Emerald crept back into the house where she and her friends had been staying. The space bore some marks from the fight that had happened there earlier, but the former pegasus wasn’t interested in that. Moon Tide had told her to come here and retrieve her case of dyes. Apparently, changelings in this world couldn’t just change form at will. They had to apply disguises on themselves with dyes and some special ingredients made of tree sap and other things Moon Tide had told her that she had already forgotten.
Dawn was already breaking by the time she entered the noble’s house. Everyone seemed to still be asleep and all was quiet. She had remembered that Posey helped to hold back some of the assailants from last night, but the bodies were also cleared up. Posey had likely moved them away just in case.
Emerald approached the room Moon Tide had taken residence in and found a large pack seated against the wall beside a stack of rugs. She didn’t know which items to bring along so the spymaster decided to take the entire pack. There was the sound of a tap by the entryway and Emerald turned to spot Posey leaning against the frame, cleaning a bloody arrow in her hands. Her right shoulder was bandaged up, likely a wound from the fight.
“Emerald, you have returned,” she said, relieved. “Did you manage to get the Apple back?”
The former pegasus sighed and shook her head. “No. I am afraid Morn now has it. I was not able to catch them.”
Posey’s face grew grim. “By the Eight, this is bad. Now Morn has the four artifacts, and we have no way to fight him off should he come back to Masyaf.” Then she spotted the pack over Emerald’s shoulder and she pointed to it with her arrowhead. “Where are you going with that?”
“To… the palace,” Emerald knew better than to try and trick Posey. The archer had a way of knowing if she was lying. But that didn’t mean she had to tell the whole truth. “Moon Tide is in poor condition and needs her potions and herbs to get better. Yeah.”
“Wait, what?” Posey looked confused. “What happened?”
“She came to help me last night. When I was being overrun by Morn’s men.” Emerald looked down. If she had been more attentive, all this could’ve been avoided.
“And you and Moon Tide managed to repel them? Color me impressed,” Posey complimented.
“Moon Tide is hurt. I’m taking this to her to help.” Emerald tapped the pack.
“I can come with you to help.” Posey put the arrow back in her quiver.
Emerald didn’t mind the help, but she remembered Moon Tide’s words the night before. She couldn’t let Posey see what she was. Not yet. But Posey was experienced with cleaning up wounds. Perhaps it would be good to have more hands.
“You can come, but Posey...” Emerald stepped closer and brought her voice down to a whisper. “I first need you to wait outside.”
“Yes, but why?”
Emerald shook her head. “You have to just trust me. I need you to do as I say.”
Posey didn’t look comfortable, but then she nodded. “Very well, Em. I trust you. You’ve taken us this far. I will do as you ask.”
With that, the two of them left the home quickly, not wanting to wake anyone else and having to explain to them what was going on. She had a secret to keep and she intended to keep her word.
The walk to the palace was swift and Emerald led Posey up to the tower she and Moon Tide had taken refuge in. With the palace in shambles and in need of repair, the tower was empty, allowing them to stay there undisturbed, at least for now.
Emerald led the archer up a long spiral stairway, eventually coming up on the parapet that led to the lone tower. At the top of it was a wooden door and it was here that she requested Posey to turn around and wait outside, before slipping into the room by herself.
Moon Tide was lying on a bed, wrapped up in sheets as she seemed to be shivering. Emerald put down the pack and peeled the sheets from around her figure. The bandages she had wrapped around Moon Tide’s chest and arm were stained red and she didn’t look so good.
"Ah. Emerald," Moon Tide said as the former pegasus flipped open the pack beside her. "You have returned. Good. First, in the pack, I need you to retrieve what looks like shears."
“Shears…” Emerald looked inside and produced a rather large pair of blades that were molded into shears.
Moon Tide accepted it and began, for a lack of a better word, snipping off her talons on her hands and feet. Emerald watched as each one fell to the floor with a thud. It must’ve been a chore to do each time.
When she was done, she handed them back to Emerald and the spymaster watched as the changeling dug through the pack, but instead of taking out any dyes or concoctions, she selected a couple of empty glass vials instead.
“Moon Tide? What are you doing?” Emerald watched as the mage began unwrapping her torso bandages.
The arrow and slash wounds on her chest were still bleeding, though not as heavily as the night before. The changeling slowly placed a vial under one of her injuries and let the blood fall in. She did this for both vials before stoppering them and pushing herself up.
As Emerald watched her, she didn’t think she’d ever be this close to a changeling without killing it. Even now, Moon Tide didn’t seem hostile. Perhaps she was one of the better changelings, if there was even such a thing. After all, she had saved her the night before. If she hadn’t revealed her true form, she wouldn’t be this vulnerable, but Emerald herself might be dead in some ditch by now.
“I know,” Moon Tide suddenly said as she dug around for more vials, this time, ones with bluish liquid in them. These were probably her dyes. “Not what you were expecting, yes? I am sorry to have kept this secret for so long. But humans have not taken kindly to us since the birth of our kind. I remain hidden so that I may not burn at the stake, should they catch me.”
Emerald stood there as she began applying the dyes to her charcoal skin and purple hair, slowly but steadily bringing her back into the appearance of the Moon Tide Emerald knew. Her hair still remained long, but with the shears again, she cut it back down to almost the same length.
Now, the changeling began digging through the pack again, but this time she removed a wooden case about the size of her hand. Inside it were strange rounded and transparent shapes, each in stacks of different colors. Moon Tide removed two purple ones and placed them into her eyes.
Emerald nodded with amazement. Those were eye lenses that could obscure her slitted green pupils. It was really quite a clever invention. Mages never failed to amaze her in what they could create.
“Much better…” Moon Tide breathed and began wrapping the bandages back. “You may call in Posey. Thank you for keeping my secret, Emerald.”
“How did you know she was outside?”
“Changelings go by smells, Emerald,” the mage explained. “We can smell your emotions, your scents, your movement. I will tell you more about us another time, but if you would be so kind as to first help me heal up. I’m afraid I cannot do so without any more love within myself.”
Emerald actually understood that. Changelings thrived on love, be it from being loved or from love coming from around them. They could use it to gain boosts in strength, speed or even heal grievous injuries, as long as their heart still ran. With that burst of power from last night, she must’ve used it all up. Now everything really made sense. Morn’s miraculous healing, sudden surge of power, it really all made sense.
Emerald headed for the door and called Posey in, all the while trying to fit all this new information into her world view. The fact that Moon Tide had kept this all from anyone over all the years Emerald had known her was somewhat stunning. Did Morn know of his special parentage?
To her credit, Posey didn’t ask any questions. She simply came in and inspected Moon Tide’s injuries before helping to get them closed up and rebandaged. It didn’t take long and once she was done, Moon Tide thanked them and slipped back under the sheets, needing time to rest and heal up.
Wanting to leave Moon Tide in a peaceful state of rest, Emerald and Posey stepped outside the room and into the stairwell.
Posey was the first to speak. “It was very brave of her to follow you to confront those thieves. Mages are not typically suited for fighting.”
“Well, Moon Tide is. She has that crossbow with the special bolts.”
“Tis a pity we are out of manticore blood. The mages need that to craft their healing magics.”
“Yes… manticore blood…” Emerald said slowly. She recalled the vials Moon Tide had put her blood in and she wasn’t called the royal spymaster for nothing. If changelings could heal, then perhaps their blood could be used for healing others as well.
“I heard manticores originally came from this area. The Saddle Arabians call them mardykhors,” Posey said. “Perhaps we could find one. Harvest enough blood for the mages to use.”
Emerald shook her head. “I do not think tis a good idea to leave Masyaf now. With the Apple gone, I do not know what Morn will do next, but I have a feeling he will set his eyes here.”
Posey pulled at her bandana and exhaled. “If he means to take Masyaf, we must set up the defenses around the city walls. Ensure he will have a tough time should he wish to attack.”
“But what of Moon Tide? We cannot leave her unattended.”
Posey made for the stairs. “Do not worry. I shall talk to the prince about this. Stay here and look after her.”
Emerald watch her friend go, then proceeded back into the room and sat in a rather comfy chair, which was embroidered with a very nice pattern. She leaned back and watched Moon Tide, a part of her still unable to accept that she was a changeling this whole time.
Back in Equestria, they were masters of disguise and subterfuge, ruled by the tyrannical Queen Chrysalis. Her mentor, the previous spymaster, had said he had met the queen before on a raid and she had proven to be too much of a formidable opponent for him. Only with the arrival of Princess Celestia did he manage to escape that day, unscathed. In fact, he had learnt some sneaking skills from watching her, like blending into crowds.
Had Dawn Saber known that his son was part changeling? Emerald wondered. She was of the opinion that he had not. Did he know even his sister was a changeling?
Wait. Was he a changeling too? Emerald wondered. But then he wasn’t capable of using Excalibur like Morn could. Was it even possible to have a changeling sibling if one wasn’t a changeling? Emerald had too many questions for Moon Tide.
A movement at the window caught Emerald’s eye. There was a strange-looking owl sitting there on the sill. It didn’t look like the owls she had seen in Canterlot. This one was less fluffy and had longer legs, but it was still unmistakably an owl. Then it laughed at her and flew away.
The former pegasus went to look outside the window. She didn’t know where all these owls kept coming from, but then it wasn’t really important, so she decided to leave it. She could see Saddle Arabian guards wandering about on the city walls, bows in their hands and swords at their sides. She wondered whether they could even be ready if Morn returned.
She soon sighed to herself and returned to the chair, plopping herself down and looking at the slumbering Moon Tide. She seemed to be sleeping so soundly that it almost made Emerald think that everything had already returned to normal. She didn’t know how long she was just sitting there doing nothing, but she was eventually shaken out of the doldrums by the sound of the door opening.
“Emerald? Emerald, are you free?” Posey entered the room quietly.
Emerald knew her voice well. “What can I do for you, Posey?”
“It’s about this.” Posey closed the door and motioned her head to Moon Tide. “Moon Tide can’t be there to help you every time. I want to teach you some things I know, Emerald. Things that will help you improve.”
Now what could Posey want to teach me? Archery?
“But I can’t leave her now. She needs us. She’s weak after what she did.”
Posey seemed to contemplate that statement, then nodded. “Then I shall teach you your first skill here. It’s something I’ve… I’ve kept a secret from everyone. A… technique, you could say… It’s helped me out on more than one occasion.”
“A technique?” Emerald stood off the chair. What technique was Posey going to show her in this enclosed room. “What kind of technique?”
Posey pointed out the window and whistled. In a few seconds, Gabriel was in through the window, landing on Posey’s arm. “I’ve taken to calling it ‘eagle vision’. Gabriel taught it to me.”
“Your… bird taught you this technique?”
Emerald knew Posey and Gabriel had a special relationship, but she didn’t think her friend could actually learn some kind of bird skill by speaking to it.
“Well, he didn’t tell me, if that’s what you were asking…” Posey said, as if reading her mind. She looked a little embarrassed about what she had said. “L-Let’s just say I learnt it from observing him, hmm?”
“Well, it is as you say. So how do you use it? This eagle vision?”
“You have to focus your vision,” Posey said, pointing at her face, specifically her eyes. “To see that which is normally hidden.”
Emerald took this in. Was Posey talking about some kind of mystical vision that could see through walls or something? The archer’s tracking skills were indeed impressive; had she been using eagle vision the whole time?
“Well, how do you do it?” Emerald asked, squinting her eyes and staring about the room. “Is this it?”
“Not exactly. You have to focus. Concentrate on what you want to see, on what you cannot see. I want you to imagine the world as it is now, only you need to focus on the important aspects. Let me see…” Posey left the room for quite some time, then returned with three training mannequins that the soldiers used. She then covered each of them with a cloth, and they soon became rather wide objects that almost formed a short wall when placed together. “I’m going to hide behind one of these mannequins, and you have to use your eagle vision to find me.”
“My eagle vision?” Emerald mumbled, then squinted and tried to do what Posey had instructed. As she strained her eyes to see beyond her normal vision, she still couldn’t manage it and she decided to hazard a guess. “Are you behind the left one?”
Posey popped out from behind the middle one. “Not quite. Let’s try again.”
Not wasting a second, Emerald blurted out, “Right?”
“Are you just guessing them?” The archer stood up from behind the left one this time. “Focus, Emerald. Hone your senses.”
Emerald shut her eyes and breathed. She tried to focus on the sounds, the position of the mannequins, the space behind them. Still, no images formed in her mind and she couldn’t see Posey. Just what kind of witchery had she devised from watching Gabriel?
“Are you behind the middle one?” She tried again.
Posey hopped up from behind the mannequin on the right and shook her head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“This is impossible!” Emerald groaned. “How long did you take to learn this, Posey?”
“Well, umm… over a month…”
“So how can I get it in a day?” Emerald said, exasperated at the task and frustrated that she wasn’t making any progress. “I can’t just magically gain an eagle’s vision just like that.”
“I’m not asking you to get it in one day. All I’m asking is for you to try.”
“But I am trying. I’m trying my best.”
“No. We will know your best when it emerges. Come, Emerald. Let’s try again.”
The spymaster was caught a little off guard with Posey’s sharp remark. She was indeed serious about teaching this skill. What was even so important about learning how to see what was hidden? As spymaster, she was already trained to watch and gather information on her enemy. She didn’t need a special vision to point that out for her.
But in the end, she still tried again. And again. And again. She was no closer to figuring it out than she was when she started.
Posey exited her cover and walked over. “Good effort today, but we’ll pick it up again tomorrow. For now, how would you like to go for a run?”
It seemed she too was tired of Emerald’s failures.
“A run?” Emerald asked. She didn’t see the point in that. “How is a run going to help me fight?”
“Have you seen the city, Emerald? The assassins that attacked you and Moon Tide… Yes, they overwhelmed you with numbers, but what if you could use the cityscape against them?”
“Use the cityscape?”
“Come, I’ll show you,” Posey called, now at the doorway. “I’ll send one of the others up here to look after Moon Tide in your place. Just for a short while.”
O-Okay…” Emerald went to the bed and sat down by the mage. “Moon Tide? I need to step out for a while. Will you be fine for the time being?”
Moon Tide opened an eye and managed a smile. “Y-Yes, go ahead. I’ll manage. I just need more rest…”
Posey left to go find Spectrum and the other children. She promised not to mention a word of anything to them, and she would just simply tell them to watch Moon Tide, who wasn’t feeling well.
When she returned, Posey led Emerald out into the open walkway alongside the tower. From here, they could look down upon Masyaf’s city.
“I want you to jump down, Emerald.” Posey leapt up on the ledge, balancing on her toes very skillfully. “From this spot.”
She walked out over to a small wooden beam jutting out of the structure. Emerald saw that the walls had these every few meters, but she didn’t know what they were used for. But what she did know was that Posey was crazy.
“What, are you crazy?” There was no way they could jump from here and live.
“No, I’m not. Watch me.”
Posey held her arms outstretched on the beam she stood on and without warning, she leapt off and hung in the air for a second. And then she was sailing down at a high speed, flipping once, her back now pointed to the ground, before landing in a haystack. As Posey jumped, Emerald heard an eagle’s screech, and looked up to see Gabriel circling above.
“...What?” Emerald couldn’t believe it when Posey reappeared out from the haystack, waving to her.
Your turn, Emerald!” Posey called up and stepped out of the haystack, brushing hay from her hair and shoulders. “Just do what I did!”
Emerald shook her head, but Posey countered with a nod each time. Sure, if she had her wings or one of Star Swirl’s artifacts, this would be a piece of delicious cake. But she didn’t.
“No. No way am I doing that,” Emerald peered down at the distant haystack and at Posey, who was still waving for her to jump.
Still, her body moved and she managed to climb up onto the wooden beam. She almost slipped off and that would’ve been bad. She eventually made it all the way to the end, where the tip was poised over the tiny haystack below. What if she missed? What if she landed too hard? Emerald had too many doubts in her mind.
“I can’t do it, Posey!” She yelled, her knees shaking and threatening to send her over.
“You can, Emerald!” her friend yelled from below. “You just have to take a leap of faith! You’ll be fine!”
The more she looked down at it, the less she wanted to jump. If she ever wanted to do this, she had to first stop thinking about it and simply do it. With a deep breath, Emerald jumped off the end and for a moment, she felt she was flying again. And then everything around her was yellow and itchy.
I did it. I did it. I did it!
“See, you did it,” Posey helped her out of the haystack. “How was it?”
Emerald stepped out of the haystack and breathed as she swept stray hay off herself. “It was… exhilarating! A few more and maybe I’ll get the hang of it.”
She had actually enjoyed that. It was almost like falling. As long as she was sure she could survive the landing, perhaps it actually wasn’t so bad. She would have to try it more in her free time.
“What’s next?”
Posey smiled. “Well, I promised you a run, so why don’t we do that?”
“Sounds good.” Emerald was interested to see what else Posey was going to teach her.
Without waiting, Posey broke into a sprint down the Masyaf city streets. “Just do as I do!” And then she dodged a Saddle Arabian woman holding a jar atop her head.
Here goes nothing… And Emerald ran after her, copying her movements. If it was anything, her mentor had taught her to spy and mimic others, should she need to blend in in enemy territory, and now that she thought about it, it was quite like a changeling. Perhaps Moon Tide and her had more in common than she realized. Interesting…
Emerald stepped aside each time Posey did, avoiding Saddle Arabians as they ran along. The archer used baskets and crates as stepping stones going up, before grabbing a pole and swinging herself up on it. After that, it was a climb up a building, with the archer grabbing ledges and cracks and anything she could use to make her way up. Emerald did the same, remembering which hand and footholds Posey had used. This was indeed a useful skill. Perhaps she would’ve caught those thieves if she was able to scale buildings like this.
Humans from the streets looked up at them with raised eyebrows or pure surprise as they ran along from one roof to another, almost as though they were crazy.
The two women ran from rooftop to rooftop, moving across town quicker than the streets had ever taken them, with Emerald pleased to have the breeze blowing against her in this hot weather. She vaulted over the occasional rooftop garden or row of plants, following Posey as best as she could. The archer was much more skilled at this and Emerald couldn’t copy everything to the dot, but she was moving along at a steady pace and to her, that was already good enough for a first time. After running all the way to the central market, Posey slowed to allow Emerald to catch up.
“How are you doing? Tired?” Posey gave her a pat on the shoulder once she arrived, stopping beside a roof post to catch her breath.
“Just a little…” she said between deep breaths. “But keep going… I need to… get better…”
“Then onward ho, Emerald.”
And the two of them continued running across the city, climbing various buildings and vaulting the distance between buildings and through obstacles, sliding under planks and supports, and even swinging across gaps with hanging braziers. The run eventually took them all the way back to the palace, where they had to climb up the palace wall through various holes in the wall and stone that jutted out. Overall, it wasn’t too bad, though she needed to work more on her stamina. She hadn’t run like that since coming through the portal.
“Great run, Posey…” Emerald sat down on the floor to catch her breath. “That sure… taught me a lot…”
“You see?” Posey complimented. “This city is good for things like that. In combat, use the environment to your advantage. Besides, it also helps when you need to get to places.”
Emerald nodded and looked down at the city below the palace wall. It was really amazing that they had even climbed all the way back up here. This could really help with chasing down criminals and as Posey said, they could use the environment to get an edge during combat.
“It’ll take more than a day to get the hang of this. Still… this isn’t bad. I shall look forward to more runs, Posey.”
“Certainly, Emerald.” The pink haired woman sat down on the ledge of the wall and swung her legs about in open air. “I shall do all I can to aid you in retrieving the artifacts.”
Emerald sat on the floor and caught her breath. She thought about all that had happened so far, and all that she had yet to do.
“You know, Posey,” Emerald began, getting up off the ground. “Morn had three artifacts, but he only ever used Excalibur. I wonder who has the rest of them now?”
“Probably some of the other Knights of the Round Table,” Posey supposed gloomily. “I wonder that they haven’t been able to break free of his control with artifacts of their own.”
Emerald scratched her head, a lock of her shining hair falling loose. “Perhaps we can-”
She was interrupted by the feeling that she was being watched. Emerald turned around and saw Parisa pull her left leg out of a potted plant, as if she had used it to get there.
“Hi again,” Parisa said cheerfully. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Prince- *ahem* King Sombra wanted to see you. It sounded important, so maybe we should go see him now!”
“I wonder what he could want that’s so important.” Emerald sighed and stood up, wiping sweat from her forehead. It didn’t help that her armor trapped heat in as well. And the words King Sombra didn’t float with her all that well. All that made her think about was her friends giving their lives to bring her here.
“Dunno,” Parisa said as she climbed back into the potted plant. “He spent a lot of time staring into that whatchamacallit that you gave King Aldilu, may his soul rest in peace.” The dancer squatted down into the plant’s depths and sank out of sight. “Maybe Sombra can tell you more.”
Emerald and Posey waited to see what Parisa would do, but there was nothing forthcoming. Posey went over to the pot plant and peered inside.
“She’s gone,” the archer said, looking very much confused. “How did she do that?”
“No idea,” Emerald shrugged. “Come on. Let’s go see what Sombra wants.”