Wind Chaser, Chapter 7
In which an suspicions are voiced.
More and more people are rating my story... people are commenting... I haven't even advertised this yet, it's just, kinda, updating as I go without a fanfare. My readers are the best readers!! A million 'I love you's to Zoe for not kicking me in the head repeatedly for comparing Dash to her, I half expected rage after the last chapter, but she just said I was hopeless and left my fingers unbroken, for which I'm eternally thankful.
Also, thanks to Shira for popping this next idea into my head to lead into this chapter.
* * *
Nick flew across the boundless blue of the sky, feeling the shape of the air with his wings stretched wide. Looking down he spotted the gigantic circles of cultivation in the arid lands of northern Africa, where enormous wheeled arms watered whole acres of crops making the lush greenery easily stand out from 20,000 feet.
He was racing Zoe through the clouds, above the big cumulus piles, but below the stratos, weaving in huge loops between towers and hills and throwing themselves down the valleys between the cloudscapes.
His breathing aparatus tugged at his face sharply, his high-altitude, high velocity gear hugged his body, and the two of them sucked vapour along behind them whenever they passed too close to the mighty cloud peaks, wings not working too hard, pacing themselves at a steady Mach 2.
He knew this journey well, it was the first time the two of them had been on a mission together without the rest of the team, they were nineteen years old and the sky was their home as much as Haven base. Zoe was confident, with just the two of them there, daring him to match her tricks, none of her shyness around strangers, none of her hesitation in public, showed in her effortless flips and spirals as she played with the air around her.
"What's the matter? Can't keep up?" her voice giggled over the headpiece in his ear.
"Enjoying the view too much to try." He teased back.
She gasped in outraged embarrassment, and killed speed just long enough that she was now chasing him. He laughed at her and sped up before she could get her momentum back, and they tore through the mid-day sky hurling taunts back and forth as he evaded her.
It took him a moment to notice, but the pull on his face wasn't the mask, it was the coat of his muzzle...
"Chaser? You okay over there?" her voice wasn't over the communicator anymore, she was shouting over the wind, and it made her voice sound weird.
"Zoe? What's..." His wings weren't gathering as much sky as before... it felt... like he couldn't move them right.
"Chaser?" Her voice was far away, the wind making it scratchy. He looked for her, trying to see her, but couldn't find her in anywhere behind him. His mane kept whipping into his eyes every time he turned to look back.
He wanted to slow down, he wanted to stop, but he knew this mission was important, that she was supposed to be there with him at the end of it... so why couldn't he see her?
A sudden shape loomed on his other side, and he turned to stare straight into deep purple eyes, "CHASER!"
* * *
"Chaser...! It's... me!"
He stared into those same plum-dark eyes, breathing hard, his left hoof was on her chest and his right braced against the ground next to her head, a few rainbow strands pinned to the sand under it.
She was gasping for breath herself, and no wonder...
"Dash? Oh no-no-no... Are you alright?!" He flicked his wings to back off, "Did I hurt you?"
She got to her hooves, a little shakily, "What the hay was that for?!" She demanded, a little shaken,
"I am so sorry..." He couldn't seem to express how upset he was with himself, "You startled me, and I... I'm sorry, Dash, that wasn't supposed to happen." his head sank between his hooves in shame.
"Hey, calm down... it's no biggie..." She looked down and away, "We woke up this morning and we couldn't find you. We were worried that you'd gone somewhere after... last night. Didn't expect to find you still here."
Oh Chaser... you're a horrible pony... even after turning her down she still comes running out to search for you the very next morning? This one's a keeper... Laugh it up, fuzzball... Hey, that's below the belt! You're a bit of fluff, you don't have a belt. All she did in answer was bonk him on the head again with a full-body bash, he was being snappish and he knew he shouldn't be.
"It was a warm night," he made himself sit back up, trying to cheer up and smile so she didn't stay in the funk she was in, "after Kiri got all that sand out, I was so tired I just curled up and fell asleep. I didn't think it would matter all that much." He didn't do as good a job of cheering up as he thought he did; he was too embarrassed to meet her eyes to prove there was nothing wrong. And there was something wrong... after everything he'd said to her last night, he'd reacted so badly to being woken up this morning... over a dream? If he was Kirianna he'd be constantly kicking himself. Don't tempt me.
Dash paused, and looked at him carefully, as if she could see through him now, "Chaser... Twilight and the others told me what happened, that they set stuff up to make it happen, they even told me that you said I might not want to see you again after... that. What gives? We're friends right? Don't go thinking that was enough to get in the way of a friendship, okay?" She put a hoof to his shoulder, finally meeting his eyes.
She's... trying to comfort you? Wait, when did you become the hurt one? You raise a good point, what's going on here?
"Dash... thanks, but I think they got the wrong impression. I just thought you might, you know, want to talk to your friends without me there to make things awkward. I'm more worried about how you feel, I'm the one that was in the wrong, remember?" His hoof moved to rest itself on her shoulder, displacing her own gesture as he raised it.
"Oh come on, I'm the Element of Loyalty here, I don't abandon my friends, especially not for something like that." She puffed up her chest and posed dramatically for emphasis, grin in place as firmly as ever.
"I'll take your word for it then." He quirked his own grin in return.
"Chaaaa-serrr! Wind Chaser!" The call carried on the breeze from further down the beach, an overlapping of several pony voices.
"Oh, forgot to say! We're heading into town before we catch the train home, all the girls have stuff they want to do, come on!"
"Sure, as long as I can stop by the showers before I go, I've got sand everywhere now..."
She laughed at that, and they took off together, throwing up sand and soaring back to their friends down on the beach.
* * *
The seaside town was beautiful, stone buildings abounded to ward off the seaside weather, and the streets were full of people. Residents and market stall owners, young people ready to waste some money and then hit the beach, regular summer tourists like themselves and tourist photographers aplenty (which as everypony knows are a different breed of tourist).
Another gorgeous day had bloomed and it was fast approaching the hottest part of the day, the Ponyville six, Spike and Wind Chaser were torn between finding somewhere to cool off and finding the next place of interest on their little tour. While a never-ending string of clothes, sweets, book shops and souvenir stalls were exerting their siren song on the girls, the shopping bags weighing down the big pegasus were fast convincing her of the former. How he'd ended up carrying all their shopping, she'd never know, but there were at least a dozen different saddlebags and boxes balanced on his back already... not that it seemed to be bothering him at all, he looked as solid as Big Macintosh, for all he was a pegasus.
Spike made an elegant sounding 'hngk' noise behind her and then belched loudly, a wisp of flame and smoke wafting into the air.
"Nice one Spi-" Chaser was interrupted in his male solidarity as he noticed that the smoke had formed into a scroll, tied with a ribbon and sealed, "Well... better out than in." He finished, and she giggled at his confusion as she took the letter.
"Amazing range, I didn't think the Princess would be able to reach us out here by dragon mail..."
"I take it that's... normal?" Chaser muttered behind her, she didn't know who to, but he made a little 'hm' noise as if somepony answered him, so she started to read.
"Dear Twilight, I am growing worried about my sister's diplomatic mission. Her first letter arrived yesterday, via very laboured means, and it seems that something in the úlfur capital is interfering with her ability to perform magic. As I have not received any message before or since on the matter I can only conclude that something is amiss. We would greatly appreciate your speedy return to Ponyville and from there to Canterlot so that we may consult with you on the matter in person." She looked up at the others, "Well we were heading back today in any case, so that's not so bad." She cleared her throat, "We would also appreciate the presence of the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and, if possible, to have the chance to meet the traveller from another realm before his purpose in coming to Equestria is fulfilled. As such, signal your preferred time by return mail and I shall arrange for speedy transportation to the palace for you all. Signed, Princess Luna."
"The princess has invited us to the palace!" Gasped Rarity, magically fanning herself with a souvenir fan from a nearby stall, close to swooning it seemed.
"Well as much as Ah hate t'be away from th'Acres fer too long, it don't sit right to tell the Princess no. Looks like we're headin' to Canterlot ag'in."
"Woo-hoo! We get to go to the palace again! This calls for a celebration! A PALACE PAR-mmph!" Applejack quickly closed the pink menace's mouth before her exuberance drove everyone around them deaf.
"Oh, I hope nothing's wrong." Fluttershy seemed to be contemplating horrors behind her light blue eyes, as she shuddered, "If there's something that's worrying Princess Luna, and that's something about Princess Celestia, then what can we do about it even if we're there? Surely there's nothing that the Princesses can't handle..." She looked around quickly, "Maybe we don't need to go after all." She finished, very quickly, and gave them a hopeful look.
"Don't be silly, Fluttershy, of course there's things we can do. Besides, she just wants to talk with us, what's the worry?" Twilight pushed down her feelings of mild frustration, her friend was just... so nice, that nopony could be angry at her for being shy.
"Oh well... it's just that her... talking... you know?" The shy pegasus tried to edge out of view behind Chaser's burden of shopping bags.
"What about it?" She asked lightly.
"Shes... very... she's very loud..." She could see Chaser having to crane his neck around and back to keep track of the mare hiding behind him, but he gave up and just faced front as the pile of boxes and bags hid her completely.
"Oh she won't be like that," she couldn't help but cajole her timid friend, she had faith in Luna's ability to catch up with modern society, especially after the last time they'd met, "the Princess is a nice pony, like you or me, she just forgets her volume sometimes. Have some faith in her, okay?" She rounded the white pegasus and found Fluttershy sitting up against his back legs, drawing little circles with her hoof.
Before answering, Fluttershy took a deep breath to steady her nerves, it seemed like she was actually going to listen to reason this time, "Okay..." Even so, her voice barely had any volume at all.
"Atta girl." She gave the shy mare a little nuzzle for support, before letting her get up so Chaser could move again.
"Even though we were going home today already, maybe we should hurry up and finish what we're doing here?" She suggested to the girls, "If we get home sooner, we can get to Canterlot at a decent hour and we won't be so tired."
"But we haven't even been to half the candy-shops yet! There's more ice-cream!" Pinkie wailed,
"And the hats, darling, the hats!" Rarity looked shocked that they might leave without ample time to view them all.
"Aw stop yer fussin', ain't nothin' we can say ag'inst an invitation from th' Princess." Applejack tried to calm them down.
"But-!"
"But-!"
"Oh boo-hoo, so you have to miss some silly shopping trip, big deal. We could be dealing with an emergency here!" Dash folded her hooves in mid air as she took the far end of the line. That shut up further protest for just long enough, Twilight decided she'd best head off further argument, Rainbow Dash didn't seem to be too happy with Rarity, unsurprisingly.
"Uh, thank you, Dash. Even though I don't think it's a silly shopping trip, I really do think we should cut things short."
"What about you, Chaser? You've been awfully quiet back there." The rainbow pegasus turned to get his opinion, obviously hoping that he'd back her up.
"I'm sticking with the group decision, your trip, your rules." He kept it matter-of-fact, "But, if it helps, I think Twilight has a point. We'll be travelling a while, and if we start now we won't be arriving late at night at the other end."
It was good to see those two talking normally, at least, she'd been so worried about them after the silly match-making idea last night went wrong. That, and agreeing with her was a vote of confidence.
"Well, I suppose you might be right," Rarity conceded, "but to think of the fashion opportunities I might be missing out on, it's tragic." She fanned herself with the fan even harder, until the store owner tapped her shoulder lightly to let her know he was still waiting for her to pay for it.
"But..." came one last, sorrowful protest.
"It's alright Pinkie, I'm carrying enough sweet stuff in these bags to last you at least four hours." Chaser joked with the downcast-looking pony.
"That's right!" She bounced to life, "Well, it might be right, maybe I should experiment on the way home? I could see how long it takes me to eat a cupcake and calculate it from there, but of course it takes longer to eat a stick of rock than a cupcake, and it takes less time to eat a tub of ice cream than it does to lick a lollipop until it's gone... Oooh... this is gonna be harder than I thought!"
In answer to this, Chaser could only check sidelong to see if anypony could tell whether she was joking... but Twilight knew that this was just Pinkie being Pinkie and left the party mare to come up with her entirely arbitrary theories of candy demolition times.
"Let's go check the train times then." She summed up, and led the way from the market place confidently.
* * *
"Lord Regent Jökull, I hope there is a good explanation for this?" Celestia kept her voice and her pose under control, but wanted, more than anything right now, to storm and shout at him. No, actually, what she wanted most was to be home, with her sister and her subjects.
"My Princess, I am surprised as you are, this incident is most troubling."
"Troubling, Lord Regent? One of my personal guards is recovering in the infirmary from wounds inflicted by claws and fangs."
"I did not mean to make light of this, Princess, only to make clear that I had no knowledge of the events this morning until the report was placed on my desk not an hour ago."
"So, there is, at least, a report from your subordinates on the matter, the guard in question was in no state to be interviewed when I saw him, and his comrades know nothing of his whereabouts at the time."
The silver wolf cleared his throat, and lifted the report in his paw, reading and paraphrasing in his head, "Unfortunately I seem to see, especially if I read through the bias of the úlfur mind, that it was an even-pawed misunderstanding that lead, regrettably, to conflict. The exact cause is unclear, but when superiors arrived at the scene, your guard was injured. He was still quite coherent despite his injuries, and his opponent, pardon me, opponents, were both nearly unconscious. He was distinctly heard to say 'I will defend her with my life' a few more words that were not caught, and then 'you will never take her' before collapsing. After this he was carried directly to the medical wing, along with his opponents, and given emergency aid. While the úlfur are recovered as of the report's writing, and your guard has not, until they are proven to be free of after-effects I feel it is unwise to question them as to the specifics."
He placed the parchment down, eyes betraying nothing. "I confess, the úlfur mind-set may have caused this, it is in our nature to test for weaknesses of character, of spirit, and of body in strangers."
"Weaknesses." Celestia's tone was just short of derisive.
"Please understand, Princess, our customs may be strange, but we thrive as kingdom because of them. If none are found, you see, strangers may easily become fast friends, so we allow for the occasions when it can lead to the opposite. How else could so large a pack sustain itself?"
She held her own council on that particular question.
"Tomorrow is the Right of Passage, the passing of title of Mikil to the heir. I did not wish for events to conspire to ruin your stay like this, however I cannot but hope that you will find the crowning, or lack of it, worth the trouble we have put you through to be here."
With a polite incline of her head, Celestia put on a diplomatic smile long enough to make her exit in good grace.
* * *
She hated chariots. They were so slow and cumbersome... not only that, she was stuck in here with Fluttershy, who was about as much fun as Twilight on a book-rant, even if she was only a tenth of the volume.
Chaser had been pushed onto the biggest chariot with AJ and Rarity, he'd dropped the wings so that he could fit, and now looked like pretty much any other stallion around, only averagely tall and even if he was stronger than most average ponies, he wasn't a match for draught ponies like Mac or the Royal Guards.
Something in the way they watched him though... just the way the Guards had nodded in greeting to him, and they hadn't taken their eyes off him until it was time to fly... it was like they thought he was a threat. "Heh, maybe he would be." She smiled.
"Uhm... who would be what?" Fluttershy came down from whatever cloud castle she'd been visiting in her head.
"Nothing, just thinkin'."
"Oh, uhm, that's nice." And she turned to let her mane trail out from the other side in the wind, gazing back out at the land around them.
Twilight seemed to be having a fairly normal conversation with Pinkie in their chariot up front, but Pinkie kept bouncing in place when she got excited, every five seconds it seemed, and the pegasus guards were getting cross. She smirked, knowing that she'd be able to handle that much bouncing even without a partner to help lift the chariot. Probably.
AJ was laughing, and Rarity was making funny gestures, whatever they were talking about it was obviously fun, Chaser even threw his head back and laughed at one point making his parasprite buzz around until he stopped so she could get back into his mane.
She sighed and put her chin on the rail, feeling a little wave of blue wash her mind. Ever since last night she kept thinking about him. Well, she'd been thinking about him before, but it was because he was new, he was interesting, he was cool. Then last night she'd almost... she shook her head to clear that thought out, bad thoughts!
No stallion was cool enough for the Dash, nopony could match her for speed or awesomeness, or even radicalness. She was the ultra-pony! But even she wanted somepony who could keep up, even she had dreams about meeting somepony who could at least challenge her, it was why she idolised the Wonderbolts. Those were the best flyers in Equestria, and everypony out there knew it because they performed everywhere. When it came to fame and coolness, there were no equals, except for her, and she'd be part of their team soon enough.
She sighed, chin rolling against the chariot.
"Uhm... Rainbow? Are you... do you want to talk about it?" Fluttershy was looking at her,
"Hmph, no." She definitely didn't want to 'talk about it'.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Her friend seemed to deflate, and her eyes actually started to fill... was she seriously about to cry because of being told 'no'?
"Okay, okay..." She broke under the guilt-trip, even if Shy hadn't meant to give her one, "look it's simple. I... wait... It's just that... No, that's not it, what I mean is..." Something tied up her tongue every time she started to explain.
"You... wanted last night to actually work?"
What did she...?! "What?! No! I... No!" She looked away, "Well, sorta."
Hooves gently snuck around her as Fluttershy surprised her with a hug. "It's okay. To be honest, I didn't think it was what you were interested in, but now... even though Wind Chaser's got somepony else, doesn't mean you have to suddenly stop liking him. And he's still your friend, right? Maybe if you just let it be for a while, you'll be able to get over it later, but nopony can just turn off their emotions."
That took a moment to sink in, but when it did, Dash found herself blushing a little. Even so, she felt almost back to normal about this whole thing, "Thanks, Shy, you're right."
Maybe being stuck with Fluttershy wasn't so bad afterall.
* * *
The palace of Canterlot was an awe-inspiring sight. He'd seen a lot of castles, lots of worlds had them, from crumbling ruins to confectionery inspired homes to brooding metal-sided fortresses, but Canterlot was a surprise indeed.
A castle on the side of the mountain, architecture hanging in space, while the city spread out down the slopes where the terrain was shallower. Towers, domes, loops of flying buttresses, the palace seemed to defy the base concepts of gravity or counterbalancing by using grace and elegance as it's replacement for both. Waterfalls tumbled from the outermost edges, cascading in the most brilliant sparkles of light from the yellowing afternoon light, a masterwork of architecture that he couldn't fully explain through conventional observation.
Maaaa-gic! Kirianna's thoughts were full of 'mystical' waving hands and a chuckle. You're probably right, you know. Of course I'm right, who's the brains of this outfit? Uhh... My point exactly. Stop it, you'll make me chuckle and they'll think I'm weirder than ever.
They'd travelled by train from about lunch time to get back to Ponyville, he'd spent a good hour touring around to drop off everypony's shopping and Rarity's luggage, and then came the chariots where he'd had to revert his transformation, again, just to fit in them. He was half tempted to just jump out and race ahead, the palace looked spectacular, and probably would be more-so if he could get a good view of the setting sun to silhouette it. Only good manners kept him in check, although he was fairly sure that the light misting of his wings about to form was already hazing over his back in anticipation. Well look at you, this going around in your real form thing is really getting to you. I'll be back to normal once I'm human again, until then we should enjoy it. Easy for you to say, you can still talk. Don't pout, the Transporter is never wrong.
Before his internal dialogue could stretch any further, and before his wings could come bursting from his back, they hove around the near side of the palace and found themselves looking down into a fantastic garden that stretched back over the valley beyond, complete with hedge maze, greenhouses and statuary all cast in sharp relief in the sunlight.
He felt the shift in balance even as the guards started to drop towards the lawns, Twilight's chariot pulling in first, his own second and Dash and Fluttershy's behind. It was a matter of moments to land, trundle to a quick stop and then hop free of the confines of the gilt-and-white transports.
"Thanks for the ride!" Dash zipped past them all and up into the air, free at last.
"Thank you sirs." Twilight bobbed her head in a quick bow of thanks and the pegasus guards all returned it before cantering their much-lightened chariots up to speed and neatly taking off again, probably to get a good meal and some shut-eye before their next shifts.
Those guys are sharp. Yeah, spotted me a mile away, I wonder how much they could guess? If you're trained well enough, you can spot it in others, and you've had a fair few more years than they have too. It's not hard to tell. My respect for these ponies just went up a notch. Or three.
"Princess Luna!" He heard Twilight exclaim and he turned in time to see the girls all taking a bow, down on one front knee, towards the palace.
They'd landed within easy reach of a set of broad steps, topped by an ornate doorway that now stood open. On these steps was... Wasn't expecting that...
The Princess, crown, torque and matching slippers giving the game away on that guess, stood tall and elegant, almost poised to move on. Her coat was a rich, night blue, her mane, easily the most startling feature about her as it wafted in some ephemeral breeze, barely seemed like hair at all, being filled with stars and edged in pale radiance, and her eyes were youthful, uncertain, and deep teal.
He bowed, as the girls were doing, to make sure he didn't appear rude, but couldn't help raising his head to take in some more details, because whatever his pony physiology had decided counted as good looking was firing off again and again; to his altered self, she was truly beautiful. You're hopeless... every girl, every time, you find something beautiful about them, why is that? Because you're - wait, does she have wings? Because she's definitely got a unicorn horn. So how does she have wings?
Alicorn... Well, strike me sideways. A real alicorn... wow... And either his thoughts had whizzed through all of these points in mere seconds, or Luna had paused for a rather long time before she spoke.
"Rise, Twilight, and your friends too please." Oh wow... now that's the voice of royalty, I really like her too... Again, fairy judgement of like versus dislike was not to be ignored, and his own quick study of her from before was agreeing strongly.
As he stood again, the midnight alicorn was making her way down the steps, gracefully and... yes, deliberately trying to keep her bearing regal, she looked quite young, despite her stature.
"And welcome to you, traveller. Twilight has given me cause to trust that you mean no harm in arriving here." She addressed him directly, the girls shifting slightly to see both of them without having to crane their necks.
"An honour to meet you, your highness," He ducked his head again, politely, Royalty wasn't exactly a foreign subject to an Englishman, "my name is Wind Chaser, I've been sent to your land to provide aid in any way I can, and this is my adventuring partner Kirianna." She hopped a little on his head to get her attention.
"Stars above," She exclaimed softly, eyes fixing on the green fuzzball, "but she is more than that... how has it come to pass that your soul resides in two places? How have you survived? How are you... still... whole?"
"It's... complicated, highness, but we are quite content as two as we were as one." He could formal with the best of them, if need be.
"Astounding..." She looked for a few moments more, obviously seeing what others could not, "In any case, I must not keep all of you standing in the gardens, I have had the servants set out a meal for thee, I mean you."
"Thank you, Princess," Twilight smiled, probably in relief that he hadn't done anything strange, maybe also because of the Princess' hasty amendment, "we'd love to join you."
They made their way inside in loose file, Twilight with the Princess, Pinkie bouncing back and forth, himself next, but he couldn't help overhearing the whispers behind him.
"Told ya that parasprite wasn't normal..."
"I knew from the off, dear."
"Ah thought he jus' had 'er trained or somethin'..."
"And what about that fancy talk? When'd he get all snooty?"
"It's called 'being polite', Rainbow Dash, you should look into it."
"Shucks Rarity, Ah'm polite, but that there was plain fancy."
He stopped long enough to raise an eyebrow over his shoulder at the three of them, twitched a smug grin to show he didn't mind, and carried on, leaving all three red faced at being caught talking behind their new friend's back.
* * *
"The situation is unclear, Twilight, but there are some facts." Luna sat back so that the servants could whisk the used tableware away now that they were finished. A tray full of silver vessels levitated into the centre of the group a few moments later, from which the vessels were distributed quickly and efficiently between the eight of them. I'm really liking magic here.
Chaser tried his and found it to be something halfway between rich coffee and hot chocolate in consistency, but sporting a light vanilla and cream taste to it. You absolutely have to find out how they make this, he hoofed the silver cup higher for her, letting her taste, you'd make a fortune if you could sell it... And think of the team! I wonder what it's made from...
"The first is that communication from my sister is highly limited, and I do not know if my return letters are even reaching her. The second is that she has made mention of wards around the capital, Fryst Eldi, that prevent most magics and limit the rest. Thou - uh - you may have noticed the afternoons lingering longer than they should and the mornings coming a little later, I fear that this is due to Celestia's limited access to her sun, and being unable to raise and lower it as speedily as she is used to."
"Wards strong enough to limit Princess Celestia? Is that possible?" Twilight sounded worried.
"It seems so. However that is not all. This arrived while you were on your journey here." A piece of parchment floated to the unicorn under a haze of blue magic.
"Beware the Mikil?" Twilight read, confused and a little skeptical, "The wolf will swallow the land whole or in pieces? Where did this come from?"
"It was passed to my attention from the guards. They tell me that it was a Deer, although they have no clue as to whence it came nor where it has gone. They said that the poor creature was extremely agitated, and would not stay to even ensure they passed on the message to me."
"Seems mighty suspicious t'me." Applejack tilted her hat down.
"It would be, with the exception that I have done extensive reading into the history of Equestria since my banishment. In the last century, four separate lands and species have spontaneously declared fealty to the Mikil Úlfur and his country, and now pay tribute to them in the form of goods and labourers. One of them, the most recent, is the land of the deer folk."
"Spontaneously? You're sure of that?" Chaser spoke up, surprising Twilight a little.
"There are no records that would indicate anything else, why do you ask?"
"I beg your pardon if I'm covering ground you have already gone over, but why has your sister gone to..." Fryst Eldi. "Fryst Eldi?"
"The úlfur are holding the ceremony that will crown a new Mikil Úlfur, and they have requested my sister as an official witness."
"And how often does this happen?"
"The ceremony? Every time a Mikil dies. This is the first time my sister has been invited, however."
"So... how many new Mikil's have there been in the last hundred years?"
"This will be the fifth."
"And tell me, were the other species that now send tribute to the úlfur also asked to send a representative to the ceremony?" Chaser asked, pointedly.
Luna's eyes flew wide open, and she stared at him as if he'd suggested she shave her coat off. Okay, can we play poker against her? Big Mac's was hard mode, Luna's easy mode with cheats enabled. Shut it, tart!
"Chaser? What are you getting at?"
"He is... suggesting that the... that the Mikil use these ceremonies to draw the leaders of each land away from their country and then force them into swearing fealty to the úlfur..." Her voice was deathly quiet.
"No, that's silly, what makes you say that, Chaser?"
"It's a pattern, Twilight, you might not see it at first, but power is a terrible temptation, especially power over others. I think these úlfur have found an easy way to gain more, and they plan on doing it again."
"Power over others? But I don't understand, why would anypony do that?" Twilight's naivety was cute, but Chaser kept his eyes on Luna as the Princess processed the idea.
"That is just it, Twilight," the alicorn eventually said, "they aren't ponies."
* * *
I tell you what, readers, I'm enjoying this now...
Well, I was before, but I'm really getting into the swing of things. Maybe this not-having-stuff-to-do is actually doing me some good in the old creative department... Who'da thunk?
In any case, I can't promise I'll keep updating at this speed, but for now, enjoy! Thanks for reading!