A Brief Briefing of the Briefing
Tap tap tap.
Mamunia's eyes fluttered.
Tap tap tap tap tappppp.”
She yawned and turned over in her twin-sized bed.
Silence... then...
RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!
“...!” Mamunia sat up with a gasp, clutching the bedsheets. She looked across the foyer, past where Jet slept in deep slumber.
The windows vibrated to a stand-still. A blue shape hovered immediately outside.
Gritting her teeth, Mamunia slid out of bed, trotted briskly to the window, then opened it up. She immediately shivered from the gust of cold, desert air.
“Guhh!” Jet sat up, blinking blearily. “Mamunia, what...?”
Rainbow Dash touched down, tossing her mane back. She looked at both stunned silent mares. “...wake your Duchess.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now.”
“He was... talking to himself?” Duchess Arcanista leaned forward on the edge of her large, plush bed. “The Secretary Sharp Quill?”
“Not exactly...” Rainbow Dash paced back and forth across the Plaza Topaz luxury suite. Ebon Mane sat up straight and alert on a lush couch. Kera leaned against him, dressed in a fluffy nightie and yawning her tattoos off. “It's more like he was talking to somepony...” Rainbow took a deep breath. “And I think we all know who.”
“Mother?” Ebon murmured. He then winced. “Er... I mean Chrysalis?”
“That's what I'm betting.”
“But...” Arcanista's brow furrowed. “I do not understand. I thought the Jury's prevailing theory is that somepony manipulating the Val Roan government may in fact be Chrysalis.”
“And that's still totally the case,” Rainbow said, scuffling to a stop to face Arcanista directly. “But now I think that Sharp Quill is working for her.”
“The Secretary of the Royal Family is working for the changeling queen?” Ebon Mane murmured. “But why? To what end?”
“Maybe she's promised him power,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe he'll get the throne while she gets Val Roa, the soul sentries, and everything else.”
“Mmmm...” Kera cuddled tighter against Ebon, nuzzling his side with a sleepy smile across her exhausted face. “Maybe she just wants a pizza...”
Ebon squinted at her. “Are you sleepy or hungry?”
“Mmmmmm... grasshopper leg toppings...”
“Well, I think this confirms it,” Arcanista said.
“Confirms what?” Rainbow Dash asked, rubbing her eyelids tiredly.
The Duchess smiled smugly. “Fishberry. She just has to be the changeling queen.”
“Mmmnnghhh...” Rainbow lowered her hoof, sighing. “I dunno.”
“Isn't it obvious?” Arcanista leaned her head to the side. “She's infiltrated the mess of bureacracy that the High Council had long become and is polluting it to fit her needs!” She gazed at the others. “Fishberry's! The Queen of Shape Shifters!”
“I still haven't seen Fishberry in person,” Rainbow said. “I've no clue if she's just as suspicious as Sharp Quill.”
“But it certainly fits the description of what your dreaded villain does, yes?”
“Chrysalis likes to manipulate kingdoms by seizing what's most corrupt about them, yes,” Ebon said with a nod. “But she's only ever done it before through her brood.”
“Well, then, could that be the case here?” Arcanista stated.
Rainbow Dash looked over. “Could what be the case?”
Arcanista's eyes narrowed. “Could Sharp Quill be one of her changelings?”
Rainbow Dash blinked. She looked over at Ebon.
Ebon Mane gulped. Gradually, he shook his head. “No. I don't believe that for a second.”
“Isn't that rather short-sighted?”
“Madame, if... if Chrysalis had gained that much power again...” Ebon gulped. “If she could control any changelings since the day Rainbow Dash zapped her with harmony, well...”
“Well what?”
Ebon shuffled to the side. Kera slumped to the couch cushions and squinted up at him, pouting.
“I... I couldn't be trusted,” Ebon said. “Because every changeling on this earth would be vulnerable to her control once again.”
“Pfft. Please.” Kera fought a yawn before curling up nose-to-tail. “You're youuuuuuu...”
“I...” Ebon winced. “I-I don't even know sometimes.” He gulped. “My Mother's done far more malicious and tricky things before.”
“Ebon—” Rainbow began.
“There's no telling what new ways she's conjured up to deceive us—even her own children!”
“Dude... chillax.” Rainbow rested a hoof on his shoulder, smiling. “Her power is long gone! Poof! Out of this world, y'hear?”
Ebon shuddered. “It doesn't matter to her, don't you get it?” He looked up with quivering, vulnerable eyes. “Mother's on a quest, Rainbow.” He gulped. “She won't stop at nothing to reunite with Tchern... and wielding an army strong enough to scale the rest of the plane.”
“If there's anything I can guess about your 'Mother,' Ebony, it's that she's a crafty sonuvagun.” Rainbow turned to look at Arcanista. “She won't pull the same trick twice, especially if she knows that the Jury and I are capable of owning her with harmony, just like we did back in Stratopolis.”
“Are you certain of that?”
“I saw the note that was delivered to Sharp Quill,” Rainbow said. “Nilla spread word of 'Princess Kera's' arrival here in Plaza Topaz to Fishberry. I've every reason to believe that Fishberry is in on this just like Sharp Quill. And, somehow, between the two of them, they know that Princess Kera and Ebon aren't real Xonans.”
“My God...” Arcanista grimaced. “Then we've been discovered. Perhaps we should f-fall back!”
“Not necessarily,” Rainbow Dash said. “I'm willing to bet that as much as Chrysalis has done, she's really not all that much in charge of Val Roa. Not yet.”
Ebon shuddered. “The Coronation.”
“Right.” Rainbow nodded. “She's waiting to play her hoof. Our presence here is a thorn in her pawns' side.”
“Her pawns?”
“Fishberry... Sharp Quill...” Rainbow spun about. “They know that somepony's onto them, but they can't do anything about it or else risk exposing where Chrysalis is hiding. So, as it now stands, we've still got an edge. Now we gotta take advantage of it.”
“How?”
“I saw bits and pieces of the letter that was delivered to Sharp Quill,” Rainbow said. “I've got the feeling he's going to be meeting soon with whoever's working for Chrysalis.”
“Did the letter mention a place?” Arcanista leaned forward. “A time?”
“Uhm... yeah...” Rainbow clenched her teeth, pressing her hooves to her skull. “Someplace called... Sh-Shepherd's Rock...”
Arcanista leaned back, ears folding. “You don't say...”
“And something about 'first shine.'” Rainbow lowered her hooves, blinking. “'Tomorrow at first shine.' Yeah. That!” She nodded. “Sharp Quill even said it out loud in his freaky zombie voice!”
“Heeeee...” Kera cooed in her sleep. “Zombie pizza...”
“But...” Ebon fumbled. “What could that possibly mean?”
“I know,” Arcanista said with a smile. “'First Shine' is a Val Roan idiom for 'Twilight.'”
Rainbow shuddered.
“Something the matter?”
“No, just... j-just go on ahead.” Rainbow cleared her throat. “So, when the stars come out over the desert, I guess?”
“Indeed.”
“And what about 'Shepherd's Rock?' Do you know what that is?”
“It's a sacred place of worship located in the church district,” Arcanista said. “It's a place that many orthodox Val Roans make pilgrimages to. Not lately, of course, with how strictly the West Gate has been guarded. The curious thing is that it's never visited after sunset.”
“Oh?”
Arcanista nodded. “It's believed that God only shines His radiance upon the rock while the Sun still shines upon the land. When night falls, the place is off-limits to all Val Roans, worshippers and apostate alike.”
“Heh...” Rainbow Dash smirked. “So Roarke's right... as always.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Er... nothing.” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “So... uh... basically, Sharp Quill's being asked in the letter to meet someplace tomorrow night that nopony else is expected to be.”
“Seems like the perfect spot for an illicit meeting to me.” Arcanista smirked knowingly. “I trust that you will be there.”
“So long as I can trust you guys to continue this Xonan diplomat charade from sun-up to sun-down tomorrow,” Rainbow said. “We mustn't let on that we know they're onto us!”
“Whoever 'they' are,” Ebon droned.
Rainbow pointed. “That... I intend to discover tomorrow.” She smiled tiredly. “At 'first shine.'”
“Then might I suggest that my most loyal servant get a full night's rest,” Arcanista said. “What's left of it, that is.” She glanced at Ebon and Kera. “The same goes for you two. I need my ambassadors fully alert and ready to send the High Council for a spin. Knowing Fishberry... or at least who I believe is Fishberry, she's going to want to get this ordeal over with as quickly and unceremoniously as possible. We cannot give her that satisfaction.”
“Understood, madame,” Ebon said, bowing slightly.
“Hrmmm...” Kera rolled over onto her back, kicking at the air with white-laced hooves. “...just let the steam rise. So much cheese...”
Ebon sighed. He slumped Kera over his back and trotted out of the room. “She... uh... she understands too,” he said with a smile.
Arcanista took a deep breath. “Well, all things considered... I'd say our mission is off to a great start!” She nodded towards the corners of the room. “I'll inform my dear brother and the Constable if you wish to alert the Jury, Rainbow.” Silence. The Duchess blinked and looked at the bed. “Rainbow...?”
“Shnorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...” Rainbow Dash lay draped across the bed covers, mouth open wide and drooling.
“... ... ...” Arcanista blinked. With a slight groan, she stood up and tiredly shuffled across the room. “I wonder if Mamunia and Jet mind sharing their cots...”
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I still feel like there were way too many red herrings last chapter for Sharp Quill to be a bad guy. He's probably working to unearth the changeling threat.
Sharpie isn't a bad guy. He can't be a bad guy.
He is a magical platypus and we should give him all the fish.
Sounds like she just walked in on Props and Zaid.
5243007
Dude, this entire book is a giant Herring Flambe. I'm starting to think that ):( is getting his rocks off us all theorizing and suspecting everyone.
...
Gawddammit, ):(! Forty sit-ups for the fuck-fuck games! Knock 'em out!
Carefully timed note is delievered when ariel surveilance platform under surveillance is in the correct place to observe it.
Zaids cheesiness is oozing off onto other members of the Jury.
Noone expects the ice cream vendor with the weird shaped parasol outside to be a spy.
Sharp Quill is Chrysalis..
static.fjcdn.com/comments/5263801+_3d6fe6bff9fac9e85e4a2e8be3dbfa95.jpg
On second thought, scratch that. Arcanista is Chrysalis. She did that on purpose.
Don't kno if sharp quill is our guy yet so ill stay optimistic. Im waiting for rainbow to fly to the prince's balcony by accident or something. They would be a funny chat.
Turns out Chrysalis isn't even there. Nor are any changelings. Everything is fine and Ebon is just going insane. Sharp Quill simply has a little private issue with his addiction to powdered Ledomartian manacrystals. They're going to catch him with his snout in the dust and it will be a very embarassing affair for everybody. Really, they should just leave and take a vacation instead.
5243007 On it.
Damn it! I can't put my finger on it, but I still don't trust Arcanista....to hell with it, sonic nuke-boom the whole spit forsaken city.
5243007
oh god cannot unsee
I'm starting to get a little suspicious of Arcanista now. Just a little.
5243007
I don't even know what's real anymore.
Everyone is Chrysalis.
hmmmm Interesting I'm actually starting to suspect Arcanista more and more here.
5243007 He's been under a lot of stress recently. He should go visit his relatives in that city on a lake on the other side of the world.
Just found this tidbit on Appledashery:
Discuss amongst yourselves.
I'm thinking that Arcanista is, at the very least, involved somehow. Sharp Quill's scene seemed like one enormous red herring, but I'm still not sure about him. As for Fishberry and Saikano, I'm withholding judgment until we actually see them.
I still feel as though Midnite Bastion(as Chrysalis of course) is in the perfect position to be the one behind all this. She's supposedly a fairly powerful pfficer herself that could, with ease, put Saikano under her spell. From there her power could fan out and make it very difficult to trace it back to her.
Ok, I think there's something strange going on wtih the duchess' relentless attempts to blame fishberry... almost as if she's trying to shift blame away... Damnit Colon, you've sent me into full blown paranoia mode!
5243007
5243073
5243431
I think everyone's missing the obvious explanation:
Sharp Quill is actually a robotic exoskeleton controlled by the Prince of the platypi, whose entire race is on war against the changelings.
5243730
Thanks, cheesebrain! Now everything makes sense!
5243730
You know what?...I'm okay with this.
So much sneeky sneeky....
Finally made it to the party!!! Only 50 some chapters behind. Let's do this
I'm a chapter late on this comment, but:
Something is definitely wrong with Sharp Quill. Bed unslept in, long enough to have a layer of dust? Talking to a voice in his head?
I think he's a subordinate changeling with Chrysalis talking in his head, having to pull feeding duty as well because there aren't a lot of worker drones to go around.
However, this would cast doubt on Fishberry being Chrysalis, as she wouldn't need a courier to send messages to some-elk she is telepathically linked to...
5243115
I don't want to imagine shipping costs for illicit packages traveling thousands of miles over several continents.
It could be anyone at this point
5244100 Then I say it's Rainbow Dash. No one sees that coming!
This is obviously a trap, or maybe it's so obvious it's not a trap!
What it really anymore?
What brand was the soap?
Even though (with the use of puppets) Chrysalis could be almost anyone, it would sorta be anticlimactic for her to be just some random nobody who shows up out of nowhere at the climax. Like, the palace night-janitor, or something. Chances are, she's a named character. Midnite Bastion is still the one giving me the biggest tingles, but Arcanista's behavior this time around is... odd. She seems to have it in for Fishberry, and her apparent certainty smells funny to me.
Also, am I the only one who thinks that Ebon's "mother" might be Tchern? I mean, even before Chrysalis lost her power, Ebon didn't seem particularly effected. *shrugs*
5239649
this fills me with an unspeakable horror.....
in paint and television/computer screens violet is a between purple and blue, using less intense reds with a fair amount of blue
in light violet is a wavelength at the end of the visible spectrum
purple is a lie made from blue and red occupying spaces next to each other
in reality violet is a legitimate color
purple is not
I just wanna say I've been suspicious of Arcanista from the very start. She's totally sketch.
5246180
have my babies
5245378
Within the confines of physics, this is a true statement as purple is a non-spectral color, however saying purple isn't "legitimate" means white and black aren't legitimate colors. They are colors in the realm or the arts. This is one of those weird times where something can be and not be because it is viewed in multiple domains, in this case physics and arts. So pu role bother is and is not a color, just not in the same sense. (Information brought to you by a debate between a physics and an art professor when I asked this question)
Arcanista seems rather eager to convince the that Fishberry is Chrysalis... Is this one of those " It was actually her all along and she manipulated them into doing more harm than good" things, or is that too contrived?
I was actually thinking they were doing that at the beginning, with her sleeping in the twin-size bed and all...
So many conspiracy series!
suspense
...
yep
Time to find out just who Sharp Quill is meeting with. Possibly.
-Spirit
And now I'm reminded of best pony no longer being around. Today is a sad day.
My theory is that they are unknowing changelings, and that due to the soul sentries, they were never freed.
5901026
Who's best pony in your opinion?
I don't see at all how the new information confirms that, which makes me suspicious - but on the other hand if Chrysalis were subtle enough to pass as Arcanista so far, she probably wouldn't blurt out bullshit like that.
Zaid is a bad influence on that filly.
Looks like a classic case of 'I know You know I know'.
07/04/2017
23:22 UTC
That's it I'm putting in my bets all the suspects are working for, being manipulated by or mind controlled by Crysilis who is Arcanista
It seems unlikely but this is it I'm telling u
I'm totally writing a LARP based off of this. It fits perfectly! All of the characters have different motivations, and most of them are likely self-centered but relatively benign. Maybe Fishberry is just trying to selfishly gain riches for her own provinces, which while cruel, isn't exactly civilization-shattering. Chrysalis seems to be a character who has truly malicious intent but needs to disguise it in order to succeed, while Prince Eine is just trying to see through everyone else's charades and do what's best for his subjects. A LARP like this could go a whole lot of different ways, and I think it'd be super fun!
5245323
So obviously chrysalis is either jet or uh the other maid.
9667920
Exactly! Chrysalis has a maid fetish!!!
Hmm...I'm putting money down that the council or the three higher powers are the ones being manipulated. Not both though.
I may had skipped this book my first read, but following books did say who Crystalist was, and that was Redacted