//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Guardians Of The Helms // by Baconkatz //------------------------------// Destiny Ascension was used to people looking at her like she murdered their partners or parents. It was statistically likely she did, she wouldn't deny the absolute envy she had against them to begin with. Then again, nobody asked anyway. It was an easily keeper secret. She was a thestral anyway, a Delude Thestral to be more specific. Not that it meant anything in the grand scheme of things, but it made her feel like a special snowflake. If you couldn't tell, she was being sarcastic. Destiny Ascension was rather short tempered, with a nice soothing personality she knew how to use well. She was supposed to be an ambassador for the Helms Accord, then again the entire agreement was a waste of time. Why bother protecting the hybrids that plagued the unnamed land that they lived on? All they did was whine about how unfair everything was as they lounged around their houses and received compensation for what the Tainted did. Destiny Ascension gagged a little, “Are you alright there Destiny?” Rose Thorn asked, Destiny Ascension had force a bark of laughter back, Rose Thorn meant no harm by his statement, but that never stopped her from finding offense in his statement. How dare he ask if she was okay. After all he told her to do, after all she had done in the name of the thestral empire, all she was forced to do. And he was asking if she was okay with a little gag. Pathetic. Then again Destiny Ascension was often called petty and dramatic, and she'd have to reply that it was all part of the job. Being able to play the part. So she had put up her sheath that made her a member in the Helm Accord and returned to her favorite job. “Wonderful Rose,” Destiny Ascension purred rubbing up against his neck, she could almost puke if he wasn't actually a good looking colt. With a beautiful silvery coat, with a midnight blue underbelly, his eyes were considered a lovely magenta color by Thestral standards, and his mane was a lighter purple, violet almost. Rose Thorn gave her a small smile, his wings tucking and untucking nervously, playing his part perfectly. Destiny Ascension liked to think she was the best when it came to fitting her character perfectly, but she knew deep down that Rose Thorn had her beat. Rose Thorn was the leader of the Thestrals, they liked to call him The King of Gardens. He was a very practical king, all he asked for was a beautiful garden to wake up to. And even then he tended to them himself most of the time, thestrals were sneaky creatures, they knew how to skirt the law. And Rose Thorn knew. Destiny Ascension flicked him gently with her wing, playing the part of the newly bonded as best as she could. Love was a disgusting thing she didn't want to touch with a six foot pole. But she had a job to do, one that mostly involved her drinking a lot of wine. There have been reports of young thestral mares being whisked out of parties, never to be seen again. Or at least until Destiny Ascension would get there, she had a mission success rate of one hundred percent. The five that were already taken were bonded with five important nobles or ambassadors in the thestral empire the difference between them was one the capture probably didn't notice. Two of them were fog thestrals, one of them was a CAD Thestral. Cloak and dagger Thestral, Destiny Ascension sometimes wished she could punch the thestral that came up with the class system. The last two were the reason she was here, while mares were less important in the Thestral Kingdom, there were a few that they needed dearly. And those two were known as Angelus Thestrals. Nopony knew where they came from, nopony knew why they were so special. Expect for high ranking nobles and ambassadors, and a little spy like Destiny Ascension of course. Angelus Thestrals were so important, because of the pure, unfiltered magic that runs through them, they have no way of releasing that magic, so it builds up for years, until they die from the compression of their organs, or from their organs being forced out of their body. Angelus Thestrals are closely monitored, the fact that two of them were missing was horrifying, the idea that another species could learn the secrets of the thestral kingdom was unimaginable. Destiny Ascension was a simple mare, she woke up in the morning, hunted down prey and drank them dry. Went to work and learned what she had to do, get paid, then go home and take care of her brat of a brother. She’d never admit he was the reason she woke up in the morning. Because Destiny Ascension had no weakness, she was flawless with her missions and fit into her roles perfectly. She was everything and nothing, she was the perfect spy. Not a flawed pony. She shook her head lightly, swirling the glass cradled in her left wing, this was not the time to think about such trivial things. She had a mission. A very important mission. She wasn't even going to add all of the stress that was on her now that her partner was the king of the Thestrals. Of course many Thestrals didn't know what their king looked like, just rumors, many Destiny Ascension spread herself. So they were in the clear for now, all she had to do was steer ponies of other species who could have known what the king would look like away from the conversation. Rose Thorn bent his head down as if going to nuzzle her, stopping short he was just close enough to whisper into her ear. “Earth Gypsy priestess, brandy coat,” he said, his words ticking the thick fur around Destiny Ascension’s ears sending a shiver down her spine. “Thestral mare, silver headband dark violet coat.” He said before pulling away, a faint blush on his cheeks as if he’d actually said something worth blushing at. Destiny Ascension gave a soft chuckle and licked one of his cheeks in a loving manner, it was a shame he was a bonded colt, no doubt she could always stage a murder and be the only one there to comfort him. That would certainly be a fun idea to toy with. Once she had finished with her display of affection she cuddled close to him as if cold, in a perfectly nervous response his wings trembled a moment as if unsure of how to react, before laying over her smaller form. Destiny Ascension cursed Rose Thorn and his unnaturally warm body, she had a job to do. Once she was covered she looked slowly, making sure it looked like a mindless gaze before finding what Rose Thorn had told her, the sight nearly made her gag. Two mares. Passionately making out. There was something unsettling about two mares locked in a battle for dominance, she was much more keen for a challenge, like Rose Thorn for example. Many ponies thought like that, the only species that had laws protecting them were the Earth Gypsies, and they were weird to start with. Not to mention many of them were hybrid makers and rarely ever married or bonded regardless of species or gender. Birds of Paradise were also known to be in this type of relationship, but only because of the trading that went between the two species. Despite their vanity, Destiny Ascension warned others to be wary of the species immense intelligence, what they lacked in muscle they made up for in brains and speed. The fact that they never tried to disprove their vanity and laziness was probably the smartest move they could've made. But at a party as such as this one, when a party was hosted in the Birds of Paradise’s kingdoms, after the formal event is when they brought out the Valkyrie alcohol, moonshine basically, and the more exotic of dancers. They spiked all the food with ecstasy, and Destiny Ascension learned from experience that almost everything was okay, even two mares making out. Thankfully she knew the two of them, the Thestral was a Habius Thestral, her name was Clear Mind, which was rather ironic in this situation, not to mention she was bonded. The Earth Gypsy wasn't familiar nor foreign, she had bumped into Destiny Ascension earlier and complimented her on her necklace. Destiny Ascension drank the rest of her glass for extra courage, passing her glass to Rose Thorn before making her way over to the two. The earth gypsy noticed he first, the unsettling part was she looked completely sober compared to Clear Mind, who was red in the face, wavering and giggling like a filly. “Hello there,” The Earth Gypsy said, her voice was almost hypnotic, “You're Destiny Ascension right?” She asked before giving a warm smile, Destiny Ascension felt her heart compress for a chilling moment. “My name is Gold Dust,” they continued, almost lazily wrapping her foreleg around Clear Mind, “Clear Mind, do you know this mare?” She asked with a voice sweeter than before. Clear Mind blinked with glazed over eyes before laughing, “Offfff couRseeeeee.” She drawled with a giggle, “That's the kingssssss bEst lil’ sPYyyyyyyyyyyyy.” She slurred drunkenly. The fact that her cover was blown should've set Destiny Ascension off guard, but instead she laughed. What a silly mare, she had thought, she needed some sleep so she could wake up feeling even better. Destiny Ascension stumbled just the smallest bit, her wings spreading to help her keep her balance,out of the corner of her eye she could see a Bird of Paradise had started to talk to Rose Thorn. And yet she couldn't find a reason to care, for once she felt, carefree? Something was horribly wrong. Destiny Ascension screamed at herself but she wouldn't respond, a stupid almosy drunken smile on her face as she talked about Astronomy and her feelings towards Rose Thorn. And Gold Dust was such a intentive listener, she wouldn't interrupt her. Not even when she would stumbled and hiccup, or lost her place. Destiny Ascension wracked her brain frantically, the little piece of control she had left was slipping. How could this have happened? She was better than this, one glass of weak Kirin wine (they were notoriously bad at holding their alcohol) wasn't going to make her lose that much control! Gold Dust chuckled for a moment, turning her head at the exact moment Clear Mind’s eyes rolled into her head and she collapsed, her chest was still for a sickening moment before evenly rising and falling. Alarms went off in Destiny Ascension’s mind, she forced herself to clamp her mouth shut but moments later she was giggling again. She had no control over her body, no control over what she said or did. When did everything get so foggy? Heavy fogs were common in the rainforest, but for one to roll in during the middle of the night? That was hard for even a drunken Destiny Ascension to accept, she took a moment to look around and realize even the sky was foggy. She took another moment and blinked a few times, the fog got heavier. The fog wasn't actual fog, it was her vision swimming as she slowly blacked out. Gold Dust laughed and nuzzled the top of her head, “I'll see you when you wake up little spy,” she said with a calming tone that only made the fog thicken. Destiny Ascension looked up at the mare one last time, before the fog blocked out the moon.