-Kuril-
I sat in front of the campfire watching as the glutton continued eating a huge amount of food, I at least knew she wasn’t angry with me or my daughter anymore. It would take about two or so days for my daughter to get back, I was accounting for her being waylaid by circumstances beyond her control and being a tourist.
I looked over at Tempest sitting to my right and she seemed thoughtful. Sure she’s got a broken horn and is wandering around out in the middle of nowhere, but she seems like a big girl that left home too early. Injuries like that don’t make life pleasant and her mind must have been in a bad place since she lost a very important integral part of her identity.
“So… what were the two of you going to do once you had arrived at this Manehatten place?” Ms. Sphinx was mostly interested in food until now, I was caught a little off guard by the question and jolted a bit.
Of course the Sphinx had a rather smarmy evil looking smile, I wonder how powerful she is and how she can be so intimidating one minute and nonchalant the next. She was stated as partially being a god of healing by my daughter and so far the most impressive things she’s done is take down an Ursa Medium, somehow expertly stitched up Tempest despite her size, stopped Tempest from channeling through her broken horn and acquired enough food to feed several mouths including her own over the course of an hour or two.
“Well I and my daughter were going to start up a business around Manehatten’s harbor, Abyssinia is a trade nation and I figured we could help work up a stronger rapport with the pony kinds. I would have opened a restaurant, one with a mostly pony friendly menu and fish for the more carnivorous. I’d also continue working on being the leading expert in the La Perm family practice of magical alchemy, I will become the world’s best good witch.” Yes, that was our initial plan. It might even still be the plan. We could always just find a nearby river and build a small hotel for passing wanderers, the river would have to be fish rich though. “My daughter had some plans of her own, whatever they were. She’s quite knowledgeable about many things and I think she was planning on writing a bestiary of mythological monsters or something.”
“Lofty goals those.” After saying that Ms. Sphinx just licked her paw of some juices from the food she had been consuming. “I would visit your restaurant every day and eat well, the magic you put into your food is quite edible.”
“There’s magic in the food?” Tempest looked down at the smiling vegetable platter that she had been nibbling at, I was quite proud that the poor dear actually spoke up.
Tempest was so quiet and broody, nothing like my ragamuffin tom cat of a daughter. I was a little cross with my daughter using 'the eyes' to ask her to stay, I’m a little surprised that Ms. Sphinx even helped her talk Tempest into it.
“Oh yes, it’s been a long time since I found someone who could cook with magic. It’s quite a rare gift that you have there. Where ponies are concerned it’s quite common, but it usually has a singular focus. None of which involves fish, while you seem to be good with just about any dish.” Sekhet popped a piece of cooked fish in her mouth and immediately swallowing without chewing. “Usually people cook the magic out of the food without realizing it, but Lady Kuril here keeps the magic and it is why her food tastes so… decent. There is nothing negative to eating food made this way.”
I would have called her rude for not chewing and calling my cooking decent, but the fact that my food is actually filled with magic means I’m likely to be saddled with a title like ‘The Witch of Good Taste’. My daughter warned me that I could be saddled with a silly title depending on my actions, like how a character in O and O can be given a silly bard song. What would a little ditty about me be like?
I’d think it’d be something like, ‘here comes Kuril The Witch of Good Taste, any food she makes is eaten, devoured and consumed with great haste... and none of it has ever truly gone to waste’. I snickered in amusement at my own thoughts. I should remember to sing that to my daughter once, she’d find it just as silly. Wait a minute, I can make that my title and force everyone to call me that! I’d be known as both a famous witch and a cook!
“Thank you for informing me about this Ms. Sphinx.” First I had to thank her, then I had to tell her off. “Also… decent… who are you trying to kid? Show my cooking the respect it deserves, goodness knows my daughter does! Tempest, is my food decent?”
“I… well no…” I would have been angry with the broken unicorn, but I waited patiently. Jade might have flown off the handle, but I’m going to let her speak her mind. “It’s really quite delicious ma’am.”
I stood up and made my way over to her and hugged her, my daughter said ponies were cute. This one was adorable even with the scar and the missing magical focus... I'll look into making a wand for her.
“Why thank you.” I rubbed my face against her neck, this was how ponies showed affection right? Well I wasn’t a pony, but cats did stuff like this all the time and Abyssinians were really just bigger cats. Well, most of us were.
Tempest’s reaction to my affectionate gestures was to stiffen up a bit, she eventually relaxed and then I decided to let go. I swear Tempest needed help and not for her broken horn, but her broken spirit and I’m quite sure my daughter wanted to do the same thing.
-
When the royal guard went on alert, they themselves were alerted, apparently Celestia had a vision of something unusual coming to Canterlot and they had to watch out for whatever dangers that might pop up.
They had two on the gates already and the two of them personally were watching the train depot, looking at every pony on the off chance that one of them might have been acting oddly. This could be the sign of a changeling infiltration, changelings were a crafty bunch.
It was quite late in the evening when a train arrived with a most unusual thing, she stepped off the train looking around at the city of Canterlot in wonder. The two watching her knew what she was. Why was she here and what kind of doom did Celestia see her bringing to have the guards this active? She didn’t look to be very old, she was quite unusual given she had green hair which was unusual for an Abyssinian. If this was a changeling infiltration it was a pretty laughable attempt, everyone knew that Abyssinians could never grow hair like that.
This cat was going to be tagged for watching, time to send in Agent Sweetie Drops to see what she could find out about this individual and maybe discern whether it is an infiltrator or something else. It came from a south bound train and Abyssinians didn’t live that way, it might have even been a Sphinx in disguise. That spelled a lot of trouble if she was a creature that powerful.
-Jade-
Well so much for getting here in a timely manner, I at least made it before it was too dark and I could hopefully get an audience with Princess Celestia without any trouble.
Oh who was I kidding? Even if I didn’t want trouble, it was going to find me in some way. I stopped to get my bearings, Canterlot was an interesting city for something built into the side of a mountain.
“Excuse me, but you look a little lost there." I turned to see a pink and blue mane, beige coat and blue eyes. I looked at her three candies for a cutie mark and immediately knew who this was, might as well do something silly. "Do you need help?”
“Not really agent Sweetie Drops, I’m just getting my bearings before I head to Canterlot Castle.” The young Bon-Bon immediately froze and I walked off cackling to myself.
“Hey wait a minute, get back here!” I wasn’t about to slow down my walking speed for Bon-Bon and she got in front of me, I sauntered around her on my course for the castle and I wanted to get there before Celestia stopped taking visitors for the evening. “How do you know who I am, is our organization compromised, are you a changeling and if so why aren’t you afraid of being captured by me?”
“In order, what S.M.I.L.E exactly does is make ponies forget memories, not erase them. You can’t perfectly erase or remove a memory unless you have an artifact to store them in like the memory stone and I know where that is. It’s easy to jog your memories if you leave a note to yourself before forgetting and I’m immune to memory erasure. The only reason why it hasn’t gotten out is because no pony would believe those who do remember. I assume you’re a newbie agent and that they haven’t told you about the N.E.I.G.H organization yet.” It was time lie like crazy, that would hopefully prevent them from trying mess with me and hopefully they’ll be too busy with the chaos verifying it to bother me. I wasn’t ready for the cloak and dagger stuff yet, give me two more years at least. “Speaking of compromised, your organization is so terribly compromised to the point that there’s actually a changeling in the ranks and the changeling didn’t even kidnap a pony to get that position either. You might want to look into your director for that one, there are quite a few discrepancies about his past.”
“You still haven’t answer me about being changeling.” Her eyes were narrowed at me and she looked ready to buck me in the head.
“Nope, not a changeling personally. My appearance is completely natural and I’m here to talk to Celestia about something important.” The disbelieving looked made me stop and crouch down to look her in the eyes. “I am actually an Abyssinian even if my long hair is unusual, my mother was said to have been with a pony. I don’t think she’ll ever tell me who my father or mother was, not that I really care who that is at this point in my life.”
I stood up and continued onward towards the castle.
“Hold on a minute, I’m not done talking to you!” Bon-Bon continued to hound me. Even if I was attracting a lot of attention, I acted like nothing was off.
“Well I’m on a schedule and I definitely don’t want to pay for a hotel tonight. If you insist on following me, then keep up. Could I stand to sleep out of a cardboard box? Nah, the rents horrible on those things.” I would continue onwards despite Bon-Bon and I had to wonder where all the royal guards were, I hadn’t seen one since I got into the city proper. “So is there anything else you or your partner over there want to know.”
Bon-Bon looked at the pony I randomly pointed out and paled.
“How did you…” Bon-Bon started and I looked at the pony sitting at the café reading a newspaper to try and quickly find something off about him.
“The newspaper of course, it’s obviously an early morning newspaper.” I nodded to myself, which made complete sense and now the faulty logic to go with it. “Like Celestia is an early morning pony.”
“Lots of ponies read their early morning papers in the evening.” Bon-Bon glared at me as she followed along towards the castle.
“Even week old papers in the evening, with…” I sniffed the air. “A double espresso coffee from the smell of it?”
“Yes… but what does the coffee have to do with it?” The ever curious secret agent Bon-Bon.
“It’s about to become night time, aren't most ponies usually preparing for bed in an hour or so? His cutie mark doesn’t scream night-time job at all.” I had my little follower spluttering for something to say in her coworker's defense, she stopped glaring at me and glared at her handler. I was wondering if foreknowledge was a thing in this world, aside from Celestia’s future sight ability that is. “Your handler’s not exactly on his game today I take it?”
“No, no he is most certainly not and you’re right!” Bon-Bon’s ears wilted as she blushed and turned a sad look to me. “I can see how completely out of place he’s being when you pointed it all out, wearing sunglasses this late in the evening doesn’t help.”
“Yeah, hiding in plain sight that badly is for idiots... and ponies apparently. Your species generally doesn’t pay attention to the small things that seem out of place, but is likely seen on a regular basis like multiple ponies sitting around with sunglasses in the evening. I’d suggest a sunset viewers club as an excuse for them.” I was getting closer to the castle and Bon-Bon was still following me. “In any case, when you eventually get a mission with a bugbear, you’ll eventually be reassigned to Ponyville after that with the official statement that your organization is shutting down. In truth you’re going to be in Ponyville to watch some important ponies to make sure they don’t get seriously hurt, oh and you’ll be best friends with a mint flavored pony. Don’t forget to ask Pony Joe about his fudge donuts since you’re obviously going to tell your handler everything over them.”
She blinked at me and stopped, I confused her badly enough with bluffs that I walked up to the castle without her following me. Oddly there were no guards around. I swear, the royal guards were all seriously horrible at their jobs. I walked into the entrance and looked around at the splendor, I was quite the tourist as I approached what would be the throne room and I finally saw two guards who leveled their spears at me.
“Halt, what is your business here… uh… whatever you are?” Abyssinians really needed to become better known, we had lots of trade agreements with ponies for crying out loud! Do ponies never wonder where some of their more exotic makeup products come from?
“Abyssinian here to see Celestia about an incident, is evening court still going in the throne room?” The guards looked to one another and seemed to silently communicate with body language, they turned to me and nodded. I was led into the throne room by the two and saw Celestia with tiny reading glasses going over several papers.
I opened my mouth to speak and she suddenly looked up with me with an intense stare, before I knew it my world went black. The last thing I saw was golden pair of shoes on a beautiful white furred mare with hair like an aurora coming at me, also the glasses spinning in the air and a scattered pile of papers.