characters have taken to speaking somewhat unnaturally (and I don't mean Zecora))
1361 My current bets are for Trixie, Twilight and Jade. Probably not in that order.
1250 So, if you want to help that would be cool, do you have an email address?
Stephen and I are looking for an extra Editor/Pre-Reader if you would like the job
please PM me and let me know about it!
's accent and feel like helping me going over her dialogue so far so it can be closer to the real mare, feel welcome to let me know!
Also, if you can write
1308
Thank you! Yep their plans will unfold pretty soon!
1312
thank you!
1316 Do you?
1318 There's mixed feelings about Bon-Bon
1322 Muffin-fu is a force to be reckoned with!
1326
1336 Is that a good thing?
1351
1353
Thanks! I sometimes wonder if it is pony enough! As for the Doctor... 
1360 on it's way!
1361
1363 Ooh...
Unnaturally. That I need to know, please let me know either here or by PM (if you don't mind, that is) how that is happening, examples and such will really help! I've heard from someponies mentioning it, but not that many actually point them out to me on the text itself. (I see you, Ace12541, you are one of the few! 
) I really want to correct that.
1415 Who me!?! I ain't nuthin' special ^-^
Calling it right now:
Twilight Spark is really Celestia's own version of Twilight Sparkle from memory (albeit altered), and that the real Twilight is going to be resurrected and will fight Twilight Spark in some kind of super epic duel of awesomeness.
*crosses fingers*
1361
You read my mind.
I NEED MOAR!
Your killing me i cant take the wait any longer
need my Fix man
1390
I put it in there, i guess there's a filter or something:
take 2: harris. jasper@yahoo.com
The introduction of evil bitch Twilight made me appreciate what the real Twilight adds to the cast of characters. So, a belated...
TWILIGHT, NO!!!
...is in order. I normally instantly click "back" when one of the mane six dies in a story, but for this story, as ridiculous as it is, I'll make an exception. Keep up the good work. btw, I was also one of the best in my high school class at literary criticism, so if you want another pre-reader, message me.
You have no idea how happy chpt 17 has made me
“Oh, don't worry!” Twilight Spark shouted over the screams. “It'll take less than an hour!”
I'm going to say this one more time: Gothy vampire fillyfooler Twilight is hilarious.
Also Jade talks! And Pinkie Pie returns! With Zecora! And Fluttershy is a Shadowbolt! This pleases me.
And Gilda is here! Thought she doesn't quite sound like herself... there are a few characters whose "voices" you could use a better handle on, including her and Big Mac, but I can deal with it considering how awesome everything else is.
By the way, Bon-Bon had better wake up. And Gilda had better not go quietly. Or else.
1308 I couldn't agree more
...And if I'm not annoying you yet, fret not! I have two more
"Down bellow, she could see" - below*
"further away Manehatan's lights" - Manehattan's*
Okay this story is. Great! You managed to get me to sympathize Trixie, get sad over her possible demise and now you got me to feel bad for gilda. I don't like either of them, but they both warmed up to mme alot
Fluttershy is best Shadowbolt.
fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/329/d/4/shadowbolt_fluttershy_by_shrek214-d4har1n.png
And Muffin-Fu! Priceless!
Stilllll awwwesooommmmme!
OH, the twists and turns ths fic takes!!!! It's all so well done. There is great emotional depth, some hard hitting moments of trust, and so much more. AHHHH! It's all so good.