A Silver Sky: Four Little Ponies

---Chapter 26: Red----

“Twenty! Report!”

No! Not now!

I'll just ignore her. Maybe she’ll think I’m busy and-

“TWENTY! REPORT!”

Dammit. No way around this.

“I’m here, your highness.”

“What is your status?”

“Nothing to report at this time, Princess.”

“Really? What is the status of Fancypants? The Gallery?”

“Fancypants is asleep. He has a seven AM meeting tomorrow so he went to bed early. There was minimal activity in the Gallery today. As far as I can discern, today was a typical day. The Circle is quiet.”

“I see. And what of Rarity? Twilight Sparkle?”

“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, but I have been unable to determine the location of either.”

“And you know your orders, if you encounter either of them?”

“I am to apprehend them unharmed and alert you immediately. Don't worry, your highness. I know my duty.”

“…do you, now?”

That tone. She knows!

Twenty stood in a vacant bedroom, one of many guest rooms in the mansion which was not currently in use. In the corner sat Sweetie Belle, confused and frightened.

A moment earlier she had been in the Gallery, just as Twilight was about to transport them all away. Then she had found herself here, alone in a locked room. Before long, she was joined by a strange unicorn who had the same cutie mark as Fancy's assistant Gaze, but was clearly not the same pony.

For one thing, his coat was the wrong color.

For another, Gaze never spoke. But this pony currently seemed to be talking to himself.

Or perhaps it was some sort of magic? His horn had been lit up the entire time he had been talking. Was he talking to someone else?

Or was he just insane?

Sweetie Belle decided not to say anything. It seemed like a bad idea to get this pony’s attention.

Despite all she had endured in her young life, Sweetie had a hard time thinking of a pony who had scared her more than the one she was currently looking at.

It had something to do with the way he spoke. The way all his movements were so rough, swift, and deliberate. He didn’t seem sadistic, like the Circle members. He didn’t seem controlling, like her sister.

He seemed intensely, deeply angry.

So Sweetie huddled in the corner of the room, as far away from him as she could be. She began to tremble.

“You say you know your duty, silent knight? Are you certain of that?”

“Of course, your highness! After all these years, how could you possibly doubt me? Haven’t I served you faithfully?”

“Yes, you have, Twenty. For five years, you’ve maintained a perfect cover. I doubt Fancy ever suspected a thing.”

“Certainly not, your majesty!”

“I imagine he must have been quite surprised when you killed him.”

No. No!

“Do you think I’m an idiot, Twenty? Don’t you know how this spell works? It may only allow you to hear me when we speak telepathically, but I can hear and see you. And I think you’ll agree, you don’t exactly bear the appearance of a pony who has faithfully maintained his cover.”

“I…I…”

“How many of them did you kill, Twenty? How many are left? Answer me honestly and I may only charge you with dereliction of duty instead of high treason.”

“Why...why does it matter how many are left?”

“I need to know if there are enough remaining to salvage this Circle. Or if I have to return to the start of the cycle, and begin the process of selecting the pony who will create the next one.”

Sweetie Belle jumped as the strange pony stomped his hoof in fury. What had set him off?

“Create the NEXT one?” he screamed at thin air. “The NEXT one? There isn’t going to BE a next one! Do you hear me, you self-righteous tyrant? Because I’m going to hunt every last one of them down! And then I’m coming for you!”

Sweetie shut her eyes and covered her ears.

Twenty paused for a moment as he heard the voice of a filly singing softly to herself.

“Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head…”

Twenty let out a deep sigh. “Your highness,” he said calmly. “I am in a room right now with a unicorn foal. In my years here I have seen her violated, tortured, beaten, and abused. And she is just one of hundreds. I’ve had to see all of them suffer, without being able to do a thing to help.

“Tell me, Princess,” said Twenty, “What do you see? Do you see anything, from your glittering throne room? From your tower, so high above us all? Do you even know we’re here?”

There was no answer.

“Don’t you dare avoid me now, Celestia,” Twenty said. “Answer me: What do you see?”

“I see a land at peace,” Celestia responded. “A land which only remains at peace, because an unlucky few suffer for the good of countless others. It is a tragedy, but it is the way of our world.”

“Funny, how it’s always someone else who has to do the suffering,” Twenty said.

“Enough. I don’t need to justify my actions to a traitor,” Celestia said. “Only a High Princess can release you from your oath. Which means Luna has turned against me. Again.”

The way Celestia pronounced “again” told Twenty that she was hurting. He smiled.

“This matter cannot be allowed to become public,” Celestia said. “For its own sake, Equestria cannot know about the Circle. So I am going to come to you, Twenty. I will be outside the mansion shortly. In recognition of your service, you will be granted fifteen minutes to exit the mansion and give yourself up. Do so, and I will show mercy. But if you do not present yourself to me before then, I will come in after you. And I will grant you the same fate I grant all traitors.”

“I’m no traitor,” Twenty said. “If I die, it will be as a loyal knight of Princess Luna.”

“Luna and I are on the same side,” Celestia said. “We always have been. She is simply…confused about the steps needed to maintain balance. So make your choice, Twenty. In the grand scheme, it hardly matters.

“Tonight, or in a few short decades, you will be gone. But my sister and I will remain. As we always will.”

Twenty grinned.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned tonight, Princess, it’s that everything ends,” he said. “See you soon.”

Sweetie Belle was on her ninth repetition of her favorite lullaby when she felt a hoof gently nudging her. She opened her eyes and looked up to see the strange pony staring down at her. His horn was no longer glowing. And though he was trying his best to smile at her, he seemed angrier than ever.

“Hey, little filly. Sorry if I scared you,” he said. “How about we go visit your sister?”

*******

She had kept her wings folded since her sister imprisoned her. Their presence felt like a cruel joke.

On its far end, past the eternal garden, the illusory sky and the arrangement of fine sculptures, the Sanctum of the Sisters boasted a gorgeous balcony, which sat at the highest point in the royal palace.

The balcony faced west, away from Canterlot, and the view it offered was nothing short of transcendent; even now, after so many long centuries of life, it had the power to move Luna the way very few sights still could. When she sat at this balcony, every tree in Whitetail Woods, every peak in the Unicorn Range, every dazzling lake and fertile valley in western Equestria lay spread out before her.

It was more than beautiful. The sight would fill Luna with an intense, almost maternal feeling of pride.

That feeling was gone now.

On nights when she was feeling especially proud, Luna would take in the view from the balcony, and then leap off, spreading her wings and soaring through the moonlit skies, so she could more closely see the beauty of the land she and her sister had nurtured.

But now the sight seemed like a cruel tease, a tantalizing vision of a place she could see but no longer touch. There was an invisible barrier surrounding the balcony, which ensured that no pony, save Celestia and Luna, could set hoof upon it.

Though the barrier had been created to keep intruders out, it had taken only a few arcane words from Celestia for the spell to be modified to keep Luna in.

The princess of the night could not jump down off her balcony. She could not leave the Sanctum. The beautiful land of Equestria was closed to her.

And so she kept her wings folded.

Instead, she sat, looking away from the land and toward the night sky. She never grew tired of its beauty, and she wondered, in her less confident moments, if this made her a narcissist.

Celestia came to see her every day. She would spend hours pleading with Luna, begging her to give up on exposing the Circle. She spoke, at length, of the balance, of the greater good, of sacrifice.

Luna had heard it all before. And every time she heard it again, she began to think more and more of Pip. Of the horrible images he had done battle with in his own mind, night after night. Of the determination she had seen in Twilight’s eyes the following day, even as she confronted Celestia herself.

And those thoughts were enough to drown out anything Celestia could say to her.

Two nights ago, Luna made a decision.

One night ago, she had sent a signal.

Tonight, she waited.

She sat on the balcony, looking up at her moon. At this time of night, it loomed over the Sanctum, a huge silver sphere which painted everything she saw in its light.

Luna closed her eyes for just a moment.

When she opened them, there was a dark spot on the moon. Something huge was in the air tonight.

And it was flying right toward her.

By the time Luna recognized it for what it was, it nearly blocked out the moon’s light with its massive size.

It was a dragon.

As he approached, the beats of his wings were enough to send massive gusts of wind in Luna’s direction. The princess stood her ground.

Though most would be terrified by Styngian’s presence, the night princess knew better. She had no reason to fear an old friend.

“Thank goodness you received my signal,” Luna said. “I need your help, Styngian.”

The ancient dragon opened his mouth to speak. Luna expected to hear the booming, calm voice she remembered from centuries long past.

Instead, she heard a high-pitched, enthusiastic shout, barely audible above the sound of Styngian’s wings.

“HI, PRINCESS LUNA!” cried Spike, perched on top of Styngian’s head. With one claw, he was holding on to his teacher’s horn, which was bigger than Spike was. With the other claw, Spike waved.

“IT’S BEEN A WHILE, HUH?” Spike yelled. “HOW HAVE YOU BEEN SINCE THE WEDDING?”

Luna chuckled affectionately. “It is good to see you, young one!” she said. “I had no idea you and Styngian were acquainted!”

“He entered my tutelage only recently,” Styngian said. “The lad is proving to be quite a fine young dragon.”
Spike beamed with undisguised pride.

“But we can speak of such things later,” the old dragon said. “Princess, you have summoned me, and, as I promised, I have arrived. What do you wish of me?”

“Free me,” Luna said. “My magic alone cannot destroy this barrier. But the two of us together…”

“So this is a spell even you cannot break?” Styngian said. “I was not aware that there were ponies which were capable of such magic.”

“There is but one,” Luna said, with sadness in her voice.

“I see…” Styngian replied. “With respect, Princess, the last time your sister imprisoned you, it was after you had nearly destroyed the world. If she has locked you in this tower, one could reasonably conclude that she is doing so for the good of Equestria. Am I mistaken?”

Luna stared fearlessly into the dragon’s eyes. They were bright gold, and each large enough to reflect an image of her entire body.

“My sister and I have reached…a moral disagreement,” she said. “I only wish to be free, so I may do what I believe is right.”

“What you ‘believe’ is right?” Styngian said. “An interesting choice of words. So you are not certain that your course is the proper one.”

“THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN!” Luna yelled, seeing her own features contort in anger as she continued staring into the dragon’s eyes. “You owe me a debt. Right or wrong, I am invoking it. If your honor is worth anything, you will release me.”

A guttural growl came from the old dragon. Spike seemed concerned, but Luna recognized it for what it was: a sound of resignation.

“This is my concern if it affects the lives of those who bring our world its sun and moon,” he said. “But you are correct: I promised you a favor, and I honor my promises.”

“Well, then,” said Luna. “Shall we begin?”

The moon princess closed her eyes as a dark purple aura burst forth from her horn.

Spike stood in silent awe as what appeared to be a solid, mobile patch of night sky began to surround the princess. It grew until the entire balcony was covered in darkness. At this point, the field of energy began to shudder.

“She has reached her limit,” Styngian said. “Watch closely, now, lad. In three or four millennia, you should be able to do this as well.”

The great dragon’s golden eyes turned bright white, and the wind created by his beating wings suddenly went dead still. Styngian’s wings had ceased moving, yet he did not fall.

And then Spike watched, as his teacher began to glow with an unearthly, white energy.

With a force that seemed as though it would shake the tower apart, Styngian inhaled.

Then he opened his mouth, and light erupted from it.

It was as if he was breathing fire, but there were no flames, and no heat. And the force being expelled from Styngian’s mouth was something far more dangerous, and far more amazing.

He was breathing magic.

The white light hit Luna’s black energy and vanished on impact, as if it had been absorbed. Styngian closed his mouth.

A moment later, the dome of black energy broke and vanished, with a sound like a hundred windows shattering at once.

Princess Luna could once again be seen on the balcony, her eyes still closed, her horn’s light slowly dissipating.

“That…was…” Spike stammered.

“We all channel magic through our bodies,” Styngian said. “A unicorn through her horn. A pegasus through her wings. An earth pony through her legs. And a dragon…through his lungs.”

“Amazing,” Spike said. He brought his claw to his chest and realized his heart was racing. “Do you really think I’ll be able to do that someday?”

“You already have!” said Styngian jovially. “How did you think you were transporting all those scrolls to Celestia all this time? That wasn’t fire you were breathing, young one. Fire doesn’t transport paper, it burns it!” The old dragon let out a hearty laugh.

Spike felt a giddy thrill as he contemplated his teacher’s words.

So I’m already on my way, he thought. Twilight’s gonna be so proud…

At that, the young dragon let out a little yelp of surprise. “Omigosh! Twilight! Princess, do you know where she is? Do you know if she’s okay?”

“She is well,” Luna said. “A short while ago, a loyal knight of mine contacted me with a communication spell. He told me that Twilight Sparkle had given him a message on my behalf.”

Luna hopped on the balcony’s railing and spread her wings. The action did not just feel freeing. It felt defiant.

“I am going to see both of them now, and offer them my help in putting an end to my sister’s terrible mistake,” she said. “You may both come with me, if you like."

“You bet!” Spike said. “If Twilight needs help, then I’m there!” He swung a fist in the air for emphasis, managing a crude left hook.

“For the time being, this appears to be an Equestrian matter, and thus, not my concern,” Styngian said. “Still, I shall join you, as a neutral observer. And to accompany the boy, of course.”

“Of course,” Luna said, with a sly smile. She knew the old dragon well; he never could resist sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. “Luckily, we’re headed for the largest estate in Canterlot. The grounds should be large enough to accommodate you without too much trouble.”

With that, Luna jumped off the balcony, and took to the air. Styngian began to follow, with Spike still on his head.

“I only hope that the repayment of my debt is not an action I will come to regret, Princess,” the old dragon said. “I do not know exactly what is going on, but I pray that you are doing the right thing.”

“So do I,” said Luna, as the three of them began to fly toward the city.

*******

“I’M HERE TO SAVE YOU!”

Rarity’s face barely registered emotion as Diamond Tiara charged toward her. By contrast, the filly’s face was contorted with anger.

As she neared the stage, Diamond jumped, only to find herself telekinetically suspended in midair.

“You again,” Rarity said as she held the filly aloft. “I thought I had dismissed you. What is it, do you need money for the train ride back to Ponyville?”

Diamond Tiara did not struggle against Rarity’s telekinesis. Instead, she went completely limp.

“Silver Spoon,” she said to her friend. “What are you doing?”

Diamond had only noticed it after she had jumped. The way Silver had, almost instinctively, hugged up against Rarity as Diamond had approached.

It was as if she was afraid of Diamond.

“What have you done to my friend, Rarity?” Diamond demanded, though her voice now sounded more afraid than angry. “Did you put a spell on her? Is that why she’s hugging you?”

Rarity placed a foreleg on the back of Silver’s head, drawing her even closer to her. She smiled up at Diamond.

“You poor, confused little brat,” Rarity said. “You really don’t know what’s been going on, do you? After all this time…”

“I do know!” Diamond countered. “Twist told me all about your Circle, and the Gallery, and how all the rich ponies in Canterlot are all perverts like you. And she told me that Twilight Sparkle is coming to lock you up like you deserve! You’re going back to jail, and you’re going to stay in there forever this time!”

At the mention of Twilight’s name, Rarity’s ears twitched slightly. Diamond did not notice.

“It doesn’t matter what you know, darling,” she said. “The Circle is finished in Canterlot, but I’m certain I can establish a new one someplace else. I’m having Sweetie Belle delivered to me, and once she arrives, Silver and I are leaving with her. But please, do not worry. You and the little weakling cowering by the door are free to go if you like.”

Rarity nodded in the direction of the room’s entrance, where she saw Twist swiftly poke her head back behind the door.

Rarity released her spell, sending Diamond falling to the ground. To their mutual surprise, the filly landed on all fours. She took the opportunity to slowly approach the stage.

“I’m not leaving without my friend,” Diamond said.

“Oh dear. I see that Twist didn't quite tell you everything,” Rarity said. “Silver, dear, I think you’d better tell her.”

Silver, her face still buried in Rarity’s chest, shook her head.

“No,” she said softly. “Please don’t make me face her, Miss Rarity…”

“Silver Spoon,” Rarity said. “I have issued a command. Tell her.”

Slowly, almost fearfully, Silver Spoon turned to face her oldest friend for the first time in nearly a year.

The moment she looked into Diamond’s eyes, she began to cry.

“Silver?” Diamond Tiara said. “It’s okay! It’s me. Your friend…”

Silver shook her head. “No,” she said. “I don’t deserve to call myself your friend…”

“Don’t be silly,” Diamond said, reaching up and wiping one of Silver’s tears away with her hoof. She managed a gentle smile, the kind she only wore when she and Silver Spoon were alone together. “It’s not your fault that Rarity kidnapped you. Whatever she made you do, you don’t have anything to be ashamed of…”

“SHE DIDN’T MAKE ME DO ANYTHING!” Silver Spoon shouted, surprising both herself and Diamond. “I…I asked for this,” she said, once again turning away from her friend.

“The day Miss Rarity hurt you, I went to her shop,” Silver said.

“Yeah, I saw your note,” Diamond said. “You probably should have just called the guards or something. But just because you didn’t doesn’t mean you asked to be kidnapped!”

“But I DID!” Silver shouted in an exasperated voice. “I went there planning to confront her, I really did! But then I saw her, and the way she spoke to me, and the things she did…Diamond, I’m so sorry…

“I fell in love with her, Diamond. I asked her to do these things to me.”

Utter silence hung over the grand hall for one seemingly endless moment.

Then Silver Spoon forced herself to turn back and look at Diamond. The pink filly wore a look of intense fury on her face.
But she was not looking at Silver Spoon.

“You monster,” she said to Rarity. “What did you do to her? What did you do to get her to say these lies?”

Diamond once again brought her foreleg to Silver’s face, stroking her cheek gently.

Silver Spoon responded by pushing it away.

“Go away, Diamond,” she said. “Just go. I abandoned you when you needed me the most. I’m a terrible friend, don’t you get it? You can do better than me…”

“That’s not…”

“JUST GO!” Silver yelled. “I don’t want you to see me like this…”

“Yes, dear, why don’t you run along?” Rarity said. “Silver isn’t like most fillies. She needs someone to bind her. To own her. She needs me.

“Besides, did you ever really think she was happy being friends with the school bully? Silver Spoon likes to receive pain, not inflict it. Even if she went with you, she’d never be happy. Not the way she is with me.”

Diamond Tiara fought back tears as she looked back at Silver Spoon.

“Silver…please…” she said. “Just let go of her…”

“I can’t, Diamond,” Silver Spoon said sadly. “I’m not strong enough. Just go. Go home and find a friend who deserves you.”

Diamond Tiara slowly turned away from Silver Spoon. “You’ve got it backwards, you know,” she said. “I’m the one who never deserved you."

She began to walk away.

“Diamond!” Silver called after her. “Just so you know, I didn’t like being a bully. But I did like being your friend. Thanks for putting up with someone as useless and weak as me…”

Diamond winced at the words, and stopped walking.

“I keep telling you, Silver, you’re not weak! You’re just-“

“THOP IT! THATH ENOUGH!”

The voice which was shouting behind Diamond was unmistakable.

On wobbly legs, Twist began to walk slowly but deliberately toward the stage.

“So,” Rarity said. “We’ve finally come out of hiding, have we? Are you going to try and tell me off, too?”

“I don’t care about you,” Twist said. “You’re just another Circle member. Don’t you know how many ponies like you I’ve seen since the Gathering? I’m almost bored with you by now.”

“Big talk,” Rarity said with a smirk. “It’s nice to see that the Gallery toughened you up a little.”

“Whatever. I’m not here to yell at you,” Twist said. “I’m here to talk to her.”

She raised her hoof and pointed at Silver Spoon.

“Silver Spoon,” she said. “You’re being a complete idiot.”

Silver looked at Twist with a puzzled expression. She was the last pony Silver had expected to hear insults from.

“Hey!” Diamond said. “Just because she used to bully you, doesn’t mean I’m going to let you call her names!”

“You think I care about that?” Twist said. “Silver Spoon, what is it going to take for you to see the good inside yourself? You’re the first pony to ever break someone out of the Gallery! You, a nine year old filly. You survived Dead Weight Alley. You tricked Fancypants. You came up with a plan. And you saved my life! You saved all of us! You’re the hero, stupid! Don’t you know what happens to the hero at the end of the story?”

“Twist,” Diamond said, “This isn’t one of your little adventure novels. This is real li-“

“I’M TALKING, DIAMOND!” Twist snapped, and Diamond Tiara backed away.

“At the end of the story, the hero gets a big banquet in her honor. Or she gets to marry the prince she rescued. Or she gets, I don’t know, a treasure chest or something. But most importantly, she GETS OVER HER DAMN ISSUES!”

Twist stomped the ground for emphasis.

“There’s dozens of foals who owe their lives to you right now, and where is their hero in her big moment of victory? She’s hugging the most disgusting pony I’ve ever met, whining about how she’s not good enough to detherve a happy ending.”

“Twist…” Silver Spoon said. Her voice shook with uncertainty. "Thank you for saying that, really, but I..."

Silver looked up at Rarity.

"Maybe I did do a lot of good on my own..." she said. "But I'm no hero."

Twist sighed and shook her head.

“Maybe not,” she said. “But there’s one thing I know you are:

“You’re better than this.”

To this day, I still don’t quite understand what happened next.

The look Silver Spoon gave me was almost transcendent in nature. Somehow, those last four words I said to her flipped some sort of switch inside her head, and allowed my words to reach her.

I’ve asked her about it since, but she’s never fully explained it to me. All she ever says is, “I’d heard those words before, but never from someone I cared about.”

All I know is, in the next moment, Silver Spoon looked up at Rarity. She stared into her eyes for what seemed like forever. But the look she was giving Rarity was different somehow. It didn’t have the reverence, the transfixed, worshipful air it did before. It was just a filly looking at a mare.

Then, slowly but deliberately, she let go of Rarity, and began to walk off the stage.

“Silver Spoon! What do you think you’re doing?” Rarity shouted back. “Come back here this instant!”

She said nothing. She just shook her head and kept walking.

Rarity couldn’t see, but I could tell from the look on Silver’s face that this simple action was causing her tremendous strain. It took everything she had to walk off that stage and away from Rarity.

I will despise Rarity for as long as I live. But as Silver Spoon walked away from her that night, there was a look of such deep sadness on her face, that, just for a second, I actually felt bad for her.

Then I remembered who this mare was, and any pity I felt was gone.

Silver Spoon walked toward Diamond Tiara, and hugged her.

“It’s okay,” Diamond said. “Whatever you did, I forgive you. Let's go back together, okay? It’ll be just like the old times.”

But Silver broke the embrace and shook her head. Then she walked past Diamond Tiara, heading for the door.

“Silver!” Rarity shouted. “Come back here this instant. I know this is an emotional moment for you, but think about what you’re doing. You can’t function without me. You know you can’t. All these months on your own, and you still found yourself wandering back to me. You know you need me, child.”

Silver stopped walking. She froze in place, and then slowly turned her head back at Rarity.

“That’s better,” Rarity said.

“Silver, don’t listen to her!” I said. “After everything you’ve done, do you really think you need a master at all?”

Silver Spoon looked at me. She looked at Diamond Tiara, and then she looked at Rarity. Finally, she turned back to me, and answered my question.

I didn’t realize what I was witnessing at the time. That this would be the moment that would change Silver’s life.

And I didn’t realize that such a great change would come in the form of one little word.

“Yes,” said Silver Spoon.

Rarity smiled. “See? She’s said it herself. She needs a master.”

Silver Spoon looked at Rarity, with a peaceful smile on her lips.

“Of course I do, Miss Rarity. Don’t we all?”

She laughed nervously.

“Of course I need a master. But the mistake I’ve been making all this time was giving that job to someone else. So I’m sorry, Miss Rarity, but I don’t belong to you anymore. And the same goes for you too, Diamond.

“From now on, I’ll be my own master.”

Silver Spoon turned to Diamond Tiara.

“But Diamond,” she said. “I’d love to still be your friend. If you’ll have me, that is.”

Diamond, no longer fighting her tears, nodded silently. She wore a smile, but it was quivering, as if she might break down at any moment.

“Thank you, Twist,” Silver said. “What you said really made me think. About everything I’ve done, and what Twilight told me, and…just…thanks.”

Silver Spoon hugged Twist, who took the opportunity to shoot a dirty look back at Rarity.

The mare stood paralyzed upon the stage, fighting to contain her emotions.

“Silver, you’re making a mistake,” she said. “Come back here! You need me!”

“Miss Rarity,” Silver said, breaking her hug with Twist. “I’ve never seen you like this before. You sound so…desperate. So lonely.

“Right now, I think you’re the one who needs me.”

She approached the stage, but kept her distance from Rarity.

“I’m sorry, Miss Rarity. It’s taking everything I’ve got not to go up there and be with you again. But I’m not going to. I don’t think I can see you anymore. You and I just make each other worse, you know?”

“Silver….” Rarity said. “My broken toy…please, come back to me…”

“I am broken, Miss Rarity. We both are,” Silver said. “But…maybe it’s time we tried to get better.”

Silver closed her eyes, still smiling gently.

“I think I understand now, Miss Rarity. Why I love you so much. I think you helped me understand myself. I think we’re both a lot alike. Our sicknesses. We keep trying to stop, keep trying to become better, but we can’t. When we're around each other, we keep falling back into those bad habits. You and your foals. Me and my pain. That’s why we became so close. That’s why we were so bad for each other. Because when we’re together…we just can’t help ourselves.”

Silver Spoon opened her eyes.

“Now I’d better get out of here before I start to change my mind,” she said. “Goodbye, Miss Rarity.”

She gave her former mistress a brief, respectful bow, mostly out of habit.

“Can we go home now?” Twist said. “The four of us, together?”

“Four?” Diamond replied. “I am not going back with that mare.”

“Not her,” Twist said. She pointed at the door.

Sweetie Belle was standing next to it, smiling.

“She just sort of appeared there a minute ago,” Twist said. “I tried to get your attention, but you and Rarity were so busy paying attention to Silver…”

“SWEETIE BELLE!” Silver Spoon and Rarity shouted in unison, and both of them ran toward the small white filly. Silver arrived first, and embraced her.

“I heard what you said,” Sweetie told her. “I’m so proud of you, Silver.”

“Thank you. But don’t let go of me, okay?” Silver whispered. “I know Miss Rarity’s right behind me, and…it’s really hard not to just turn around and hold on to her, you know?”

“I understand,” Sweetie replied softly. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t love her, too.”

Rarity approached her sister, with a look of quiet joy on her face.

“Sweetie,” she said. “My love. Thank the sun you’re alright. I was afraid I truly had lost everything…”

“I…missed you, sis,” Sweetie said. “But we need to get out of here. Now.”

“We cannot,” Rarity replied. “I need to wait for a certain pony to get here. He could be dangerous if allowed to roam free. I have a friend laying in wait here to dispose of him when he arrives.”

Rarity sighed. “I’m sure she’s quite amused at the little drama which just unfolded here.”

“There’s no time for that!” Sweetie said, letting go of Silver and rushing over to Rarity. “You’re in danger if you stay here! The red unicorn is coming! He says he’s going to kill you!”

“Red?” Rarity said, “Sweetie, dear, are you sure you-“

There was a small whooshing sound.

At the same moment, the doors to the grand hall slammed shut.

“What’s going on?” Diamond cried as she tried to open the doors. “They won’t budge!”

“Don’t worry, little filly,” said the red pony who appeared in the center of the room. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Twenty…” Rarity whispered in horror. “What in heaven’s name…”

The silent knight stood before them, smiling. Rarity quickly realized the source of Sweetie’s nickname for him.

He was covered in blood.

“You…you said I had ten minutes with my sister,” Rarity stammered.

Twenty began to approach Rarity slowly.

“Plans have changed,” he said. “I don’t have much time left. But I thought I’d try and see how many of you Circle scum I could take out before my deadline. So we’ll have to make this quick…”

“TRIAGE!” Rarity shouted. “NOW!”

There was no response.

“T…Triage?”

“Oh, right, almost forgot,” Twenty said, levitating a scalpel into Rarity’s line of sight. “Want to guess how I got this?”

"No...you couldn't have..."

“Your friend Indigo isn’t the only pony who can turn invisible, you know,” Twenty said. “I was there the entire time you and the surgeon were making your little plan. You honestly thought you’d outsmarted me, didn’t you?”

Twenty’s horn flashed, and the tablecloth concealing Triage went flying off. Diamond Tiara screamed.

Triage lay dead on the ground. Her mouth was wide open, as if she had been trying to call for help.

“I did it right after she got into position,” Twenty said. “You didn’t even hear the snap, did you? But I have to say, that little anatomy lesson she gave me about arteries sure came in handy. So much more satisfying than breaking necks.”

He grinned, “Took a bit of trial and error to get it right, though. You can probably tell, but I made an awful mess.”

Twenty vanished, and then appeared a moment later right next to Rarity. He kicked her hard in the leg, bringing her down.
Terrified, Rarity looked up as a red unicorn towered over her.

“Don’t worry kids, I’ll make sure you get out of here safe. You might want to close your eyes, for a minute, though,” Twenty said to the foals. “This isn’t going to be pleasant.”

[NEXT: The arrival of a princess]