She smiled to herself as she walked in Canterlot’s many hallways as she searched for Celestia’s little door, wings fidgeting in excitement. She moved, invisible to the ponies around her as she walked passed the innumerable Castle rooms, searching for the one that would bring her to Canterlot's darkest secret.
She chided herself for her enthusiasm. It was getting a little out of hoof if it kept her from finding the door.
After hearing the call from the Equestrian D.S.P.I., she had immediately began to mobilize her information network. If anything so much as whispered in her domain, she found out about it. The cults she was dealing with were tapped for information, and now it had finally paid off.
She had a name.
Now, yes, she could have been boring and sent a letter, but that just wasn’t personal enough.
Besides, it had been quite a few years since she had seen Old Uncle Spike, and a visit was long-overdue.
===ᐁ===
“Come on!” Spike yelled as he leaned over the “Do Not Cross” line in training room 3 as the Alpha Team worked through yet another session in the Danger Room. “You can do better!”
“Glad you have faith in us, sir,” Silver yelled, leaping over a stream of flame.
Spike grunted. “TWI increase difficulty by one level.”
“Affirmative,” TWI answered.
A large, bladed pendulum swung by. Ponies leapt side to side, dodging fire, bolts, and blades.
Spike nodded, apparently pleased with what he saw.
A chime sounded, and TWI spoke up. “Forgive the interruption, Commander, but Caramel Crystal wishes to speak with you, she insists that it’s urgent.”
Spike sighed. “Alright, everyone. You get a break. Unseal the room, TWI.”
The tiles ceased to move, and with a hiss, the door slid open.
Caramel walked in, her head and it’s container sitting on her back. “Commander, you have visitor.”
And right behind her, walked something that Silver would have never believed.
Which was ironic, considering his choice of profession.
A light pink alicorn walked into view. “Hey Uncle Pipsqueak, how’s it going?”
She looked no older than sixteen years, yet seemed thin and perhaps slightly tall for her age, only a step or two away from being considered lanky. Her mane, a lovely, well kept tuft of violet and arctic blue hair, was bobbed, hugging her head and letting her curls frame her face.
She wore some light armor, a few plates here and there to protect her otherwise naked body.
Spike looked her up and down. “Hey, Squirt.”
The alicorn frowned. “You can’t call me squirt. I’m taller than you.”
“Still younger, though,” Spike said, before he began rolling his neck and shoulders.
“So! You’re shorter than me!” she yelled, stomping into the room.
“Still older than you, too,” he muttered, before motioning Alpha team back behind the line.
Silver obeyed, still gaping at the appearance of a young alicorn.
“By twenty years!” she yelled. “That’s nothing! That’s like saying you're the older twin by two minutes!”
“Still older, Squirt.”
She growled, and Spike smirked.
Silver heard the sound of Spike’s pistol before he saw the dragon draw.
A trio of the magenta needles shot forward, yet the alicorn dodged each one, spinning around the projectiles as she took to the air.
In response, a flurry of beams shot from her horn, striking the tiles that Spike had been standing on milliseconds before. The tiles scorched under the magical energy, and that was when Silver suddenly realized that he had never seen the tiles discolor ever before.
The alicorn spun again, throwing her body into a drilling attack that started a small whirlwind. Another shot from Spike’s gun was sent spinning away by the sheer force of the winds, before the spinning alicorn moved to slam into the commander.
Yet again, Spike moved, flying to the left as the new pony slammed into where he had been standing. “Not fast enough, Squirt.”
“Don’t want to tire you out in front of all your people, Pipsqueak,” the alicorn answered, standing. “You’re getting old, after all.”
Spike raised an eyebrow, a smile threatening to show itself. “Well you should be careful, young’un,” he said, holstering his gun and changing his stance, keeping his claws open. “Don’t want your elders to show you up, now, do we?”
The alicorn smiled. “Like you could.”
The two slammed together, rocking the room as an incredible power shot through the gathered ponies. They could almost feel the blows as the two fought.
And then, with a move that Silver couldn’t even see, it was over.
Spike stood, his foot pinning the alicorn’s forehooves to her back.
She struggled, and pushed, trying to free herself.
Finally, she sighed. “You win.”
“Not good enough, Squirt. You know what you gotta say.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Not a snowballs chance in Tartarus, old man.”
“Say it,” Spike said, leaning forward, and causing her legs to bend at an angle they were not meant to reach.
She grit her teeth.
“Come on,” Spike said.
She grit her teeth once more, before a strangled cry escaped her lips. “Uncle!” she cried. “Uncle, uncle!”
“And don’t you forget it,” Spike said before releasing her.
Alpha team stared on, horribly, horribly confused.
Spike looked up, before he introduced the alicorn mare. “Alpha Team, this is my niece. Princess Flurry Heart.”
The alicorn groaned. “Do you have to introduce me as your niece all the time? It makes me sound like I’m four.”
Spike looked back at her and smirked. “You are to me, dear.”
She sighed, and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Spike shook his head. “Anyways, she is the first naturally born alicorn since Luna and Celestia, Princess of the Crystal Empire, and the head of the Imperial branch of the D.S.P.I.”
Flurry Heart stood. “I go by Skyla for undercover purposes.”
“Don’t call her Skyla,” Spike said.
“Come on, Uncle Spike, I call you ‘Commander.’”
“That’s because I’m the Commander. You’re Princess Flurry. That’s that. Anyways, any questions, Alpha?”
There was a moment of silence or two before Sparky spoke up. “A-are you really her uncle?”
“Yes, yes I am,” Spike said.
“H-how does that work?”
Spike stared at him a moment, before he began to smile. “How else?” he asked, before he began to walk out of the Danger Room. “How do you think alicorns are made. It’s not just pony DNA.”
Sparky blinked, before he suddenly yelled. “That makes so much sense!”
Silver watched as Sparky ran out of the room, as though he were a researcher that had just experienced Eureka. Then he turned to the Princess. “Is Commander Spike joking, because...that...seems odd.”
Flurry Heart raised her own eyebrow, before she smiled. “He could be. But he might not…”
===ᐁ===
“So what are you doing here, Flurry?” Spike said, as he walked her down to his public office.
“What? Am I not allowed to come see my uncle?” she asked, taking the seat opposite him and kicking her hooves onto the desk.
Spike pushed them off. “My desk. Yes, you are allowed, but you don’t. There’s always a reason.”
Flurry sighed. “Alright, alright. So I have some info,” she said, before producing a crystal cylinder.
Spike looked at it, before he turned back to the alicorn. “And since when have you taken the courier jobs?”
She smiled. “Just can’t pull the wool over your eyes, huh, Uncle?” A magical aura gripped the canister, and set it on his desk. “The data’s incomplete. I’ll need to check out the Crimson Covenant to be sure, and if anyone’s going to check, it needs to be the most powerful alicorn in Equestria.”
“Oh, don’t start that again,” Spike groaned.
“Celestia got taken out by the bug Queen,” Flurry said.
“1, Changelings. 2, she severely underestimated her opponent,” Spike answered.
“Yeah, and you know what happens when you underestimate your opponent. If Celestia underestimated bug queen, then she revokes all rights to being the greatest alicorn—”
“Don’t talk about your Great Aunt that way!” Spike grunted before staring her in the eyes. “Flurry, you’re my Niece. I love you, but if you talk about my Mom like that, I will bend you over my knee.”
Flurry sighed. “I’m not sixty anymore, Uncle Spike. That’s the kinda threat that’s getting weird now.”
“Then don’t talk about her like that.”
“Fine. Point being, I figured I’d do the job. It’s been awhile since I came down here, anyway.”
Spike sighed, and grabbed the canister, before popping it open. “So, the Crimson Covenant?”
Flurry nodded. “I’ve gotten reports that their leader, or at least the puppet that’s masquerading as one, has been ranting about the ‘evil of the alicorns,’ and all that crap.”
“Yeah, but so does every other crackpot on the street. What’s your point?”
Flurry smiled. “Simple. It’s his name.”
Spike opened the scroll, giving it a quick read, before he stopped short.
“No…”
“Yes,” Flurry said, putting her hind hooves back on the desk.
Spike pushed them off again. “No, there’s no way this is right.”
“It’s what my sources say.”
Spike shook his head. “If...if this is right…”
“It changes everything,” Flurry finished.
Spike just nodded.
===ᐁ===
Silver shook his head.
“I can’t believe it’s an actual princess…” Amber whispered.
Flurry Heart was everything anyone wanted to talk about at lunch. The idea that a Princess had just shown up to help them fight the monsters of the night.
“Like, is she even allowed to do that?” Neon asked. “Like, what if she dies, does the Crystal Empire just have to deal?”
“I don’t know…” Lemon whispered back. “Why does she run the D.S.P.I. in the Crystal Empire? Why doesn’t Celestia or Luna run this one?”
“What did the Commander mean by saying ‘naturally born’ alicorn? What does that mean?”
“Do you always talk behind your guest’s back?” a voice asked, and everyone turned to see Flurry Heart glaring at them.
Alpha Team went silent.
And then she smiled. “Oh relax. My soldiers have done far, far worse,” she said, pulling up a chair, and hovering a tray with her own food over. “So to answer your question, I was born as an alicorn. My mom, and my aunt, Princesses Cadence and Twilight, both rose to alicornhood.”
“You can do that?” Silk asked.
“Kinda,” Flurry admitted. “You need to jump through some hoops, and you only get a horn or wings, or whatever. It’s not really worth it.”
“Really?” Chestnut asked.
“Yeah, I mean, you might get a bunch of magical power, but if you don’t know how to use it then what’s the point, right?” Flurry asked.
“So you need to be born with it?” Silver asked.
Flurry raised an eyebrow and smiled. “That stallion gets a gold star.”
A series of chuckles sounded around the table.
“Yeah in order to be a decent alicorn you do need to be born with it,” Flurry said. “Besides, that’s where the immortality comes from.”
“Wait, wait,” Mandible said. “When you say Twilight and Cadence, do you mean Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, alicorn of love and Princess Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic?”
Flurry looked the changeling up and down. “Has there ever been another Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight?”
“So that’s why they’re not around anymore!” Chestnut cried, the revelation of their death offering something that hadn’t occurred to him.
Flurry shook her head, before turning to the others. “What were the other questions?”
“What would happen to the Crystal Empire if you died?” Neon asked.
Flurry snorted. “That’s a good one. Me, die.” She gave a soft chuckle before she finally said, “there’s supposedly a plan in place if that were to happen, but it’s been a hundred and thirty years now, so I don’t think there’s too much to worry about.”
“So what are you doing here?” Silver asked.
Flurry looked up at him. “What?”
“Well, it’s not everyday you show up, so why are you here?” Silver asked.
Princess Flurry stared at him for a long moment, before she spoke, her voice a low, almost conspiratorial whisper. “We have evidence to suggest that a very dangerous pony, Dark Crystal, has founded the Crimson Covenant. While this may not seem like much, Dark is now some eighty years old, and doesn’t look a day over twenty five.”
“Is he an alicorn?” Chestnut asked.
“No, he’s a necromancer,” Flurry said, “and quite possibly the same one who attacked your headquarters.” She paused a second, and looked over the ponies. “If that’s true then, we have a very big problem.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s not just any necromancer,” Flurry told him. “He could raise an army in little over a day, and if he is as old as my sources say, then there’s only one possibility.”
A heartbeat of silence passed, and when Flurry Heart spoke next, her words seemed to carry the power of hammer strikes.
“He’s a lich.”
The PA suddenly crackled to life. “Alpha Team! Report to the briefing room immediately.”
“Well,” Flurry said standing. “Let’s go see what Uncle Pipsqueak wants.”
===ᐁ===
The briefing room’s magical holo-map revealed the city of Manehatten. When Silver and the others entered, Spike and Manticore were already there, pouring over documents as Alpha Team began to pour in.
“Aunt Fluttershy!” Flurry cried, flying inside through the space between the ponies and the door. “I have been looking all over for you!”
The pegasus almost seemed to jump at her name, before her bearing changed, and she began to desperately try to hide behind her own mane. “Um...hi...Flurry Heart,” she said, her voice just barely above a whisper. “H-How are you?”
“I’m doing well,” Flurry said, landing next to the yellow pegasus vampire. “What about you?”
“I’m okay,” Fluttershy replied. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too, Aunt Fluttershy.”
“How many Aunts do you have?” Neon asked.
Spike cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Alright everyone, we have ourselves a situation.”
“Well obviously,” Flurry said.
Spike ignored her. “We have news of some zombie activity in Manehatten.”
“Manehatten?” Silver asked. “That seems odd.”
“It gets worse,” Spike said, before a rectangular section of the holo-map began to flash red. “The Manehatten graveyard occasionally has zombie problems, and typically they flood into the nearby sewers.” The flashing red highlight then spread to a series of tunnels that ran beneath the city.
“Normally,” Spike continued, “the zombies are sparse, and the sewers themselves make taking care of them like bobbing for apple without water. On any given day, I’d just arm you with a bunch of flamethrowers, and I’d just have you cook them out. Unfortunately, that’s not the case today.”
When no one interrupted, Spike resumed. “These zombies are being led.”
“What?” Silver asked.
“Exactly what I said,” Spike told them. “With a combination of ghouls and some kind of strange zombie that I have never seen before, these guys are being directed.”
“That’s terrifying,” Neon said.
“Yes it is,” Spike agreed. “Luckily, the sewers will help us keep them in check, and they’ll have a hard time overwhelming us. Now, even with these new threats, I’m not expecting a hard fight, but you do need to know that this isn’t a run of the mill mission. Am I understood?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Alpha Team answered.
Spike nodded, before turning to his niece. “You want to join us Flurry?”
The Princess smiled. “You couldn’t keep me away if you tried.”
===ᐁ===
Sparky ran through the tunnels, speeding past the river of waste that ran through the sewers. He rushed past zombies and ghouls that were chasing after him, speeding along as he led the horde behind him towards his team.
All he had to do was follow the laughter.
He was getting sick of it.
Silver knew he was making the moves on Silk, he saw it, and then made his own move anyway. That wasn’t cool. That broke like, at least two rules of Bro code.
He turned the corner, coming into view of Alpha team, all of whom were armed with flamethrowers for this mission only. And there were Silk and Silver, laughing at a joke that only twisted Spark’s gut in disgust.
He ran up, scowling as he approached the line of flamethrowers. “Here they come.”
“Alright,” Silver said, still smiling even though his voice went serious, “you heard the stallion, get ready to open fire!”
The zombies came, charging through the tunnels. At their head came the ghouls, who yelped in fear at the sign of the flames, along with the glowing green “Leaders” that the rest of the horde followed.
The flamethrowers roared, drowning out any other noise as the water at the zombie’s feet bubbled and steamed, and flesh crackled. Between the stone and the flame, the zombies were cooked.
But Sparky didn’t really care.
He just stared at Silver’s back.
Wide.
Open.
Defenseless.
“So the where’s the Princess?” Sparky asked, after the flamethrowers died down to the fierce glowing of their pilot flames.
“She and Manticore took the east tunnel,” Silver answered. “They said they had some catching up to do.”
Sparky nodded. So the Chaperones were nowhere to be seen.
It wouldn’t take much.
Just a tiny cut from his obsidian knife.
That would be all it would take.
But not yet.
Not here.
Not with his friends next to him.
Besides, there was always another day.
===ᐁ===
It took three hours to clean out the sewers, but Silver, Spike, and Flurry Heart were all happy with the time.
Of course, Flurry and Spike both saw something else in the attack.
“These Leaders aren’t normal,” Flurry said as she stood in his office.
“Really? I didn’t notice,” Spike muttered, sarcastically.
“My point is, this reeks of necromancy, powerful necromancy.”
“So it does,” the dragon admitted. “What’s your point?”
“My point is this is Dark’s MO. This is exactly what I’d expect of him.”
“I agree,” Spike said, “but I’m not going to take my eyes off the others until I know for sure.”
“Then you’re wasting our time,” Flurry grunted. “We could have already found the Crimson Covenant by now if we weren’t sitting on our hooves.”
A knock sounded on Spike’s door, and the dragon yelled. “Come in.”
Velvet Storm strode in, her pace a brisk walk as she carried in a set of papers. “We’ve found them, sir.”
Spike smiled, and turned to his niece. “I guess we can get off our hooves now, huh?”
Flurry gave a smirk, and nodded. “It’s about time.”