//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Two: Same Old Noble Song and Dance // Story: Princess of Shadows, Darkness, and Light // by jwizard //------------------------------// Equestria, Duchy of Staghelm, 06-16-05 A.N.M. 6:22 P.M. (After Nightmare Moon) Apple Crisp watched as the mercenaries she’d hired went through the motions of another training session. To have to rely on them after the Equestrian Guard had been dissolved by that false purple alicorn was grating on the nerves. The noble’s ears turned towards the sound of approaching hooves. “We have word from the Court; Andromeda Majestica has had Equus Exalia cast on her.” The blonde-maned unicorn watched as the hired ponies went through the motions. “It seems as though her banking on family connections to get out from under her crimes didn’t work.” Prince Blueblood sighed. “So that’s one less noble to count on for the raid on Canterlot.” “At least we have your support, my dear prince. I would have thought you’d side with Celestia and the rest of the pegacorns.” Apple Crisp smirked as she gazed at the stallion next to her. “Your most recent actions had given me pause milord, and has caused the others to still doubt you.” “All part of the ruse milady.” Blueblood smiled. “What better way to trick ponies than by pretending to reform? In any case, I’m needed elsewhere.” Apple Crisp nodded. “Be a dear and check on the securi-charms for me?” Blueblood nodded as he left. “Won’t be long before we rule once more,” the unicorn said softly to herself. Blueblood made his way to where the anchoring crystal for the securi-charms was housed. Apple Crisp is such a foal; she trusts me despite knowing how shallow I really am. Blueblood snorted. She should have been more suspicious of me. The unicorn soon reached his destination. The low hum from the crystal confirmed that it was powering the defense barrier over the manor; said barrier was the latest in home security. It was keyed to only allow the magic of those wearing special pendants to work, or the specific control crystal. Apple Crisp had entrusted hers to Blueblood on his arrival due to their past association, which was fortuitous. It meant less spellwork. A vibration against his collarbone let Blueblood know that he was being paged. He pulled out the communication crystal stored in his cravat and held it up. Inside, he could see the face of Commander Orpheus. “We’ve moved the timetable forward- .lower the AM field.” Blueblood nodded by way of reply. Concentrating on the control crystal, he deactivated the warding spells that prevented magic use by others in the manor. He then threw the crystal against the wall, shattering it. “Well, time to prepare; I still have a job to do, after all.” He made his way to his quarters to prepare for the coming raid. Apple Crisp, meanwhile, continued to watch the mercenaries train, this time in the courtyard. She sighed again, hating that she was reduced to hiring thugs to return Equestria to its rightful rulers. “Damn Lemyre to Tartarus! I knew relying on that witch would get us in trouble.!” Apple Crisp frowned as she looked up in the sky. “What are those weather pegasi doing?! We were supposed to have clear skies this week, no cloud cover!” Suddenly, Apple Crisp heard the staccato report of dozens of teleports. Simultaneously, a group of familiar pegasi slalomed out of the clouds and fell like meteors onto the mercenaries. Apple Crisp wasted no time, teleporting to her chambers. Opening her safe, she used her magic to grab what evidence was there, stuffing it into her saddlebags. She then moved her breau aside, exposing an escape tunnel. Apple Crisp trotted down this tunnel as quickly as she could. She soon came to its exit. Pausing, she saw that the hallway was full of Guards-ponies. Cursing, she went down another path, heading towards the outside of her manor. Blueblood was waiting for her; his cravat was torn, and his mane was disheveled. “How were they able to attack?! The shield should have repelled their magic!” she screeched. “One of your staff was an undercover Guard;she mugged me for the control crystal!” He pointed off to the side. “They have an anti-teleport field down around the manor now; I found that out the hard way. We’ll have to use the emergency portal nearby.” Blueblood led the way. Using his magic, he made both himself and Apple Crisp invisible to get past the Guards. They soon entered the nearby garden house. Once inside, Blueblood powered up the portal. “This terminates on my yacht, which is already on stand-by. Ladies first.” Apple Crisp trotted through. Blueblood soon followed, after activating the deactivation timer. Once on the other side, Blueblood made his way to the deck of the yacht. “Captain, we need to leave now, if you please.” His captain nodded, pushing the throttle forward. Turning to Apple Crisp, he pointed aft. “The guest cabin is next to mine; why don’t you freshen up there? I’ll have the staff send you something to eat.” Apple Crisp nodded, and made her way to the cabin. As soon as she crossed the threshold, cuffs hooked her fetlocks. Noble she might be, but she wasn’t helpless. She let lose with a blast of telekinesis, knocking out the two Guards along the sides of the door. Suddenly, a band of crystal surrounded her horn, cutting off her magic. Snorting angrily, she tapped the jewel around her neck, only to have it shatter. She tried again, this time with the rune embedded in the frog of her left hind hoof. There was a flare from the ring around her horn as it cancelled out the teleport. “Nice try, but it’ll take more than that to dislodge that band,” said a voice off to the side. Apple Crisp turned to see that Rainbow Dash was lounging in the loveseat along the side of the wall. “The only magic that will work on it is mine,” she said. Four more unicorns teleported in. Two went to their fallen comrades, while the other two bracketed Apple Crisp. Rainbow Dash got up and walked over to the now-helpless mare. “Not real smart to add resisting arrest to your crimes, but what can I say? Your type is all the same; you think the rules don’t apply to you because you’re a noble. Well, I have news for you; the rules apply to everypony.” “You’re going away for a very long time; it’s only because no pony has died that’s keeping you from being petrified.” Rainbow walked until she was right in front of the mare. “Well, we can’t keep on imposing on Bluey like this, so it’s time to leave.” She touched the mare on the forehead, casting a sleep spell. “Be gentle with her colts; we don’t need a reason for her to sue.” The Guards soon had her trussed and ready for the nearby Guard liner. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, made her way towards the forecastle. Once there, she nodded at Blueblood. “Well, you certainly came through for us Bluey. I admit, you offering to spy for us was a surprise. Not only that, you actually managed to pull it off.” “I’ve had practice princess. And every colt imagines what it would be like to be a spy,” Blueblood said in response, a grin on his muzzle. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ll get out of your mane then, Bluey. Thanks for the help.” Rainbow bowed, spreading her wings. Blueblood bowed in return. She then walked to the banister and jumped into the air, flying to the waiting liner. Apple Crisp glared at the pony sitting before her. “You must be joking! You want me to confess and plead guilty?! I thought you were here to get me off on a lesser charge!” Apple Bisque shook her head. “There’s too much evidence against you and the rest of your friends, with the exception of Blueblood.” The mare placed a hoof on the folder before her. “I’m trying the best I can here; unless you want to spend the rest of your life doing hard labor, I suggest you take the offer.” She leaned in to push her point home. “Do you know how hard it is for unicorns in hard labor camps? They have to do the work that earth ponies do without magic; moving rocks, bucking down tree stumps. Most unicorns crack after their first six months, and you will have to do so for the remainder of your natural life.” Apple Crisp scoffed. “Please! Do you honestly see Princess Twilight passing such a harsh sentence on me? I could see Princess Celestia doing so; I’ve long considered her a tyrant. But her student doesn’t have the heart.” “I’ve been reliably informed to the contrary, sister. If you don’t accept the deal offered, you’ll spend the rest of your life in the fields outside Fort Last Hope. The only reason I was successful in even getting you a reduced sentence is because no pony was killed.” Apple Bisque looked at her sister. “Please, for once in your life, do the right thing. If not for yourself, then for me.” Apple Crisp looked at her sister. Truthfully, she was something of a black sheep of the family. Passed over for consideration to inherit the family seat because she chose to honor the meritocracy system, she had served four years as a public defender. She now had her own practice, but continued to take pro bono work on the side whenever time permitted. The two had been close when they were fillies, up until she was taken in by her grandmother for private tutoring. That’s when things turned rough in their relationship. Apple Crisp sighed. “You have a pen?” she asked. Apple Bisque nodded, handing it to her. Apple Crisp opened the folder, and levitated the pen over the signature line. She hesitated for only a moment before signing her name, noticing that the ‘guilty’ box was already checked. She then set the pen down and closed the folder. “Well, that’s that. I’ll see you at my arraignment next week, sister.” She then gestured to the Guard standing at attention. The mare unlocked her shackles so she could get up from the table. She was then led to the holding cells. Apple Bisque collected her paperwork, then made her way to the throne room. Once there, she went into the adjoining conference room where the two Regents and their advisors were waiting. She blinked as her gaze settled on Discord; his new appearance was always a shock, as it contrasted with his identity as the Avatar of Chaos. “Well, did she take the offer?” Twilight asked. Apple Bisque nodded. “Well, then I see no reason that we can’t lessen her sentence, especially since she wasn’t really in charge. Hers was a backup in case the main plan failed.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “Why they even tried I have no clue. They had to have known we’d be watching after all that had happened with the High Court. But I agree with Twi; there’s no reason to sentence her to such a harsh punishment.” “We’ll inform the Justices of our decision. And this takes care of the remnants of the conspiracy that the late Lady Lemyre was heading. That’s a load off my shoulders.” Twilight sighed. “Now there’s only the fallout from your House to deal with. Joy.” Both Rainbow and Sunset chuckled. “Can I count on your support?” “Sure, throw me into that nest of vipers; I don’t mind,” Apple Bisque snarked. This time, Twilight chuckled along with her marefriend and advisor. “In all seriousness, you have my full support, Princess. I may not wish to, but my House needs a strong leader after the way my Grandmother ran things. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get this paperwork filed with the Hall of Records before they close.” She then left, bowing before the assembled royals. Twilight unrolled the scroll before her. “Well, that’s that item checked off.” She checked the square off on her list. “Looks like all that’s left is dealing with the fallout. We now have four more vacant seats; they may not have had any political authority, but they were still seated nobles. Any suggestions?” Sunset opened the folder in front of her. “I have here a list of names from distaff Houses for each seat. All of them are suitable; most have spent the last decade or so serving in the public sector. Assuming we can get the leaders of each House to agree that is. That’s going to be a hard sell.” “There’s an understatement; all four of these Houses are noted for their rejection of the meritocracy system. Well, they have no choice; it’s either they go with our recommendations, or I declare the seats open to all qualifiers. That should get them to wake up.” Twilight looked at Sunset. “Which ones did you have in mind?” Sunset wrote four names down, and floated the piece of parchment over to Twilight. She looked at the names for a moment, then floated the parchment over to Rainbow Dash. “What do you think about these four, Rainbow?” Rainbow looked them over. “I see no problems with these four, Twi.” Her stomach growled, causing the mare to blush. Twilight giggled. “Can we get some snacks?” Discord snapped a claw, conjuring a fruit and cheese platter. “Thanks, Dissy” She floated over a slice of melon. “While Rainbow feeds her face, is there any more pressing business?” Twilight asked Sunset. The mare shook her head. “All that’s left is budget allocation, and I recommend sticking  with what Princess Celestia had decided.” Twilight nodded. “Well, that’s that I guess. Let’s adjourn for now. We’ll pick all of this back up after Court tomorrow.” She then teleported to her quarters, Rainbow following her a moment later. Sunset gathered the scattered paperwork and placed it all in the saddlebags next to her. She then teleported them to her office before grabbing some apple slices. “I’m glad that the raids are now over; it’s been hard dealing with this side of Twilight.” Discord shrugged. “Seems to me that she’s been handling things with aplomb.” He cracked his knuckles. “Well, I’m off; there’s Guards to prank.” He slalomed before teleporting away, causing Sunset to facehoof. The orange-furred alicorn decided that there was no reason to let good food go to waste, and took it with her to her quarters. Time enough tomorrow for the business of the kingdom.