White Lies

"Mon amie, all of these flowers are gorgeous. I think I will take a bouquet of the white ones."

The mare nodded, she said, "White will go beautifully with your lavender coat, my dear, good choice."

The lingering Changeling shadow finally left my back. A puff of trapped air left my lungs. A few of the white petals were gently being brushed by the cold wind, and the smell was of life itself. Even floating beside me the smell was as alluring as its hidden meaning.

I turned, leaving the unintentionally long line behind me. At least that pegasus had something to do after the liberation. All I was good at was stopping beside the bakery for the hundredth time, then gazing up at that dashing horned white stallion who had his hooves propped upon the convex railing for the thousandth time, smirking defiantly to the bugs who flew by for the millionth time. The stallion had nothing to fear; he was Emboldening Charisma, after all.

His piercing gaze slowly descended through the crowds and onto me. A confident nod plastered his smirk into a grin from one side of the balcony to the other. Glass from the antique booths began chattering like teeth, and stifled gasps elicited from other ponies as the cobbled street cleared of life.

There was no turning back now. Among some of the fearful and panicked ponies, smiles and quiet cheers could be picked out individually. Where they failed to hide their early celebrations, they were experts at hiding the light weapons to make sure the deed was done. I trapped my cheers and saved them for after the assassination, but I couldn't hide the smile. The air felt filtered; filtered air the city itself gave out like a giant, complex tree of life. Never have I ever respected the Everfree, but its trees are an example of a perfect pony society: devoid of any and all forms of foreign rule.

Unicorns around the corner of this sloped street began to collapse to the sidewalk. I had stayed out the range of that MADAC for as long as I could, but now it was time for my fellow races to take over. My job was done. The MADAC turned onto the street and more unicorns, this time closer, began to crumble like dead Changelings in the middle of flight. They groaned in pain as its intensified field ridded all unicorns in its area of their magic, giving them massive headaches and dropping them to the sidewalk. Those evil bugs, their ruthless oppression will not go unpunished. Today, they will suffer as we have suffered.

"Gah!"

The flowers dropped to the ground. I was too weak. I fell to the sidewalk, just like the rest of my fellow horned ponies.

The armored car drove by. Its driver had a smug grin, for the Changeling reasonably believed the armored car discarded any chance of unicorns coming together and flipping it. The sun was flickering in-between columns of buzzing shadows as tanks too began to drive past. The drivers were practically sight-seeing at this point. They did not know.

Glass from nearby antique booths fell off the edge and to the sidewalks as I did. I groaned, clasping my head as more tanks drove past, but the pain did not let up. Through slit eyelids, a pony rushed over to me. He said something, but I couldn't make it out.

Mustering my strength, I picked my head up to view down the street. The infamous Trimmel and his tank were now turning the corner. Annoyingly, my little helper laid my head back down, saying something else I still did not understand.

A few Changelings began landing, pushing ponies further away from the road. Many ponies banded together to get the passed-out unicorns away from the road. The pegasus propped my back under the window to that bakery shop. Trimmel's tank was driving through now, but I could only see its tracks under the countless legs in front of me.

My eyes felt heavy. It was too tiring to keep them open. There was another MADAC rounding the corner, marking the end of the Changeling parade. The stern shouts of Changelings and gossiping ponies finally morphed into a combined stream of mumbles and incoherent noises.

One, singular bullet exploded. Screams erupted from the crowd as they tried to gallop away. The sounds were all around, some were going up the street and some were going down. A rapid barrage of bangs and flashes of light chased after the clopping hooves. Glass shattered and caked my fur. The green pegasus tending to me collapsed to the ground.

This headache. It's getting worse; they must have intensified the effects of the armored cars. The feeling of damped fur soon disappeared, too. Had I been shot? I opened my eyes, but there was nothing.

Blackness.