"Good morning, Your Highness..."
"'TIS NOT A GOOD MORNING! BEGONE, CAPTAIN!"
"But Your Highness, I still have to make my..."
"WE SAID BEGONE, NOW BEGONE!"
"...Yes, Your Highness."
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"Goodness, has she been like that all night?" a mortified Captain Gibraltar asks Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor as the former exits Princess Luna's chambers as discretely as the situation allowed.
"Unfortunately, sir." Shining Armor sighs out, his face showing both frustration and exasperation.
"What happened?"
"Shortly after the moon raising, a whole group of pegasi moved a cloud bank directly in front of the moon and kept it there all night. Needless to say, Her Highness was not happy with this and demanded to know who was responsible for it."
"And did you?"
"Well sir, when I sent a Lieutenant to the Weather Ministry to determine who was behind the cloudbank, they came back with this." Shining explains, telekinetically pulling out from his sidebag a piece of parchment with a pink-colored wax seal attached along the bottom. Gibraltar looks at it and immediately his eyebrows go up in surprise.
"We'll need to discuss this in my office." Gibraltar bluntly states, his eyebrows now knitted in seriousness.
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It is an awkward and silent trip to the Captain of the Guard's Office. When Gibraltar and Shining Armor arrive, Gibraltar puts the parchment with the wax seal on his desk and sits down behind it. Shining Armor nervously sits himself down in front of the desk.
"Tell me what is wrong with this picture." Captain Gibraltar firmly commands, pointing a forehoof at the parchment on the desk.
"Sir, I don't believe that Princess Cadance would ever authorize such a thing. Not in a million years." Shining Armor replies with as much confidence as he can muster.
"I don't disagree with you on that, but there's something else. I hope you've already spotted it." Gibraltar continues in the same firm tone.
"The seal, sir. It's the old, discontinued design. That one was supposed to have been destroyed when Cadance left on her extended field tour."
"Correct. That design only references herself and Princess Celestia as the princesses of Canterlot. As you said, Celestia ordered the seal destroyed after Cadance left Canterlot, for reasons that have only recently become clear."
"The return of Princess Luna would've necessitated a redesign of the seal, so Princess Celestia must've ordered it done early knowing what was going to happen."
"Exactly. It was also an anti-fraud measure - Celestia didn't want the temptation for its abuse. That seal design is not supposed to exist anymore, so how did it end up on a document dated yesterday afternoon?"
"Well sir, as I said I don't believe this was deliberate act, the only conclusion I've come to is that the parchment is fraudulent. I would've investigated further, but I wanted both you and Princess Celestia to see this first before I took any further action."
"And that you wanted to talk to Cadance yourself?"
"Well... yes, sir, that's correct."
"I really can't blame you for wanting all your bases covered Shining, considering the gravity of the situation here. But if there is something going on, we are losing time to the conspirators as we speak. First opportunity I get, I will send a pair of stallions to the Weather Ministry to get more information on the situation. I will also call a meeting with both Princess Celestia and Cadance to discuss this very matter - if need be, they can authorize more drastic measures than I can. When you report in tonight, I will provide you with an update on the situation. Understood?"
"Yes, Captain." Shining Armor replies with a salute.
"Good. Just leave your report on my desk, I'll look at it later. If you want to talk to Princess Cadance, now would be the time as I'm sure she's en route here for the morning debriefing. Otherwise, go get some sleep, I have a feeling you're going to need it." Captain Gibraltar states.
"Understood, sir. Thank you, sir."
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As Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor leaves the Captain's office, he passes by the pegasus Lieutenant Captain Aten, who gives an impish grin in Shining's direction. This in turn provokes an eyebrow raise on Shining's part - was it just Aten taking pleasure in Shining's discomfort, as usual for him, or was Aten in on something Shining wasn't? Shining couldn't tell the difference between those two possibilities, so he decided to ignore Aten as the latter went into the Captain's office for his own morning debriefing from Captain Gibraltar.
Shining Armor then rounds a corner of the hallway to see Princess Cadance waiting there. It wasn't a particularly surprising sight, considering how Cadance loathed Aten's crude attempts at hitting on her and tried to avoid being in close proximity to Aten whenever possible. Shining let out a sigh - he might as well get it over with now.
"Cadance, I need to talk about something..." Shining wearily begins.
"I already know. I heard as soon as I got up. And I know for a fact that I did not do it." Cadance cuts off. "Somepony is playing Luna against me. And both Aunt Celly and I would sure like to find out who it is."
"But why do that? Why sow seeds of discord when Luna could very easily snap back because of this?" Shining asks, the concern weighing heavily on his expression.
"I don't think whoever is doing this either cares or has the slightest idea what they're doing. And there's something else involved too."
"Oh? What?"
"Aunt Celly once told me that, even after living as long as she has, she still sometimes feels a romantic attraction, that the passion still burns within her sometimes even though she knows she will outlive any potential suitor. And I think Aunt Luna would be the same, but more so."
"...So what you're saying is..."
"Aunt Luna might be in love with you. And that fact will be capitalized on, Shining."
"But I didn't mean..."
"I know you didn't mean it. I understand she needs somepony like you supporting her right now. But I'm annoyed I'm even having to talk about this in the first place. As long as Aunt Luna doesn't like or accept me, she will want to keep us apart. And she will listen to anypony that will help her do that, regardless of whatever other motives they may have."
"But..." Shining Armor tries to object.
"I'm sorry, Shining. Until this whole thing blows over we're not going to see each other. I don't have a choice - even if I wanted to, Aunt Celly wouldn't let me try." Cadance affirms.
Shining Armor sighs and his ears droop down, but he nods understandingly. There's no use trying to fight it, he just had to accept it.
"I'm glad we have an understanding. We'll see what happens over the course of today, and if anything changes somepony will let you know." Cadance states, the pained expression in her eyes indicating she was having just as much trouble with this as Shining Armor was.
"Thanks."
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SEVERAL HOURS LATER, AT THE WEATHER MINISTRY...
"Gentlestallions, I can assure you that Princess Cadance did indeed order that cloud bank." Weather Minister Thunderdash explains to the two unicorn guards in her office, trying to make the lie sound as convincing as possible. Used to acting to try to weasel her way out of some misdeed she or her underlings had committed, she was now giving the performance of her career trying to convince the two unicorns sent by the Captain of the Guard to investigate the previous night's cloudbank that everything was as it was said to be.
"Ma'am, we were sent here to verify that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza did indeed order a spiteful covering of the moon last night. Do you have proof of your statement?" one of the unicorn guards asks.
"Absolutely. Here." the pegasus mare minister replies, pushing a small stack of paperwork across her desk. All the pages had a bright pink seal in the lower-right corner.
One of the unicorns telekinetically picks up the papers, and the two guards study the sheets with skeptical looks. Except for the same old-style seal, all the paperwork looked correct for Cadance making such a request. The two guards exchange looks briefly before returning attention to Thunderdash.
"Who handled this request?" one of the unicorns asks.
"I did myself, and oversaw the team that put the cloudbank in place." Thunderdash answers. She had made sure to take charge of the implementation herself so that there wasn't a second pony involved that could ruin everything.
"And the implementation paperwork?" a unicorn guard asks now.
"In the stack." Thunderdash casually answers.
After a quick look at the paperwork to confirm what Thunderdash was saying, the two stallions exchange whispers. Except for the not-supposed-to-be-used seal design for Cadance on the paperwork, the two unicorns had nothing to go on to investigate further. They didn't have a warrant to do a more through search of the Weather Ministry offices either - requesting such a warrant was very likely to tip off the conspirators that something had gone wrong with their plan, so the Captain would only do that as a measure of last resort.
"Are we done here, gentlestallions?" Thunderdash asks after a minute of this whispering.
"Yes ma'am. Thank you for your cooperation. If we need you for anything else, we'll be sure to let you know. Have a good day, ma'am." one of the guard unicorns replies, taking the presented paperwork with them as they leave the office.
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As the unicorn stallions leave, one of them telekinetically pulls the office door shut behind him. Thunderdash waits a moment, then quietly walks over to a door in the supply closet and opens it just a crack.
"All clear, Agent Snake." she stage whispers into the closet before opening it more fully. The stallion that emerges from the closet is completely covered in a hooded cloak and brown "stockings" hiding his hooves. The only distinguishing features are a grey unicorn horn sticking out through a hole in the cloak's hood and a pair of yellow eyes glowing from under the hood.
"A little too close for comfort there, Agent 5." Agent Snake whispers to Thunderdash.
"Sorry, sir. I wasn't expecting them to show up." Thunderdash replies with a sheepish grin.
"Thanks to your impressive performance, that's the only thing you have to apologize for, Agent. Still, suspicions have been raised, we need to accelerate the plan. We're striking tonight. Start destroying any and all paperwork that could incriminate our operations, and don't stop until I say so or until it's all gone."
"All of it, sir?!"
"Can't afford to take any chances, Agent. If this plan goes wrong, all our operations will be put at risk. The shredding has already begun elsewhere, I suggest you join the effort as soon as possible."
"I understand, sir."
"Good. What about our prisoner?"
"Sprinkle Medley? We keep her out most of the time, and her family knows she sometimes has to go on extended business trips without being able to tell them anything. It'll be several days before anypony suspects anything."
"Then she's no threat as long as she doesn't get lose. Keep a close eye to prevent that."
"What about a raid on this place? What if there's one executed before the strike?"
"They won't raid for at least eight more hours. The Captain of the Guard will have to wait until she can get the princesses in the meeting, then they have to agree to issue the warrant, then Her Highness has to actually draw it up... you understand the red tape involved with these things."
"Of course, sir."
"We are at an understanding then. Anything else I should know?"
"No, sir."
"Then I'll leave you to your work. Don't fail me, Agent."
"Yes, sir." Weather Minister Thunderdash replies with a salute.
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BACK IN CANTERLOT, AN HOUR LATER...
"Captain, I didn't do this! What makes you think I would do this?" Princess Cadance pleads as she and Princess Celestia sit in a hastily-arranged meeting with Captain of the Guard Gibraltar.
"Your Highness, nopony is accusing you of anything. But I can't ignore this paper trail I've been given." Gibraltar calmly replies, tossing the stack of paperwork in such a manner it slides down the meeting room table to stop right in front of Cadance.
"Something is going on here. I actually agree you did not do this, because of the seal being wrong for one thing." the Captain continues. "But there is somepony or someponies working to drive a wedge between you and your aunt Luna. And the more we sit around and talk about it, the more time the conspirators have to drive in that wedge. We can't afford to wait any longer on this matter Your Highnesses, we must act now!"
Cadance looks over at the silent Celestia, who looks back and gives a quiet sigh before turning back to look at the determined Captain - she's realized "doing nothing" is not an option anymore.
"What do you think you need in order to take action, Captain?" Celestia asks quietly.
"Two things. One is to try to explain the forged paperwork to Princess Luna. I would recommend Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor do this, and have Cadance accompany him." the Captain crisply answers. "The other is royal warrant to search the Weather Ministry records. Without that warrant, they will stonewall things as much as they possibly can, and time is not on our side here."
"...Very well, I will write up the warrant and give it to you as soon as possible. But don't say I didn't warn you this plan isn't likely to work." Celestia cautions, seeing Luna's temper turning into a no-win situation for any attempts to defeat the conspiracy.
"Well Your Majesty, with all due respect, I hope you're wrong." the Captain replies, looking wearily out the window at the kingdom put in danger by conspirator schemes and alicorn passions...