//------------------------------// // Briefing // Story: Illegal Heritage // by ZhaoZoharEX //------------------------------// It was late in the evening as Pandora walked within the Clan manor, heading towards a secluded meeting room. Three days earlier, she had written and sent letters to key members of the Cardinal Clan, several of which were located all across Equestria. She had called for a priority meeting at the manor, meant to take place later the night of the royal wedding. Unfortunately, due to the recent Changeling invasion, she had to postpone the meeting for repairs of the city. She was still hot off her berating to the princess and had a throbbing rage headache. After walking through the foyer doors and checking the clock, she knew it would be awhile before the briefing would take place, so she decided to make herself some tea in the kitchen to calm herself. She boiled a pot and once she had a cup, she sat down at the table and cracked open a fresh copy of the recent Daring Do novel. “It’s still going to be some time before we start. I might as well check and see if those editors know how to do their jobs.” She only got a minute of reading before she heard the doors open. “Excuse me, Headmistress?” a sophisticated voice called out. “Ah, Juno! You’re early, I wasn’t expecting anyone for half an hour.” She closed her book before taking a sip from her cup. “Come on in, I haven’t seen you since the Gala. Would you like some tea?” “If you wouldn’t mind.” Using her magic, Pandora levitated another cup and poured some tea for her visitor, who sipped from it elegantly. “So, how can I help you tonight?” “I know we have a meeting to attend in a bit, but I wanted to discuss my induction into the position. I have some things I need to call attention to.” “Proceed.” “Well, what are the terms of this title first off? Will I need to learn anything specific before I’m to be promoted?” Pandora took another sip from her cup. “I’m glad you asked. I want you to learn how to determine how to analyze certain situations and decide the best course of action accordingly. To do this, I want you to start traveling across the nation and conduct inspections for the Equestrian Games. I will have agents stationed in each city that will help you with this test. They will tell you what I want you to see and how to see it.” “Okay. Anything else you need to tell me?” She took another sip. “My position can be very stressful sometimes. For the most part, it helps to remain unbiased when issuing and enforcing commands. Most of this job is paperwork. Lots and LOTS of paperwork. Considering your job, I assume you are well accustomed to paperwork?” “Yes, that will not be a problem for me. But if I may as, do you ever have trouble with it?” “All the time dear. Comes with the job. There are going to be times when you just want to pull your hair out with how frustrating this job can get. I hope you can handle it better than I do.” “I will certainly try my best. So what will I be tasked with once I assume the position?” Yet another sip was taken from the cup. “Well, you will effectively be in charge of the nation, pretty much. Most ponies in this position take on official roles. The Head Mistress before me, Madam Aroma, was a member of the Canterlot court. Your position should provide a decent cover, but otherwise, steel yourself. Not only will the clan’s agents answer to you and seek guidance when they need it, you will also be tasked with keeping the royal family in line. And let me warn you, I find the royals here hard to deal with at times.” “Yeah, I hear you don’t like Princess Celestia.” Pandora gave a sigh before taking a big sip from her cup. “That’s putting it mildly, but yes. She just grinds my gears sometimes. I just find the whole family kind of pointless with us around. We effectively govern the country more. She plays billiards with the sky, and everypony loves her. I don’t much care for Luna either, but I can at least tell she is putting up a genuine effort and I can respect that. The rest of the royal family… Well, other than Cadance and Shining Armor, I don’t have much respect for them. All they do pretty much is stand idle and drink up the celebrity lifestyle, contributing next to nothing to society, although I will admit Blueblood is becoming more tolerable. That in itself is saying quite a lot.” “So what is your issue with the princess anyway, if you don’t mind me asking?” “...There are many reasons I cannot stand her, but I think the biggest one would be the influence she has over my family. My children and husband like her quite a bit, but I personally hate how much she milks that relationship. The worst part about that is I don’t think she realizes she’s doing it…. Look, I know she has good intentions and I want to be able to like her, I really do, but her constant ignorance and perpetual disobedience makes it hard to hold a conversation with her without being so condescending. I hate her guts and I would say that to her face; only when we are alone though, not in front of my kids.” “Oh of course. I wouldn’t want my girls to see me badmouth their friend in front of them.” Pandora raised her cup to take another sip, only to realize the cup was empty before placing it back down. “Speaking of which, how have they been in recent weeks? I saw two of them performing at the recent garden party.” “Aren’t they great? I absolutely adore their talent in music. The sisters have always been a pleasure to have around since I adopted them. I even hear they each have a special somepony.” “Ah, you don’t say. Are they happy with their stallions then?” “They, uh, aren’t with stallions, you see.” “Oh. Well, are they content regardless?” “The twins are. Fiddlesticks is involved with a mare named Beauty Brass, another musician here in Canterlot, not of noble blood. She’s a dear, I tell you. Well-mannered and respectable, yet talkative and willing to voice her opinion when it matters, a quality I like very much. Symphony has a long distance relationship with a mare in Ponyville, she hasn’t told me her name yet and thus I haven’t met her yet. But young Octavia on the other hand, I want to say she has sort of a love-hate relationship with her roommate. She denies it adamantly, but I can tell a sexually confused mare when I see one. It actually took a long time before she introduced her to me, either because she wasn’t sure about herself or she thought I wouldn’t approve of a DJ. I have to admit, I was a bit deterred at first, but once I got to know her friend, she was actually quite likable.” “And I assume you are okay with their choices then?” “While I do love them with all my heart, I do still have to be a strict mother. I brought them up to be polite, knowledgeable in etiquette, and well educated, but it’s up to them to decide how they want to live after moving out. That said, I will remain supportive and give them the opportunity to grow. For what it’s worth, I think they have a bright future ahead of them.” “That’s all I need to know. I think we should head on down to the meeting room. The other agents I called forth should be showing up soon.” Juno looked at the clock. “Wow, is it really that time already? Time sure went by fast.” Once all were situated in the meeting room, all served tea or coffee, they began by giving the traditional roll call. “Veteran agent Aperture? Check. Veteran agent Spotlight? Check. Veteran agent Serenade? Check. Veteran agent Mars? Check. Elite agent Minerva? Check. Elite agent Andromeda? Check. Elite agent Juno? Check. Elite agent Ceres? Check. And Secretary-General Mandragora? Check. All are accounted for, the meeting will commence now. You might be wondering why we have called you here. This meeting has been called to address a possible opportunity to apprehend a certain traitorous agent that we’ve been hunting for over two decades now. As some of you well know, I have been interviewed by a journalist seeking to document my life, for what reason I’m not quite sure yet. Aperture, what of the information you and Spotlight have collected over recent years?” “Right. We have been tailing that journalist you’ve been interacting with and we’ve discovered he has a connection with the criminal underground. From what our informants have told us, he has often been seen traveling outside of the border. This wouldn’t be so suspicious, but what makes this odd is that we don’t know where he gets the funds to travel so often. No journalist would spend that much money without some other reason.” “Ah dunno,” Ceres said. “Ah’ve seen some strange reasons to spend money that are completely benign.” “But you have to keep in mind the circumstances of this kind of spending,” Andromeda added. “My ex-husband works with money and if Ah’ve learned anything from him, even benign purchases can have malicious intentions.” “Indeed. If he does have a connection to the criminal underground, this is somewhat suspicious,” Minerva said. “Now this alone isn’t enough to warrant investigation,” Aperture continued. “But considering he somehow knew Pandora was involved with our Order, not to mention the existence of the Order itself, this could mean we either have a security leak or he was told by somepony with possession of sensitive information. Either way, I have reason to believe a certain pony is involved.” “Agreed. He is definitely being paid for something and more than likely, it’s by the same stallion who’s led the systematic killings of the Order’s leaders,” Ceres declared. The agents went back and forth for twenty minutes with conversations and updates on the subject as Pandora and Mandragora observed and listened, all while sipping from their cups. After hearing the opinions she needed, Pandora spoke hers. “I believe we can use this journalist to snare our clever friend, use his own asset against him so to speak.” “Go on,” Mandragora spoke. “He has been interviewing me for some reason. I suspect it is to locate something, possibly something of ours to steal. If we can set up a trap, I believe we can kill two birds with one stone.” “Interesting. How do you propose we do this?” “I’m going to feed him false information. I want to act as if I don’t have the slightest idea he is deceiving me. To gain his trust and in the process, deceive him. While I do this, I want you to determine a time and a location to lead him. Once we determine his goal, we can use that greed to counter his boss.” “Hm… This has potential, but we must plan further. We will need a plan B if this doesn’t work or if things go sour. We are dealing with a notoriously dangerous traitor here and MUST do this right.” “Yes Secretary-General, I know. Everyone? For the next few weeks, we will be discussing further elaborations on this tactic and until we have a definitive plan, we are not to discuss it to anyone outside this room. I would rather not risk an information leak.” “Agreed,” all attendees nodded. Mandragora stood up from her seat. “Very well then. I hereby declare this meeting adjourned for the time being.” With the gathering done, all participants made their exit from the building, with Pandora being the last to leave having needed to record the details of the meeting for future reference. Once she got that done, she hauled herself to her home, where her husband was waiting for her. “Hi there sweetheart,” he cooed as she walked in. This made her smile as it normally did. No matter how rough her days were, she was always happy to talk to the stallion she loved. “Good evening dear. How’d your research go tonight?” she said as her spouse kissed her. “Not terribly productive I’m afraid. It took all day to fix the study and reorganize the library after the attack. I only just finished cleaning up. How did your work go tonight?” “Aside from the wedding, it was pretty half and half. The princess should count her blessings,” Pandora stated as they sat on the sofa, with her rubbing her temples. “Now now. I know you don’t see eye to eye with her, but she has good intentions.” “I know, but I still find her to be a nuisance at times. But whatever, I’m sick of thinking about her. What’s for dinner tonight?” “Oh I haven’t had a chance to start dinner. I’ve been trying to get everything back on track. If you want I can fix something for us really quick.” “That’s alright, I’m not really that hungry anyway. Just really stressed out.” The tired mare laid her head on her lover’s shoulder. Her spouse leaned in and whispered into her ear. “You know, I learned something from a recent study that might be able to relieve some of that stress.” “Really now? Maybe we oughta test that. You know, for science.” “Right, sciiience.” the stallion responded with mock sarcasm, warranting a playful giggle from his wife. “Oh just shut up and meet me in the bedroom in about fifteen minutes.” Meanwhile in Ponyville, Photo Finish and Hoity Toity departed from their ride from Canterlot. Though they intended to be back the previous few days, the invasion forced them to stay in Canterlot for longer than they wanted due to the trains being shut down to repair damaged tracks. But finally, they were back in their modest home in Ponyville where they lived for twelve years. Once inside their bedroom, the tired couple prepared for a good night sleep and for awhile, laid beneath the covers with nothing but the moonlight emanating through the window. Hoity Toity had closed his eyes the instant his head collided with his pillow. His wife on the other hand couldn’t get to sleep. She was too tired to sleep, as much as that concept just didn’t make sense to her. “It was quite a week, hasn’t it?” Photo finally spoke up, not using her normal accent. “Mhm.” “Our fashion line was quite a hit. Miss Rarity’s wedding dress was quite nice as well.” “Mhm.” “It’s a shame things had to happen the way they did.” “Uh huh.” Her mind drifted off to a memory she had a hard time stomaching. The invasion that happened reminded her all too well of a tragedy that made them move to Ponyville in the first place. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t bring herself to suppress said memory. There was a practical reason behind this, as well as a personal reason. “Hey Hoity? Are you asleep yet?” “Unfortunately not,” he grumbled. “I was wondering… What do you think ever happened to Sirocco?” Hoity’s head turned to her with a bewildered look. “You’re brining this up now of all times?” “I’m sorry, I just can’t help it. That invasion just reminded me of the kind of missions he did. He worked to prevent war and wanted to promote peace. I… I miss him so much.” Hoity pulled her in close and held her tightly. “I miss him too, love. But our son knew the risks of his job and he proudly put others before himself. In many ways, he was the ideal example of our Order: practical, courteous, diligent; it was hard not to like him. If only he’d introduced us to his marefriend. He talked about her so much and had nothing but good things to say about her.” “I don’t know how much longer we can keep all this from Silver Spoon. One of these days, she’s going to learn about her brother AND the Order. She just isn’t ready to hear about either yet.” “You’re absolutely right hon. She will find out sometime down the road. I hope by then she can clean up her attitude some. Her little friend really isn’t helping it.” “We have to do something. I’m tired of having to lie about where we go all the time. At least she has a place to spend the night over at her friend’s house. I’m weary about leaving her home alone.” “Well, we aren’t completely lying. Half of our work is traveling. Our careers provide a good excuse for that. And well, I think we make a good team.” “Yeah… We’ll talk about it later. Maybe we can take a vacation somewhere with Silver Spoon. One of these days, I want to take her to Manehattan.” “Maybe. We have a lot of work ahead of us though. We can worry about that vacation after we have the traitor in custody.” “Mhm…” Photo kissed her husband and gently closed her eyes. “Well, goodnight. I love you.” “I love you too.”