"What are you listening to, sir?"
"Quiet, Lieutenant! I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't care what the Captain says, I'm listening in anyway!"
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Lieutenant Amarna was beside Lieutenant Captain Aten as the latter was eavesdropping on a private meeting between Princess Celestia and Captain of the Guard Gibraltar. Normally he would've been allowed to sit in this kind of meeting, but the previous day Celestia had directly forbidden him from sitting in any more meetings. The fact this ban seemed to be exclusive to him made him smart and convinced him of continuing pro-unicorn and anti-pegasus prejudice, so he secretly wanted to defy the order, convinced that there were plans in the works to replace him as leader of the morning shift Celestia did not want him hearing.
Instead of what his paranoia was telling him though, Aten would instead hear something more interesting and a little more comforting to him. The conversation started with Celestia and Gibraltar answered in turn:
"The death of Guard Upper Class Thornwing has convinced me that Mr. Hoofer has turned against Equestria and forsaken his oaths of loyalty. His position will protect him no longer, and I am explicitly ordering you to arrest him as soon as the operation can be performed. Understood, Captain?"
"Yes, Your Highness. But how will the Guards get past the EIA defenses? Surely they will defend their leader to the death, and the last thing I want is casualties on either side."
"I will issue explicit cover for all Guards involved in Mr. Hoofer's arrest. Any EIA members that resist will have to answer to me directly for their actions. That will bring them into submission."
"I understand, Your Highness."
"Good. Have Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas in command of the overall operation, and give him latitude to choose the Lieutenants to take with him. All involved in this operation should wear full armor and expect armed resistance from the EIA as soon as they set hoof in the building. Your ultimate objective is the arrest of Mr. Hoofer. Obviously, I'm not going to tell him you're coming, so surprise must be maintained."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"This information is to be disseminated on a need-to-know basis, only to those who will be involved in the operation. Since I believe Lieutenant Captain Aten will tip off Mr. Hoofer if he hears anything about this, there will be no involvement of anypony on the morning shift as a result. Clear?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Good. Make your preparations to execute the operation as soon as possible. And remember, no morning shift ponies at all!"
"Yes, Your Highness."
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"Sir, I think the Captain's going to be coming out shortly!" Amarna whispers in warning to Aten after the conversation between Celestia and Gibraltar is over.
Aten belatedly realizes the warning and gestures Amarna to follow him quickly away. Both Aten and Amarna are around a corner and out of sight before Gibraltar can look to see where the hoof sounds had come from. Gibraltar looks back at Celestia, who gives a concerned look before waving her Captain on to continue his work.
Aten and Amarna meanwhile have made it back to Aten's office, where they seem surprisingly unperturbed by what they had just heard. Both pegasi had expected to be locked out of the loop for something like this - this apparent erosion of trust filled Aten's delusions of an anti-pegasus conspiracy - but what they had heard was enough to allow them to gage the success of the real scheme behind "Mr. Hoofer".
"The plan is working, Lieutenant. Cover me for the rest of the shift, I'm going to the shrine." Aten orders with whispered excitement.
"Yes, sir. Glory to the chaotic one." Amarna replies in the same whispered excitement as Aten turns away and, only sparing one look back, disappears into a dimly-lit utility closet.
Aten passes buckets, mops, brooms, strange bottles filled with chemicals he doesn't want to bother learning about, a large sink and a circuit breaker box before halting at what appears to be a dead end. He rears up on his hindlegs and pushes a forehoof to the ceiling. One side of a ceiling panel lifts up, rather like a trapdoor, and the pegasus stallion pushes off his hindlegs to squeeze through the opening into a natural cavern running into the mountain Canterlot was built on.
The trapdoor closes behind Aten and he remains airborne to avoid causing too much noise. A little ways down, in the darkness of the cavern with only torches for illumination, is an old maintenance elevator he steps on. He yanks down a lever with his mouth, and the old cage starts slowly descending deep into the root of the mountain. Several side shafts - remnants of a mining operation from long ago - stretch into the darkness as he goes down.
The cage bottoms out, and Aten steps off it. Down a short passage he walks, and then he turns right to emerge at the "shrine". In reality, this place was a small cove with a classic symbol of chaos - an eight-way arrow - carved into the far wall. In front of this carving is a small table, covered in rock chips, on which is placed two candles and a drawing of a statue above in the castle gardens - disingenuously referred to a representation of the concept of "discord", and to the Agents of Chaos believed to be directly linked to the "chaotic one" they worshipped - framed between them.
Aten lights the candles using a small stick held in mouth and previously lit at the far end from a torch outside, then puts out the stick and prostrates before the shrine as if it were the alicorn princesses themselves. This was as close as the Agents of Chaos could get to worshipping the statue "representing discord" outside without being detected.
"Oh great and mighty chaotic one, I have news for you to hear!" Aten speaks in his prostrate position. "All is going according to plan! We will soon close all the leaks in our ranks, make our enemies blind and deaf, and be ready to unleash the whirlwind that will allow for the return of your glorious rule over Equestria! Your servant has spoken, please find him and his works in your favor!"
A very dark worship, to a very dark threat for the future of Equestria. The coming fall of Mr. Hoofer would be the opening gust of the whirlwind soon to come...