Reign of Fire

Chapters

Chapter 2.5 - Stone that changed everything
Prologue - Fateful Day
Chapter 1 - Somepony losses, somepony finds
Chapter 2 - Rising Storm
Chapter 3 - Go with the flow
Chapter 4 - Point of no return

Chapter 2.5 - Stone that changed everything

Misty was lying in her room and doing her usual thing - listening to music, lost in her thoughts again. There was still plenty of time before Sunny's classes, so why not?

But recently, these classes began to bring less and less joy and began to look more and more like some kind of experiments on Misty. This began with the creation of the Royal Research Team. Sunny quickly gathered enough scientists to form the basis of the organization, and they decided that it would be nice to begin research by teaching the weak pony the full use of magic, including dark one.

Although Sunny is against teaching Misty dark magic, she has so far agreed to the rest of the experiments. For Misty, these activities turned their happy time with her friend into difficult trials under the constant supervision of ponies unknown to her. Are you doing something right? They are recording. Are you doing something wrong? They are recording. And they do it absolutely silently. Of course, they discussed all these results with Sunny, but Misty didn't know about it.

But Misty noticed some changes in Sunny too. Alicorn stopped being depressed and sad about the past all the time, and became more confident and strict. Moreover, she began to treat Misty much better. Sunny could speak out with anger towards her subordinates, but she never raised her voice at the unicorn anymore. Even with unsuccessful studies and experiments. Sunny understood everything, she just needed progress to report to the Empress.

But Misty, in general, didn’t really want to think about all these things. And how can you think about some kind of magic training when all thoughts were occupied by the handsome stallion from the Maretime guard, who awakened a slightly different magic in Misty. The unicorn could only share her feelings with Sunny, who at first just laughed and thought it was a joke. But after she realized that Misty was serious, she advised her not to tell Opaline anything. Otherwise, Misty risked being placed under house arrest, and Hitch risked being sent as far away from here as possible.

But then a maid entered the room and pulled Misty out of her pleasant thoughts.

"Your Majesty," she said bowing. "I recommend you to go to the laboratory now. Miss Starscout is already there."

"Yes, thank you," Misty replied, not very pleased, and continued under her breath. "If it was only Sunny..."

Misty began to get ready, putting on her favorite costume, but this time adding a crystal from the cloak that Opaline had given her. While leaving the room, Misty remembered her previous lesson and decided to leave her phone in the room, because Sunny does not react well when Misty is distracted.

Sunny's laboratory was located in one of the castle towers. It seems that this used to be an alchemical laboratory, but now everything that Sunny needs is located here - all the necessary furniture and books have been moved here. Now it’s not even a laboratory, but an office with laboratory instruments. Several times Misty saw Sunny spending the night right here, sitting at the table.

Entering the hall, Misty immediately drew attention to Sunny, who was talking with one of her scientists in a white coat and glasses. Misty didn't remember his name, but she knew he most likely held a high position. After all, Sunny discusses all experiments with him.

"Are you sure everything will go well?" Sunny asked excitedly. "This is not a test subject from the street. This is the Empress's daughter."

"Absolutely, we have calculated all possible options, it’s safe," Alden replied.

"Let it be on your conscience," Sunny answered seriously, looking into his eyes. "If something goes wrong, then first I will kill you, then I will find a way to resurrect you and give you to the Empress so that she can kill you again."

"As you wish," the pony answered laughing and left the laboratory for the observation room.

"Misty, come here!" Sunny called the unicorn.

As Misty came closer, she noticed a new detail, previously hidden by Alden. Sunny was wearing a brand new black leather suit.

"Whoa, I’ve never seen you wearing it," Misty said with her eyes wide open and ran her hoof over the suit. "Actually, I’ve never seen this suit at all. Wait, is it Sheldy?"

"Yes, this is from one of my friends," Sunny began to explain. "He is a fashion designer and asked me to wear his new creation. He thinks this will help sales of his new collection."

"But it really suits you very well!" Misty continued with admiration. "It adds severity to your appearance and emphasizes your slimness."

"Um, thank you?" Sunny said uncertainly. "At least somepony liked it"

Sunny was lost in her thoughts for a moment before turning back to Misty.

"Misty, today we have a very serious and dangerous experiment," Sunny began somewhat upset. "I'm very worried about you and the outcome of it."

"But what if we succeed?" Misty asked cheerfully. "Will Opaline be proud of us?"

"If we succeed, not only will Opaline be proud of us, but we will be able to change so much around us!" Sunny answered.

"I’m not afraid, I’m ready to do anything for a good cause," Misty said confidently. "And to make Opaline proud of me. To make you proud of me as your student!"

So, let’s start, as usual, with moral preparation," Sunny continued. "What is our goal?"

"Unlock my magical potential, learn to control magic."

"That’s right," Sunny answered and began preparing for the ritual.

In that part of the hall where there was no furniture or unnecessary objects, Sunny drew magical symbols and installed enchanted objects. Everything is in accordance with the developed plan, based on ancient magical experiments.

"Misty, stand here in the center of these symbols," - Sunny addressed the unicorn. "The same serious preparation is required from you - clear your thoughts of everything extraneous, throw away all your emotions, focus on our goal. Think only about it, give yourself the mindset for success."

And it was quite difficult for Misty. After all, when you are asked not to think, so many thoughts come into your head, as if on purpose. But for Opaline, Sunny and a good cause, Misty is ready to overcome anything. And so, after some time, calm came and all thoughts were only about success.

"Good filly," Sunny turned to Misty, noticing her softened stance and calm expression on her face. "Continue in the same way until the end of the experiment."

With undisguised concern, Sunny took the piece of paper with the magic spell.

"Well, now the hardest part," she said nervously to herself. "And it all depends on me."

Sunny closed her eyes and exhaled. This is the moment of truth. Just her, Misty and the spell scroll between them. Sunny began to recite the spell. Symbols and things lit up one by one, and a small magical breeze ruffled Misty's hair. Everything was going smoothly. From somewhere above, clinging to the viewing glass, Alden watched the ritual with undisguised delight and recorded everything.

Delighted by such a smooth and calm flow of the experiment, Sunny could not hide her smile. But then she noticed the crystal on Misty's neck. It attracted the alicorn's attention with its strange shine and glow. It was too late to stop, but the reaction of this stone was very annoying. Suddenly, a whole magical tornado erupted around Misty. Sunny, quickly throwing away the sheet, tried to pull Misty out of this magical field, but even her magic could not penetrate it. Sunny rushed towards Misty and tried to pull her out with her own hooves, but only burned them.

"Misty! Misty, wake up!" Sunny screamed.

But the unicorn did not react to anything. It appears that Misty is in a deep trance and her consciousness has completely blacked out.

The magical storm had reached its peak and was about to tear this hall to pieces. Realizing what was happening, Sunny managed to cover herself with a magical shield at the last moment. A blinding flash and complete silence.

Sunny came to her senses and opened her eyes. The entire laboratory was practically burned out by a magical explosion. All the appliances were broken, the furniture was smoldering with a blue flame, a broken viewing window was visible under the ceiling, behind which Alden was sitting and holding his head.

"Misty!" Sunny screamed and rushed to the unicorn.

Sunny raised Misty's head, but she didn't react. The alicorn pressed herself against the unicorn's chest.

"Alive, alive!" Sunny exclaimed with relief.

"What happened? Am I dead?" Misty asked, opening her eyes slightly. "At first everything was so calm, and then anxious. But with this anxiety came new feelings, but I don’t know how to describe them..."

"Oh, forgive me, forgive me!" Sunny tearfully said to Misty, hugging her head. "No more experiments, I swear!"

Laughing nervously and stroking Misty's head, Sunny remembered about the crystal and lowered her eyes to it. Sunny's surprise knew no bounds - now the crystal looked full, it seemed that it...had absorbed the magic of the ritual?...

"Misty, I’m very sorry, but could you use your magic?" asked Sunny

"What should I do?" Misty asked without getting up from the floor.

"Something you never could," Sunny answered.

Misty, after thinking, decided to do something funny. And if it doesn’t work out, then Sunny won’t know anyway. And then, suddenly, Sunny is enveloped in magic and lifted into the air, almost to the ceiling of the hall.

"YES! HECK YEAH! WE DID IT, MISTY!" Sunny screamed laughing, spinning around the ceiling.

At that moment, Opaline flew into the destroyed room.

"What happened here???" she exclaimed in horror. "Misty!"

Out of surprise, Misty forgot about her levitation spell and Sunny almost fell down, but spread her wings just in time. Opaline ran up to Misty and fell next to her, hugging her tightly.

"What happened to you???" the Empress continued to ask.

"We did it!" Misty answered happily.

"Did what?" Opaline asked still excitedly.

"My magic!" Misty rejoiced. "I can use it normally!"

After these words, Misty decided to demonstrate her new abilities and put the almost burnt cabinet in its place.

"This is incredible..." Opaline said under her breath.

"Will you be proud of me now?" asked Misty.

"Oh, my Dear, the fact of your existence is enough for me," Opaline answered laughing.

Opaline smiled and hugged Misty tightly.

"Your Majesty," Sunny addressed Opaline.

"Yes, Sunny, what is it?" Opaline answered calmly.

"We need to talk about this experiment," Sunny said.

"Okay," Opaline answered. "But first, tell me, who developed this experiment and why did it have such consequences?"

"I developed this experiment together with Alden Shadowseer," Sunny began. "At first everything was calm and in accordance with expectations. But then, it seems because of the stone, everything went a little differently."

"What stone?" asked Opaline.

"It seems that this is your gift to her," Sunny answered hesitantly. "I’m almost sure that it absorbed the energy of the ritual and became, in a way, a strengthening for Misty. As long as she has a charged stone on her, she can use magic in ways we have never dreamed of."

"Oh, that stone," Opaline said. "Yes, this is my gift to her. Burning Heart. Skyros was full of such stones. But I never thought that it could contain magic."

"Are there such stones in Equestria?" Sunny asked.

"If there are, then you can’t just get them," Opaline answered.

"Why? What are the difficulties in this?" asked Sunny.

"Firstly, their location and quantity. They are too deep and there are very few of them," said Opaline. "Secondly, they are very unstable. One wrong move and there will be nothing to mine - the base will crumble along with the stone itself."

"So what should we do?" Sunny asked upset. "I would really like to continue my experiments with these stones."

Opaline thought about it, looking for a solution.

"I heard about a family of earth ponies. Judging by the reports, no one understands stones and their processing better than them," Opaline finally said. "They, like many, serve in one of the factories. I will ensure that you are given access to all the information you need to find them. When you find them, contact them and offer to work for RRT, tell them about your problem. I don't think they will refuse."

"It will be done, Your Majesty," Sunny answered, bowing.

In a dark but cozy bar with a gorgeous view of the city sat a beautiful pony with orange coat and long purple flowing hair. She was dressed in a stunning dark blue dress that perfectly emphasized her graceful figure. Her languid gaze and exquisite dress could not leave one of the regulars of this place indifferent.

A simple working pony named Granite could hardly enjoy his glass of beer with such a view. Suddenly, the beauty at the bar winked provocatively at him, making his heart beat faster. The poor pony, out of excitement, did not understand whether this sign was intended for him, and began to look around. At this time, the beauty only nodded approvingly, confirming that the look was intended specifically for him.

Granite hesitated, but still stood up and hesitantly approached the bar, sat down next to the stranger and after a while offered to drink together. They talked like old friends, and Beauty, using her genuine charm, awakened in him a feeling of attraction that he had never imagined.

The Beauty continued to eat Granite with a provocative look. It seems that she already had a huge amount of alcohol in her before. Every now and then, as if accidentally and unobtrusively, she touched him with her delicate hooves, as a result of which an electric charge seemed to constantly pass through the hard worker’s body. She understood that he was completely in her power and she could twist him as she wanted.

Suddenly, she raised one leg and placed it on the stool between Granite’s legs, after which with a sharp movement she turned it towards her. Alcohol and lust released all the brakes in Granite’s head, and he slid to the floor in front of Beauty. He could swear that these were the most beautiful and graceful legs in the entire Empire. Without the strength or desire to restrain himself, Granite pressed his cheek to the hoof and began to gently rub against it. The Beauty just laughed sweetly and began to gently stroke his head.

The pony looked up, without moving away from the leg, and saw the most beautiful face and the most provocative look that one could imagine. Having thoroughly caressed his cheek on the hoof, he began to kiss it, over time moving higher and higher along the leg, covering it with soft and gentle kisses, while simultaneously stroking it along its entire length with his strong but gentle hooves. The passion between the two patrons flared up like a torch flame, illuminating the darkness of this bar. The Beauty decided to add more fuel to the fire and took a bottle of champagne, slowly starting to pour it onto her leg. But for Granite this champagne for some reason seemed to taste like ordinary water. He looked questioningly at Beauty, searching for an answer.

"We have to go," she suddenly said in a rough, familiar voice. "Get up, lazy!"

With a sudden movement, Granite jumped up on his bed, next to which his brother stood and poured water on him.

"It’s impossible to wake you up!" Copper said dissatisfiedly. "We’ll be so late for our shift, we’ll get a reprimand again."

Granite sadly looked around their cabin, which had already become so familiar over these months. “One moment you are in a cozy bar with a beautiful pony, and the next you find yourself again in a dirty and damp place called “home.” Life is not fair. Well, although there is a roof and food, so it’s not so bad, maybe”.

The Metalgathers family has worked at this factory since its opening. Unlike many ponies here, they are truly volunteers. They believed that they were working for the good of their country, and they did not care about the rest. Hard work with metals is in their blood. Although their blood still needs to be searched - there is mostly only alcohol left there. They are also known for their strange antics and rituals, for which they are always reprimanded and fined. But it’s better to endure this than to look for new workers to take their place.

The family consisted of 4 strong earth ponies completely different in appearance. Dusty is the father and head of the family with a thick beard, mustache and the kindest look. Copper is the eldest son - the most massive of the brothers with a bush instead of a hairstyle and always dissatisfied with everything. Agate is the middle son, who has both a long beard and long hair, although this is prohibited with his type of work in this factory. And Granite is the smallest member of the family in every sense. The whole family has a complex character, but on the whole they are quite friendly. Especially after a ban on alcohol has recently been introduced for them due to the so-called “Canteen Incident”. The whole family got into a massive fight in the dining hall because they thought someone stole their food, even though they were just too drunk to remember eating it all themselves.

Factory No. 13 was located somewhere in a deserted and abandoned region. This location was not accidental - under such conditions it was almost impossible to escape. However, the conditions here were not the worst. But not the best either. Production focused on the processing and smelting of metals for various purposes. At least that's what the workers were told. They didn't need to know the rest.

There was a residential sector on the territory of the plant, because it was necessary to keep all these workers somewhere. The simplest residential blocks without any special amenities. However, management did not interfere with the workers’ actions to improve their cabins. And the main thing for the security was that the workers did not try to escape. Thus, one of the sectors has its own bar with various homemade entertainment.

The shift began as usual for the Metalgathers family. Marking of arrival at the checkpoint, route to the locker room, etc.
And Granite, as usual, hovered at his locker, immersed in thoughts and dreams. It was this locker that became the reason for ridicule and bullying from other workers. Including his brothers and father.

"Oh...She is perfection. A beauty like no other in the entire Empire!" Granite sighed with pleasure and a hint of sadness. "This muzzle, these eyes...And how cute her ears twitch...And why does she never let her braid down? I bet she would be even more beautiful this way!"

"When will you calm down?" Copper grinned at him.

"You understand who she is, right?" asked Agate.

"She is an ideal..." Granite drawled.

"She is part of the ruling elite," Agate answered his own question. "And you are a simple worker in a factory with no way out. She doesn't even know you exist."

"What a cute nose..." not paying attention to the words of the brothers, Granite stroked a newspaper clipping with a photo. "Sunny Starscout..."

"What took you so long?" Dusty asked sternly, looking into the locker room. "Come on, hurry up, lazybones."

Granite closed the locker, and the brothers headed towards the exit.

Nothing foreshadowed trouble, but almost at the entrance to the workshop the whole family was stopped by security, among whom was the Observer.

"What's happening?" asked Dusty.

"You will ask all the questions later," said one of the guards. "I have an order to take you to the specified place, the rest is not discussed."

"What are we to blame for?" Dusty continued. "We have been working diligently all these months, we have not violated a single-"

"I said Silence!" the guard shouted and slammed his hoof on the floor. "Let's go before I violate the order."

The family, escorted by guards, moved out of the workshop into the office premises. These were places for a higher caste - all sorts of directors, managers, accountants and others - accordingly, everything here looked more or less civilized and clean. And then the guards stopped at one of the offices. This caused Dusty some concern, because this office has been empty for a long time.

"Go in," one of the guards said menacingly, opening the door.

The ponies went inside and almost immediately fell into a stupor, barely speaking and not believing their eyes. In this meeting room, Sunny Starscout herself sat at the head of the table, and two guards stood on either side of her.

"Come in and sit down," she said, putting aside some piece of paper.

"It's...It's..." Granite stuttered. "Sunny Strascout!"

The pony began to scream with delight and it seemed that he was about to lose consciousness. At this time, Dusty slapped his son on the head and looked at him with an angry look.

"Sit down and shut up, quickly," he said.

Dusty sat at the farthest edge of the table, Agate and Copper sat on opposite sides in the middle of the table, while Granite sat as close to Sunny as possible and stretched out his front legs on the table, leaving dirty smears of something oily on it. This interrupted Sunny's thoughts and for some time she simply looked at the actions of this little pony with surprise and disgust.

"So, you know perfectly well who I am," she began. "But, just in case, I’ll introduce myself. I am Sunny Starscout, Head of the Royal Research Team, Right Hoof of Her Imperial Majesty Opaline Arcana..."

At these words, Granite noticed bandages sticking out of Sunny's sleeves.

"What happened to you?" Granite said sadly under his breath, but it was loud enough for Sunny to hear and interrupt her speech.

"Please, shut up," Dusty said menacingly through clenched teeth.

"By order of Her Majesty RRT is developing devices that will help loyal residents of the Empire use magic," Sunny continued, adjusting her sleeves.

The family looked at each other questioningly. “Use magic? Again? Is the Empress ready to do this?”

"Understanding your questioning glances, I will answer," Sunny said. "Yes. Her Majesty decided to reward loyal and distinguished residents with the opportunity, albeit limited, to use magic. But for this we need a component that is extremely difficult to obtain in our area."

Sunny put her hoof under the table and took out a magic crystal.

"This is-" Sunny wanted to say the name, but she was interrupted by the whole family at once.

"Burning heart!" the ponies said in unison.

"That’s right," Sunny nodded. "Perhaps you really are the best in rocks and stones. Burning Heart is a very rare and unstable stone. As you can understand, we need a lot of these stones to provide for everyone. Therefore, I am offering you a new job with privileges. You can get out of this factory and start working directly for me, becoming part of RRT."

"We agree!" Granite exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. "Even if they don’t agree, then I agree to everything!"

"Just wait!" Dusty was indignant. "What about the equipment and gear? At the depths where these stones are located lives a lot of dangerous things."

"All this is at the expense of RRT," Sunny said, grinning. "You will get everything you need if you agree."

"What about the money?" Copper continued questions.

"More than you get here," Sunny answered.

"Alcohol?" asked Agate.

Sunny wanted to answer, but froze with crossed eyes, taking a deep breath of local dust. A couple of seconds later she sneezed, which gave Granite an overdose of cuteness.

"As far as I know, you are prohibited from drinking alcohol after-" Sunny looked at the papers. “The Canteen Incident?"

"That wasn't our fault..." Dusty mumbled.

"Um...okay..." Sunny said without understanding anything. "I suggest you the following. Consider this a probationary period. Get me at least one batch of stones - I think 25 pieces will be enough to start with - and you will receive all the privileges - normal housing, food, payment. And alcohol too. Prove that you are the best of the best and you have no equal in working with rocks and stones. Deal?"

After some consultation, the family turned to Sunny.

"Deal," answered Dusty. "We are ready to join your Team."

"Wonderful! All that remains is to formalize everything," Sunny answered smiling.

After some time, all the documents were finally completed and the Metalgathers family no longer belonged to this factory.

"You can go pack your things," Sunny said, getting up from her chair. "You will be transported to your new “home” this evening, so be prepared."

The ponies were about to leave the office when suddenly Sunny spoke again.

"Oh, yes, I completely forgot," she said with a grin. "Congratulations on your promotion! Welcome to the Royal Research Team. I believe that you will be a very valuable addition to my team."

Prologue - Fateful Day

“I hate them! We went through so much and did so much for them...I did so much for them! And what did I get in return???” the young pony screamed and threw things off the nearest closet and, crying, collapsed on the floor.

Today was a difficult day for Sunny Starscout. Rather, even terrible. Only recently she was beaming with joy that she was able to bring back the magic and unite all the ponies of Equestria, and today she already hates these same ponies and this same magic.

Her heart was squeezing with pain and resentment, and the thoughts still couldn’t fit into her head: “Why? How so? Everything was good, what went wrong?”

Sunny could not believe that the citizens of Equestria could remain as evil and imaginary even after reconciliation. How can you envy and hate the magic of other ponies with such malice? Of course, it takes time and training to fully and skillfully control magic. Of course, there may be minor incidents. But how can you hate each other with such fierce hatred and not give a second chance?

Sunny calmed down a little and finally got up from the floor and walked towards the shelf, which was a kind of memorial of her deceased father.

“A few days ago I dreamed that you would be here, so you could see what I have achieved, so you would be proud of me, Dad...But now, on the contrary, I’m glad that you don’t see all this chaos, everything got even worse. Forgive me, Dad, I let you down,” Sunny barely squeezed out, unable to hold back her tears, leaning her forehead against her father’s photo.

“So, pull yourself together, Sunny,” the young pony thought to herself. “You are strong, you can handle it. We lived in isolation for so many years, which means we will live just as long.”

With these thoughts, Sunny looked around the room and decided to clean up the mess that she had made. After finishing, she decided to go take a nap, because she wasn’t in the mood for anything.

Lying down on the bed, the Sunny took her phone and opened the gallery. Countless photos of her new friends. However, these pictures did not help cope with sadness, but only added fuel to the fire. Sunny put the phone down and, struggling with sad thoughts, tried to fall asleep.

Pony woke up from the annoying vibration of her phone. She opened her eyes. It was already getting dark outside, and the Sun had almost set. “How long did I sleep?” Sunny thought. “All day? This is not like me at all.” Without getting out of bed, she reached for the phone to finally see who had been calling her all this time. Lots of “I’m worried about you” and “Let’s meet and talk” messages, as well as countless missed calls. All of them belonged to the unicorn named Izzy - Sunny’s first friend in so many years.

But Sunny didn’t want to see anyone. Even a pony as important to her as Izzy. After lying there for a while and looking at the ceiling, the pony decided to take a walk and be alone with herself and her thoughts somewhere away from the city.
But first she needed a snack - after such a long sleep, whales seemed to be “singing” in the pony’s stomach. Without hesitation, Sunny ate a couple of crackers, drank some juice, pulled on her jacket, took her bag and set off to wander around the evening neighborhood of Maretime Bay.

After sunset, Sunny was able to cast aside bad thoughts and enjoy a beautiful summer evening.

And the evenings at Maretime are just magical. The small coastal town takes a break from the heat of the day and plunges into the blue silence of the sea and the colorful infinity of voices. The evening begins with sunset: as soon as the rays turn red, the sky turns purple, and a special pre-evening grace spills everywhere. Only then dusk falls on the city.

Sunny loves to watch the movement of ponies around, changes in nature, and her own sensations. Young pony loves to sit on the pier - it seems to her that she is supposedly in the world of evening life and at the same time sees only the sea and the sky.

Sea and sky. That’s all. They are so limitless that it takes your breath away. The salty smell of the evening sea thickens and changes, it becomes almost visible, then the sky also begins to waft salt and algae, and stars light up on the surface of the water. And nothing seems out of place at this moment: neither inappropriate music, nor the smell of distant smoke, nor someone’s very sharp voice in the distance.

The wind becomes cold, and it also radiates eternity - eternity becomes the air itself, almost the main detail of the landscape. It seems that everything seen, all sensations could not be conveyed even with the help of painting. So all that remains is to take a white sheet and paint it dark blue and write in dainty silver letters: Eternity.

Sunny began to freeze and decided that she had had enough of philosophy and nightly festivities. However, as she was getting ready to leave, she noticed a fire in the distance on the beach. At first there seems to be nothing special about this. How many ponies have nightly gatherings around the fire? But there was something special about this fire, even alluring. Taking a closer look, Sunny realized that the fire was a completely unusual color. It was soft pink with purple tints. After a couple of moments, the pony’s curiosity took over, and she decided to take a closer look at what was there. Sunny slowly moved towards the fire, like a moth to a flame, without taking her eyes off it. Approached the fire as closely as possible, the pony froze, looking at it with admiration.

“Can’t sleep either?” a calm and soft voice rang out.

Sunny shuddered and realized that she had not noticed the figure sitting behind the fire.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice you,” the pony said nervously. Sunny moved away from the fire and now could see the stranger. The mysterious figure was wrapped in a cloak with a hood pulled over its face so that it was impossible to distinguish it. However, Sunny saw the main detail - the big horn.

“So what, is it insomnia or love for night walks?” the cloaked figure repeated her question.

“To be honest, it’s both,” Sunny answered calmly.

“Well, sit down with me, let’s talk,” the stranger patted the log next to her with her hoof.

Sunny silently sat down carefully next to hooded figure, still not taking her eyes off the fire.

“So, you are a unicorn? " the Sunny interrupted the silence. “And after today’s events you didn’t run away from here to your homeland?”

“Oh, my dear,” the stranger replied with a small grin. “What happened here today doesn’t bother me at all. Moreover, this interests me from a good point of view. Besides, I can’t go back to this terrible forest, because I don’t live there.”

“You are a unicorn, but not from Bridlewood?” Sunny asked with great surprise.

“That’s right,” the stranger answered calmly. “Moreover, I’m not even from Equestria”.

Sunny’s eyes widened in surprise, and instead of answering, she could only make inarticulate sounds.

“Yes, I am a guest from very distant lands,” said the hooded figure, laughing at Sunny’s reaction and deciding to change the topic. “Tell me young lady, do you have any hobby or special interests of some kind?”

“Oh, I like history and everything about magic and magical artifacts,” - Sunny answered. “But I’m limited in my research by the small amount of information. It’s as if all the history books are hidden from us.”

“I’m not even surprised,” said hooded figure. “It seems like she didn’t want everypony to know the truth.”

“Excuse me?” Sunny sounded confused.

“Maybe later I’ll explain it to you, " answered stranger and one again changed the topic. “I see you are delighted with my fire, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes, ma’am, it’s excellent...and so charming,” the pony answered uncertainly. “But how did you manage to create it?”

“Elemental powers grants enormous possibilities.”

“Elemental powers?”

“What? You don’t know about it either?” stranger asked in surprise. “There are a lot of magic powers in this world. And not only those stupid sun and moon powers. I possess a much greater power - the power of fire. This campfire is just a small part of my true power, Sunny.”

As soon as Sunny heard her name from the stranger, her charm gave way to fear and anger. Without noticing it, Sunny again awakened the power of the alicorn in herself and brought the horn to her interlocutor’s head.

“How do you know my name???” Sunny asked suspiciously, bringing the horn even closer.

Under the light of magic, the pony finally saw the stranger - from under the hood a face with ocean-colored eyes, purple fur and a snow-white grin was looking at Sunny.

“First of all, my dear, it’s indecent to point your horn at other ponies. Where are your manners? Secondly, your name is on everyone’s lips now. Why are you so nervous about it?” the unicorn answered calmly.

Sunny cooled down a bit and lowered her head.

“As I see, are you an alicorn? I’ve never seen a pony be able to turn into an alicorn by her will,” the stranger continued.

“I only recently discovered this in myself,” Sunny answered uncertainly. “I don’t know and don’t understand a lot about it.”

The stranger grinned and turned towards Sunny. “In that case, I have a suggestion. If you want help and some advice find me tomorrow afternoon northwest of Maritime. We’ll talk about magic and your powers. What do you think about this?”

The hooded figure stood up and held out his hoof to Sunny, waiting for an answer.

“I’ll think about it,” Sunny answered sharply, standing up without giving a hoof.

“Well, then we’ll wait for tomorrow,” the interlocutor replied a little angrily.

“Wait,” Sunny said sharply. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t. It’s Opaline.”

“Okay, Opa-” before Sunny could finish, she was blinded by a flash.

Sunny opened her eyes, but neither the fire nor the unicorn were there. Gathering her thoughts, the pony hurried home.

After having dinner, taking a shower and washing off the sand, Sunny finally went to bed. After such a hard and eventful day, the pony fell asleep almost instantly.

The next day, Sunny woke up around lunchtime. Pony still couldn’t believe what happened yesterday. At the same time, she did not know what shocked her more - the ungrateful and evil ponies or the night conversation with that “Opaline”. Sunny remembered about the offer, but could not decide what to do. Perhaps this is her chance, or perhaps this will not end well. But after weighing all the pros and cons, the pony decided to meet with that unicorn. “But where exactly should I go? She only gave me a direction, not a specific place,” thought Sunny.

After thinking about it, the pony decided to simply follow the road, which went in just the right direction through the hills in the vicinity of Maretime. Walked a quite a distance along the road in the right direction, Sunny saw a familiar figure. Opaline looked, in Sunny’s opinion, somewhat outdated - the white shirt and blue skirt looked like they were from the last century. Actually, the same as the hairstyle – curled locks with some hair braided around her ears.

“You finally came, Sunny,” Opaline said dryly. “And you weren’t in much of a hurry.”

“I was thinking until the last minute whether to agree to your offer,” Sunny replied.

Examined her new friend from head to hooves, Sunny realized one thing - Opaline was very tall.

“Excuse me for being rude,” Sunny began. “But aren’t you too tall for an ordinary unicorn?”

“Aren’t you too short for an alicorn?” Opaline answered sarcastically.

Sunny just smiled displeasedly in response.

“Let’s not discuss each other’s appearance, okay?” Opaline continued. “Let me take you to my home first. There we will discuss all your questions.”

Having walked quite a long distance, they ended up at Opaline’s “house”, which made Sunny fall into a stupor. Opaline’s house turned out to be a huge castle on a cliff.

“Castle??? There’s a whole huge castle next to Maretime, and I didn’t even know about it???” Sunny thought to herself in shock.

“Home sweet home, at last,” Opaline smiled. “Please come inside.”

The castle was designed in cool colors with a predominance of blue and purple stones. Large empty halls were illuminated by simple candles - there was no talk of any electricity. All windows were stained glass - this with the candle lighting created a rather gloomy and depressing atmosphere.

“I want to show you the two most important rooms in this castle, Sunny. I hope you find them interesting.”

The first room was the library. A huge hall with countless bookcases filled with ancient books that the current generation of ponies can only dream of, and many do not even know about. History of ancient Equestria, various Bestiaries, books on alchemy and magic, including dark magic. What more could an inquiring mind ask for? And the second room is simply impossible without the first one. This is the laboratory in the castle tower. It has everything needed for any experiments with anything. Here you will find alchemical apparatuses and enchanting slabs. It even has its own furnace for smelting metals.

While walking around the castle, Sunny heard a door slam somewhere on the floor but she forgot about it immediatly when she notiсed huge dead garden outside the open window and thought it would be cool to plant it with something.

After a short tour of the castle, the two went down to the main hall with throne and strange pond-like device.

Opaline sat down on the throne and looked at Sunny with a smile in anticipation.

“This is just excellent,” Sunny began. “All these books, devices...But where does all this come from? And this castle aswell. Tell me, Opaline, you’re definitely not a simple unicorn, right?”

“It’s obvious, my dear,” Opaline answered. “In my country I was very important and significant person. Everything was fine until that Twilight Sparkle appeared-”

“But she’s a hero and a noble ruler!” Sunny objected.

“Oh, Sunny, you’re young, naive and don’t know much about this world,” Opaline answered calmly, slightly rolling her eyes.

“Now listen, Sunny. I want you to know the whole truth. I want you to learn everything I know. I simply cannot allow such a capable pony...or should I say, alicorn, to waste her life living a meaningless existence. You have limitless power, which we can use for good, in the direction we need. Do you want all ponies to be united? I know how to achieve this. Do you want ponies not to be afraid of magic? And we can arrange this together. We can’t let a great alicorn like you disappear without even being born.”

Sunny stood and listened in confusion. Opaline’s sweet words were very tempting. “She knows about everything I want. And she promises to fulfill all this. And she has the ability to do it all. But what should I do with my...friends? Maybe if I gain full alicorn power, my voice will become more important and ponies will listen to me? This…might work.”

“I...accept your offer, Opaline,” answered Sunny. “But if something will go against my interests, I quit.”

“That’s great, just great, Sunny!” Opaline answered without hiding a smile. “Our classes will start tomorrow. Come at dawn and, please, don’t be late.”

“As you whish,” Sunny answered and got ready to leave.

“And one more thing,” Opaline stopped her. “Your friends don’t need to know about this.”

Sunny just nodded silently with a forced smile and walked towards the exit. Opaline continued to sit on her throne even after Sunny left. She was very pleased with herself and the development of events. All that remains is to come up with a training ‘’program’' for Sunny.

After some time, light hesitant steps were heard on the stairs between the second floor and the throne room.

“Yes-yes, Misty, you can come down now,” Opaline said loudly so she could be heard.

A young unicorn with blue fur and blue curly hair walked into the room. She walked up to the throne, placing her freckled little face on the armrest and, looking up at Opaline, stammered.

“W-Who was it? Do we have a p-problem?”

“It’s okay, Misty, don’t worry. This may be our key to restoring former greatness and creating better life,” Opaline answered, without leaving her thoughts.

Chapter 1 - Somepony losses, somepony finds

Another morning comes and the sun rises over Equestria. Sunny lies in her bed and does not want to get up at all. She turns over to the other side and continues to sleep. At this time, a playful little golden ray is already in a hurry to wake her up. Quietly and carefully it crawls across her pillow. And then, it reaches her nose, and Sunny feels its warmth. And finally the ray reached the young pony’s eyes.

At that moment, Sunny realized that she would no longer fall asleep. “Well, stupid sun, you win, I’m getting up.”

Pony carefully sat down on the bed and rubbed her sleepy eyes. With slow and clumsy steps, she walked to the window, opened the curtains and the whole room was illuminated with the warm, joyful sunlight of the coming day.

However, the young pony was not as joyful as that sunlight. Sunny looked around her new room. The spacious, almost royal chambers were filled with beautiful antique furniture - a luxurious huge bed, patterned cabinets, wardrobes and shelves, a huge oak table - all these were small gifts from Opaline for invaluable help.

It has been two months since Opaline regained her strength, gained power and become rightful leader of Equestria and Sunny became her right hoof. But the young alicorn still couldn’t get used to this place. Even though she had moved all the necessary things here, primarily her father’s, the room still seemed alien and uncomfortable to her. However, to her happiness, Sunny persuaded Opaline to finally accept technology. Thus, electricity and communications appeared in the castle, and Opaline became addicted to stupid TV shows.

Sunny's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, after which one of the maids looked into the room.

"Good morning, Miss Starscout, are you awake yet? Her Majesty asked to check on you and invite you to breakfast in the great hall," - the maid said.

"Yes, I remember," Sunny answered. "Tell her that I’ll be there soon, Vine."

After bowing, the maid left, and Sunny got ready to go to the bathroom.

But one thing in this castle was amazing. And what's so good about this castle? There are several bathrooms on each floor - choose anyone you like. And considering the number of inhabitants of the castle, it is almost impossible to cross paths with any of them.

Entering the bathroom, Sunny immediately turned on the water to fill the bath. The alicorn went to the mirror and, spreading her wings, began to examine herself.

"Look at you. Look what you've become. You have changed in many ways. Your thoughts, your actions. Even your horn and your wings began to match your new personality - just as daring and aggressive. And your rainbow lock is almost gone. Maybe you shouldn’t get so involved in dark magic? No! Stop whining, get yourself together. You did what you had to do. It's all for the benefit of all ponies. And, besides, there is no turning back for you...Especially after some of Opaline’s orders...But you brought peace, tranquility and unity to Equestria, the rest is not important.”

Sunny approached the mirror and examined her face closely.
"Well, at least there’s nothing new here," Sunny said nervously and exhaled.

Finally, the bathtub was filled and Sunny could relax, lying in the warm water, pushing away bad thoughts.

After some time, having completed all the bathroom “rituals”, Sunny was about to return to her room. As she left the bathroom and opened the door, the alicorn felt that she had knocked somepony. She looked outside the door in fear, but when she saw her “victim” she quickly cooled down.

"Good morning, Sunny!" Misty said happilly, rubbing her forehead.

"Yeah..." Sunny hummed indifferently. "What are you doing here? Isn't there a bathroom on your floor?"

"I wasn’t going to the bath," - Misty began to explain. "I already took a bath. I was coming to you. I thought I'd come pick you up and we'd go to breakfast together."

"Well, as you can see, I’m not ready yet. I still need to get dressed, because this castle has medieval rules and dresscode," Sunny answered dryly.

"But I like all these magnificent outfits," Misty continued joyfully. "I can help you choose something."

"Eh..." Sunny continued with a dissatisfied sigh. "Okay, let’s go."

Sunny had no warm feelings for Misty. She didn't like her excessive cheerfulness in any situation. Sunny also did not like the increased attention from the unicorn. Plus, by order of Her Majesty Empress Opaline, Sunny was supposed to train Misty in the use of magic. And either Misty was a bad student, or Sunny was a bad teacher, but progress almost stood still.

But Misty doted on Sunny, because she was, in fact, her first living friend with whom she could talk. Misty loved Sunny's lessons, even though she wasn't getting the wanted results - she just loved spending time with Sunny. Also, the unicorn really liked the new stuff that came to the castle with Sunny - like TV or smartphones. She loved to share all sorts of silly things with Sunny, even though the latter was not interested in it at all.

"How about this?" Misty asked, finally sticking her head out of the closet and holding the dress.

"Well...I’m not sure," Sunny muttered. "Strange color, and this skirt-"

"Try it on anyway," Misty insisted.

Sunny reluctantly took the suit and began to dress awkwardly. And so, with the help of Misty, the suit finally fit properly.

"Well, it seems okay," Sunny said, looking in the mirror. "We can go now. Opaline is waiting for us."

"Hooray! Let’s go quickly, I’m so hungry!" Misty exclaimed.

This two-story walk seemed like an eternity for Sunny - Misty wouldn’t shut up and was telling some nonsense. The alicorn just nodded and muttered something under her breath. Sunny was ready to listen more lectures about magic and power from Opaline, but not these crazy stories from Misty, which she took from the Ponynet.

As they approached the hall, Sunny’s thoughts were overwhelmed by the smell from the kitchen, and it did not bode well. Again this “healthy food” and all that. Sunny didn't mind the oatmeal. But who in their right mind would voluntarily eat it every day?

And then they finally reached the dining room. It was a large room with a long table in the center and various statues in the corners. It was even quite bright and cozy here by the standards of this castle.

Opaline was already sitting at the head of the table in her majestic chair and hummed something while examining her hoof. Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw two “friends” entering the hall through the large doors.

"Ah, here come my girls!" Opaline said with a smile. "Good morning! Sunny, how did you sleep today?"

"As usual," Sunny said dissatisfied, sitting down at the table.

"Poor thing," Opaline answered with a sad face. "What bothering you, dear? Maybe we can find another room?"

"Or maybe you need more decorations?" Misty interjected, sitting down opposite Sunny.

"I’m still struggling with my thoughts," Sunny answered without raising her head. "I think that I did everything wrong, that everything could have been done differently..."

"We’ve been through this so many times, my dear," Opaline said softly. "You did everything right. You have gained strength and knowledge, Equestria has united and found a worthy ruler. And Misty, by the way, has found a friend."

Sunny raised her eyes to look at the unicorn, then dropped them again.

At this time, servants entered the hall carrying trays of food. Oatmeal with berries, pumpkin pie, shadowberries and coffee. Everything is as usual.

"I believe that everything has its own time," Opaline continued, sitting down more comfortably. "We’ll figure out how to get you out of this despondency."

"Let’s just eat in silence," Sunny answered sharply.

"Besides, it’s indecent to talk while eating," Misty interjected.

"Good girl," Opaline smiled. "And be careful with your magic, Dear."

Sunny had been picking at the cooled porridge with a spoon for several minutes - she was simply tired of this oatmeal. And then there’s this bad mood. But still, after some time, the alicorn was able to defeat this nasty porridge and, abandoning the pie, immediately switched to coffee.

"Well, I suggest we don’t sit in these halls all morning, but take a little walk," Opaline interrupted the silence. "How about a garden? This is Sunny's wonderful achievement - without her it would still be dead."

"I don’t mind," Sunny answered more cheerfully.

"Great. Misty, go dress in something more decent for the walk," Opaline continued. "And you, Sunny, come with me."

And so the trio got up from the table and went to different rooms - Misty to hers, and Sunny and Opaline to the royal chambers.

Opaline's room felt like the largest room in the castle. However, according to Sunny, there are more beautiful rooms in this castle. And here are the same cold colors, the same antique furniture and a huge bed with a canopy. And the main detail in this room - giant TV on the wall opposite bed, which was absolutely out of the style. There was a dressing table in the corner, and a little further away there was a mannequin dressed in a formal suit and the Royal crown.

“I don’t remember the last time I saw her in this,” - Sunny thought.

Opaline had been rummaging through her closets and chests of clothes for a long time. Sunny was already getting bored when suddenly Opaline emerged from this pile of clothes, picking up something with magic.

"I haven’t worn this for a long time," Opaline said. "Do you remember it, Sunny?"

Sunny glanced at the suit. White shirt with wide sleeves and a blue skirt.

"Of course I remember," answered Sunny. "How can you forget something like that? That day you showed me this castle and offered me training. And that day I thought that you were an ordinary unicorn".

"Yes, so many pleasant memories," Opaline answered, laughing a little. "Okay, help me put this on and we can go."

After a while, the alicorns finally left the room next to which Misty was waiting for them. She was wearing a cape with a chic collar fastened with crystal.

"Great choice, Misty," Opaline praised the unicorn’s outfit.

"Of course it’s great!" Misty said joyfully. "After all, this is your gift to me!"

Opaline smiled and ruffled Misty's curly mane.

"Well, my dears, can we go?"

Time and care can cure almost anything. And the garden on the castle grounds is the clearest proof of this. Until recently there were only stones and dead dry trees. But with Sunny's arrival everything changed. She and other gardeners breathed life into this forgotten place. Now there are endless trees and bushes, gorgeous lush flower beds, several gazebos and even a large labyrinth. It turns out to be an interesting picture of contrasts - a dark castle built purely on dark magic and a bright garden blossoming from the seeds of love.

But that didn't make Sunny any better. She saved and revived the garden, but still couldn’t pull herself out of the abyss of despair. The trio leisurely strolled through the garden, enjoying the warm autumn day. Misty was not interested in talking about magic, and she moved away a little, looking at the flowers with admiration and inhaling their wonderful aromas. Meanwhile, the alicorns were not having a very good conversation - it was more of a monologue from Opaline, while Sunny was again lost in thought.

“My biggest dream was to unite everypony. So it happened, but not quite as I expected. We are all now united under the iron hoof of Empress Opaline. Studying dark magic, seeking and twisting artifacts...After all, not everypony accepted this new life. Including some of my friends. They hate me...Is this what I really wanted? I don’t know anymore. At least I can work in this garden as long as grow those shadowberries.”

"...ing we can unleash her full potential," Opaline conducted her monologue. "Are you even listening to me, Sunny?"

"Yes, Opaline," answered Sunny, getting out of her thoughts just in time.

"Understand me, Sunny," Opaline continued. "I’m doing all this for her own good. I want her to be able to stand up for herself. As for now she is not ready for this world. By the way, how are your training going?"

"You know that I’m trying my best, Your Majesty," Sunny began to make excuses. "I come up with new approaches, new techniques, but there are almost no results. She is very weak. And she is not very interested in being powerful magician-"

"So, are you telling me these two months were a waste of time?" the Empress asked displeasedly. "Well, okay-"

"No-no!" Sunny exclaimed nervously. "There is progress, but it is very insignificant..."

"Okay, we’ll talk about this later," Opaline snapped dryly.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sunny answered obediently and nodded her head.

"Actually, I need to talk with you about something really important," Opaline continued.

Hearing these words in such a tone, Sunny became quite nervous.

"I’m listening to you," she squeezed out.

"These two months I have been watching you and your success in studying magic and came to the conclusion that we need to create a state organization to study magic and improve life with the help of it," Opaline shared her thoughts. "I see this as an excellent political move. Improving the quality of life will help dispel the doubts in the minds of some ponies about my reign."

"This is a very unexpected decision from you," Sunny said uncertainly.

"Do you think I’m so terrible that I can’t think about my subjects?" Opaline asked seriously.

"No, what are you talking about!" Sunny quickly retreated. "It’s just a very serious question. Firstly, where to get staff? Secondly, would it be safe to trust such research to mere ponies? Thirdly-"

"And these are the questions you will deal with, my dear," Opaline answered with a grin. "For your help and your merits, I appoint you as the head of this organization."

"This is...a great honor for me," Sunny bowed.

"Do you really need directions?" Opaline asked in surprise. "I remember that glamorous bird from the false royal family. She and her mother have proven their loyalty to us. Contact her and place an order for an advertisement about recruiting scientists for the royal project. She'll get this thing going quickly."

"Her name is Pipp, Your Majesty," Sunny clarified.

"Yes, yes, it doesn’t matter," Opaline answered, rolling her eyes. "The main thing is that she can be useful for us."

"As you wish," - Sunny bowed again.

In such a tense situation, the sudden vibration of the phone startled Sunny a little. Alicorn took out her phone - “Good morning. Is today’s meeting still valid?” And then Sunny remembered that she had agreed to meet with Izzy and discuss some things. "Hello. Yes, but let's meet later in the evening, I have something to do. Okay, Iz?” – Sunny wrote a reply and put away the phone.

"And I have one more thing for you," Opaline said more softly. "I know that you don’t really like Misty’s company. I know she annoys you and I can't make you love her. But I ask you - spend with her some more time, it will make her happy. You're the first pony she's talked to in years besides me. She considers you her friend and doesn't even notice your rudeness. But I notice your rudeness towards her and it makes me angry. And you don't want to make me angry, do you?" at these words a fire lit up in Opaline’s eyes.

"No..." Sunny answered barely audibly.

"So, take her with you to the town, go shopping or do something else there," Opaline continued. "Just don’t let her go too far from you."

"I’ll try to do everything in the best way possible," Sunny said confidently.

"Good, I believe that you will do everything wisely," Opaline nodded approvingly.

"Hey, Misty..." Sunny began.

"Yes?" as always, the unicorn answered happilly.

"Don't you want to go to town with me?" Sunny asked, not looking at the unicorn.

Misty's eyes opened wide and her face broke into a smile.

"Town? With you?" Misty asked almost breathlessly.

Sunny looked up at her in anticipation, but instead of an answer there was a deafening joyful squeal, during which Misty began to jump in place. Sunny turned to Opaline, who smiled and nodded silently.

In two months Maritime has remained almost unchanged. All the same faces, all the same shops and establishments. Life was still in full swing. Only a lonely abandoned lighthouse stood empty in the distance. And the only difference inside the city that is immediately visible - countless posters and banners in honor of the new ruler. Everything was calm, because most of the earth ponies of Maritime were glad that there was no magic in their city again and no one would accidentally destroy anything.

Sunny and Misty could easily move around the city without fear of sidelong glances - the alicorn had respect among the residents of this city. There was no need to worry about safety either - the town was full of the Royal Guard. And anyway, who in their right mind would attack an alicorn?

"What are we going to do?" Misty asked.

"Let me think..." Sunny lowered her head thoughtfully.

Where can you go with Misty to keep her engaged, but at the same time she will remain silent for as long as possible? Maybe take her to the movie?

"Hey, Misty," said Sunny. "Do you want to watch something?"

"That would be great!" answered unicorn.

"What do you want to watch?" Sunny asked.

"I don’t even know," Misty said. "Maybe something romantic-"

"Romantic? You?" Sunny was surprised.

"When you sit alone all the time at that age, you really want some love, closeness and-" Misty closed her eyes.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Sunny interrupted her. "Let's see. That’s what we need - Canterlot doesn’t believe in tears."

"I read a few reviews," Misty said. "It must be great."

"Great, then it’s decided," Sunny summed up happily.

The film hit right in the spot, smoothing out the lack of love and tenderness in Misty's soul, but there were also unpleasant consequences - the poor ponies' legs went numb after two and a half hours of sitting motionless.

"I’m hungry," Misty said. "Let’s go somewhere to eat? Maybe we'll get some fast food-"

"I don’t mind eating either," Sunny answered. "But I don’t really want to load myself with this fat."

Sunny thought for a bit, looking around.

"So, there’s a restaurant nearby, let’s go," the alicorn finally said.

The couple approached a small building, as if sandwiched between large neighboring buildings.

"Warm Comfort," Misty drawled. "Sounds cozy. I hope it's also cozy inside."

"Let’s go," - Sunny said dryly.

The ponies went inside where they were met by the receptionist.

"Good afternoon and welcome to Warm Comfort," he began, after which he quickly realized who was in front of him. "Miss Starscout and Miss Arcana! What a surprise! This is a huge honor for our restaurant! Please come here!"

"Where are we going?" Misty was surprised. "The hall is over there."

"Quiet, don’t embarrass me," Sunny grumbled.

Of course, such significant guests could not be seated in an ordinary hall among other ponies. For the elite, and especially for members of the Royal Family, there is always a place in the VIP lounge.

VIP was not very large, with only 5 tables, but very elegantly decorated. Beautiful tables, chic leather chairs and sofas, paintings on the walls, warm cozy light, live music. There weren't very many ponies here - only a few officers were sitting at one table. Sunny took a closer look at them - not a single familiar face.

"Okay, let’s go to that table in the corner," Sunny turned to Misty. "Sit here, I’ll sit opposite you by the wall."

Even now, Sunny was thinking about safety. The Empress tasked her with keeping an eye on the unicorn, and this task could not be failed. The alicorn really didn't like this group of drunken soldiers, so she sat down so that she could see them all the time.

"Good day, ladies, I’m your waiter for today," pony in branded clothes approached the table. "Here’s your menu. When you are ready to order, please call me."

"Wow" - Misty admired. "There are so many strange names here. I don't even know what are they."

"No wonder," muttered Sunny. "Only local dishes are prepared in our castle. And here there are a lot of recipes from other countries."

"What is it?" Misty asked, pointing to one of the dishes. "It looks like a shoe."

"It’s like a fish pie," answered Sunny.

"And this-"

"Listen," Sunny interrupted her nervously. "Are you going to ask me about everything? Order what you know."

Misty didn't expect such an overtly rude answer and closed behind the menu, trying to hold back her tears.

After some time, the ponies placed their orders - Sunny ordered her favorite dishes from childhood, and Misty decided to take a couple of random dishes. The wait was extremely difficult due to the tense between these two. It seemed like orders were taking forever. Sunny still watched the soldiers, and Misty looked sadly at the table.

And so, the food was finally brought, and ponies could forget about this awkward situation for a while. Misty cheered up a little and picked at the ordered food with interest, while Sunny looked at her with dissatisfaction, but this time she did not say anything and did not interrupt the unicorn from “studying” foreign cuisine.

"Why don’t we make a salad like this at home?" Misty asked hesitantly, interrupting the silence. "We grow beets. And, apparently, there is nothing in this salad that we cannot grow or obtain."

Sunny just shrugged her shoulders silently.

"Sunny," Misty put down her fork. "I know that you don’t consider me your friend. But during these two months I blossomed next to you...Opaline raised me and cared for me my whole life, but you brought a fresh breath into my life. I love her, but all these years we lived according to ancient strict rules. And you brought us, mostly me, all this technology and entertainment. Through you I was able to get to know this world better. And most importantly you're the first person beside Opaline I've really been able to talk to in these years. I adsolutely love your lessons, Sunny. Yes, I know I'm not the best student. But I’m trying for you. For Opaline. I want to do my best, but I know that I’ll never become powerful unicorn. It’s even hard for me to lift up a fork with my magic! I'm so sorry for failing you all the time-"

Misty could no longer hold back her tears and closed her eyes.

"And I am SO grateful to you that you agreed to take me with you. Even with your dislike for me, you still agreed. Tha-"

Misty flinched from the unexpected touch. She opened her eyes and saw Sunny using magic to wipe away unicorn’s tears with a napkin. This made Misty's heart beat like crazy.

"And you, please, understand me, Misty," Sunny said, wiping away the unicorn’s tears. "I don’t hate you. I just don't like your constant optimism. You can consider this...envy, because my life has not changed for the better like yours. Yes, I gained unimaginable strength and helped Opaline gain power. Thanks to her now I have everything, all the benefits, access to everything I want. But for the sake of power, I've done terrible things that you can't even imagine. Every night I have nightmares. The same dreams hunt me over and over again in my sleep. This dark magic is eating me from within. Opaline thought I was ready. But I'm not. I still don't have enough strength to completely subjugate this power...Plus, I'm losing my friends. Especially my best friend. She's too soft and kind for all of this. Forgive me for my rudeness, Misty. Maybe some more time will pass and I will be able to enjoy life again as before."

Sunny saw a waiter carrying a drink. Suddenly, as he reaches the table, he trips and the jug of liquid flies straight towards Misty. However, Sunny once again proved her magical greatness. Without making a single movement, she used magic to hold both the jug and the waiter.

"Oh, alicorn almighty," the waiter began to apologize. "Forgive me, this won’t happen again!"

"It’s okay," Sunny said, putting the jug on the table. "Bring us the check, please."

"It was great!" Misty exclaimed.

"I’m sure we can make you just as strong," Sunny answered smiling. "I’ll find a way to strengthen your abilities, I promise."

"What is-" Misty wanted to ask about the drink, but got scared and fell silent.

"This?" – Sunny finished the question for her and poured the drink into the glass. "This is a funny thing. Consider it a bread infusion. Bread lemonade."

"It sounds so...strange," Misty answered and took a sip. "And it tastes unusual."

"True recipe contains alcohol, so it would be even more unusual. But I definitely won’t let you drink alcoholic beverages without Opaline’s permission," Sunny said and booped Misty’s nose, as a result of which the unicorn finally cheered up.

"That film ended with an interesting phrase," said Misty.

"What so interesting about it?" surprisingly asked Sunny.

"I've been waiting for you for so long," repeated the phrase Misty. "It's just like me sitting in front of you, looking at you with admiration and thinking about my whole life without you."

Sunny leaned forward with a smile and lay her head on the front hooves.

"Do you love me as much as she loved him in that movie?" alicorn asked with half-closed-eyes look.

"Not in a romantic way, Sunny!" Misty replied indignantly. "What are you talking about???"

"I'm just kidding, Misty," laughed Sunny. "Just defusing the situation."

After sitting around for a while and paying the bill, the ponies decided it was time to move on.

Having eaten to their fill, the newly made friends decided to stretch their hooves and go to all kinds of shops, without denying themselves anything. Thus, the ponies got hold of new clothes, various trinkets and accessories, as well as a couple of plush toys.

While watching another payment message on her phone, Sunny noticed the time.

“Ah, hay, meeting with Izzy!”

"Misty, forgive me, but I need to go urgently," Sunny began.

"What?! And what about me?!" Misty asked excitedly. "What about all these things?! I won’t be able to carry them alone."

"I’ll come up with something..." Sunny said.

"Please don’t leave me-" Misty said almost crying.

"...okay, okay, I have an idea, let’s go," Sunny said, gently stroking Misty’s cheek.

Ponies walked further down the street and reached the local Royal Guard office.

"Wait for me here," Sunny said, looking Misty in the eyes. "Nothing will happen to you here, I promise."

"Okay," Misty answered calmly.

Sunny went inside the building. Compared to the old sheriff's station, this building has undergone significant changes - the building has become much larger, the staff has expanded, as have the prison cells, by the way. The only thing that hasn't changed is the head of this place - Hitch Trailblazer. Thanks to his stubborn character and obsession with rules and order, he quickly received the favor of the authorities and got an officer's rank.

"Call your commander," Sunny told the guard in a commanding tone.

"Who is asking him and why should I do this?" he answered.

But as soon as he raised his eyes, they immediately widened, and, swallowing nervously, the guard replied “It will be done.”

A couple of minutes later an officer in a new black uniform entered the hall.

"Sunny!" Hitch exclaimed and reached out to hug his old friend. "Long time no see!"

"Sorry, Hitch," Sunny interrupted him and pushed him away with her wing. "There is no time for pleasantries. I have an urgent matter that I can only entrust to you."

"What kind of terrible thing could happen?" Hitch was surprised, because this is the first request from Sunny in all this months.

"I need you to escort somepony home," Sunny said.

"Escort somepony home?" Hitch asked sarcastically. "Are you serious right now?"

"Absolutely," Sunny replied.

"What kind of pony is this???" Hitch continued to be surprised.

"Look for yourself," said Sunny, opening the blinds. "Here she is."

Seeing Misty, Hitch nervously adjusted the collar of his shirt.

"She?" Hitch asked breathlessly.

"Yeup," - Sunny answered calmly.

"Her Majesty's daughter?"

"Adopted daughter."

"This could be interesting," Hitch concluded. "Let’s go."

Sunny and Hitch left the station and headed towards Misty.

"Here, as I promised," Sunny turned to her. "My idea. Misty Arcana meet Hitch Trailblazer. Hitch this is Misty."

"Nice to meet Royal daughter in person," Hitch said smiling, performing a military salute.

Misty just smiled embarrassedly, examining the pony in a strict uniform.

Sunny approached Misty and, looking into her eyes, said “This is my good friend. Don’t be afraid, you can trust him like you trust me.” After which she approached Hitch and said completely different words in a completely different tone “You are responsible for her with your head. Otherwise Opaline will rip our heads off.”

"Forgive me again, but it’s time for me to run," Sunny said quickly, hugging her friends, and then quickly ran away.

"Well, let me help you and accompany you to the castle, Miss Arcana," said Hitch.

"That’s very nice of you," Misty replied shyly.

After that Hitch took heavy bags from Misty, and they slowly walked towards the castle.

After a warm autumn day came a cool autumn evening. It was getting dark earlier and there was less and less time for walking. And now the sun has almost set, creating a beautiful crimson sunset, illuminating two ponies sitting on a bench on a hill outside the town.

"I’m glad you came," - one of them said.

"How could I not?" Sunny was indignant. "You’re my friend, Izzy. My best friend..."

"So much has happened in these two months," Izzy sighed. "Magic has disappeared again, new ruler has appeared, and you now live in a castle, and we don’t see each other frequently, because you are part of the “royal family” now..."

"But that doesn’t mean anything," Sunny objected. "I’m still the same Sunny, your friend! The Empress overloads me with work, it’s not my fault-"

"What about other friends?" Izzy continued. "What about Zipp? She will never accept this new system. Is she a criminal now? Should I hate her now? Or should I report her?"

"As long as she doesn't do anything illegal-"

"That's it! And two month ago you couldn’t even think about this..." Izzy exclaimed upset.

"How is...Alphabittle?" – Sunny decided to change the topic.

"Tough as always," Izzy answered. "Still runs his tea shop, looks after me...all of us…"

"Izzy, would you like to join my scientific team?" Sunny remembered Opaline’s order. "Your skills would be very useful in research aimed at improving life-"

"I would like to get our old lives back," Izzy squeezed out, barely holding back tears. "Where we are all together next to each other, without dark magic, without the Empress...only friendship, joy and calmness..."

Sunny noticed tears streaming down Izzy's face. The alicorn hugged the unicorn and placed Izzy’s head on her legs.

"Forgive me, Izzy," Sunny said through tears, softly stroking her friend’s mane. "I’m sorry for this pain and for everything I did...but it was the only way out...I had to unite us and take control of this damn magic..."

Unable to bear the emotions, Sunny burst into tears, pressing herself to Izzy's head.

"I don’t blame you. I’m just scared...I’m afraid of being left without my best friend," Izzy replied.

"I promise you, Izzy," - Sunny answered, continuing to squeeze out words through tears. "I will never leave you, I swear..-"

The alicorn spread her wings and covered friend with them.

Another day was coming to an end. The sun disappeared behind the horizon and darkness reigned on the hill. For several more hours, only a small red glow from the wings and horn was the only source of light in this cold autumn night for the two ponies sitting on the bench.

Chapter 2 - Rising Storm

Zephyr Heights is one of the most beautiful cities in all of Equestria. Stately houses, spacious streets, picturesque parks and advanced technologies - all this is contained in the City Above the Clouds. And what’s most amazing is that the pegasi were able to erect such magnificence without the use of magic. Truly magnificent creatures.

Until recently, there were only pegasi in the city, and all strangers were despised and not allowed into its majestic boundaries. However, after the rise of the Empire, the city became more vibrant and diverse in population - all thanks to the new policy of “Unity and Equality”. But as we know, somepony will always be more equal than others.

Looking at the streets, you can see that this diversity is achieved mainly due to the Imperial Guard - pegasus vigilantes patrol here and there (they can be easily identified by the white bandage with the state symbol), and on the streets corners stand earthpony guards in black uniforms, which contrasts greatly with the golden glow of the city, and in especially busy squares there are certainly so-called “observers” - unicorns, specially trained to look for “undesirable” faces in the crowd.

This region was of special importance to the Empress due to its remoteness from the “center” and the difficult situation. Among the residents of the Zephyr Heights there were too many dissatisfied with the new state of affairs. First of all, due to the lack of magic - after all, the pegasi were just able to fly, and now they have been “grounded” again. The residents have lost faith in their Queen, who is now just a puppet governor and a pathetic shadow of her former self. Pickets and protests appear on the streets every now and then, but they are quickly dispersed and violators are arrested.

But the other part of the residents was quite happy with their life - they didn’t fly before and don’t need to now; "It’s others who are being arrested, not me". And they can be understood - their lives have not changed much during all this time. They still live and work. Why should they think about those on the streets? It is their own fault that they are being arrested.
Sometimes this difference of opinion resulted in street riots between residents, heating up an already difficult situation. Compared to this, Maretime looked like a paradise city.

But not everything was calm in the “Royal” castle itself. Discord was brewing in the family for the same reason. Zipp Storm still couldn’t (and didn’t want) to come to terms with her mother’s actions.

"Look at you!" Zipp shouted. "What happened to you? What have you turned our kingdom into!"

"Zephyrina!" Haven shouted sternly. "We’ve been through this conversation so many times. I no longer have the strength to repeat everything all over again.

"But I have a lot of strength," Zipp continued. "Unlike you, I’m not going to give up. And you just chose the easiest path! You decided to just lie down and spread your legs in front of this alicorn!"

"How dare you talk to me like that???" Haven was indignant. "I did all this for the sake of our peace and the peace of my subjects!"

"For the sake of those who are now being beaten and arrested on the streets?" Zipp grinned.

"For the sake of everypony," Haven repeated once again. "I have already explained to the residents many times about the new life and new rules. Just follow them and everything will be fine."

"And why should we live by the rules that are dictated to us from the outside?" Zipp continued her indignation. "Just because she said so? And look what these rules are! Magic is not allowed, local government is not allowed, nothing is allowed! You can only be under the constant surveillance of these corrupt ponies who report to her about your every move!"

"Or maybe we don’t need this magic?" Haven answered. "Remember what happened when we got her back? Everything went wrong and became even worse than it was before the magic. And besides, we are still in control. So it's not all bad."

"Mom..." Zipp said upset and took Haven’s hooves. "Why do you continue to deceive yourself? Open your eyes already, please. In such conditions, we are not us, but only a shell with wings. We have lost our majestic spirit and become slaves to this ancient alicorn. And why? Because she said she was our true ruler, basing her argument on an ancient tale? Even if she's right, why should we care about it NOW? Times change, foundations change. We should not live by the ancient rules of the unknown Skyros."

"Daughter, dear-" Haven wanted to answer something, but Zipp interrupted her.

"You call yourself a ruler," the pegasus continued her monologue. "But what kind of ruler are you? Now you don't do anything yourself. All your decisions are HER decisions, and you have no right to disobey, otherwise you will lose this place. Do you think she speaks to you as an equal? No, you're just a puppet that she pulls the strings. And tell me, do you know what is happening on the outskirts of Equestria? Why do they recruit teams there, but no one returns?"

"Some ordinary factories, I don’t know anything else-" Haven answered uncertainly.

"That's it!" Zipp was indignant. "She doesn’t even consider it necessary to explain what they do there and why so many ponies are needed. And isn’t it terrible for you to say that? Maybe you’re sending your own residents to their deaths, but you don’t care!"

"I’m absolutely sure that there is nothing illegal there," Haven said firmly. "This is all for the common good of all residents of Equestria."

"Illegal on what side?" Zipp asked sarcastically. "If she passes a law on mass executions tomorrow, then there will be nothing illegal in this either, because these are the laws of the Empire, right?"

"Enough of this nonsense," Heaven snapped dryly. "Over these months, I haven’t seen anything critical or terrible. We live as we lived before, only now our kingdom is under outer control. Among other things, she gave us strength and protection. We essentially had no protection before. Look around - a huge army, ready to defend the country from any threats. Who now dares to attack Equestria? And why can’t everything be as simple with you as with your sister? Look at Pipp. Nothing has changed in her life, she still lives calmly and doesn’t fill her head with nonsense like you."

"Maybe she’s just not smart enough to understand what’s happening?" Zipp grinned.

"Enough," Haven answered menacingly. "You’ve tired me, I don’t want to talk about this anymore."

"You tired me," Zipp objected. "You’re too stubborn and don’t want to understand anything. Or are you so afraid of losing your throne? If you had not obeyed her, but convinced everyone to rebel against her, we would have succeeded. Even without the magic of flight, we would have come up with something. But as it turns out, the taste of her hooves is sweeter to you than freedom. I'm tired of being here, I'll go for a walk."

"I beg you, don’t get into trouble..." Haven said softly. "And take off this badge. I'm tired of receiving reports on you for anti-state symbols."

Zipp walked dissatisfied through the castle towards the exit. Maybe somewhere in the city there will be a calm and quiet place that doesn’t remind her of all this nonsense. But suddenly Zipp had one thought “Maybe I should go to the Royal Library while I’m here? Maybe we can find out something about this alicorn.”

In the library Zipp began looking for any books that would help in her investigation: books on history, biography, geography, political notes and even children's fairy tales. Having collected a dozen books, she sat down at the table.
The times of Ancient Equestria were truly amazing. But there is one small problem - practically no documents have survived to this day. All these books were, for the most part, useless - Zipp already knew this story about the disappearance of magic. True, it was very strange that it was described so briefly and crumpled. “Opaline sowed discord, Twilight had no choice and she divided the magic into crystals, Opaline was expelled.” Almost the same in different books and notes.

This situation upset Zipp even more. Could it be that these books are also lies? The events described in them partially coincide with the new “official” history. Decided that she had enough of this castle, Zipp took one book and went into the city.

The streets were surprisingly calm today and not as crowded as usual. Zipp calmly walked down the street looking at “collaborators” with contempt, but today the guards had no interest in Zipp and her anti-government badges on her vest. Apparently, they have already realized that all these fines and detentions are useless and have resigned themselves. But the pegasus herself did not even think of stopping her “hidden” propaganda. On her way, with a light and imperceptible movement of her wing, she pasted anti-government badges and slogans on everything. Perhaps the guards still saw this, but there is no point in worrying about it - they will be erased in the very near future anyway.

No matter what Zipp says about her sister, Pipp is doing just fine. During this time, her salon expanded into a franchise. Mane Melody in every city, who would have thought?

But for Zipp there are advantages to this, too. The main one is Rocky Riff, who moved back home with the opening of Mane Melody in the Zephyr Heights. Rocky was a great friend and always willing to listen.

Walking into a local salon, Zipp caught several sidelong glances from visitors. After examining them and rolling her eyes, she turned to the receptionist “Is Rocky there?”

"Yes, he’s at his workplace, but he has a client, so-" the pony began to answer, but was interrupted.

"Great," Zipp answered dryly and walked into the hall.

The salon in the Zephyr Heights simply screamed that it was “elite” and “royal” - a huge hall, decorated in the best traditions of expensive establishments of this city, the workers were the highest masters of their craft, and during the procedures you could be offered elite booze.

Having reached Rocky's workplace, Zipp unceremoniously collapsed onto the nearest chair.

"Zipp?" Rocky was surprised by such a sudden appearance and stopped working on his client's haircut for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to visit a friend," Zipp answered, looking at the magazine on the table, on the cover of which Pipp was featured. "Where is she? I would like to talk to her."

"To tell the truth, I don’t know," Rocky answered dissatisfied, continuing to work with the client. "She hasn’t shown up at the salon this morning. Maybe she's in another city, I don't know. As they say, She is the Boss."

"Success is dizzying, isn't it?" said Zipp, without looking up from the magazine.

But there was no answer, because Rocky was too busy creating his masterpiece.

"Listen, Rocky," Zipp continued. "I need to talk to you in private."

"I don’t mind," the stallion answered enthusiastically. "We can talk after work, or during a break, if you wait for me."

"Perhaps I’ll wait for your break," Zipp said thoughtfully. "At the same time, I’ll read something."

Zipp moved from the client's chair to the staff sofa and took out a book taken from the Royal Library. It was yet another book about the history of Equestria. Strange in appearance and very shabby, with different drawings and notes on the pages, but decent in volume. But Zipp was not interested in the whole book, she only needed the period of the Fall of Equestria.

“Yes, yes, everything is like everywhere else, Opaline wanted to rule, sowed discord...Wait, what? Opaline was defeated by the dragons. The dragons defeated her and trapped her magic in stone. Wait, wait! If she was defeated and lost her magic, why did Twilight deprive all the inhabitants of their magic and disperse them to different parts of Equestria? What the hay???”

"Hey," Rocky interrupted Zipp’s thoughts. "I have a few free minutes. What did you want to talk about?"

"About everything, Rocky," Zipp lowered her head. "Don’t you think we took a wrong turn somewhere?"

"You can say that about anything, Zipp," Rocky grinned. "You can never know where and what road will lead us. Maybe all paths are already predetermined."

"Or maybe we are still able to change our path?" Zipp asked enthusiastically. "Maybe all is not lost yet? We lost the battle, but not the war."

"And what do you suggest?" Rocky asked dryly. "Look around, Zipp. Not all pegasi are against the new life. Many are happy with this state of affairs. And how are you going to attract supporters? What will you promise them? You will never convince them that we will all be safe even if we take back the freedom of the Zephyr Heights. There are two more kingdoms, Zipp! One of which consists entirely of ardent fanatics. Oh, and believe me, they will die for the Empress without hesitation. And earth ponies basically have nothing to lose."

"My friend," Zipp answered calmly. "Problems must be solved as they arise, and not all at once. I'm not calling for civil war. I don't want to go against my own kind. But first we need to find loyal supporters. Trusted ponies who have no love for Opaline and who definitely won’t hand us over to the guards."

"And how are you going to look for them?" Rocky asked sarcastically. "Yes, the city is full of pegasi who don’t like the Empress. But I'm not sure if they are ready to take more serious steps."

"Are you ready?" Zipp snapped. "I know that you are on the same page with me. And tell me, do you like these endless checks in search of dissidents? How long do you expect to endure these raids?"

Rocky just sighed and lowered his head, not knowing what to answer.

"Hey, it’s okay, - Zipp said softly and lifted Rocky’s head by the cheeks, - I believe in us and our future. I believe we can do it. Just like I believe in you."

"Me?" Rocky was surprised. "W-what should I do?"

"Find us a backbone," Zipp said, looking into her friend’s eyes. "The closest ponies, in whom you are most confident. Let there be two, three, it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that you can trust them. And it is highly desirable that this happen by this evening."

"What if I don’t find the ponies today?"

"It doesn’t matter," Zipp replied. "In any case, regardless of the result, we need to meet tonight."

"Somewhere here in the Heights?" Rocky asked, running his hoof through the air.

"No!" exclaimed Zipp. "What are you thinking about? We need to choose a place somewhere away from such dominance of the guard."

"Hmm...let me think," Rocky thought. "Oh! I was once in Bridlewood and saw several abandoned houses there away from the main city."

"Great," Zipp enthused. "Opaline is not interested in this area at all. I heard that she has some kind of traumatic memory associated with this forest. Can you imagine? It turns out that this monster has some feelings. So, will you go there and check?"

"Um, noooo," - said Rocky.

"Why?" Zipp was surprised.

"What do you think?" he answered dryly. "I’m not your sister and I can’t leave work whenever I want."

"Right," Zipp was ashamed of herself. "I’m sorry. Then give me the coordinates and I'll check. I'd still rather be anywhere but here."

"Here, I sent it. Now excuse me, it’s time for me to run," - said Rocky, hugging Zipp.

Zipp left the salon and sighed with relief. “Finally, fresh air. It’s simply impossible to breathe normally in these salons.” Pegasus took out her phone to look at the message with the required location. “At the very end of the city? So you’ll have to walk in front of everyone... Well, okay...” Zipp thought to herself. Putting away the phone, she saw the book and again thought about what she had read “It’s still an interesting story, but right now that’s not the main thing.” Zipp cast aside unnecessary thoughts and went to the airship station.

Bridlewood is perhaps the most unusual place in the new Empire. The kingdom-city of natural origin is located right in the thicket of a dense forest. But the further into the forest, the more beautiful it becomes. The houses of local residents are like strangely shaped trees, but with a full-fledged home interior. The picture is complemented by crystals of various colors and shapes. They are, of course, not magical, but they are pleasing to the eye. Anyway, how did the majestic unicorns of Canterlot end up in the wild forest?

For Zipp being here was both pleasant and unpleasant. It was pleasant for her to remember how she came here for the first time along with her new friends. But this same fact upset her very much. After all, many of her friends found themselves “on the other side of the barricades.” However, life here was in full swing, and Zipp felt as if the unicorns had become even more...alive? Perhaps they were encouraged by the Empress's sweet words that unicorns were “special” and that she supported their return to their former greatness.

Any pegasus or earth pony can safely stay in Bridlewood without causing concern to the local residents. But Zipp is a special case. Her personality has already become overgrown with unpleasant information, and her face has become a familiar background in news releases about troublemakers. Therefore, they looked at her with some suspicion. Zipp felt somewhat uncomfortable about this, but she tried to look at everyone with a smile.

Looking to the side, Zipp accidentally pushed a unicorn passing by. But the unicorn didn’t seem to notice this and continued to wander with her head down.

"Sorry!" Zipp apologized after her and continued moving.

Hearing the voice, the unicorn stopped and began to turn towards the departing pegasus.

"Zipp?" the unicorn said quietly. "Zipp!!!"

Zipp just had time to turn around and see a unicorn crash into her and hug her tightly.

"I’m glad to see you too, Izzy," Zipp said softly.

"How did you get here?" Izzy began with tears in her eyes. "Why do you almost never answer calls and messages? I was really worried for you! All this news from the Zephyr Heights makes me very upset...Especially to see you as a defendant in cases of violation of order."

"Eh..." Zipp sighed, stroking Izzy’s mane. "That’s why I don’t contact you. I don't want to drag you into all this. And here I have...some things to do..."

"Is this related to your protest activities?" Izzy asked sadly.

"Unfortunately, yes..." answered Zipp, looking to the side.

"Okay, I don’t blame you," the unicorn squeezed out. "Um, if you have time, we can go to my place and drink tea. If you want, of course..."

Zipp thought for a moment, wondering how much free time she had, but answered quickly.

"Yes, of course," Zipp answered joyfully.

Izzy smiled for the first time when she heard that answer.

Everything in Izzy’s house was as bright and cozy as on the day when Zipp first came here. All the same crafts, all the same pillows, all the same table with cups, which remained standing unused...

"You know, I’m even glad, albeit temporarily, to change the environment," Zipp said, taking a sip of tea. "Look at real nature, and not just at the marble and concrete of the castle."

"And for me, this house is the most peaceful place in all of Equestria," Izzy said with calm pleasure. "Besides, this is the only thing I have left."

"What do you mean?" Zipp was surprised.

"When we all separated, everypony went about their own business, and we don’t communicate at all, we don’t meet," the unicorn began her explanation. "Besides, some of us ended up on different sides...So I only have this house left with memories of our pleasant moments."

Izzy became sad again and silently pointed her hoof to the side. Zipp looked in the direction Izzy was pointing. On the second floor there was a large corkboard with many different photographs and newspaper clippings. Zipp put the cup on the table and decided to take a closer look at the photo on the board. Pegasus saw the photos, and a smile appeared on her face. “Hitch, Me, Pipp and...” the smile was replaced by an angry grimace.

"What is she doing here?" Zipp asked pointing her hoof at the photo.

"S-Sunny?" Izzy asked uncertainly.

"Don't say her name!" Zipp exclaimed rudely, hitting the board.

"But what’s wrong?" Izzy said in a trembling voice. "She’s still my... and our friend..."

"No!" Zipp shouted, tearing Sunny’s photo off the board. "This vile traitor is definitely not my friend! I don't even want to hear anything about her!"

"But I met her recently," Izzy tried to convince her friend. "She’s still just as kind and sensitive to her friends! Yes, she rarely visits me, but, but..."

"But what?" Zipp grinned.

"You, for example, have never agreed to meet with me in all this time," Izzy said quietly and uncertainly, looking at the floor.

Zip became angrier for a moment, but soon realized that Izzy was right. Partially, but right.

"Izzy," - the pegasus said with a sigh. "I explained to you - this is all for your own good. I don't want to drag you into my troubles. I don’t want you to be assigned to any case either."

"Sunny also does everything for our good," Izzy objected.

"For good? Did she tell you this?" Zipp asked arrogantly.

"I feel her sincerity," Izzy continued. "Yes, something has changed in her, but she still wants only the best for everyone. She invited me to join her new business."

A hurricane of thoughts began to swirl in Zipp’s head.

"What new business?" Zipp asked cautiously.

"She is gathering scientists for an in-depth study of dark magic," answered the unicorn. "They want to find application for it in everyday life."

"If this is all for the good, then why didn’t you join her?" Zipp continued her questions.

"I don’t want to be on anyone’s side," - Izzy answered confidently. "I don’t want to divide you into good and bad. You are all my friends. I love you all..."

"At some point, we all have to make a choice," Zipp answered sadly. "And we need to be guided by the voice of reason, regardless of our feelings."

Izzy didn’t answer, but silently picked up Sunny’s photo from the floor and looked at it with a sad smile.

"I’ll go take a nap," Izzy said dryly and, without letting go of the photo, walked away towards her bed.

It seems that this meeting brought both friends only frustration and pain, because each remained unconvinced. Not wanting to escalate the situation any longer, Zipp decided that it was time to go on her “assignment.” In order not to wake up Izzy, the pegasus decided to write a note and attach it to the board.

“I'm sorry, Izzy. I value you and your friendship very much, but on this particular issue we cannot compromise. I understand you and don't blame you. Perhaps one day everything will change for the better and be as before. And now it’s better for us not to meet. This is for your sake and your safety. I care about you and I just want to protect you from possible consequences, which might be easier for me. After all, I am the daughter of the ~~queen~~ governor, and you are a simple unicorn from the forest. I will always remember you, your Zipp.”

But there was also one dark and sad detail in Bridlewood. At one end of the settlement there were several abandoned houses. These houses looked dried out and dead. No one has lived here for a long time, but the rest of the unicorns didn’t seem to care. Real ghost district.

Zipp checked the coordinates again. “Yes, it's definitely here. Was he talking about a specific house? Or should I choose?”
Zipp walked slowly among the dead houses and, with sadness in her eyes, assessed the potential place for shelter. After all, someone lived here before and he left, apparently, not of his own free will. Among all these abandoned buildings, Zipp noticed one medium-sized house. It was half hidden behind the overgrown trees and bushes that had become part of it. “Not only is he located in this dead wilderness, but he is also hardly noticeable among these thickets. Perfect."

Deep down, Zipp really didn’t want to go there - she was afraid to see something there... not very pleasant. Sighing, the pegasus carefully opened the half-rotten door.

A sharp smell of dampness and something terribly decayed hit Zipp's nose. Zipp stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Dim rays of light made their way through the cracks in the ceiling and walls, lifting the curtain of darkness and allowing to see the situation a little. The entire inside of the house was overgrown with moss and, it seemed, mold, all kinds of swarming insects were visible everywhere, and clusters of mushrooms grew in the corners. But the creepiest detail was the presence of personal belongings. Here they are, all lying the same as on the day the owners left this house. Clothes, dishes, household appliances...The kitchen was overgrown with some incomprehensible mass. At best, it was once food. At worst it was something alive.

The living room turned out to be a natural swamp. Because of a hole in the rotten roof, water flowed straight into the room, where a puddle first formed and then grew into a real swamp. “Perfect room for a post-apocalyptic scene, huh?” Zipp turned her attention from the floor to the entire room: a large double bed, dilapidated cabinets with various things and the remains of books, photographs in frames. The pegasus decided to look at the former owners of this house and approached the closet, stepping through the swampy areas. Zipp took the photo standing in the center, but, unfortunately, it was impossible to see the faces - the photo had become wet and blackened. It was only clear that a family of three unicorns lived here.

“I really hope that I won’t see them here... and, especially, their foal...” Zipp noticeably darkened realizing this.

Pegasus winced and put the photo back in its place.

The children's room was the most unpleasant. An unmade children's bed, scattered things and rotten toys. This picture gave Zipp goosebumps. She stopped and thought. She imagined the same picture, but with Pipp's room. “What would I do in this case? Could I handle losing her? Yes, now we are not on the best terms, but she is my beloved sister, she is simply mistaken... I will not survive if something happens to her. It’s better to let her mind her own business...”

"So, what should I do with all this?" Zipp said out loud.

She took out her phone and started typing a message for Rocky.

“I chose one of the abandoned houses. The good news is that it is located in an absolutely deserted place and is almost perfectly hidden from prying eyes. The bad news is that it is completely rotten and has turned into a local swamp. First you will have to clean it all out. It’s impossible to meet up here now.”

While waiting for an answer, Zipp walked back and forth around the room and at some point caught the closet door, which fell off with a rotten crunch, which frightened the pegasus. Zipp could not overcome her curiosity and looked into the closet. "Nothing unusual. School uniform. For a filly,” Zipp thought to herself. Looking closer, she saw a name tag. “Well, yes, of course, he’s too damaged,” another disappointment for Zipp.

But Zipp quickly forgot about the closet after receiving an answer from Rocky.

"It's nothing. I have a solution. We'll meet there."

"Great, and what should I do here?" Zipp said sarcastically.

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from the living room. Zipp shuddered in fear, and her heart began to beat wildly. But this was not the first time she had encountered danger, so without hesitation, she took a piece of the door and slowly moved towards the source of the noise. Looking into the living room, she saw that the hole in the ceiling had become much larger, as if something had fallen through the roof into the room. Carefully moving around the room, trying not to step into the “swamps,” Zipp constantly looked around, afraid of missing the “threat.”

Zipp walked to the center of the room and peered at the pile of boards that had fallen from the ceiling. Suddenly, something jumped out of this pile and knocked Zipp off her feet. Making indistinct sounds and getting to her hooves, Zipp realized that it was not exactly a pile of boards. Timber Wolf stood in front of Zipp. Well, more like a Timber Pupp, judging by the size.

"Hey, buddy," Zipp said nervously. "I’m not the one you need. And I don't need you at all."

As soon as Zipp averted her eyes a little to the side to see the front door, the wolf rushed towards the pegasus with a terrible roar. Zip jumped up with a scream and returned her gaze to the wolf.

"Is this your house?" Zipp continued, backing away. "Wonderful house! A little musty, but I don't blame you."

The wolf continued to growl and move closer to Zipp.

"Do you know what?" Zipp exclaimed. "Thank you for your hospitality, but I have to go!"

The pegasus took off from her place and rushed towards the front door, the wolf followed her almost at lightning speed. And so, when Zipp was already at the exit, the wolf jumped onto the cabinet in the hallway, causing it to lean over and fall, blocking the door. Realizing that her only escape route was blocked, she pressed herself into the nearest corner and covered herself with her wings, closing her eyes in fear.

After a couple of moments, she realized that it had become too quiet. Opening one eye and looking through her wings, Zipp did not see this wolf anywhere. Not understanding anything, she rose to her feet and without hesitation began to move the closet away from the door.

"Zipp! Are you here?" Rocky's voice came from outside.

Having finished moving the closet just in time, Zipp literally flew out from the house and rushed to hug Rocky

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

"Um, me too?" Rocky said uncertainly and in surprise.

Having come to her senses and realizing the moment, Zipp saw that Rocky had not come alone, and quickly pulled away from him. Next to him stood two earth ponies - Jazz and an unknown stallion with a whole cart of some mechanisms and cans. He looked noticeably older, had a prosthetic ear, and his entire fur and mane was terribly oily.

"Hi, Jazz," Zipp waved at her.

"Hi," Jazz answered dryly.

"As I promised," Rocky began. "I found somepony to help us."

"Earthpony? - Zipp took Rocky aside. "After what you said about them?"

"Calm down, Zipp," Rocky answered, removing his friend’s hoof from him. "You can definitely trust them. They have their own reasons for opposing Opaline. Besides, you’re already familiar with Jazz. Her best friend was sent to the factories. We haven't heard anything from her for over a month now. Poor Jazz really wants to know the answers."

"Okay, if you say so," Zipp still said uncertainly. "And who is this?"

"Let him tell you about himself," said Rocky and called the pony with his hoof. "Introduce yourself, my friend."

"Sketchy Rainfall at your service, Miss," he said in a bow and wanted to kiss Zipp’s hoof, but she pulled it away in disgust.

Sketchy felt awkward and quickly straightened up.

"So, my passion is technology and mechanisms," said Sketchy. "Things that are not very accepted in this country. I spent my entire adult life working at Canterlogic as an engineer and became obsessed with mechanisms. Recently I made a proposal about the possible use of my technologies for the benefit of our new country. But they laughed at me! How dare they?? This old hag, you know, doesn't like machines. She, you know, only accepts magic! And they don't need a pony with such bad habits. Yes, I have problems with alcohol, but my hooves are golden! Ugh!"

Sketchy spat in anger on the ground in front of him.

"Well..." Zipp, who did not expect such pressure, froze for a moment. "This will be very useful to us. In the absence of magic, technology and mechanisms can become our main assistants. This is...really wonderful!"

"And I also hate nature," Sketchy said sharply.

"What?" Zipp was surprised. "What’s wrong with nature?"

"Nature does not fit with my mechanisms," the pony began to explain. "You leave the mechanism in some place for a while, and it is absorbed by this vile vegetation! Plants wrap around it, gets inside, the gears stop working, everything goes to waste! And, of course, earth ponies had to get this magic of growing plants! I'm not against magic, don't get me wrong. But this is just a mockery!!!"

"Whoa-whoa, calm down," Zipp patted Sketchy on the shoulder. "Tell me, do you happen to have anything that could clear this house of moss and mushrooms?"

"How can I not have this?" Sketchy exclaimed enthusiastically. "After all, that’s exactly why I brought all this!"

The earthpony pulled his cart closer to the house and began to pull out everything he needed.

"What is this anyway?" asked Zipp.

"My best invention," he said proudly. "Flora Annihilator. A whole chain of devices that are safe for ponies, but deadly for plants. My whole house is filled with this. All we need to do is place them inside the house and wait. But we have to get rid of local furniture, because this device needs space, and it’s all rotten anyway. Damn mold!"

"Just let me sort something out first," Zipp asked. "I want to preserve the memory of those who lived here. Maybe one day we will be able to find out their story."

"No problem," Sketchy replied. "Hey, Rocky, help me move these things into the house."

"Jazz?" Zipp turned to the pony. "Will you help me with my business? We need to sort some things in the house."

"Yes, of course," Jazz answered. "I even don’t mind digging into mushrooms for that."

A few hours later the house was unrecognizable. Personal belongings are collected in boxes and stacked in the corner of the room. The annihilators did an excellent job - there were practically no traces of mushrooms or other abominations. All that was left was to shovel the water and dirt out of the living room.

"Well, my dears," Zipp began. "Congratulations on getting your own shelter!"

"Are we sure we shouldn’t be afraid of sudden inspections?" Jazz asked warily. "What about Eisenhorn? He is from here. And he doesn't care about this place?"

"For the most part, no," Rocky answered. "The unicorns have proven their loyalty to the Empress, plus there hasn’t been a single illegal incident."

"Then we’ll fix this," Sketchy exclaimed. "And we ourselves will become the first incident!"

"Chill out, big boy," Zipp said mockingly. "We’re here because we don’t want to be noticed."

"So, what do we have and where should we start?" asked Rocky.

"Let’s think," Zipp began. "At this stage we have nothing. We may have followers, but we don't have a clear and unified network to interact with. So our first step should be exactly this - creating a structure for the interaction of our organization. And I believe that we have an ideal opportunity for this. Thanks to the fact that my sister’s salon has expanded to a whole franchise, we will be able to learn a lot of useful information. Because both loyalists and dissatisfied with the authorities go to these salons, we will be able to learn rumors from some and recruit others. Jazz and Rocky can also recruit additional, loyal masters to us, so that during the procedures they extract the necessary and interesting information from clients.

"What about Pipp?" asked Jazz. "If she suspects something?"

"Don’t worry, there’s absolutely nothing suspicious in this," Zipp replied. "After all, these are ordinary conversations with clients. The main thing is not to go beyond the bounds of decency."

"Beyond the bounds of decency in conversations or actions?" Jazz asked sincerely.

There was a silent pause, during which everypony looked at Jazz in surprise.

"Both," Zipp answered seriously.

"And what should I do?" asked Sketchy.

"Your technology may find a place here," said the pegasus. "We need you to make something like a jammer. Yes, this place is completely empty, but still, for our own good, we need a local jammer so that even by accident no activity is detected in this area. And one more detail. As far as I have learned, Starscout is assembling a team of scientists for magical research. This doesn't bode well for us. Because we don't have magic, we have to rely on technology. It is necessary to create the same secret circle for technological developments. This job also falls on you, Sketchy. Can you handle it?"

"I’ve never done something like this," the pony said a little upset. "But I think I can handle it. Yes, I can definitely handle it!"

"And the last part for now - we need a name," Zipp said, looking at everyone.

"Fighting ponies?"

"Children of Equestria!"

"Freedom Ponies," Jazz said confidently. "Let everypony know that we are fighting for freedom from the false queen. That we were born with freedom and will defend it until victory!"

"And I suggest we drink to our new beginning," Sketchy happily suggested and took out a bottle of wine from his cart.

"We don’t have glasses, so take a sip straight from the bottle," Rocky said, smiling.

"Well, for us!"

"For the Freedom Ponies!"

"For our future success!"

"For our family and friends!"

Haven walked slowly through the corridors of the Dark Castle, accompanied by the Empress's personal guard. The path from the Zephyr Heights here is not close, and throughout the entire road, Haven’s head was haunted by disturbing thoughts. She was not given any information, public orders or assignments. She was ordered to appear in person to the Empress immediately. It was absolutely obvious that she was not called here for a simple heart-to-heart conversation.
Well, here it is - the Empress's throne room. One of the guards opened the door and walked inside, after which the second pushed Haven forward, and she followed into the hall.

Today, surprisingly, this room was even darker than usual. Even the usual magical torches did not burn near the throne. At the same time, the throne remained the only illuminated place in the room. Walking into the hall, Haven noticed a unicorn rummaging through the bookshelf. Haven was about to greet the Empress's daughter, but then her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, but so unwanted voice.

"Haven, dear," Opaline exclaimed, stepping into the light from behind her throne. "Finally you have come! Why are you making me wait?"

"Your Imperial Majesty!" Haven said nervously and knelt down. "I arrived as soon as I could! I would never allow myself to violate your order!"

"We’ll talk about this," Opaline said and turned her gaze to the guards. "Leave us. Misty, honey, you too."

Misty and the guards silently left the hall. As soon as the doors closed, Opaline removed the fake smile from her face.

"Tell me, Haven," Opaline began the dialogue seriously. "Do you remember on what conditions I allowed you to remain at the "head" of “your” kingdom?"

"I must unquestioningly follow your instructions," Haven answered without raising her head.

"That's all?" Opaline shouted menacingly.

"I must ensure the maintenance of order and complete loyalty to the Empire and You," Haven continued with fear, squeezing out the words and raised her head. "I’m doing everything possible! Most of the residents in the Zephyr Heights support you!"

"And it seems to me that you are not doing enough," said Opaline, sitting on her throne. "My agents report to me about constant protests and incessant clashes with the guards. I should take this as what?"

Haven wanted to answer something, but was interrupted.

"As your incompetence!" Opaline shouted, spreading her wings, from which a wave of magical fire erupted. "All you had to do was carry out some propaganda to convince everyone of an improvement in life! Look at Maretime - there are no problems at all. And Bridlewood? They are happy to serve. The main thing is to choose the right words or the right methods of influence!"

"It’s difficult to convince pegasi that we shouldn’t fly again," Haven suddenly became indignant. "And these factories? I don’t even know what they are doing there and why they don’t come back from there. What should I say about that?"

"That they mining resources there, you stupid pegasus!" Opaline shouted furiously. "Do you think that we live off magic? We live off resources! We and everypony else need them! And that’s why I created an army for you that never existed in this hole! It's surprising that no one has captured you in so many years. Do you even understand anything and know how to do anything? Although, it shouldn't surprise me, you can't control your own daughter!"

"Zipp is not doing anything illegal!" Haven tried to justify herself.

"But my agents constantly report to me about her," Opaline continued. "So, who is lying to me? You or my intelligence?"

Unable to find words, Haven only pursed her lips angrily, looking at Opaline.

"You know what, Haven?" Opaline asked with a grin. "I’m tired of messing around with you."

Suddenly, Opaline bound Haven's hooves with magic and pinned her to the ground.

"What-what are you doing?" Haven asked in fright, trying to break free and looking around.

"I give you the greatest honor," Opaline answered, grinning. "You will be the first of the pegasi to meet my new friend."

Haven searched the room in horror for anything that Opaline was talking about. And then in the far part of the hall, under the stairs to the second floor, she noticed movement. Something larger rose from the floor and began to move. Haven was horrified as the creature approached the throne and was caught in the light. Opaline's new "friend" was a huge dragon, whose scales perfectly matched the color scheme of the throne room, allowing him to remain invisible throughout the conversation.

"Dragon?" Haven asked in a panic. "You have brought dragons to our lands!"

"Oh, Darling, this is not just a dragon," Opaline laughed and continued with admiration. "This is ancient, beautiful creature and it's full of magic that you have never even dreamed of. And you know my love for everything magical."

"Please, I can still be useful, I will prove it!" Haven begged with tears.

"Oh, I have no doubt," Opaline said barely audibly and hoarsely and clicked her tongue.

Immediately after the click, the dragon took off with a roar and rushed towards Haven.

The pegasus screamed and reflexively closed her eyes and pressed her head to the ground, awaiting death. But death did not come. Haven, after collecting her thoughts a little, realized that she was still alive. The pegasus heard heavy breathing next to her and felt drool dripping onto her. She slowly opened her eyes and raised her head - the dragon was standing almost right next to her with his mouth open, ready to swallow the poor pegasus whole. Trying to comprehend what was happening, Haven noticed an interesting detail - the brightly glowing purple eyes of the dragon. She slowly turned her gaze to Opaline and saw the same picture - Opaline stood at her throne with glowing eyes and smiled maliciously.

"Well, Haven, do you think dragons would be a good addition to your city?" Opaline interrupted the silence.

"Please, give me another chance!" Haven asked in tears. "I will fix everything, we will discipline all violators! Just don't send these creatures into the city!"

"This is your last chance, Haven," Opaline said. "Next time I won’t stop him."

Opaline's eyes went dark, followed by the dragon's eyes.

"Place," she said roughly.

The dragon quickly returned to its owner, lay down on the side of the throne and wrapped its neck around it, placing its head on Opaline’s legs, after which the alicorn removed the restraining magic from the pegasus.

"Good boy, Hal," Opaline said gently, stroking the dragon’s head.

Haven slowly stood up from the floor, crying and straightening her clothes.

"This is your last chance, Haven," Opaline said angrily. "Don’t let me down this time, otherwise I will have to deal with your city and your eldest daughter by myself."

"It will be done, Your Excellency," Haven answered and got ready to leave.

"Look what you’ve done," Opaline exclaimed with disgust, pointing to the puddle under the pegasus. "You ruined my beautiful hall. And now the servants will have to clean up after you."

"Forgive me," Heaven squeezed out, crying even more.

"And yes, the last thing," Opaline said even more seriously. "Send your younger daughter to me."

"Just don’t do anything bad to her, she’s not guilty of anything," Haven said pleadingly.

"Oh, no, what are you talking about," Opaline replied. "I have a special deal for her. She will really like it. Guards! Escort Governor Haven to the exit. And call the maid to clean up here!"

A diary lay on the table. It was opened to a freshly written page.

“So, recent events have proven the possibility of mind control - Opaline, using dragon artifact and her fire magic, was able to completely subjugate the dragons to her will. She can remove and reapply full control at will. At the same time, the target remembers and understands everything.

My questions about such power did not lead to anything good. The only thing I learned is that it is impossible to control ponies with this magic. Now Opaline may suspect me of doing things that I don't actually plan to do. But I can’t tell her the truth either. All my affairs must remain secret."

Chapter 3 - Go with the flow

Lately, mornings in the Dark Castle began with difficult and unpleasant meetings in the throne room. The Empress listened to reports from her regional commanders about the current situation in the Empire with the so-called rebels. The underground organization Freedom Ponies began to gain more and more influence, especially in remote regions such as the Zephyr Heights. The city was previously the most “unfavorable”, but now the situation has worsened significantly.

"Well, what's the news for today?" Opaline asked dissatisfied, moving back and forth near her throne.

"Everything is calm as usual in Maretime, Your Majesty," Hitch began the report. "Illegal activity is practically zero and isolated cases are still not associated with political activity. We have also completed the conversion of the former Canterlogic factory into a building that can be used by RRT."

"The unicorns, for the most part, accepted your offer with joy," Eisenhorn began his report. "We have already formed work teams and begun the restoration of Canterlot. They have absolutely no time for protest activities. Plus, unicorns are absolutely loyal to you. However, there are those who do not want to leave this vile forest. But I assure you, Your Majesty, we will see this matter through to the end. Unicorns will live in the city they deserve!"

It seemed that Opaline was not particularly interested in all this talk about calm regions. From the way she constantly moved, it was clear that the Empress’s nerves were giving in and everything was not going the way she wanted. But then she stopped and turned her head displeasedly at the representative of the pegasus, who stood silently, with her head down and nervously moving her hooves.

"Well, I’m listening!" Opaline said menacingly.

"Sorry, Your Majesty!" the pegasus said almost in tears. "We carry out c-constant raids in search of v-violators...But in the place of one a-arrested, two new p-protesters appear...But it doesn’t seem to me that e-everything is just so t-terrible..."

"Doesn't seem so?" Opaline shouted, spreading her wings. "Breaking laws and open opposition to the Empress doesn't seem terrible???"

"That's not what I m-meant!" the pegasus tried to justify herself. "I meant that they don’t do anything w-worse than pickets and r-rallies..."

"Do you think these actions are normal?" asked Opaline, coming up point-blank. "Wait, who are you exactly? I don't remember you from previous reports. Where is your commander?"

"My n-name is Sky Wingley, Your Majesty," Sky answered nervously. "You’re absolutely r-right, this is my first time here. Unfortunately, Commander Featherwishes was unable to arrive here. During o-one of the raids, we came across armed r-resistance. The C-commander was seriously wounded. And I don't know if he'll survive this..."

"Well, since you are now the commander, then you need to make decisions about this situation," Opaline answered, raising the pegasus’s head with her hoof. "Tell me, Miss Wingley, what would be your suggestions regarding this whole situation?"

Sky, from nerves and fear, couldn't even gather her thoughts, as she couldn't make any ideas for solving such a difficult situation.

Opaline's face became even more displeased and she walked towards her throne.

"So there will be no offers, Miss Wingley?" Opaline asked sarcastically. "It turns out that you are not suitable for your position. How did you even get to the rank of sergeant? I will demand that you-"

"They're t-too well organised!" Sky interrupted The Empress. "It’s obvious that t-they have their own n-network, w-which we don’t know about. They are s-somewhere recruiting new supporters, they have established c-connections..."

"That’s already clear, but what do you propose? I need suggestions to resolve this situation," Opaline said.

"We need something more s-serious," Sky answered. "All these devices for using m-magic are very good, but they no longer work on r-rebels...F-fear...Yes...Intimidation...F-fear can h-help keep them under c-control..."

A grin appeared on Opaline's face.

"Fear, you say?" Opaline began with a smile. "This is very ironic to hear from a pony who is shaking with fear when talking to me."

"You’re r-right, Your Majesty, that’s why I’m o-offering this o-option," Sky answered without raising her head. "Maybe the RRT has s-something that will strike terror into the h-hearts of the r-rioters."

"Oh, my dear, we can do it without them," Opaline laughed. "Tell me, do you love animals?"

Sky just silently looked at Opaline in fear.

"Oh, I’m sure, you and the whole city will really like my cute lizards," Opaline continued.

"D-dragons?" Sky asked in fear.

"Exactly," Opaline answered. "I gave Haven so many chances to fix everything. But since she hasn’t done anything in all this time, we’ll have to act radically."

"H-how safe is it for r-residents?" Sky asked nervously.

"Don’t worry, they won’t eat anypony, they’ll just help you keep the city under control," Opaline said smiling.

"It’s all up to Your will," Sky bowed.

"That's all for now," Opaline said loudly. "Everypony can go, except Eisenhorn. We need to discuss something. And yes, don't forget to pick up your devices on the way out."

Hitch and Sky walked out of the throne room into the hallway where the guards gave them their devices. These devices are the latest development of RRT. With the help of a crystal, enchantment and special fasteners, ponies could use magic again. Of course, only those who fully proved their loyalty to the ideals of the Empire were awarded such a privilege. Each race had its own design for convenience and ease of use - bracelets for earth ponies, rings for unicorns and wing enhancers for pegasuses.

"Are you okay?" Hitch interrupted the silence, putting on his bracelet.

"I survived m-my first r-report," Sky said calmly. "So let’s a-assume that yes, it’s b-better than expected."

"You held up well," Hitch encouraged his colleague. "During my first report, I forgot everything I wanted to say and almost lost consciousness. And you are really good. You had the courage to interrupt the Empress and tell her what you really think."

"Th-thank you, officer," Sky answered smiling. "Are you coming?"

"I have to leave you," Hitch said almost officially. "I still have business to do in this castle."

"Okay, then see you at the next meeting," Sky said and saluted.

Hitch saluted back and nodded his head.

"So...where is my business?" Hitch said out loud.

Hitch wandered through the endless corridors of the Dark Castle. It's an interesting situation, of course. Until recently, Hitch didn’t even know about this castle, but now it has become almost like home to him. Security reports became so frequent that it seemed as if Hitch was never leaving this castle.

Lost in his thoughts, Hitch lost his vigilance and did not expect the “attack” at all. Suddenly the officer was stopped by magic and sharply turned in the opposite direction.

"Miss Arcana," he said calmly, looking at the unicorn.

"Officer Hitch," Misty answered also calmly.

After a couple of “tense” seconds, both laughed cheerfully and Misty freed her “captive”.

"Oh, Hitch," Misty gently pressed herself against the officer, closing her eyes. "I’m so glad to see you! I miss you so much..."

"And I miss you too," Hitch replied, hugging the unicorn. "How are you doing here? I see that your skills in magic have become even higher."

"Thank you!" Misty exclaimed joyfully. "All thanks to Sunny and her classes. And, of course, this crystal. And you have the same one now!"

"Yes, a very useful thing," Hitch answered, looking at his bracelet.

"There’s just one problem," Misty said upsetly. "I decided to use my skills at the Royal Hospital. I want to help ponies in need!"

"And what's the problem here?" Hitch was surprised.

"Sunny is unhappy with my choice," answered Misty. "She wanted me to do research work at RRT. But this is not my thing at all..."

"That's nothing, I’m sure that Sunny will accept your choice. She's understanding. Especially towards you," Hitch said comfortingly.

"And how was the meeting, Hitch?" Misty asked excitedly, taking off the pony's cap with her magic.

"Like most past meetings," Hitch began. "The Empress had no questions for me. Everything is pretty calm in Maretime. There are some minor violations, but they are nothing. Plus, with these new devices, catching violators has become much easier. Everything is calm in Bridlewood too. The unicorns began to move to Canterlot, which they themselves are rebuilding. But the Empress was furious about the situation in the Zephyr Heights."

"Is it because of the rebellion?" Misty said anxiously. "I heard that Opaline sent dragons there to strengthen security."

"Yes, there are more and more rioters, if we don’t make serious decisions, we can lose the city," Hitch answered upsetly.

"This is terrible," Misty said, pressing herself closer to Hitch.

"Yeah..." the officer thought. "The commander of the Zephyr Heights Guard was seriously wounded, and an inexperienced sergeant had to report on the situation. The poor pegasus almost died there from fear."

"Hitch, I’m so glad you’re in Maretime and not in the Zephyr Heights. This warms my heart..." Misty said tenderly but anxiously.

"At least not yet in the Zephyr Heights," Hitch said sadly. "But in general, I’m even very glad that these meetings take place so often and in this particular castle."

"Why?" Misty was surprised.

"Every meeting like this is a great chance to see my beautiful Butterfly," Hitch said tenderly and raised Misty’s head, looking into her eyes.

Misty went limp in Hitch's strong hooves and the two merged in a sensual and gentle kiss.

"Hitch, could you...stay in the castle longer?" Misty said, blushing, hesitantly, looking away.

Hitch just silently looked at his beloved unicorn.

"Opaline is busy with government affairs, Sunny went somewhere and said that she would return only in the evening," Misty continued. "I’ll definitely be idle all day and “safe” because nopony will look for me..."

"Sorry, Misty," Hitch hesitated. "I would gladly stay with you. But I have too much work in the city..."

"Oh...I understand, you can’t quit the service," Misty sighed.

"Hey, don’t be sad, please," Hitch stroked Misty’s cheek. "We will still have plenty of time to be alone."

Misty was about to answer something, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Opaline suddenly emerging from around the corner. The unicorn, in fright, abruptly pulled away from Hitch at a considerable distance. After a few seconds, she realized that she was still holding Hitch's cap with her magic. Simply throwing it crookedly over the officer’s head, Misty jumped to the side, trying to pretend that nothing was happening. The two secret lovers were lucky that Opaline was immersed in some documents and did not see what was happening in the corridor.

"Ah!" Opaline exclaimed, crashing into Misty and putting the documents aside. "Misty, dear, I didn’t notice you at all!"

After which the alicorn’s gaze fell on the officer and became suspicious.

"Officer Trailblazer, why are you still here?" Opaline said sternly.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty," Hitch replied, standing at attention. "It seems I took a wrong turn somewhere and got lost."

"Are you lost?" Opaline was surprised. "You have been going to my castle for so long to report and have never gotten into such difficulties."

"There’s a first time for everything," Hitch answered nervously.

"What about your appearance?" Opaline continued. "What kind of disgrace is this?"

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency!" said Hitch and began to adjust his uniform.

"Misty, did he commit any suspicious actions?" Opaline addressed the unicorn.

"No!" Misty shouted sharply.

"And in relation to you?" Opaline asked, looking sternly at Hitch.

"Mom!" Misty was indignant. "What are you talking about???"

"Well, okay...But I’ll take you to the exit, Officer Trailblazer. Let's go," Opaline said calmly.

Misty and Hitch only had time to exchange loving glances and smiles goodbye when Opaline pushed officer towards the exit of the castle.

Maretime really was a calm and quiet town, as Hitch believed. No protests or subversion. But it only seemed so at first glance. What the guards didn't even suspect was that the city had long ago joined the underground Freedom Ponies network through Mane Melody salon. Dozens of ponies pass through these salons every day, so it won’t be difficult to find out any rumors.

There were surprisingly a lot of visitors in the salon today. Both sides of the conflict are in the same room, but only one of them knows about it. Apparently, the Observers are not doing a very good job of identifying suspicious individuals.
However, for Jazz it was all routine. Both the work and obtaining the necessary information. It was only necessary to start an unobtrusive conversation during the procedures and push the pony in the right direction. But, unfortunately, this mostly only works with dissatisfied residents. The Imperial Guard almost never tells anything interesting other than events that have already happened.

Having finished with one client and cleared up the place, Jazz was ready to take a short break when one of the Observers approached her.

"Are you busy?" he asked monotonously.

"N-no," Jazz said nervously. "Jazz Hooves is at your service!"

"Wonderful," the unicorn answered still monotonously. "Then be so kind to serve me."

"Of course, of course," Jazz said with a tight smile. "Have a seat."

Jazz wanted to take off the Observer's insignia so that he wouldn't get in the way, but at that moment the unicorn grabbed her by the hoof with magic and pulled her point-blank towards him, which made her scream.

"You shouldn’t do this," the unicorn said without changing his intonation and facial expression, looking Jazz in the eyes.

"Excuse me, sir," Jazz said, lowering her head. "What are we doing today?"

"New hairstyle," the Observer answered tersely.

The process of creating a hairstyle by a master in a salon is a real art, where every step is performed with love and attention to detail. First, the master carefully listens to the client’s wishes, studies his hair type, style and appearance features.

"Do you have any specific wishes?" asked Jazz.

"I want you to surprise me," the Observer continued. "If you succeed, you can count on a good bonus."

"I’ll do my best," Jazz answered and got to work.

After this, the process of hair preparation begins: washing, care and selection of suitable hair products.

"What is your name?" Jazz asked while washing her client's hair.

"It doesn’t matter," replied the unicorn.

"Are you forbidden to disclose your names?" asked the pony.

"This is my personal right," the unicorn continued. "If I don’t want my name to be known, then no one will know it."

"Fair enough," Jazz confirmed.

The master then proceeds to create the hairstyle using his technical skills and creative eye.

"Tell me then, why did you join the service of the Empire?" Jazz tried to keep the conversation going.

"We all serve the Great Empire and our Empress in one way or another," the Observer began the story. "Some serve in factories, some are engaged in scientific development, and some join the military. I voluntarily joined the Observers because I believe that it is my duty to identify and punish the enemies of our great country. I hated these forest swamps that we unicorns called home. With the arrival of Her Majesty, we have a chance to live a normal life, like our ancestors, in beautiful Canterlot, and not among wild animals."

"Yes...I understand you perfectly. I wouldn’t want to live in such a wilderness too," Jazz drawled, without interrupting her work.

If a haircut is required, the master will select the appropriate shape and length, taking into account the client’s wishes and the characteristics of his appearance.

"Besides, so many inhabitants died there during all this time, because we had no protection from wild animals," the unicorn continued his story. "Just like what happened to Misty's family. She was very lucky that our Empress found her back then."

"It seems to me, the poor filly doesn’t even remember her real parents," Jazz kept up the conversation.

"Of course she doesn’t remember," the unicorn said confidently. "She was too young. Maybe that makes it easier. After all, you can’t feel the loss of something you never had. But she knows that the Empress is not her real mother. However, it seems to me that she cannot be called poor now. Lives in a castle, has everything she wants. Her life is better than ours."

The master then skillfully styles the hair using a variety of techniques and tools to achieve the desired result.

"Is there any news, so to speak, from the front?" Jazz asked.

"You mean from the Zephyr Heights?" the unicorn clarified. "Nothing really changes. However, during the last raid, Commander Featherwishes was seriously wounded. Now, during his rehabilitation, this place has been taken by a young pegasus who is afraid of her own shadow."

The Observer shook his head in displeasure, throwing off Jazz's work.

"Sir, please don’t move," Jazz said calmly and continued styling.

"As if Eisenhorn couldn't appoint someone better!" the unicorn continued his indignation. "There are so many experienced soldiers, who have gone through more than one raid, who understand what and how to do. But no, he appointed a green sergeant as commander in a city where a disaster is about to happen."

"Do you think that the rebels can seize the initiative? They’re just a handful of amateurs," Jazz asked, trying to hide her joy.

"Taking into account recent events, we cannot call them amateurs," the Observer said sadly. "They obviously had a clear structure of connections. They have a clear plan and organization of all actions. But we can't find their center. All raids reveal only small cells at the district level."

"I couldn’t even imagine how bad everything was there," Jazz responded, feigning surprise.

"But they’ll still get caught," the unicorn said more joyfully. "Today, the Empress finally ordered the use of extreme measures."

"Extreme measures?" Jazz asked excitedly.

"Our new friends from distant lands," answered the Observer, smiling and looking at Jazz through the mirror.

"Dragons," Jazz whispered, freezing in place.

"Exactly," the unicorn nodded.

An important part of the hairstyle creation process is a consultation with the client, during which the hairdresser explains how to care for a new hairstyle and gives recommendations for care and styling at home.

"With your new style, you’ll need this," Jazz handed the unicorn a bottle of mane styling product. "I really hope you have time to style."

"I have plenty of time," the Observer answered sharply, looking at himself in the mirror and appreciating the new look.

Ultimately, the process of creating a hairstyle by a master not only changes the client's appearance, but also brings confidence and joy to him, helping him express his individuality through style and beauty.

"You actually managed to surprise me," the unicorn said contentedly.

With these words, Jazz breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her client.

"Here, this is for you," the unicorn left a generous tip on the table and headed to the payment counter.

"Thank you very much!" Jazz said happily and collected the money.

But suddenly Jazz was again pulled out by the hoof and moved point-blank towards the Observer.

"I have one more thing for you," he said as seriously as possible, turning to Jazz.

"Yes?" the pony said barely audibly, afraid of further actions.

"I highly appreciate your capabilities," unicorn continued. "You can start a conversation perfectly and get the client talking. This would be very useful for us to further identify the rebels. Therefore, I have decided to take you into Imperial Intelligence. This decision is final and non-negotiable. Your goal is to, through conversations in this salon, identify residents who are opposed to the Empire and report to me personally. Show yourself as a true citizen of our beautiful Empire and receive all kinds of privileges. Congratulations on your promotion, Miss Hooves."

The unicorn let go of Jazz and headed towards the exit, while the poor pony collapsed on the sofa and only uttered one phrase to herself, looking at the floor “Jazz, girl, how did you get into trouble so easy”.

"Zipp will kill me," she said out loud. "I shouldn’t have had such a conversation with the Observer...What was I thinking..."

Sunny confidently moved through the streets of deserted Bridlewood. Now this place was even more frightening, but also more enchanting.

Now Bridlewood looks even more like it came straight out of an ancient fairy tale book. Lonely houses with collapsing roofs and ivy-covered walls stand among dense bushes of wild nature. Playgrounds and courtyards are overgrown with moss and lichen, and the narrow streets are covered with thick foliage and cobwebs.

The forest surrounds this village, like a guardian and keeper of its secrets. All kinds of birds now reign here, their songs sounding light and relaxed, while the sun's rays penetrate the foliage and paint the ground in golden hues. The silence is filled with a fabulous atmosphere and mystery, as if time has stopped here, and the settlement has again become a source of legends and myths.

This is a place where ancient trees lean over forgotten houses and hide the secrets of the past. Every old stone and weathered door holds its own stories, as if they are etched in time and hold the key to the mysterious events that happened in this place. In this deserted village in the forest, it seems that even the wind is in no hurry to dispel its secrets, leaving this area as an eternal witness to its mysterious past life.

But Sunny didn’t care about all this mystery and beauty. She was interested, as always, in a house called La Villa Izzy. Sunny was already tired of coming here, but she was not going to give up. As, in fact, her friend was not going to give up either.

Sunny stopped at the door and knocked. After a while, leisurely steps were heard inside and the door opened.

"Oh, it’s you again," Izzy said dejectedly.

"I’m glad to see you too, Izzy," Sunny said in response. "Will you let me in?"

"As if I have a choice," Izzy muttered displeasedly.

"What are you saying," Sunny said, going inside. "I would never come in without an invitation."

Once inside, Sunny immediately went to the kitchen and put the bag she had brought with her on the table.

"You know that I can’t just leave you here," Sunny said, sorting out her bag and taking out food from it. "What are you going to eat if you’re practically alone here? There is no production here, and you are not do any gardening. I don't want you to starve to death here."

"I’m an adult mare," Izzy objected. "I can take care of myself just fine."

"Really?" Sunny asked sarcastically. "Look at you. You can't even fix yourself up to look normal."

"Hey, actually, this is my new hairstyle," Izzy interrupted angrily.

"Ahh...Is that what you call it now?" Sunny drawled. "I thought it was called dirty unwashed mane."

"Have you seen yourself?" Izzy said. "What's wrong with your eyes? You don't look any better than me. Only my eyes are teary, and yours? And...are you wearing LEATHER???"

"I work a lot with magic, and this magic drains me with prolonged exposure," Sunny said confidently. "So consider these to be a side effect. Anything is better than your endless tears. And if that makes you feel any better, it's faux leather."

"You came here to mock me?" Izzy said sadly and angrily.

"No, I’m here, as always, for the same purpose," answered Sunny

"Eh...Let’s go upstairs," Izzy sighed.

Izzy made tea for her guest as per tradition and passed the mug to her.

"Hmm, what a beautiful mug," Sunny grinned, looking at the mug with the words “friends” crossed out. "Are you keeping it especially for me?"

In response, Izzy just rolled her eyes in displeasure.

"Are you giving Zipp this mug too?" Sunny continued.

"What does Zipp have to do with it?" Izzy was surprised.

"Come on, it’s obvious," Sunny grinned. "She comes here at least as often as I do. It's just a pity that we never crossed paths."

"How can you know this?" Izzy tried to justify herself. "She could be anywhere."

"Fair enough," Sunny answered smiling. "But this feather in the hammock suggests that Zipp definitely was here."

Izzy looked at the feather and sighed.

"Of course she comes here," Izzy said. "Because she’s my friend. I can't refuse her...Just like you-"

"Fine, I don’t care about her now," Sunny interrupted her.

Sunny took a long sip of tea, looking around the house, which she already remembers better than her own.

"So, you decided to stay in your tree," Sunny interrupted the silence. "You don’t like Her Majesty’s offer? It's time to get out of these slums and return the unicorns to their former glory, Izzy. Just imagine the magnificence of New Canterlot!"

"You know perfectly well, Sunny, I don’t care about all this," Izzy answered indifferently.

"But you care about me, right?" Sunny said with a sly smile. "You still keep my photos, collect clippings of my speeches."

"If your magic didn’t dull your vision, then you would see that there are photos of all of us," Izzy answered mockingly.

"Oh, yes, about magic," Sunny said. "I’ll voice my offer again - join me and my team. I will personally train you and we will reach unprecedented heights in the study of magic. I was able to teach the weakest unicorn the strongest spells. And with your capabilities, you will be the most valuable employee at RRT. Moreover, we will eventually crush the rebellion and live in peace."

"When will you understand?" Izzy shouted. "I don’t care about the loyalists or the rebels. I just want to be with my friends. And you left us! Abandoned me...It's all your fault! Opaline couldn't do anything without you. I have so much hatred for you that I am ready to throw it out on you right here and now.

Sunny abruptly put down the mug, jumped off the hammock and, using magic, moved Izzy towards her.

"Come on, Moonbow, here I am. I'm standing right in front of you. Do it," Sunny said firmly.

But Izzy just stood there and looked at Sunny, shaking a little while her eyes filled with tears.

"Well, here we go again," Sunny said dryly, wiping her friend’s tears with her wings. "You’re crying again."

Sunny took Izzy's hooves in hers and began to slowly move from side to side.

"I’ll tell you again," the alicorn continued. "There’s no need for stupidity and unnecessary aggression. First of all, I’m beyond your strength."

Sunny began to spin her friend around slightly.

"When will YOU understand," Sunny continued her monologue. "I’m worried about you. It's too dangerous for you to stay here. You'll be much safer at Opaline's castle. I will always be there, there are plenty of servants and guards there.

And now the two best friends are already spinning around in the dance, forgot about their problems. Calm finally appeared on Izzy's face. Unicorn seemed to be considering accepting the offer for the first time, and Sunny began to break out into a joyful smile.

"I’m not ready to leave this place," Izzy finally answered.

Sunny's smile suddenly disappeared and the alicorn pushed her friend onto the bed.

"You are incorrigible," Sunny said dissatisfiedly and lay down next to Izzy." I'm tired of begging you. And this swamp.

Izzy just muttered something incomprehensible and pressed herself against Sunny. Deep down, she still loved and appreciated her, no matter what.

Sunny was approaching the Canterlogic building in Maretime. Or, now, the Royal Research Team Headquarters. By decree of the mayor Cloverleaf, this building was transferred to the ownership of Sunny and converted for the needs of science. Sunny was shaking with delight - a whole huge building for all kinds of research and experiments.

At the building, Sunny was met by a worker pony, who was responsible for all work related to this factory.

"Good evening, Miss Strascout," he said.

"Hello," answered Sunny. "I’m not interested in façade works, so let’s go straight inside, where you’ll show me all the halls."

"No problem, as you say," the worker answered.

Inside the factory were the same halls, but now filled with powerful energy and exciting opportunities for experimentation. An atmosphere of mystery reigns in these halls, as if every corner is filled with magic. Great columns and stained glass windows are open, allowing light to penetrate into the depths of the factory, revealing the secrets of its majestic halls.
The halls of the factory are decorated with high ceilings with golden patterns and crystal chandeliers reflected in the mirrored walls. Here breathes the ancient wisdom and knowledge accumulated in ancient texts over the centuries.

Each hall of the factory is filled with mysterious objects and artifacts, evidence of many past experiments. However, here you can also see various complex mechanisms and tools used in incredible experiments beyond the understanding of simple ponies.

Finished examining the main halls, Sunny decided to find out about the service premises.

"Where is my office?" she asked.

"Over there," the worker pointed upward with his hoof. "It’s located just so that you can observe the entire factory. Nothing will be hidden from your sight!"

"Very good," Sunny nodded her head. "Tell me, has my equipment already been delivered?"

"Yes, everything is already installed and ready for use," the worker answered contentedly.

"Great! Take me there, please," Sunny exclaimed joyfully.

"As you order," the worker answered.

The two went up to the office premises and reached the director's office, that is, Sunny's office. Pony took out the keys and, finally, finding the right one, opened the door, letting Sunny forward.

Sunny silently entered the office and only nodded her head approvingly, looking around the room.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" asked the worker.

"No, thank you," Sunny answered. "You can go home."

"Thank you, Goodbye," the pony bowed.

"Good night," Sunny answered, sitting down in her chair.

“Finally,” she thought to herself. “My own office in a place I could only dream of. Okay, I had one more thing to do. What time is it there? 10 pm? I don’t think they’re sleeping.”

Sunny sat down at her communications center and began to tune the desired frequency. After some time, she was still able to make contact.

"Hello-hello," Sunny said. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, boss," answered on the other side.

"Which of my favorite miners am I talking to?" asked Sunny.

"Agate," answered the pony.

"Agate," Sunny said thoughtfully. "The middle of the brothers, right?"

"That’s right," he answered contentedly.

"I have a special task for your team," said Sunny. "Personal."

"What we have to do this time?" asked Agate.

"I need stones, a lot of stones," Sunny said mysteriously.

"Stones?" Agate was surprised. "We collect stones for you, don’t we?"

"Not magical," Sunny began to explain. "Ordinary stones. Any-"

Suddenly Sunny's speech was interrupted by a terrible noise on the other side.

"What was that???" Sunny was horrified. "What’s going on there???"

"Um..." Agate paused, not knowing what to say. "Just some fun before bed."

"What type of entertainment creates so much noise?" Sunny continued to be surprised.

"Dad and Copper argued who would drink more and last longer on the pyramid of barrels," Agate answered, laughing nervously.

Sunny, unable to bear the idiocy of her employees, simply fell face first into the table.

"Okay, okay," she continued. "You will listen to me and tell the others. I need any hard rocks for my experiments. There is no clear quota, the more you bring, the more payments you will receive."

"Did I understand correctly, you need ordinary hard stones?" Agate asked.

"Yes," Sunny confirmed.

"Understood," answered Agate. "Um, Miss Starscout?"

"Yes, what's the matter?" Sunny asked calmly.

"There’s one thing," the pony said. "It’s strange, of course, but I still want to ask. My younger brother, Granite, constantly writes letters to you."

"I haven’t received any letters," Sunny answered in surprise.

"Yes, that’s right," Agate continued. "He’s too afraid to send them to you, fearing your angry reaction. So, I'll ask you for him. Maybe he can finally send them to you?"

"Eh...Yes, let him send them," Sunny sighed dissatisfied.

"Okay, I’ll tell him," said Agate. "Is there anything else you need? Can I go?"

"You can go," answered Sunny. "Good night."

"Goodbye," Agate answered and closed the communication channel.

Sunny turned off the radio and sat back, dreaming of future successes. After which she took out her documents and some drawings and notes from the boxes she had brought and laid them out on the table.
"Oh yes, this will be my greatest creation," Sunny said excitedly out loud.

A new entry has appeared in the diary.

It was very dangerous, but I was able to get into the Royal Library of Zephyr Heights. After studying the secret archives, I came to the conclusion that mind control experiments had already been carried out, hundreds of years ago, but were not successful. I need to study them in more detail and conduct my own experiments. I am sure that my knowledge is enough to finish what I started.

Chapter 4 - Point of no return

Sunny stood at the observation window of her office and drank coffee - the only drink that helped her stay on her hooves. Alicorn worked all night finalizing her new project before today's presentation. And not a simple presentation for the academic council or Opaline, but for live television. Pipp and her crew should be arriving any minute.

And downstairs in the halls, work was in full swing as always. In one room they were finishing up a batch of Sunny's new development, in other the enchanting of items necessary for various experiments was taking place. But the most important part of the production was the hall in which rituals with the Burning Heart were performed.

This stone has already become a symbol of the Equestrian Empire, along with the Empress herself. It became a symbol of the Ruler's power and kindness towards her loyal subjects.

But Sunny was now interested in this stone not as an enhancement of the pony’s magic, but as an important component of her greatest experiment.

Sunny took one last sip from her mug, walked away from the window and began to wander around her office. Since the alicorn does not allow anyone to enter her office, not even the cleaners, real chaos has reigned here. Whole piles of papers were laid out here and there, various devices and tools were lying on the floor, next to the table there was a communication center for access to the team of miners, and on the table itself lay a stack of letters from one of them, a lot of bottles and food packages had accumulated next to the sofa, and the sofa itself was converted into a bed, because Sunny almost always spends the night here, which worries Opaline and upsets Misty.

Suddenly the intercom rang, so long-awaited and so exciting.

"I’m listening," Sunny answered the call.

"Miss Starscout, Miss Petals and her team have arrived," a voice was heard on the other side.

"I’ll go down to them now," Sunny said and turned off the connection.

Finally. This is the moment she's been waiting for. She will finally present her creation to the world. Unable to hide her delight, Sunny gathered everything she needed, put on her favorite black suit and ran downstairs to meet her friend.
Pipp and her team waited in the lobby under the supervision of security. It was surprisingly very spacious and cozy here. At first glance, it is impossible to say that there used to be a factory here, and now they are conducting magical experiments. Pipp was, as always, engrossed in her phone when she heard a familiar voice.

"Pipp! I’m so glad to see you!" Sunny exclaimed joyfully, flying up to her friend and hugging her.

"Mmm, I'm glad to see you too, Darling!" the pegasus answered, kissing the alicorn on the cheek.

"What are you wearing?" Sunny asked mockingly. "You are now literally a Chick!"

"Do you think that you understand something about outfits?" Pipp was indignant. "Although, you definitely understand something."

Pipp flew around Sunny and examined her from all sides.

"It suits you very well. Not like that swamp-colored tackiness, ugh!” said Pipp.

"Okay, let’s go to the exhibition hall," Sunny answered laughing.

The exhibition hall fully lived up to its name and was not a production place, but only a room for demonstrating the inventions and achievements of RRT. And unlike the entire building, it was decorated according to the design of the Dark Castle - bricks and stones in cold tones. Sunny felt that this would be better for promoting and associating these developments with the Empress.

When the ponies entered the hall, Pipp immediately noticed something large against the far wall. At least she imagined that it was something big, because she could not see it - it was covered with a construction tarp.

"Come on, let’s go, you’ll open your mouths later," Sunny pushed the others.

The ponies reached the exhibition of Sunny's newest invention and began installing the lights and camera.

"We need to put this on," Pipp turned to Sunny.

The pegasus handed the alicorn a small microphone.

"Why not a standard microphone?" Sunny asked.

"You’re going to show us something, It will be much more convenient to move without being distracted by the microphone," Pipp answered.

Sunny easily attached the mic to herself and Pipp and was completely ready for the broadcast.

"Broadcast in 10 seconds!" said the operator. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Streaming!"

"Good morning, residents of the Equestrian Empire!" Pipp began the broadcast with a joyful smile. "Your beloved Pipp is with you again, and I have a special surprise for you - I was invited to the RRT office to demonstrate their newest invention. Sunny Starscout herself - the head of the RRT and the right hoof of Her Majesty Empress Opaline Arcana - showed a desire to tell us about the product."

"Oh, I can’t wait to tell you and everyone else about this invention!" said Sunny, almost jumping on the spot, unable to hide her delight. "So, without further ado, I introduce - Sentry Golem!"

Sunny used magic to pull down the tarp and reveal her creation to the world. A dozen huge stone golems with a gorilla-like body and a pony head appeared before the citizens of the Empire.

"Oh...that’s...interesting," Pipp barely said, recovering from shock.

"This became possible thanks to the efforts of our volunteers and scientists in the study of dark magic,"Sunny began her story. "And, of course, the wise instructions of Her Majesty. I would also like to especially thank my group of miners, without whom we would not have had any of the necessary materials. First, we create the base of the golem from the hardest rocks, treating it with dark magic. And then we add the main component - power crystals, which everyone already knows well about. It is one of the two components that allows this beauty to come to life. Let me demonstrate."

Sunny took a charged crystal from her pocket, walked up to one of the golems and inserted the stone into a hole in the creature's chest.

"For some reason it doesn’t come to life. Is this how it should be?" Pipp said uncertainly.

"Of course," Sunny said calmly. "After all, these stones are just a battery. They come to life thanks to my spells."

Sunny concentrated and began to cast the spell. The golem's heart began to glow, spreading energy throughout its body.

After a short period of time, the eyes began to glow, after which the golem moved and took a step forward towards Pipp and turned its gaze to her.

"You can try it yourself and insert the crystal into another golem if you want," Sunny said and handed Pipp another stone.

"Tell me, Sunny...Is it safe?" Pipp froze in horror, looking at the monster.

"Absolutely," cheerful answered Sunny without taking her admiring glance away from the golem. "He is subordinate to my will and will not harm the Empress’s loyal subjects. Thanks to these golems, we will strengthen security in “difficult” areas and reduce the risks for our soldiers. This is simply an excellent weapon against these rebels. It is definitely better than dragons, because it is always under my control."

"I think our viewers will be interested to know when we should expect them to appear in the army?" asked Pipp.

"In the very near future," Sunny answered without turning to the camera and playing with the golem, forcing him to imitate her movements. "We are expecting a new supply of crystals. My entire department works tirelessly to ensure peace and prosperity for our country."

"Well, let’s thank Sunny Starscout for this opportunity to be the first to see the latest development of RRT," Pipp concluded the broadcast. "Let’s hope that this “thing” will finally help establish peace in our Empire. Pipp Petal scpecially for Imperial Herald. Have a nice day, Equestria!"

"Cut!" said operator.

"Don’t be so afraid!" Sunny reassured her friend. "Look!"

Suddenly the golem stopped its actions and simply stood still like a statue.

"They are completely under my control," Sunny laughed. "They won’t do anything without my command."

"Okay, okay," Pipp answered, still in shock.

"Come on, I’ll buy you something sweet," Sunny said, hugging Pipp.

Two friends were sitting in the factory cafeteria enjoying fresh cakes.

"I’m wondering, who are the ponies you specifically thanked? I didn't know you had any other teams," Pipp asked.

"They are my personal miners," Sunny answered. "Opaline recommended them to me. Masters of their craft, the best of the best, but sometimes simply unbearable."

"Why are they unbearable?" asked Pipp.

"Alcoholism," Sunny answered dissatisfied. "They constantly get drunk and do strange things. Tell me, why do they call me on the radio every time they see a mushroom? They stand around it and constantly repeat “Mushroom, mushroom, mushroom.” What's going on in their heads?"

"But you still tolerate them and don’t fire them," said Pipp.

"I have no choice," Sunny replied, taking another cup of coffee. "I won’t find better miners in all of Equestria."

"Tell me, Darling, how much coffee can you drink? One day your heart just won't take it anymore," said Pipp.

"Don’t worry, it’s only for today. I just have to stay on my hooves until you leave," Sunny denied. "I spent the whole night with this project without sleeping a wink."

"How long has it been since you spent the whole night with a stallion?" Pipp asked with a grin. "You need to relieve stress."

"Pipp, Darling, I don’t need sex, because my job already fucks me every day," Sunny replied sarcastically.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Pipp exclaimed. "You can’t think about work all the time! You're completely obsessed with all this research. You really could use some relief."

"I can’t take everything and throw it away. Especially now, when these rebels are gaining strength. Even the dragons didn't scare them. By the way, where is your sister? She hides while all the ponies suffer. We receive information about their lairs, but during raids we understand that they managed to escape," Sunny was indignant.

"I haven’t seen her for a long time," Pipp answered dryly. "And I don’t understand her. We have everything, but she does nonsense. But on the other hoof, without her, the throne will be mine by inheritance. And this thought fascinates me so much!"

"You haven’t changed a bit. You only think about your popularity," Sunny answered smiling.

Suddenly, Sunny’s personal communication crystal lit up and the alicorn instantly activated it.

"I’m liste-" Sunny said, but was instantly interrupted.

"We're under attack!" the unicorn shouted on the other side of the connection. "Our train is destroyed in the Velvet Canyon!"

(Hurry up! Break open the door!)

"We urgently need reinforcements!" the unicorn shouted.

(Sounds of carriage door breaking)

(Guard! Neutralize him!)

(Sounds of magic, fighting and falling to the floor)

"Come in!" Sunny shouted. "No, no, no!"

Sunny jumped out of her chair and angrily threw her cup of coffee on the floor, causing Pipp to scream.

Sunny began calling Supreme Commander Eisenhorn.

"Commander, there’s no time to explain," Sunny was barely speaking. "There was an attack on my freight train, which was carrying extremely important cargo! Urgently send all nearby guards to Velvet Canyon, I will be there soon!"

"Got it," Eisenhorn replied

Sunny deactivated the crystal and looked at the floor, breathing heavily.

"ZIPP!" the alicorn shouted with such hatred that her horn and wings were enveloped in a haze of dark magic.

All factories of the Empire were connected to each other by a new network of railways. This was necessary for the rapid transportation of both raw materials and finished products. One of these railway lines ran through Velvet Canyon. It was a deserted and abandoned place without any security, because no one thought that anyone would get into such a wilderness. In addition, the arrival, departure and cargo of trains are always classified. Sometimes even the employees themselves don't know what they are transporting.

However, today there was noticeable activity on this plateau - in one of the areas near the rails was a decent number of ponies.

"I really hope it’s worth it. I don’t want to risk that much for nothing," Rocky said over the radio.

"Don’t be afraid, we can be completely confident in the information received," Zipp answered on the other side.

"Where does such confidence come from?" Rocky continued with disbelief.

"This is our proven pony," Zipp continued. "He has never let us down yet. In addition, the information was leaked directly from Starscout."

"How?" Rocky was surprised. "She is our proven pony?"

"This bitch is ready to grind us into powder, but she also has weaknesses that play to our advantage," Zipp said.

"What is her weakness?" asked Rocky.

"Let’s just say, she’s too talkative and can’t keep her mouth shut when it comes to something she’s very excited or happy about. And when she feels too good, she will say anything," Zipp explained.

"Now I don’t even want to know how the information about the train was obtained," Rocky said with disgust, and Zipp just laughed in response.

"Stop occupying the channel with all sorts of nonsense!" Sketchy intervened in the conversation. "We have a serious business, and you are discussing some kind of nonsense!"

"Just let us calm the situation. It is still unknown how it will all end. Your job is to monitor enemy activity in the sectors, and here is our job," Zipp was indignant at him.

"And this is your gratitude?" Sketchy said dissatisfiedly. "All these devices are my inventions!"

"Relax!" Zipp answered. "You don’t have to take everything so literally. We all appreciate you and your contribution to our business. Without these explosives this sabotage would not have happened. Oh, and your devices that hide our activity are especially valuable. By the way, how is the situation there? How's my boy doing?"

"Oh, I’m fine, it’s so nice that you’re worried about me, Zipp," Sketchy replied.

"Remind me to hit you when we get back," Zipp said angrily.

"Oh, come on," Sketchy answered laughing. "Everything is fine with your wolf. Only if he didn’t constantly run back and forth and didn’t interfere with work, it would be better. Besides, I'm afraid that he will attract the guards who have recently been stationed in the remnants of the city."

"Don’t even think about it. They are there on Starscout’s orders. Their task is to look after Moonbow, and not to look for rebels," Zipp answered calmly.

"Doesn’t matter, It’s very stressful when you’re practically in their direct line of sight," Sketchy answered nervously.

"Eh, just forget it and don’t pay attention," Zipp said sighing.

"All the bombs are planted," Rocky reported.

"Great, now we retreat to positions and just wait for the right moment," Zipp answered confidently.

Rocky gave the order to withdraw and all participants in this sabotage moved to prepared positions on the nearest rocks, from where an excellent view of this section of the road opened up.

"Why are we blowing up the rails?" asked one of the ponies. "After all, there is a tunnel over there. Wouldn't it be easier to bring it down in front of the train?"

"No, if we set up an ambush in the tunnel, we won’t be able to pull out the cargo properly," Rocky answered. "In addition, there is a possibility that the entire tunnel will collapse, and then all the cargo will remain buried along with the train. We will never have time to clear the rubble before the army arrives and will be left with nothing."

"Thank you for the clarification," the pony replied.

"I’m still very worried about the situation with Jazz," Zipp said upset. "At some point her double agency will be discovered. She manages to divert attention from us, but she has to give out shallow shelters, as a result of which our ponies are caught."

"It seems different to me. It’s more likely that Jazz herself won’t stand it and will simply run away from there to us," Rocky answered.

"But then we will lose the network of salons," Zipp was indignant.

"It seems to me that we don’t really need it anymore," Rocky continued. "We already have many supporters, and we can recruit new ones through closed channels organized by Sketchy."

"And, in general, you all understand that after today there will be no turning back for us, right?" Zipp asked nervously. "We are openly attacking a train carrying Empire cargo. They won't pat us on the back for this. Now we have only one road - forward to the victorious end."

"All these ponies are well aware of what they are doing," said Rocky. "We will all fight to the end."

"Yes, I don’t doubt any of you," Zipp answered.

"The train has entered our sector. ETA is in 20 minutes," Sketchy said.

Zipp left her spot and came to Rocky.

"Turn off the radio, I need to talk to you alone," she said.

"What is it again?" Rocky said dissatisfiedly, turning off the radio.

"I still think about that book," Zipp began. "It seems to me that we have always been deceived from all sides. Why does this book tell a completely different story about the fall of Equestria? Not the one we are used to. And it is more similar to the one that is spreading now."

"And why did you decide that this book tells the truth?" asked Rocky.

"Yes, it sounds like complete nonsense, but think about it," Zipp continued. "Why wasn’t it destroyed? Why was it kept in a secret archive?"

"Because it's a lie?" Rocky answered questioningly. "And it is kept there as an object of enemy propaganda and a historical artifact."

"I think you are wrong," Zipp disagreed. "It seems to me that this book is the closest to the truth that we have. This is how I see it. Once upon a time, Twilight was a good and wise ruler, and magic, peace and harmony reigned in Equestria. But with the advent of Opaline, a simple fight for power occurred in Equestria. It seems to me that this is the inevitable fate of all alicorns. Sooner or later they go crazy and become obsessed with power. Even if we look at the official version that we knew. What happened there? Opaline sowed discord among the ponies, but is this a reason to take magic away from the ponies and divide them? What adequate ruler would do this? On the contrary, Twilight should have used all her strength to calm the residents, to show that she is the wise ruler they deserve. But there is nothing like that in official history. And here we must look at this “forbidden” book. It tells the story completely differently. Opaline was defeated by the dragons, not Twilight! The dragons deprived her of magic, making her completely helpless. After that, you could do whatever you wanted with Opaline. Put in prison, exiled to Tartarus, chained in stone. But she was simply expelled. And after this, Twilight decides that it is necessary to take away the magic from the ponies and separate them. How is this different from today's times?"

"Opaline took away the magic, but united the races?..." Rocky said uncertainly.

"Even here there are advantages..." muttered Zipp. "And there are no advantages in Twilight’s final decision!"

"So where are you leading all this?" asked Rocky.

"We don’t need such rulers at all," Zipp said confidently. "I don’t care that alicorns are legitimate rulers. Firstly, hundreds of years passed, we somehow lived without them, and everything was fine. Secondly, alicorns are obsessed with power. All of them eventually become insane and desire only one thing - unlimited power and authority. This is exactly what happened to Twilight, this is exactly what Opaline achieved. Look at Sunny! What did she turn into under the influence of alicorn magic? Exactly this. A creature who wants to gain power at any cost."

"It seems to me that Sunny wants to invent more than rule," Rocky objected.

"Are you going to protect her?" Zipp was indignant. "This is all happening only because she wanted to fully wield the power of an alicorn! She gets even crazier than Opaline. You'll see, one day she'll try to overthrow her if we don't do it first."

"It seems to me that you’re going too far," Rocky continued. "I’m sure that the voice of reason still sounds in her."

"Not reason, but a distorted and sick fantasy," Zipp answered sarcastically.

"Attention!" Sketchy's voice came from the radio. "The train has entered the tunnel, everyone be on alert!"

"You heard him," Rocky turned on the radio and said. "Everypony get ready! After the explosion and stopping of the cars, each group moves to its own car and begins opening it. Report anything found inside!"

"Well, here it is, the moment of truth," Zipp said under her breath.

This long-awaited train left the tunnel at high speed. Rocky nervously kept his hoof on the detonation button and kept his eyes on the train. A little bit more. A little closer. And then the train turns out to be at the right point and Rocky presses the button. A deafening explosion echoes across the desert.

Before the pony's gaze lay an elegant train that had once conquered the expanses of the railways, but now it was forced to stop forever, having fallen off the rails. Its bright paint fades under the dust and ash cloud created by the explosion, but its outline and polished metal still glow in the sunlight. Splintered and bent rails, like snakes, surround the cars, as if trying to destroy them with their poisonous bite. And yet, even in this state, the train exudes the grace, pride and power of the Empire, as if it carries an indestructible strength and energy that cannot be extinguished by explosion or destruction.

The ponies jumped out of their places and rushed towards the train. All roles were assigned in advance, so there were no delays - every pony knew what he needed to do. Thanks to Sketchy's devices, sawing carriage doors was no problem.

Zipp's group headed to one of the cars at the end of the train, where the least damaged cars were. Mostly they lost their wheels and were thrown on their sides.

(We're under attack! Our train is destroyed in the Velvet Canyon!)

"Hurry up! Break open the door!" Zipp shouted.

(We urgently need reinforcements!)

The saws quickly finished their work and the group removed the door from the carriage.

"Guard! Neutralize him!" Rocky shouted.

Zipp, without hesitation, rushed at the unicorn, but he managed to use his magic and struck the pegasus, causing her to fall out of the carriage with force and a scream. Rocky and his partners attacked the guardsman and were able to neutralize him after a short struggle, breaking the ring with the crystal, after which they threw the guard out of the carriage.

(Come in! No, no, no!)

"He managed to warn Starscout," Rocky said and jumped out of the car. "We don’t have much time."

But then he noticed Zipp lying in a pool of her own blood.

"Zipp! Are you alive???" he shouted.

"It’s been worse," the pegasus answered hoarsely.

"We need bandaging and fixation!" Rocky shouted. "We have a seriously wounded one here!"

One of the ponies ran up to Zipp and began examining her.

"Her soft tissues and ribs are damaged, perhaps her lungs are punctured," the medic said.

The pony examined the pegasus's mouth for foamy blood.

"I hope there is no internal bleeding, but I won’t be able to say anything now without the proper equipment," she said uncertainly. "We need to get her out of here quickly."

"Just bandage me and put me on my hooves," Zipp wheezed. "I’ll only leave with everyone else!"

"But-" the medic began, but was interrupted.

"Do what I said!" Zipp shouted, writhing in pain. "Don’t argue with me."

"You’d better not get up to avoid further damage-" the medic said, but Zipp got to her hooves anyway.

"What about the cargo?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just ordinary stones and various tools," Rocky answered quietly.

"No, no, no!" Zipp didn’t want to believe what was happening. "There’s nothing on the whole train? We couldn't make that mistake. And we couldn’t be set up like that - all the information was from a trusted informant. This operation is too risky for such a worthless outcome. We can't leave without anything after this! Keep searching!"

"This is a simple freight train," the captive guard suddenly said. "And with this attack you will only achieve that you will be recognized as terrorists and will not only be imprisoned, but publicly executed."

"Call us what you want. It’s still better than being collaborators like you," Zipp answered rudely. "And you will tell your tales to somepony else. After all, you are on this train for a reason. You wouldn't report to your boss if there was nothing special on this train."

"This is standard security protocol, I am obliged to report all incidents," the prisoner continued.

"Captain, look at this," shouted one of the unicorns inspecting the carriages. "It was among the boxes with ordinary stones. This was also intended for RRT."

"It can’t be...Let me see!" Zipp wheezed, taking a step forward and almost falling, but Rocky caught her in time.

The unicorn gave Zipp the item she was interested in through Rocky.

"This can’t be...these are the crystals they use in magical devices. They are also charged!" Zipp couldn’t believe her eyes.

It seems that even the guard was surprised by this discovery.

"We need to quickly gather everything valuable and leave!" Zipp commanded, leaning on Rocky

"What to do with the prisoners, captain?" asked the group members.

"Leave them," Zipp answered, slowly walking towards the mountains. "They will be executed either by their beloved Empress, or by Starscout. They will not be forgiven for the loss of such cargo."

The scene of the accident was cordoned off by the Imperial Guard, operatives and investigators walked here and there, Sunny and the Observers interrogated the surviving guards from the train.

"What happened here? Tell me everything in detail," Sunny asked menacingly.

"I have already told everything from beginning to end several times!" said the guard.

"Well, you haven't told me. So, go ahead, spit it out. I want to know everything directly, not through reports," Sunny answered.

"It was Freedom Ponies," the guard began the story. "They took radical action. They were very well prepared and knew what they were doing. Somepony betrayed us."

"Do you think there is a rat among my employees?" asked Sunny.

"It could be anypony," the guard continued. "Your employees, guards, even the depot workers and loaders who worked with the train and cargo."

"Why shouldn't I declare you a rat?" asked Sunny.

"With my elimination, nothing will change," the guard calmly answered. "I am loyal to the Empire and the Empress, and if I go to prison or be executed, the rat will still continue to leak information to these rebels."

"Hmm, there is logic in your words," Sunny said, softening her tone.

"He’s telling the truth," the Observer confirmed.

"Zipp said that the information on this train came from a very trusted pony," said the guard.

"So this rat has been among us for a long time," Sunny said angrily.

Sunny walked back and forth a little in front of the carriages and noticed a dried puddle of blood on the ground in front of one of the carriages.

"Whose blood is this?" asked Sunny.

"Before she attacked me, I managed to strike Storm," the guard answered.

"Is she alive?" asked Sunny.

"When they left, she was alive," he continued. "But she was very seriously injured. She could not move independently and was very wheezing. Their medic said that her ribs were damaged."

"Perhaps this is a good sign for us," Sunny answered thoughtfully.

One of the investigators approached Sunny for a report.

"Miss Starscout, we found 4 bodies," he said.

"Whose?" Sunny asked, preparing for the worst.

"The train driver and three guards," the investigator answered.

"Poor ponies," Sunny said under her breath.

"However, no signs of struggle were found on their bodies," the investigator continued. "They died during the crash."

"This doesn’t change anything," Sunny answered angrily. "What about the cargo?"

"Only one box was stolen from the entire train," answered the investigator.

"And what was in it?" Sunny asked cautiously.

"The new batch of Burning Heart you were expecting," the pony answered, looking at the documents.

"Of course, what else were they hunting for-" Sunny said angrily.

"I want to clarify about these crystals," the guard intervened.

"Yes?" Sunny turned to him.

"These stones..." the guard hesitated to answer. "They were charged..."

"What? How could they be charged? Are you sure?" there was genuine shock on Sunny’s face.

"Yes, Zipp mentioned it," answered the guard.

Sunny began to quickly walk along the carriage in a panic.

"Who could charge them?" Sunny couldn’t believe what was happening. "They are only mined and loaded at that side of Equestria. Ordinary miners are not capable of this. They don’t even have enough intelligence to do this. I was sure that only I knew the charging ritual. This means that there is a rat among my scientists, who is also capable of such spells!"

Sunny's nerves reached the limit and she simply screamed, raising her head and spreading her wings. Everypony at the crime scene froze and turned their attention to Sunny, which she was clearly not happy with.

"Who gave you permission to stop? Continue your work!" she shouted angrily.

After catching her breath a little, she flew up to Eisenhorn.

"Commander, we need to return to the Empress and report to her about everything," said Sunny. "The situation is quite difficult."

"We cannot leave until the end of the investigation," the unicorn objected.

"Yes, we can," Sunny continued. "Our ponies can do everything here without us. And we need to discuss further actions with the Empress."

"Okay," Eisenhorn agreed. "Guards, listen to my command. Continue investigating the crime scene until all possible circumstances are clarified and the criminals are identified. Once completed, call the clearing command - this train cannot be left on the tracks. And the tracks themselves need to be repaired. After this, you can go to your usual posts."

"This is the first serious attack by the rebels. Before we only had to deal with street riots," Eisenhorn reported to Opaline.

"How could you miss such serious preparation?" Opaline was angrily surprised. "They didn’t take all these explosives and other devices out of thin air."

"We managed to detain many rebels during this time," Eisenhorn continued. "But we have never found anything like this in their hideouts. Only leaflets and prohibited literature."

"Then you didn’t work hard enough," Opaline said.

"We learned from one of the train guards that thanks to information from the traitor, the rebels received accurate information about the train schedule and its cargo," Sunny intervened in the conversation.

"Oh, such great news, Sunny!" Opaline said sarcastically. "Are you so calmly telling me that you couldn’t find a traitor among your scientists?"

"And this is not the worst thing, I won’t hide it and will tell everything as it is," Sunny continued. "When they attacked the train, they stole more than just a shipment of the Burning Heart. They stole a shipment of charged Burning Heart."

"What did you just say?" Opaline’s anger knew no bounds. "How did charged crystals end up on this train? You charge them here at Maretime!"

"That's the point!" Sunny shouted back. "I have nothing to do with this! Somepony charged the crystals before the the loading on train. Some ponies know how to carry out the charging ritual on their own. And I thought that only I could do it!"

"So this is a unicorn and it’s from your team. You need to go through each of them, without exception. There should be no pity for these pathetic traitors. They began to use such terrible methods, which means we have every right to respond in proportion to their actions," Opaline concluded.

Opaline stood up from her throne and walked over to her magical pond. After thinking for a while, she activated it, starting to broadcast to all sorts of devices throughout the Empire.

"Residents of the Equestrian Empire! It is very sad that I have to contact you right now about this horrible tradegy. You have all probably already heard about this terrible attack on the RRT freight train. We all, like me in particular, put up with these ungrateful traitors for a very long time and tolerated their actions, which disturbed our calm and peaceful course of life. They had everything - housing, entertainment, security, work. What were they missing? And I will answer you. They imagine themselves better than others, better than all of you. They decided that they did not want to live in unity and equality with the entire Empire. They egged you on to rebel, while they hid in their holes. They pitted the loyal inhabitants of the Empire against each other, while they watched from afar. Are these actions worthy of real leaders? But today's events have become a point of no return. As a result of their treacherous attack on the government train, several of our heroes died, who faithfully served us all and protected our peace. Traitors like to say that all their actions are aimed at the benefit of the inhabitants of Equestria. What will they say now to the relatives of the victims? That they killed them for their own good? Do you think they will be able to turn to the wives, husbands and children of these heroes and confess everything? Of course not! After all, the Freedom Ponies are pathetic cowards! In addition, the railway network was very seriously damaged, which will make it difficult to supply food to distant regions where your relatives work. After a meeting with Commander Eisenhorn Shriekwood, I decided to make the only right decision in this situation. From now on, I, the Grand Empress Opaline Arcana, declare the Freedom Ponies a terrorist organization with all the ensuing consequences. I give the guards the full right to eliminate any members of this group if they resist. All those who sympathize and help the Freedom Ponies will be considered equal to their participants and declared terrorists. Also with a heavy heart I have to announce that we will have to tighten up security in our country. From now on, dragons will be located in every city. In addition, a curfew and a ban on leaving one's area of residence are imposed. If your work is in an area that does not coincide with your residence, you will need to obtain a permit from your local Royal Guard Office. Please believe me, my faithful ponies, these measures are as unpleasant for me as they are for you! But all this is for your own safety! I swear to all of you, loyal citizens of the Empire, we will crush this infection once and for all! In the name of the Great Empire!"